tent to the whole of Europe, (exclusive of Russia,) with a population of more than one hundred and thirty millions,-all of them being "aliens in blood, language, and religion;" and many consisting of warlike tribes, so gallant and so brave, as to have again and again successfully repelled the combined hosts of the Moslem conquerors, with a heroism not unworthy of the best sons of Greece:-this vast region, with its myriads of inhabitants, situate, by the ordinary route, at a distance exceeding half the globe's circumference, has, to its uttermost borders, been subjected to the uncontrolled dominion of British sway! And how many British-born subjects are dispersed over so immense a territory,exercising government,-preserving peace,-administering justice,—and regulating the multiplied relationships, internal and external, of almost as many "peoples, and nations, and languages" as composed the Babylonian empire in the zenith of its glory? Are there as many as may be congregated within a few square miles, in a single city, such as London? No; including all governors, and judges, and magistrates— all military officers and common soldiers-all merchants and other uncovenanted residents whatsoever-there are not, in all India, so wide in extent and so densely peopled, above forty thousand British!—not as many British, as there are inhabitants in any one of the third or fourth rate towns or counties of the United Kingdom !-not as many British as there are inhabitants in the single town of Dundee, or the single county of Banff! And yet, so absolute and undisputed is the supremacy of the British sceptre-so regular and perfect the organization of the British power;-that one British-born subject, under the designation of Governor-General -who may never have trodden on the Indian soil-may embark on board a vessel in the Thames,-traverse fifteen thousand miles of ocean,-land at the mouth of the Ganges, -proceed along that mighty stream as far as Dover is from Gibraltar,-perch himself on one of the peaks of the Himalaya in Central Asia ;-and there, by a single word of his mouth, or a single stroke of his pen, as by the waving of the wand of an omnipotent Enchanter, set all the teeming

millions of India in motion!

Can the whole annals of time

furnish any thing parallel to this? If not; ought we not at once to conclude that Divine Providence has had some grand design in view, which it becomes us humbly to scan, and devoutly to prosecute?

It was not, as has been remarked, "till the British power had been settled on a basis that promised to be lasting, that the original conception of that distant land, as an Eldorado, and a country of enchantment, was completely broken. The regular intercourse with Europe which then ensued, and the formal routine of a European government on the soil of India, seemed to break the spell for ever."

But no sooner had the era of romantic imaginative interest closed, than a new era-even that of romantic literary interest-began to dawn. More strictly perhaps it may be said, that a total change of circumstances led, not to an extinguishment of the spirit of romance, but to a total change in the objects towards which it was directed. It would seem as if the spirit of the Crusades-the spirit of chivalry -the spirit of strange adventure-the spirit that incited to conquest and military glory-the spirit that regaled itself amid airy halls and golden palaces; it would seem as if the same romantic spirit had been transferred to the discovery of new worlds, and the conquest of new realms, and the excavation of new treasures from the unexplored mines of Oriental literature.

This new direction of the romantic interest, which Europe had so long felt in India, has been thus happily described by the North American Review:-"When the British power was substantially established, there was a call for other accomplishments than those of the factory and the counting-house. The creation of civil offices, brought from England men of parts and education; who, though far superior to the exploded errors, were full of curiosity and sanguine expectation with regard to the antiquities of Hindustan, its language, history, and scientific culture. Sanskrit learning was a vir

