the will of the sovereign; and though every man's title dies with himself, yet no people are fonder of titles, nor behave with greater arrogance when clothed with a little brief authority. The third class, or priesthood, seems, says our author, never to have acquired an undue and pernicious influence in society. The tenure of land depends upon the will of its proprietor, and the condition of the peasantry is determined by the utility and necessity of their labour to their superiors. Among themselves they live on terms of much equality; and in some parts of Java, the village is a kind of corporation in which the chief officers, including the priest, are elected by the cultivators of the soil. The class of debtors are such as voluntarily or by the laws of their country mortgage their services for a certain period to discharge some obligation, which they have no other way of liquidating. "Their condition is in fact a mitigated kind of slavery." Slavery, in the true sense of the term, exists in all the islands, except Java, and constitutes the sixth class into which society is distributed. "The origin of this state is referable to four heads -prisoners of war-debtors who cannot redeem themselves criminals condemned to slavery by sentences of courts of law-and persons kidnapped."

The revenue of the islands is derived from a land-tax, poll-taxes, and taxes on consumption. That from land is the most important. The impost is regarded as the price of superintending the water of irrigation; but much of the land is unclaimed and uncultivated. The amount of the poll-tax is a mere trifle. In Java a direct tax is imposed on fisheries, and on all goods exposed to sale in the public markets.

The laws of the islanders are a mixture of the Hindu and Arabic law. The supreme court of justice at the seat of government consists of four persons called " the nails which fix the kingdom"-the sovereign-his minister-the high priest-and the judge of common law. The court is open, and held in the portico of the principal mosque. Civil disputes are settled in the inferior courts, rather by arbitration than by judicial process. In all important cases the evidence is reduced to writing, and the

whole procedure conducted with calm. ness, deliberation, and decorum. The punishments are various, often arbitrary, and cruel. Mutilation is inflicted for theft, and death, by strangulation, and stabbing with the kris, is, in too many cases, wantonly awarded.

The commerce of the Archipelago, in all its bearings and relations, is treated of at great length. And as the author brought his personal experience, in an especial manner, to this part of the subject, we have reason to be satisfied that his facts were well ascertained, and his speculations entitled to respect; though we could have wished he had been less disposed to vituperation, and appealed with greater frequency to the sources of his own information. His strictures on the impolicy of monopoly and restriction would, we are confident, have commended themselves to his readers with more persuasive influence, had they been given with less acrimonious keenness of language. The account of the commerce of the islands, however, is a very valuable part of the work before us, and fraught with information both to the philosopher and the merchant; and is especially acceptable at this time as the benefits of free trade, in a national point of view, are beginning not only to be understood but recognised, and even to be partially enjoyed.

The account of the internal commerce of the country is curious. Trade is honourable, and the higher class of dealers are remarkable for fairness, spirit, and integrity. In Java, the women are almost the sole merchants and brokers. The markets present scenes of great bustle and activity; for besides the numerous venders and purchasers, artisans, such as blacksmiths, goldsmiths, braziers, dyers, and many others, mingle in the throng in quest of employment. The islanders have commercial intercourse with several of the Asiatic nations, and chiefly with China. The trade, of all others, the Chinese are the least jealous of, is that of the Indian islands. This trade is carried on from the maritime province of Fokien; and the cargo of a junk (or Chinese vessel) is the property of several individuals, each having his share stowed in a se parate compartment of the junk.

"The articles of importation from Chi

na may be enumerated in the order of their importance, as follow: Black tea, coarse porcelain, wrought iron, principally in the form of culinary vessels, (kwali,) cotton cloths, raw silk, wrought silk, brass-ware, paper, books, paint, shoes, fans, umbrellas, and toys. The articles of the return cargo are far more numerous, and may be said indeed to embrace, without exception, every article of the produce of the Archipelago. The most prominent are the following: Black pepper, cloves, mace, and nutmegs, long pepper, clove bark, ebony, sandal, sapan, and Agila wood, benzoin, camphor, ivory, tin, rattans, Kawul, or tinder of the Gomute palm, betel-nut, beeswax, Gambir, and cotton wool, agar-a-gar, or sea-weed, tripang, or sea-slug, edible birds' nests, jerk-beef, or dendeng, sharks' fins, fish maws, rhinoceros' horns and hides, ox and buffalo hides and horns, tortoiseshell, gold-dust, silver coins, European woollens and cottons, &c."

