ment required that the offended party should resign the vengeance of blood without the usual compensation in money, and the ceremony of the culprit's humiliation. This last reform was particularly opposed by the inhabitants of the district of Chermnitra, who by degrees rejected all the innovations, and returned to the ancient order of things, at which the Vladika was so incensed that he excommunicated several families. A German traveller who visited Montenegro in the summer of 1836, spoke with the chiefs of that district, who declared to him that when the Vladika visits them everything will be satisfactorily arranged, and the new institutions extended to their district; so that we hope that by this time the progress of civilization is going on without opposition in all Montenegro.

The following manner of proceeding against murderers has. been adopted by the present government. Though the communities refuse to seize and deliver up the culprits, or to permit the senate to pursue and imprison them, the government has at last succeeded in effecting so much, that the com-. munities no longer oppose the burning down the house of the murderer, and the confiscation of his cattle (generally the sole property of the Montenegrines), by which his family become free from the vengeance of blood: the murderer himself is outlawed, and the confiscated cattle divided amongst those who executed the sentence against him: although on account of this share in the confiscated property, many chiefs of villages, as well as other persons, present themselves to assist at the above-mentioned executions, there is always a long hesitation amongst them as to who shall take the lead. It happened once at Cettigne that an execution was delayed from day to day during a whole week; and generally nobody is willing to act until compelled by the authority of the Vladika. The murderer being thus deprived of home and property, generally seeks refuge in some remote cavern, where he leads a robber's life; many emigrate into Turkey, whither they are sometimes followed by their families. In other cases the unfortunate family of a murderer finds an asylum in the house of some relation. Barbarous and cruel as this measure of proceeding is, it is perhaps the only possible means of replacing by a legal order the state of society which still exists

in Montenegro. Whenever there is a possibility of catching the culprit, and of inflicting on him the merited punishment, the property of his family remains untouched. Thus in 1836 two malefactors were executed together at Cettigne, and the manner in which this execution was carried into effect is truly Montenegrine. Several hundred persons belonging to different districts were assembled, and they all fired their rifles together on the culprits, in order that their relations might not say, "Such a one has killed our kinsman": although the Montenegrines are justly celebrated as marksmen, and although they were in great numbers, and fired from a short distance, only one of the culprits was killed and the other wounded; the sentence, however, being considered as executed, he was cured of his wounds and set free.

Notwithstanding the sounding appellation of senate bestowed on the supreme council of Montenegro, a meeting of this illustrious assembly bears a much stronger resemblance to a council of North American Indians than to the house of peers in this country. The palace of the senate, or as it is simply called, "the senate," is an oblong stone building of one story, covered with thatch: it has two doors, one of which leads to an apartment used as a stable for oxen and donkies; the other door leads to two separate apartments: on entering that on the right, you will see it filled with bedsteads covered with straw for the use of the senators, whose rifles hang about the wall: the compartment to the left forms the state room: a stone bench runs along one of its walls, and in the midst there is a fire-place, round which the deliberations of the supreme council are generally held, and the dinner of its members cooked. When the Vladika assists at the deliberation, he usually occupies a seat on the stone bench covered with a rug: the senators sit near him on the same bench; whilst those who cannot find room there, as well as litigant parties, occupy low wooden stools or stones round the fire-place, and carry on their deliberations smoking their pipes. Whenever anything is to be committed to writing, the secretary of the Vladika is called in, and he either composes the necessary document in the convent, or writes it in the assembly, after the Turkish fashion, on his knees.

It is difficult to foresee whether the new reforms will gra

dually develop themselves, and change the condition of this interesting nation; or whether their innate love of freedom and aversion to every restraint will set at nought the salutary projects of their present ruler. The general spirit of improvement which is now pervading the world, induces us, however, to think that Montenegro will not resist its allpowerful influence.

We conclude this article with a cordial wish that some of our rambling countrymen would direct their wandering steps. towards a country which would amply repay their curiosity, and furnish materials for the pen of the author as well as for the pencil of the artist ;-a country which is, moreover, particularly interesting to the British public by its proximity to the Ionian islands; which, presenting a camp fortified by nature and occupied by a warlike tribe, may probably be destined to play an important part in some new political combination, which may arise at no distant period, from the present precarious state of the Ottoman Empire.

ARTICLE V.

Notes on Indian Affairs. By the HONOURABLE FREDERICK JOHN SHORE, Judge of the Civil Court and Criminal Sessions of the district of Furrukabad. 2 Vols. London, 1837. J. W. Parker.

SINCE the time when the splendid oratory of Mr. Burke inveighed against the arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British Government of India, there have been found but few who have possessed the moral courage openly to speak or write, what they knew or felt, upon that momentous subject. Of all the civil and military servants of the Honourable East India Company, not one, (talented as they are as a body) except the author of the work we propose to bring under notice in this article, has even hazarded a publication written upon his own experience of the working of the government measures-not one has dared to question the acts of the power he served; and though particular acts of legislation have been assailed, no comprehensive exposition of the whole system has ever been undertaken. Is this because all has been so prosperous that there was no fault to comment upon?-no point upon which blame could attach itself to the Indian government? Even if it were so, why should not the records of such a government have been displayed for the admiration of the world? The perfection of the Indian legislature would have been a proud monument of English ability, philanthropy and justice. Alas! we have too much cause to fear, both from our own personal observation, and Mr. Shore's notes, that it is the very contrary which has caused the silence-that no one possessed moral courage sufficient to drag the crude legislation and unknown acts of the government into public light, and in commenting upon them, and their consequences, to brave the displeasure or provoke the hostility of the body to which he belonged.

A few writers have here and there appeared during the lapse of years, a few biographies and histories have been published, which have served more to illustrate the progress of

acquisition and the triumph of conquest, than their effects in the amelioration or deterioration of the condition of the people. Until 1836 India had no press through which the acts of the government could be known or commented upon, and the arbitrary power which the government possessed of inflicting immediate banishment on the editors, (resorted to in more than one instance,) should any strictures upon its conduct appear in the public journals, was in general sufficient to deter them from attempting any exposition of its enactments or their practical effects. Indeed, in most cases, the editors of the newspapers were the servants of the government, and therefore it is exceedingly unlikely that they should ever have given public expression to their feelings, if they happened to be opposed to its acts.

In a late article in the Edinburgh Review upon the subject of India, written to illustrate the life of Lord Clive, the history of that period is exhibited in a powerful and graphic manner; and appears to the reader, as it was in reality, a succession of gorgeous scenes and mighty events, where princes of great power and wealth were set up or overthrown in a day, according to the caprice or necessity of a few, often unscrupulous adventurers, who made tools of them in order to gain their own ends. The history of India might be written as ably, as graphically, as tersely, by the same hand: the chapters would be brilliant and dazzling to the minds of the reader, but they would go far to prevent inquiry beyond the flattering surface. One inevitably rises from the perusal of writings of that character, with feelings of irresistible exultation at national success, of admiration of national ability, bravery and perseverance,-of pride at the manner in which the splendid commencement of our Indian empire, thus so vividly portrayed, has since been carried out. The shouts of men, the roar of cannon, the onward triumphant march of the victors, are present to our ideal vision, and we are hurried wonderingly on with the crowd, amazed at the power which guides us. All is bright around us, as the sun of the east clothes the glowing scene in splendour. We see elephants, horsemen in gay costumes, and hosts innumerable; armies led by gallant warriors, and fortresses hitherto impregnable, overthrown and despoiled by mere handfuls of British