information is very little to be depended upon relative to this 2nd article. With regard to the 3rd, I have every reason to think that the estimation is correct. The 4th article consists of a variety of things, which, most probably, will produce the estimated sum. The 5th is composed of property of which I cannot procure an exact account. The 6th includes all the gold and silver cloths, and every article of that description, as well as sundry other commodities too particular to enumerate; the estimation is within bounds.

"As the greater part of the captured property is composed of jewels, &c., articles which either Tippoo or his father Hyder had plundered, the Mutseddies and other persons of whom I have inquired declare that they cannot give any exact statement of the late Sultaun's riches. W. M. GORDON."

Seringapatam, June 9, 1799."

Memorandum relative to the late French corps in the Deccan, by Captain Malcolm.

"The French corps in the Deccan have for several years past hoisted the national flag, and most of the lapelles and epaulettes of their new clothing had the words liberté and constitution embroidered on them.

"The general conversation of the French officers after they were dismissed, proved that they had entertained ambitious designs, and considered themselves as forwarding the interests of their mother country. Captain Christoff, an officer of the party who had been formerly a sergeant of sepoys in the English service, affirmed that the late Monsieur Raymond had formed the most

ambitious projects, and that the same were adopted by his successor and that the landing of any French in India, would probably have been the signal to commence their intrigues.*

"It was generally reported and believed that Raymond had a General's commission from the Directory, but it has not been discovered.

"In a letter which passed through the Resident at Hyderabad, recommending a person to Monsieur Piron, it was stated that the person recommended would, from having respectable connexions at Paris, be useful in transacting Monsieur Piron's affairs with the Directory.

"In a letter from Monsieur Baptiste, the second officer in the corps, to Captain Kirkpatrick, relative to his claims on the party and property at Hyderabad, Monsieur Baptiste expresses an apprehension that he will be unable to return to France, as Monsieur Piron will represent his conduct (to the Directory) in odious. colours.

"There was found in store, when our troops took possession of the French lines, small arms and clothing for 12,000 men beyond the force then serving under Monsieur Piron, besides a number of pistols for cavalry. "The French corps had three arsenals and two founderies. I only saw these at their lines, near Hyderabad. The arsenal there was full of military stores, and in the foundery, there were a number of brass cannon newly cast, which our artillery officers judged as good and as well finished as any they had ever seen.

"This information I had from a gentleman to whom Christoff had communicated it."—Note by Captain Malcolm.

They also made swords, muskets, and pistols. The specimens I sent to Lord Mornington will show the great progress they had made in these manufactures.

"The French party were always well paid-their clothing was neat and their discipline superior to any troops I ever saw in a native service. The men were the best of the country-and from the regularity of their pay, they could recruit at pleasure."

Monsieur Piron, the commander of the French corps in the Deccan (usually called Raymond's corps), must not be confounded with General Perron, the French officer in the service of Scindiah, who held the Emperor of Delhi in his power, and who surrendered to General Lake in 1803; of whose exploits we shall have occasion to speak hereafter.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Public Profession of Attachment to the Christian Faith by the Government of India.-Suppression of Sunday Newspapers in India.-Important Influence of the Institution of the Sabbath in Heathen Countries. Observations on the State of Religion in British India.-Lord We Wellesley ordains a Day for a Public Thanksgiving.-Account of the Solemnities observed on the Occasion.-Sermon of the Rev. Claudius Buchanan, &c.

WE have already seen that Lord Wellesley had prohibited the publication of newspapers on Sunday. His Lordship's motive in taking this step, in connexion with other regulations, was, that the due observance of the Christian sabbath, without interfering with the rights, duties, obligations, or prejudices of the native population, should act morally on the mind of India, in utter unacquaintance with the nature and character of the true God. Apart from all cant or pharisaical formality, the sabbath is a blessed institution in any land, and has justly been assigned* as one of the great springs of European civilization ;

"Sweet Sabbath morn!

Soft steal thy bells upon the tranced mind,
In fairy cadence floating on the wind,
Telling of friends and times long flown away,
And pensive hopes, harmonious with the day.
On thy still dawn, while holy music peals,
And far around the ling'ring echo steals,

What heart communes not with the day's repose,

And, lull'd by angel dreams, forgets its woes!"

But great as the influence of the institution of the Guizot's Lectures, &c.

sabbath on a community like our own unquestionably is, if we reflect, we shall see that it is designed to have a ten-fold greater influence in a land peopled by a race in ignorance of revealed religion.

The observance of the sabbath is essentially a public acknowledgment of belief in the God who made the heavens and the earth; and the institution of the christian sabbath necessarily implies a profession of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Every seventh day, therefore, an unostentatious proclamation of the true God was made in India; the recurrence of a day of rest and refreshment for man and beast, after the labour of the week, necessarily awakened curiosity and inquiry among the heathen dwellers in the British territory. However questionable, therefore, what is called sabbath legislation may be in this kingdom, we are inclined to think that Lord Wellesley performed his duty as a Christian governor in the regulation which he directed in his letter to Sir Alured Clarke, which has formed the subject of a separate chapter.

Lord Wellesley knew the character of the native population too well to attempt, or sanction, any indiscreet intermeddling with the deep-rooted prejudices of the Hindoo and Mahommedan races; he wisely refrained from unnecessary interference with their religious feelings; but trusted to the slow and silent operation

To such a length was this fear of hurting the prejudices of the natives, or interfering with their religious feelings carried, that up to the year 1845 the British Government in India were bound to punish with deprivation of goods, &c.., according to the provisions of the Hindoo and Mohammedan laws, a native who became a convert to the Christian religion. The lex loci of Sir Henry Hardinge, Bart. has happily put an end to this unjust and anomalous practice.