gin mine; and it would have been a prodigy, if those who first explored it had escaped intoxication from its vapours. The real magnificence of that venerable tongue, was enough to disturb the equilibrium of the judgment; its obvious affinity with the Western languages, seemed to enhance its value; the thirst for strange acquirements, and the ardour of discovery, made wise men credulous; Greek and Roman learning was disparaged in comparison with the lore of India. A taste was formed for the gigantic beauties of Sanskrit archæology. Cycles of hundreds of thousands of years, instead of exciting laughter, commanded admiration. The Mosaic chronology looked very small beside such colossal epochs Men began to imagine that a flood of light was to be shed upon the world from the marshes of Bengal. Their exaggerated statements were greedily seized upon by European infidels: What delusion began in India, imposture promoted in France; and as the 'new philosophy' was predominant in Europe, it was soon a law of fashion to believe that the world was a million years of age; and the passion for Hindu history and science became an epidemic. The chronological imposture soon met with its quietus; but the literary phrenzy lived a little longer. The only corrective was increase of knowledge. Sir William Jones began his career in India with strong prepossessions in favour of Sanskrit learning; but his previous acquirements were so various and extensive as to save him from infection. His own progress in Indian literature was wonderfully rapid; and the Asiatic Society, of which he was the founder, brought the whole field, in a short time, under actual cultivation. Before this process the delusion could not stand. The religion of the Brahmans was divested of its finery, and exposed in filthy ugliness; while Sanskrit literature took its proper place as the growth of an ignorant and imaginative age, with the usual faults and merits which accompany such a pedigree. Half a century ago, men were mad with the idea, that the Sanskrit reservoir was to water all the world,sweeping away the Scriptures and the Church of Christ,putting back the origin of time by millions of years,—and

swallowing up the poetry and science of the West in its own stupendous vortex of sublimity and wisdom! Where is this notion now? Buried so deep, that few believe it could ever have existed! And thus has its final death-blow been given to the romance of Hindustan-and the illusory charm which once invested it seems gone for ever."

As far back as thirty years ago, the Edinburgh Review distinctly sounded the necessity for a retreat from the regions of Oriental literary romance. Half in jest, we presume, and half in earnest, it thus announced its oracular deliverance :-"Situated as things are, we really consider a judicious limitation of an impertinent inquisitiveness about Hindu antiquities and similar topics, extremely salutary and reasonable. For, to bring the matter at once to a practical issue, would an accurate translation of the Puranas in the least curb the ambition of Buonaparte? What effect would the most profound commentary on the Veda have, in procuring for the nation a wise, a strong, and an energetic ministry? Would the price of candles be sensibly reduced by the most luminous disquisition on the Hindu Triad? If the French intercept our teas and muslins, and carry them into the Mauritius, will the ladies thank us for importing an old-fashioned assortment of antediluvian metaphysics?"

But, as the era of romantic literary interest began to wane, the era of vivid religious interest began to emerge, in splendour from the shadowy twilight of a long protracted dawn. And was it not for the manifestation of this brighter era and the realization of its promised blessings, that all else which preceded it was overruled by Divine Providence as subservient and preparatory? Can it be that a power so tremendous over an empire so vast and a people so countless, has been placed in the hands of a few Britons for no higher end than that of enabling them to gratify their ambition, their avarice, their vain-glorious tastes, and lawless appetites? No. Reason, philosophy, sound theism, Reve

lation;-all must unite in repelling the insinuation, as not less dishonourable than false. Whatever man may think, He who guides the course of providence, with whom one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, has respect to the everlasting covenant,-the mercies of which are sure; and the privileges of which shall one day be extended to all the kindreds of the nations. The march of His dispensations may appear slow, and their developement obscure, to a creature like man whose term of being is so swiftly run out, and whose power of vision is so feeble and so faint; nevertheless there is a progress that is stedfast, a developement that is clearly defined;-and there shall be a glorious consummation. The decree hath gone forth-and who can stay its execution?-that India shall be the Lord's ; -that Asia shall be the Lord's ;-yea, that all the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ!

And can it be, that Britain, the most central kingdom of the habitable world-inasmuch as of all existing capitals, its metropolis is that which would form the centre of the largest hemisphere tenanted by man,-Britain, the most highly favoured with the light and life of Revelation,-Britain, the most signally privileged with the ability, and the will, and the varied facilities for dispensing blessings among the nations can it be without a reference to the grand designs of Providence and of grace that Britain, so circumstanced and endowed, has, in a way so unparalleled, been led to assume the sovereignty of India?—India, that occupies the same commanding position in relation to the densely peopled regions of southern and eastern Asia that Palestine does to the Old World; and Britain, to both Old and New?-India, which, itself containing a fifth of the world's inhabitants,when once thrown open, may thus become a door of access to two-fifths more?-India, which, when once lighted up by the lamp of salvation, may become a spiritual Pharos, to illumine more than half the population of the globe? No: it cannot be. Mark the singular concatenation of events.

The trea