cerns of your institution, is not confined | to the public of this country. It is an object of attention to a large portion of the public of England, and of Europe. In tracing the causes of the singular success with which this great and distant empire is governed with so much apparent ease, and preserved in such tranquillity, the attention of every observer must be arrested by those institutions which are destined to form the fu. ture legislators and statesmen of India, and which have already contributed so largely to the general improvement in the administration of its affairs. The institutions of Hertford and Fort William will necessarily become objects of the deepest interest. The institution of Hertford has but very lately been subjected to the minutest scrutiny of the public at home, and it has passed the ordeal with an increase of honour and reputation which, to those who from its effects in this country see its value, cannot but be a source of high gratification. I have sought to give in this address a faithful exposition of the present state of our collegiate establishment. I feel myself perfectly satisfied with its condition in all its branches, and I have told you whence my satisfaction arose. To disguise or colour any circumstance that might elucidate the character of this institution would be a fraud on the public, to which I would never lend myself. The College must stand upon the unreserved exposure of its management and product. It need not fear to invite the judgment of the world as it is, and as it ever will be, so long as it is conducted on its present principles." Merchants' Caravan Plundered. laks of rupees in gold: so that the gallant army which reduced the fortress had lost all hopes of considerable prize money. The tremendous shock caused by the explosion of the magazine, is mentioned in several letters from various military stations. At Agra it was both seen and felt. It was felt at Bareilly, at Delhi, and distinctly even at Meerut, although distant a hundred and fifty miles. The unexpected and striking fall of this strong hold is said to have plunged all the neighbouring native principalities, not excepting Bhurtpore, into the greatest amazement. Eleven forts followed the example of Moorsan; and in the whole of the Dooab, there remained not a single place inclined to dispute the sovereignty of our arms.-Bombay Courier. Important Document. lying to the east of Delhi, (noticed in No. The reduction of Hattrass, a strong fort XXXIX. p. 481), has given rise to the following statement, respecting the circumstances which led to the employment of a military force against this place. Fort William, March 15, 1817.-In directing the publication of the following official dispatches, regarding the late military operations against Hattrass, the Governor General in Council deems it proper to state for general information, the circumstances which led to the employment of a military force against that place. By the treaty of peace concluded with Dowlut Row Scindiah, on the 30th of December, 1803, certain territories in the Dooab and on the right bank of the river Jumna, which had been conquered by the British India Company, in full sovereignty; the fort arms, were ceded to the honourable the East of Hattrass and certain lands in its vicinity included within those territories, were at that period in the possession of Thakoor Dyaram. The relations which subsisted between that Talookdar and the government of Dowlut Row Scindiah, differed in no repect from those of the other landholders in the territories ceded to the British government, and no conditions or stipulations were made either A caravan of merchants proceeding from Bhugly to Duntoor, has been plundered by Mudu Khan, the son of Rajah Mahud Ally Khan, and a body of freebooters. Nund Singh and Rajah Shadman Khan with a large force, proceeded to Bhurwannah, with an intent, as our news writer states, "to murder Rajah Futteh Ali Khan." The latter was however prepared for their reception, and repelled the attack, with considerable slaughter. Nund Singh had thereupon retired to Raol-with Dyaram himself, or with the former gopundy. Moorsan delivered up. This place was delivered up to General Marshall on the 5th of April. It is fully as strong, and somewhat larger than Hattrass, the capture of which we noticed in No. XXXIX. p. 381. Its bastions were blown down and the ditch General Marshall was on his return to Cawn- vernment of the country, which would operate to relax the ties of allegiance due from Dyaram to the British government, or to entitle him to claim any exemption from the general laws enacted for the government of the territories in question. Actuated however by considerations connected with the former habits and prejudices of Dyaram, government forbore to exercise its undoubted right of insisting on the immediate demolition of the fort of Hattrass, and on the reduction of the large military establishment maintained by him. It was naturally expected that Dyaram, finding himself fully protected by the British power against the administration of just laws from any viothe danger of foreign invasion, and secured by * T'hakoor, under the Mogul Emperors' signified a feudatory chieftain. lation of his private rights, would cease to feel any adequate motive for retaining a military force, and would of himself gradually disband his armed retainers and allow