Vol. III. p. 181. This commerce engages 30,000 tons of shipping.

The trade with the Hindus is of old date, and comprehends cargoes consisting of betel-nut, damar, beeswax, ivory, lignum-aloes, Indian frankincense, cloves, nutmegs, and mace, black pepper, and tin. The trade of Arabia with the East is at present confined to a few ports of the western islands. Arabia, a poor country, has no commodities to exchange, but the genius and enterprise of its people. A few dried fruits are occasionally brought, and the rest of the investment is in bullion. The returns are cloves and nutmegs, black pepper, frankincense, betel-nut, rice, sugar, and the manufactures of Europe and China.

"Down to the close of the fifteenth century, the consumers of Europe were igno

rant of the name and situation of the countries which produced the commodities on which they set so high a value. The great discovery of Vasco di Gama, in 1498, changed the commercial history of the world, which had remained nearly stationary for three thousand years; and fourteen years thereafter the Portuguese obtained the first cargo of spices on the spot where they grew." Vol. III. p. 212.

In the first English voyage the whole subscribers were 237, the greater part of whom for sums under I.. 300. The subscribers, in the second joint stock company, were 954, of whom 338 were merchants; and the rest adventurous" dukes and

earls, knights, judges, privy counsellors, countesses, and ladies, doctors of divinity and physic, widows, and virgins." The company had no naval or military protection from government, but was invested with a portion of sovereign authority, and hence the origin of the monopolies granted to the Indian commerce by the nations of Europe. Mr Crawfurd thinks great advantages will arise to the trade from the partial freedom which it now enjoys; and is a zealous advocate for entire liberty. Were that the case, our manufactures (at least many of them) would find a market in the East. We should enjoy the tea, spiceries, and other produce of those fertile regions at an immensely cheaper rate; we should constitute a nursery for the training of skilful seamen ; and reap a variety of other advanta ges.

Such is a brief survey of the subjects contained in "The History of it must be obvious, that many things the Indian Archipelago." And though are omitted, and others treated of ceeded in giving such a view of the slightly, yet we trust we have sucin Oriental literature, and those who work, as to induce those who delight design to extend their commercial adthemselves of the valuable informaventures to the Archipelago, to avail tion with which it is so well fitted to furnish them.

DESCRIPTION OF A STORM.
FROM MARCIAN COLONNA.

THERE was a tempest brooding in the air Far in the west. Above, the skies were fair,

And the sun seemed to go in glory down: One small black cloud (one only) like a

crown,

Touched his descending disk, and rested there.'

Slow then it came along, to the great wind Rebellious, and (although it blew and blew) It came increasing, and across the blue Spread its dark shape, and left the sun behind

The day-light sank, and the winds wailed about

The barque wherein the luckless couple

And from the distant cloud came scattering lay,

out

Rivers of fire; it seemed as though the day Had burst from out the billows, far away. No pilot had they their small boat to steer Aside from rocks, no sea-worn mariner

Who knew each creek and bay and sheltering steep,

And all the many dangers of the deep. They fled for life, (for happiness is life,) And met the tempest in his hour of strife, Abroad upon the waters: they were driven Against him by the angry winds of heaven: And all around the clouds, the air, the sea Rose from unnatural dead tranquillity, And came to battle with their legions: Hail

Shot shattering down, and thunders roared aloud,

And the wild lightning from his dripping shroud

Unbound his arrowy pinions blue and pale, And darted through the heavens: Below, the gale

Sang like a dirge, and the white billows lashed

The boat, and then like ravenous lions dashed

Against the deep wave-hidden rocks, and told

Of ghastly perils as they backward rolled.

