of which he deviated. I recollect one only, his determination not to marry in India, whereas he married Helena Louisa Ribaut, the daughter of the Governor of Chinsurah. From this lady, I gathered a beautiful anecdote of Warren Hastings. On his return from India an old friend treated him cavalierly, to his great mortification: this treatment arose from his having given a son,whom he sent to India, a letter of recommendation to the Governor General, and resenting his imagined neglect of the young man. In fact, Mr. Hastings had done all he could for him, but found him utterly unprincipled and incapable of advancement. Mrs. Hastings, who did not like the desertion of an old friend to be added to the other cruel persecutions her husband suffered, was one day urging his making known this cause of the check to the young man's promotion, when Mr. H. replied—' Nay, it matters little what he may think of me; but let us not make a father think ill of his own child.'

"Halhed was in later life exceedingly deaf, almost precluding the intercourse of conversation. Impossible as it was to converse with him in company, I had many delightful opportunities of gleaning his opinions when we were together domiciled at Beech Hill Priory, and his companion in a rural ramble. I cannot help thinking that he perceived in myself a simplicity and sincerity, which propitiated him, where professional pedantry would have induced him to stand aloof. I need not say to you that his religious opinions were rather wild. Some doubted whether he had any religion at all. In fact, however, I found that though he had deviated from all the beaten tracks, his principles were deeply religious, and his reverence for revelation profound. Though not acquiescing in every old woman's superstitious tale, no child was more docile, where he could reasonably consider the authority Divine."

To the above we have only to add, that on the mother's side Mr. Halhed was lineally descended from Lenthal, the speaker of the House of Commons at the time when the bluff Protector, Oliver Cromwell, ordered a certain bauble to be removed. Mr. Halhed received the principles of a sound classical education at Harrow, under the celebrated Dr. Summer, whence, after an assiduous application of ten years, he removed to Oxford, and entered himself of Christ Church College. He remained at Oxford from 1768 to 1770, and was, as we learned, neither conspicuous for extraordinary exertions nor remarked for deficiency of talent. He and Sheridan, as Mr. E. B. Impey informs us, had sate on the same form at Harrow school, and after their schoolboy days the closest intimacy had subsisted between them. Moore mentions Halhed in his life of Sheridan, but as is pettishly observed in the communication of the Rev. Mr. Streatfield, he (Moore)

*

"manifestly knew nothing." We may therefore cum grano admit his statement that they were afterwards engaged together in various literary speculations. He gives no dates, but we learn from the friend of all others whom, next to Mr. Hastings, he most valued, and whom he from his boyhood appeared to love like a son-viz., Mr. E. B. Impey-that after a separation of many years, which had been spent by Halhed in the east, "they met again in England at the moment when Sheridan, with an entire ignorance of the subject, was preparing his oration on the Benares charge, and acting with the foremost of the enemies of the two men whom Mr. Halhed most loved and venerated, Mr. Hastings and Sir Elijah Impey." It appears that Halhed in his conscientious simplicity deemed that he could save his friend of the School for Scandal' from the commission and propagation of falsehood and defamation. He fondly imagined that if he could once demonstrate to Sheridan from his own knowledge, that the charge he had undertaken to maintain against Hastings was founded upon false grounds, the companion of his youth would thank him and throw up the charge. At the interview that took place the result turned out otherwise. "Halhed, (we quote Mr. Împey) than whom no one was capable of conveying surer information, entered at that meeting, into full particulars relative to the Benares charge. He opened the discussion with a heart overflowing with candour and conciliation. He was met with an artificial reserve, and an evasive arrogance which at once closed the door to all negotiation. From that moment Halhed and Sheridan never met nor spoke with each other upon amicable terms." Alas! it was not truth, or correct information, that Sheridan was hunting after, for "into the porches of his ears" and those of his party, Philip Francis, had been "pouring his leprous distillment, whose effect holds such an enmity with blood of man!" According to Mr. Moore, Halhed was also a suiter of the fair Miss Linley, who afterwards became Mrs. Sheridan. It was, however, he testifies, a generous rivalship, but the circumstances arising out of Mr. Matthews' duel with the young dramatist, demonstrated the hopelessness of any com petitor standing a chance with him.

The learning of the east having formed a considerable part of Mr. Halhed's studies, and an opportunity offering of a writership in the service of the India Company, he went in the beginning of 1771 to Bengal. Here he soon recommended himself to the great patron of literary, as well as official merit, Mr. Hastings, then at Madras, but about to become second in Council at Calcutta. Of the various extracts from literary speculations referred to by

* See the Impey Memoirs.

Mr. Moore, as having been carried on between Sheridan and Halhed, we have reason to believe that the greater portion was from the pen of the latter. Under all these circumstances, supposing them to be correctly stated, the destination of the young Halhed for the far East may be looked upon as a sort of lover's leap, calculated entirely to cure him of his passion for a lovely ob ject, now entirely beyond his reach. When such a disappointment does not unhinge moral energy, or blight with despair the green vigour of youth, it becomes a question whether on the whole it may not prove beneficial; serving as an instrument of discipline, and preparing the heart, in the fulness of time, for a more lasting attachment. He remained in India upwards of six years.