his fort to go to decay. Similar considerations induced go. vernment to sanction an adjustment of the revenue of Dyaram's estate on the most liberal and favourable terms, and to postpone the introduction into his estate of the system of preventive police which was adopted generally in other parts of the country. It was hoped that these acts of special indulgence, combined with the forbearance and consideration uniformly manifested to him by the public officers, would by degrees conciliate his attachment to government, and secure his prompt obedience to the local authorites. The just and reasonable expectations which government had entertained on this subject, have been entirely disappointed. until the evening of the 10th of February, when he immediately commenced preparations for the defence of the forte and guuge of Hatrass. On the 11th of February Mr. Shakspear, under the instructions which he had received from government, directed Dyaram to send an authorized agent for the purpose of learning the intentions of government. The fort of Hatrass was invested by the troops of government on the morning of the 12th, at which time two agents on the part of Dyaram attended Mr. Shakspear. To those persons Mr. Shakspear fully explained the causes which had led to the assemblage of the troops, and delivered to them a written memorandum to the same effect as the verbal communication. In this communication Dyaram was informed, that government had deemed it indispensably necessary to introduce regular police establishments throughout his estate. To inDyaram has pursued a course of proceeding sist on the effectual demolition of the defences systematically directed to the aggrandizement of the fort and gunge of Hattrass, and on the of his personal power and influence, by evad-di-baudment of the large military force entering and contumaciously resisting the orders of tained by him. The hopelessness of any atthe constituted authorities, as well as by as- tempt on his part to resist the execution of suming and exercising powers entirely incon- those measures was also pointed out to him, sistent with his relative situation as a subject and he was informed that by such resistance of the British government. The commission he would place himself in the situation of a rebel to government, and would expose himof heinous crimes perpetrated by the servants self and his adherents to the penalties of the of Dyaram, or by persons residing on his estate, has been purposely withheld from the law, including the loss of his estate, and the forfeiture of all claim to pardon. Dyaram knowledge of the magistrate; robbers, murwas at the same time informed that if he imderers, and other notorious criminals have been skreened and protected by him from the mediately submitted to the measures prepursuit of justice; he has exercised an illegal scribed by government, it was not intended to authority in confining in the fort of Hatrass, make any alteration in the liberal terms on and in arbitrarily punishing individuals at his which he then held his Zemindaree,* nor to resume his Jageer,† nor to inquire into his own discretion; he has contemptuously resist ed and rendered nugatory the orders and pro- past misconduct; that he would be permitted to retain possession of his private property, cesses of the courts of justice. The officers and to occupy the houses and buildings in of government have been denied access to the fort and gunge of Hattrass, and many subjects the interior of the fort; that he would reof the British government have been thus deceive from government a reasonable compenprived of the protection to which they were entitled; crimes have been unpunished, and civil injuries unredressed. The repeated warnings and admonitions addressed to Dyaram by the local officers and by government itself, have failed to produce any permanent effect; and some recent instances of gross misconduct and insolent contumacy on the part of Dyaram, compelled the government to adopt the resolution of introducing regular police establishments within his estate-of insisting on the disbandment of the large military force entertained by him, and on the demolition of the fortifications of Hattrass. On the 27th of December last, instructions were accordingly issued to Mr Shakspear, the superintendent of police in the western provinces, to carry the resolutions above alluded to into effect; and with a view of discouraging and of eventually overcoming any resistance to the measures in question, arrangements were at the same time adopted for assembling an adequate military force in the immediate vicinity of Hattrass. T'hakoor Dyaranı does not appear to have been apprized of the destination of the troops, sation for the military stores, cannon, and other arms in his possession, and that government would be disposed to permit him to retain such a number of armed men, as might on consideration be deemed sufficient for his personal convenience, and for other legitimate purposes; and finally, that if his future conduct should be consistent with the established laws, and if he should manifest due obedience to the local officers, he would be treated with. that courtesy and consideration which government is always disposed to shew to persons in his situation. The replies to this and subsequent communications contained general assurances, that Dyaram would not resist the authority of