FANNY has had a letter from her brother George, who considers himself exceedingly aggrieved, by not having, as yet, had the honour of a particular introduction to your knowledge,-an honour he was the more ambitious of, as, from literary habits and similarity of tastes, he could the more highly appreciate its value. As the vacation at Oxford is commenced, we shall soon have him at home; and, in the meantime, I will make the best amends I can for my seeming neglect of him, by giving you a detailed account of him. Of his birth and parentage, you have already been sufficiently informed; and as to his education, perhaps the less I say about that the better; for, like the Vicar of Wakefield's son Moses, he received a very miscellaneous one. You may remember that my own education was much neglected, of which I so often felt the disadvantage, that I was the more desirous that my children should be well brought up. As soon as my eldest son was born, I applied myself earnestly to the study of every book on education that had ever been written; and you may easily suppose, my dear Sir, with what a medley of theories and hypotheses my poor head was soon bewildered. Luckily for my two eldest children, they slipt through my fingers into the hands of the goI could satisfy or mature my ideas on verness and the schoolmaster, before so many different systems; so that the whole violence of my experiments

fell on my unfortunate son George, whom I took into my own hands as soon as he was dismissed from the nursery. I was not entirely satisfied with regard to Rousseau's plan, still I thought it worth a little trial, and accordingly the child was to leave off stockings and learn to chop wood; but he soon got such terrible chilblains, and acquired so many vulgarisms from the man who was to teach him his trade, that this experiment lasted a very short time. I then began to make him a wit and a philosopher, by teaching him all things, and every thing by word of mouth, without applying to the use of books, as reading I deemed to be an after consideration. My wife, as I have already said, was no great talker, so that the whole fatigue of this method of instruction would have fallen on me, had I not found a willing coadjutor in my sister Eleanor, who was now in her element, haranguing and teaching, and tutoring, from morning till night. At last the time came when he was to learn to read; but what between the two newly invented methods of teaching by sounds and teaching by signs, that is by pictures, I got so completely puzzled, and had so much to learn and unlearn myself, that, after labouring for six months, and calling the boy an incorrigible dunce, I gave up the matter in despair; when a sister of my wife's, a good kind of unpretending woman, took him in hand, and by the help of a common spelling-book, taught him in three months to read as well as most children of his age. Being satisfied now that he was not a dunce, I undertook him once more, with the intention of making him a prodigy, and I was myself astonished at the number of lines and pages he could learn by rote; till I found he forgot them as fast as he had learnt them. There was, however, one particular ode of Horace (I remember it was the 7th of the 4th Book. "Diffugere nives," &c.) that he could repeat before company, and what with that, and some flaming passages his aunt had hammered into his head from the Political Register, he passed off amongst our acquaintance as a marvellously clever boy. At length it be came time to determine the important question between private and pub lic education, and to give each a fair

trial, I resolved to try both, and began with a private tutor; but I was soon obliged to give up this arrangement. The young man, who had both sense and spirit, would not submit, as I had done, to be directed by Mrs Eleanor, so my only way to restore tranquillity in my house was to send George to Eton, and, I must in candour say, he gained more in the four years he spent there, than in the fourteen he had passed at home. He has now been two years at Oxford, and I have every reason to be highly satisfied with his conduct; he has very fair abilities, is extremely studious, and has an excellent disposition ;-he has, however, one fault that I must not conceal, which is, that he is so enthusiastically fond of poetry, that he is often making verses when he ought to be making himself agreeable; and in company, unless the subject interests him, instead of taking part in the conversation, his thoughts are wandering in the clouds with Apollo and the Muses, unless a favourite theme happens to be touched on, and then he breaks forth in such a strain of eloquence and enthusiasm, as astonishes those who hear him ; but, in spite of all this, he is very justly beloved by us all, though we never know whether he hears one word in ten that we say, but that may be our faults, for not making ourselves more entertaining.