As already stated, he married in this country Miss Helena Louisa Ribaut, daughter of the Governor of the Dutch settlement of Chinsurah. For some time, it would appear that the union was not a very happy one. There might not perhaps have been on the lady's part "all that young poets dream of whom they love." Admirable in other respects, there might have been some coldness on the lady's part towards the ideal. His keen relish too, of the subtle, the humorous, or the occult, might possibly not have met a corresponding accordance in a mind amiably anxious to conform in all things to his, but sometimes at a loss to comprehend all it might desire. The game of ambition played eagerly in the hey-day of youth, strength and prosperity, as well as absorbing literary pursuits, sometimes may incapacitate men of more than ordinary intellectual powers and acquirements, from fulfilling all the expectations of a young girl's loving and devoted heart. Be that as it may, the persevering fondness of the lady, not untinctured with jealousy, (perhaps with reason,) triumphed, at length, over all his foibles and won his unalterable affection and esteem. Mrs. Halhed, indeed, from all we have heard on the part of those who knew her well, no less than from the internal evidence of the correspondence in our posses◄ sion, appears to have been a very estimable woman, as well as a most amiable and excellent wife. In the dark days of her husband's adversity her good qualities shone forth in their full yet modest and benignant lustre, and her cheerful conformity to altered fortunes, no less than her unobtrusive strength of character, proved his chief solace and support.

It was easier in the days of Mr. Halhed's sojourn in India to acquire an independence than it is now. For this there were obvious reasons, sufficiently familiar to those conversant with the history of our Indian empire. It is sufficient here to note that though the nominal salary of a civil servant was far less than in our own days, various avenues to the acquisition of wealth were MARCH, 1856.

E

then available that have since been closed up. Certain privileges were allowed in the way of trade, while a greater latitude in regard to accepting presents was permitted. The amount of available talent too, was then less, or it may perhaps be more correct to say that there was less competition in a wide field than now obtains, so that all men might stand more upon their pretensions, and self-estimation, in a market comparatively limited, than they could now, when India is well known and the means of supply exceed the demand in a service rendered still more honourable by the many distinguished men who have flourished in it since Halhed's day. In a printed memoir of Mr. Halhed that appeared in 1795, we find it stated with reference to his six years' sojourn in the East-" As the busy tongue of detraction has never dared utter a syllable to his disadvantage, during this time, we feel no hesitation in saying that his conduct was such as to entitle him to the full approbation of his superiors abroad, and every degree of indulgence from the Directors at home." His application to business did not wean his mind from his studies; and it was during this interval that he produced his Grammar, and work on Hindoo law.

In 1778 Mr. Halhed returned to England, and employed some of his succeeding years in travelling for health and amusement. Though his constitution had suffered very materially from the climate of Bengal and his intense application, after a short stay in England, he returned to India in 1784, to resume his official functions, but was obliged soon after his arrival to abandon what then proved to him an ungenial and inhospitable shore. He reached England in 1785, at which time, the state of his health was such, as to excite the serious fears of his friends. From this to the year 1790, little trace is to be found of him except in his literary effusions. The pursuit of a convalescent after the most invaluable of blessings, would, even if we had the details, afford little entertainment to the reader. His pursuits, however, were such as did credit to his philanthropy and taste. He wrote verses, studied chronology, collected pictures and books, and led the easy life of the independent gentleman. At the general election in 1790, he started as a candidate for the town of Leicester. He and Mr. Samuel Smith were candidates in the ministerial interest, against two in that of the opposition. The contest was severe, and conducted with spirit for several days, when after the most vigorous exertions, Mr. Halhed, not desiring to enter into boundless expense, agreed with Mr. Montolieu, one of the opposition candidates, to withdraw their efforts on a compromise. He was afterwards more successful in another quarter, being returned for Lymington, Hants.

From Mr. E. Barwell Impey himself we learned that his first

recollection of him was about 1790, when he was living in an expensive style in Harley street. About the same period, a mistaken confidence in the financial resources of M. Necker, then at the head of affairs in France, induced him as it did many others, (his friend Sir Elijah Impey included), to invest his property in the French funds. The result proved most unfortunate. certain data we believe that his loss could scarcely be under thirty thousand pounds. He was thus reduced to the dismal prospect of passing the remainder of his days almost on the verge of positive privation. Mr. Halhed sat in two parliaments for Lymington. His chief display in the house, or at least that which created the greatest sensation, was his speech on behalf of Mr. Brothers, who had been an officer in the navy, but who made himself remarkable by setting up for a prophet. The following extract from Mr. Impey's memoirs of Sir Elijah will prove not uninteresting to those of our readers who have not the work at hand to refer to.

"The attachment between my father and Halhed was mutual, and lasted till dissolved by death; nor was it for a moment interrupted by a strong divergency of opinion on some important subjects. On one point, and only on that one, Halhed's imagination was too strong for his judgment. I would speak with the utmost delicacy of this foible of my highly gifted and long lamented friend: nor would I speak of it at all, were it not already a matter of public notoriety. Among other abstruse questions, Mr. Halhed had devoted much time to the study of prophecy, and the awful mysteries of the Apocalypse. The amount of European as well as Asiatic lore which he brought to bear upon these subjects, was immense; nor in a less degree was the ingenuity with which he applied it all. But his head was heated by this one absorbing and inexplicable subject. At this juncture another very inoffensive enthusiast-Richard Brothers, commonly called "Brothers the Prophet," began to utter his wild predictions. Halhed listened, examined, and became more than half a believer in them. This was during the early part of the French Revolution, when the British Government and people took alarm at every suspicious circumstance. Brothers was constantly announcing the fast approaching subversion of all states and kingdoms; but in a far different sense from that maintained by the republicans of France. Government, however, chose to couple his religious insanity with their political madness; and Richard Brothers, for some supposed seditious words, was apprehended and committed to Newgate, as one guilty of high treason. Halhed, who rightly thought that he had been committed on a very irregular and foolish warrant, resolved. to stand forward as his champion in the House of Commons, and gave notice of a motion for his discharge."

Mr. Halhed was both a profound and extensive scholar. We