government; and on the 13th, Dyaram sent by • Zemindaree, the country farmed by a Zemindar, which, under the Moguls, was some times of a great extent, and formed into a kind of county, having its own courts and particular jurisdictions. + Jageer, an estate granted during pleasure. by the Mogul Emperors. the party that poor Capt. B. was really still in existence; and this doubt was further increased, when several persons observed a marked expression of deep regre upon the countenance of the savage, when he saw what he might have procured for his prisoner if it had been in his power now to deliver him up. The mangled remains of a body supposed to be Capt. Barker's was afterwards found in the woods, and committed to the deep, with the usual ceremonies. The natives of Engano are but little, if at They are covetous of all kinds of old clothes, though neither males nor females wear any covering whatever. Their houses are raised from the ground, circular, and resemble beehives. They have no rice, and did not like the hands of his Vakeels, the keys of the fort; with an intimation that he was prepared to surrender it. In compliance with his own request, aud at the suggestion of his Vakeels, a small party of Sepoys was at ten o'clock at night sent to take possession of the gate of the fort, and the Vakeels engaged that the British troops should be put in possession of the whole of the works on the ensuing morning. Instead, however, of fulfilling this engagement, the party of Sepoys which had been sent to take possession of the gate, was detained on the outside of the fort the whole night, a bat-all, removed from a state of savage nature. talion of Dyaram's troops with guns, was drawn up on each side of the way to the gate, and hostile preparations were in the mean time actively carried on in the fort. The party of Sepoys was in consequence recalled on the morning of the 14th, and Dyaram was inform-what was given them. They have no fireed, that if he did not surrender the fort within 48 hours, or by 12 o'clock on the 16th, no further communication would be received from him, and that he would be responsible for the consequences of his rebellion. During this interval, every practicable attempt was made to induce Dyaram to comply with the orders of government, but without success; and the whole tenor of the communications from Lya ram clearly shewed, that he was merely en deavouring to gain time for a more effectual defence. Under these circumstances a shot was fired at the fort about ten o'clock on the 16th, in order to mark the expiration of the period above specified. The estate of Dyaram was placed under attachment, and martial law was proclaimed." Loss of the Union-Engano. The shipwreck of the Union was noticed in No. XXXIX. (p. 481); we now give some account of the means adopted to rescue the remainder of the crew from that desolate situation at Engano. The ship Good Hope being dispatched from Sumatra to Engano, arrived there in safety after a tedious voyage, and by making presents to the natives, suc ceeded in bringing off thirty of the crew who were saved from the wreck by the natives. arms, but each man is armed with a dreadful spear and a knife; and it is said they procure these knives from Javanese boats. It is reported, by some of those saved, that Captain Barker promised the Noquedah of one of these boats a thousand dollars to receive him on board, and land him any where he (the Noquedah) pleased, which was not complied with. When one part of the island is at war with another, the women are still allowed to pass and repass without molestation. They are very fond of red cloth, of blue, white, and green beads, and of white cloth, but they do not seem much to care for coloured chintz, small sized axes, or for kuives that do not clasp; they do not appear much to value bar iron, brass wire, or looking glasses. They eat fish as they catch it, without cleaning or dressing. They are treacherous, for they made an attempt to cut off one of the ship's boats, which was going ashore injudiciously without an armed guard, to carry breakfast to some gentlemen who were on the island; on this occasion one or two lives were lost, and one man severely wounded, al from the ship, and it was much feared that this would have put an end to the negociations; not a native, however, was injured, and as they saw retaliation was not intended, they reopened the intercourse. The Storm and the Monkey. By dint of repeated inquiry for Captain Barker, it was at last reported that he had been ordered by his master to ascend a lofty cocoa nut tree to bring down toddy, and that when he had got to the top of the tree he fell o'clock, after a most violent storm of thunder On the night of the 3d of April, about 11 down, and was so seriously injured as to he quite incapable of further work; upon find-board His Majesty's sloop Lyra, lying at the and lightning, a very severe shock was felt on ing this to be the case, the brutal savage sewed him up in a mat, and threw him into the woods, there to perish; this was declared to have happened only eight or ten days before the arrival of the Good Hope. One day the native who was known to have been the master of Captain Barker came on board, and desired to be shewn what would be given to him if he delivered up his captive; of course a rich present was exhibited to him, although it was scarcely believed by any of * Agents employed to negociate: they are generally versed in the law. New Anchorage, also a tremulous motion never before experienced.