While I was writing the last sentence, Fanny came into my study with a letter from George, giving a very diverting account of the hubbub and confusion of London, but as you see all this detailed at length in the newspapers, I will not trouble you with it, nor with an epigram of his own, on her Majesty's mob, though it was thought very witty by his mother and aunt, who each took it in the sense she best understood, but will proceed to give you some extracts from a part of his letter that had interested me more than political squabbles and political quibbles. "Amidst all this bustle I have not found time to read any thing, with the exception of the Life of the late Mr Edgeworth, and I advise you, my dear Fanny, to lose no time in perusing it, if you have not already read it; and do not throw the book down because you feel disappointed with the first volume. The first volume is written by himself,

and though he may have been the best dancer, the best archer, the best mechanic the best engineer, and the best conjuror in the world, yet it is unpleasing to be told so by the man himself; but in the second volume, which is written by his daughter, these praises, coming from another, do not shock one so much, and one is willing to believe that Mr Edgeworth was most agreeable as a companion,useful as a country gentleman, and judicious as a parent. There are certainly some highly useful lessons to be gained from the book, not to mention that it is one of the most entertaining pieces of biography I ever read. He was a man who made himself happy, because he was always usefully employed; and beloved, because he was always cheerful and good humoured. He went on from day to day, and year to year, improving himself, and he never thought he was too old to acquire fresh knowledge. His practice reminds me of a passage in Madame de Sevigne, which, as you may not like to wade through the six volumes of her letters to find, I will transcribe: Je ne puis souffrir que les vielles gens disent, Je suis trop vieux pour me corriger: Je pardonnerois plutôt aux jeunes gens de dire, "Je suis trop jeune.' La jeunesse, est si aimable qu'il faudroit l'adorer si l'ame et esprit etoient aussi parfaits que la corps. Mais quand on n'est plus jeune, c'est alors qu'il faut se perfectionner et tacher de regagner par les bonnes qualites ce qu'on perd du côté des agréables. Il y a long temps que j'ai fait ces reflections, et par cette raison je veux tous les jours travailler à mon esprit, à mon ame, à mon cœur, et à mes sentimens.' There is also another truly delightful picture to contemplate in these volumes, and that is the picture of family harmony, that reigned through so large a domestic circle; for he had four wives and many children by each: But what charms me most of all is Miss Edgeworth herself. Such perfect abandonment of all authorlike vanity, -such entire absence of selfishness and devotedness to her father!-all this elevates the mind, and gives it something to reflect upon above the littleness of common life, but here the enchantment ends. You vainly look about for a something that is wanting; that something, without

崇

which nothing can be permanent ;for without religious principle, what is there to depend upon? Whim, caprice, temper, temptation, self-interest, may throw down the beauteous fabric in an instant ;-there is no certain stay,-no rock of sure defence,— but religion;-where that is, you feel secure, you feel there is something that is proof against all worldly uncertainties. I ought not to forget that Miss E., with a proper tenderness to her father's character, says he was not without religion, and was grateful to God for all his many blessings, and I hope it was so; but still I looked in vain to see where the power of religion influenced his conduct. I remember I was struck with the same doubts, when I read the Essay on Practical Education; else why,-instead of all the complicated machinery there recommended, for leading the youthful mind to truth and virtue,— why not substitute the all-powerful, the all-simple, the all-comprehensive law, of Duty to God?' perhaps, because this was a lesson that could be taught by the most ignorant and unlettered person; and there is more ingenuity in trying to arrive at the same ends by means of human contrivance, instead of by the law of God. But is this not like attempting to mount to heaven by a Tower of Babel, or tottering crumbling work of men's hands, instead of being raised above the flood in the ark of divine authority? Do not, however, be deterred by what I have said from reading the book, for it is more the absence of what is right, than the presence of what is hurtful, that I complain of. There are, however, some circumstances relating to Mr E.'s second and third marriages, that one cannot but regret, and I need not anticipate what your own sentiments will be on reading them. In justification, or rather palliation of his avowed attachment to Honora Sneyd, dur-` ing the lifetime of his first wife, one may suppose he led a very irksome life with her: still I cannot bring myself to think that the mother of such a woman (to judge of her by her writings) as Maria Edgeworth, could be either ill-tempered or disagreeable. If Miss Edgeworth should ever come to England, I would certainly take a

* By Mr and Miss Edgeworth.