-This was repeated a second and third time with increasing force ; the officers who were in bed, assembled on and so great was the alarm occasioned, that deck; and together with the men unani. mously attributed it to the effect of an earthquake. Terror was now visible on every countenance. The time was accurately noted on the log board, and expectation sat anxiously waiting the result. When lo! the awakened optics of the sentinel on the forecastle discovered the foremast rigging in a state of violent agitation, and while thunderbolts, earth quakes, &c still ran in his disordered fancy, at length traced the source of the universal consternation, to be the motion produced on the shrouds by the capering exertions of a monkey! Tempestuous Weather. On the 21st March, one of the most violent thunder and hail storms experienced for several years occurred. It was followed by torrents of rain, which have done great injury to the spring grain crop, and the new sowu indigo lands. We are sorry to learn, that in almost every district between Ludhiana and the Presidency, the prospects of what is termed the Rubee harvest have been ruined by heavy falls of rain. By the same cause, the Mango blossom has been almost entirely destroyed; and every native, rich and poor, looks blank at the apprehended want of a fruit, which is one of the few real delicacies supplied by bountiful nature in this paradise of the world. Calcutta School Book Society: A few individuals engaged in the Establishing and supporting Schools, for the instruction of Native Children, having found a great obstacle to their exertions, in the want of lessons and books in the Native Languages, suited to the capacities of the young, or at all adapted to the purposes of enlightening their minds, or improving their morals, proposals have been circulated for a subscription, for the publication of elementary books in the Bengalee and Hindostanee Languages. The favourable reception which the plan has met with, has encouraged its friends to propose an immediate extension of it, so as to include the several Languages, English, as well as Asiatic, which are, or may be taught in the provinces subject to the Presidency of Fort William. Preliminary Rules of the Calcutta School- 1. That an association be formed, to be denominated The Calcutta School-Book Society. 2. That the objects of this Society be the preparation, publication, and cheap or gratuitous supply of works, useful in schools and seminaries of learning. 3. That it form no part of the design of this Institution, to furnish religious books,-a restrictiou, however, very far from being meant to preclude the supply of moral tracts, or works of a moral tendency, which, without interfering with the religious sentiments of any person, may be calculated to enlarge the understanding and improve the character. conducted by a Committee of Managers, to be elected aunually at a meeting, to be held in the first week of May. 6. That all persons of whatever nation, subscribing any sum annually to the Funds of the Institution, shall be considered Members of the Society, be entitled to vote at the annual election of Managers, and he themselves eligible to the Committee. with take measures to make the Institution more generally known, in order to procure it the pecuniary support of all classes of the community, and the aid of the labours and advice of learned men, both at the Presidency and in the Provinces. 11. That the Provisional Committee forth 12. That the Provisional Committee add to their own body, such a number of respectable Natives of India, as they may judge convenient. lated into the Native Languages, under the Resolved, that the foregoing rules be transsuperintendence of the Provisional Committee, and published for general information. In pursuance of the 12th Rule, the following Native Gentlemen took their seats, on the 13th of May, as Members of the Provisional Committee; viz. Muoluvce Umeenoollah, We understand that the British Government' in India, with its usual liberality, and a due consideration of existing circumstances, has been pleased to distribute between the distressed inhabitants of Chandernagore all the funds proceeding from French estates during the war, to which there were no heirs apparent. MADRAS. Surrender of Durwan. From a Madras paper, dated the 23d of August last, we learn, that the important fortress of Durwan surrendered, without firing a shot, to the advance of Colonel Pritzier's force, un der the command of Major Newall. Kishoul has also been given up. The inhabitants of the surrounding country expressed great satisfaction at the prospect of being taken under the protection of the British Government. The troops, in camp, are represented to have experienced much inconvenience from the rains that had fallen. Natural History of the Lizard. A correspondeut in the Madras Courier, communicates the following circumstance, which he hopes, may protect this harmless, nay useful insect, in future, from being either 4. That the attention of the Society be directed, in the first instance, to the providing of suitable books of instruction, for the use of Native Schools, in the several languages, (Eng-wantonly injured or destroyed. lish, as well as Asiatic,) which are or may be taught in the provinces subject to the Presidency of Fort William. 5. That the business of the institution be "My tent.having remained pitched on the same spot for a length of time, a small lizard, of the species known amongst Europeans at the presidency by the name of the Brahminy lizard, became in a great degree domesticated, | Death of Sabat. as The following brief narrative of the circumstances attending the latter days of the cele brated SABAT, whose conversion to Christianity, and subsequent apostacy, have been so much the theme of conversation in the East, cannot fail of interesting our readers. But spectability. A short time ago, the son of Synd Hossyn, a merchant, proceeded from Penang to Acheen, and succeeded in wresting from a Rajah the possession of his provinces; and the dethroned Rajah was obliged to seek refuge at Penang ;-but no person feeling interested in his fate, or making any enquiry respecting his condition, he continued on board the vessel which had conveyed him from his native country. Sabat and Haman-ibni-Salim, another Arab, having opened a communication with the exiled Rajah, engaged to return with him to Achcen, but the followers or attendants of the rajah, for some unspecified reason, turned the two Arabs on shore on a neighbouring island. When the son of Syud Hossyn heard that the Rajah was returning, and had landed two Arabs, he dispatched his people to apprehend them, and, probably conceiving them to be associated with his enemy to expel him from the throne, placed them in close confiuement. This is the substance of the news that had reached Penang when the merchant who communicates these particulars was there. on his voyage back to this port, he was informed that the usurper above noticed, after having On renouncing the religion which he had kept the wretched sufferers in prisou six months, embraced with all the zeal and fervor of a man had ordered them to he tied up in a sack filled sincerely persuaded of its truth, he was with heavy stones and thrown into the sea! shameless as to write and print a book, declarOther accounts, which concur generally with ing that he only became a convert, to comprethe foregoing, state that Sabat joined the usurhend and expose the doctrines of Christianity, per, and having been discovered in carrying on interspersing through the pages of his work ina scheme to overthrow the new authority in temperate abuse of many respectable gentlefavour of himself, he was punished with the men who had been his benefactors. He imme- horrible death already described. The story diately left Calcutta, visited Ava, and Pegu, of the revolution in Acheen, my be erroneand a short time afterwards was found to have ously stated, but all the reports agree respecttaken up his residence in an obscure quartering the fate of the unhappy apostate."-Maof Penang. There, if we can believe his own dras Courier, July 29, 1817. declarations, he began to feel the compunction and remorse of conscience, which he attempted to describe in his communications with several persons on that island. He stated that he never could be happy till he had made atonement for his offences, and had been received back into the church he had so shamefully abandoned. In a letter which he published in the Penang Gazette of the 9th of March, 1816, he had the effrontery to avow himself a true believer in Christianity! notwithstanding the book he published contained a refutation of Christianity-a refutation of the Divinity of Christ-a refutation of the objections of both Jews and Christians to the divine mission of Mahommed-proofs of his mission-and-his own profession of faith! From other sources of information, however, we understand that he testified extraordinary devotion as a Soonce, the sect of Mahommudans, of which he was an original member. But in all his recent wanderings in different parts of Ava, Pegu, and Sumatra, it seems that the renown of his apostacy soon destroyed the friendly connections he had formed on its first appearance, and in every place of sojourn he became finally despised and neglected. The following particulars, which describe the latest circumstances of his life, are derived from a native merchant of re The Alchymist. The following singular fraud was sometime since committed on a credulous, but wealthy native of Madras, by a man pretending to be an Alchymist; a profession, we had thought, long since exploded. He was prosecuted at the late Sessions at Madras, but no evidence was gone into; a correct statement of the case, however, has appeared in the Ladras Courier, of August 5, 1817, which, for its singularity, and the art and cunuing displayed by the of fender, deserves to be recorded. This man was a native, thought to possess, as is generally the case with characters of this stamp, more wit and cunning than pagodas. He was a Byragee, professing also to be an Alchymist, and to understand the valuable and generally supposed impenetrable secret of the transmutation of the inferior metals into gold and silver-having discovered a person suited to his purpose, one whom he seems to have considered the reverse of himself-as having more pagodas than cunning; he, (according to the prosecutor's statement), asks alms at the door of his house, and obtained what he asked; he visits the house again, and being * treated kindly, he tells the owner, if he will furnish a small piece of silver, he will put it |