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not make good patrols on dark nights, through a rough country. Their being generally strangers to the part of the country where they are located, also deprives the Government of the information likely to be useful from a local knowledge, and a personal acquaintance with the people of a country. There is also nothing in the first instance to warrant a belief that Native officers will make good police officers; indeed, the attempt to learn their duties often leads them into scrapes, and in the end obliges them to leave the service. Let military police be restricted to preventive duties, and let a detective police be organised, not with reference to one district or division, but with reference to a presidency, under the management of really efficient military or civil officers. All have not the powers of perception, or talents, which would make them good detectives; but men are doubtless to be found, if sought for. Let men be chosen for some choice qualities as detectives, and then carefully watched. It is possible to organise a good police, but the elements of it are not to be found in a purely military organisation. The non-commissioned officer does not like the doubt, peril, and uncertainty which attaches itself to police duties as a military man, he can be certain of his service being permanent; not so when brought into contact with the worst characters of the country. A military man generally learns to be straightforward, truthful, and open-hearted; these qualities are soon eradicated in the corrupt atmosphere of police investigations.

sioners of the British Government, and
reside in our territory. There are some
very
fine chenar trees in this garden,
well worth attention and admiration.
Indad Ali was unable to fish in the
stream at Rajore-it was too impetuous.

The next day's trip was to Thanah, where our party halted in a cozy garden of plum trees, encircled by a bub bling stream. It was now cold enough to allow of a camp fire being lit at night, and of Zeenut Begum and Bismillah making some additions to their dress, in the shape of warm clothing. It was at this place that Imamoodeen, the Governor of Cashmere, resigned the Government of it to Sir Henry Lawrence, on the country being assigned to Maharajah Goolab Singh. Bismillah suffered at Thanah from such a severe cold, that it was after some consultation thought better to take the circuit via Poonch and Vri, instead of at once ascending the Peer by the more direct route.

Next day the road was over the Rattan Peer, a cold dark mountain, in many places covered with magnificent cedars in thick forests. Now and then a piece of snow attracted attention, amongst the depths of the ravines. The serais of Poonch and Kahota were reached on their respective days of marching, and our travellers found themselves ready to pass the snow of the lower range of the Peer next day, from the serai of Kahota. The road which passed over the Peer could be traced at certain points. The clouds which covered the top of the Peer made the trip one of probable discomfort; however, The next day's march was to Rajore, since Bismillah was quite well again, a town situated on the Tovee. There all felt impatient for the ascent on is a fine garden at this place, on the the following morning,-even Burakh banks of the river, shady and cool, to- pricked up his ears; but he had sadly gether with a ruined palace, the pro- fallen off in condition. As to Indad perty of Mahomedans in former days, Ali's pony, he could hardly be said to whose chiefs were of some considera- be mortal, he was so thin,-pluck to the tion. Their descendants are now pen-back bone, in the most literal sense.

“Havicharitra,” or Biographical Sketches of the Poets of India.

A REVIEW.

By KRISHNA SHASTREE CHIPLOONKUR.

ONE of the earliest attempts of the enlightened British Government in India, after its rule was established in this country, was to diffuse education among its subjects, and to create and encourage vernacular literature in the several dialects of Hindoostan. Though this attempt was calculated more to benefit the governed than the governors, it obtained, at the commencement, little or no help from the party for whose advantage it was made; Government was required not only to establish and support educational institutions, and to provide pupils with books, and other educational requirements, but to give periodical prizes, and even stipends, to allure scholars into their schools and colleges.

These praiseworthy and philanthropic exertions of Government, to civilise and enlighten the millions of human beings committed by Providence to its care, did not as they ought to have done-meet with universal approbation. It was urged with confidence, that education, which was not bought, because not appreciated, but given gratis, was next to useless. But we beg to remind such objectors that most, if not all of us, commence our education, not only when we do not appreciate it, but when we positively dislike it; not only when we consider it as no blessing, but believe it to be a downright evil. How many children, if any, go to school to learn their first lessons, from a conviction that knowledge is an excellent thing, and that they must acquire it at any sacrifice and hardship. In civilised countries, education is appreciated and bought-but by whom? Certainly not by children themselves; but by their parents. In India, the parents— at least the largest majority of them-are as ignorant of the value of education as their children; and, consequently, it is no wonder that they do not come forward to buy it. It is superfluous to observe here, that a thing cannot be appreciated before it is understood.

Everything that is really good and valuable is appreciated sooner or later; and such has been the case with education in this country. The establishment of selfsupporting schools at Bombay, Poona, &c., and of the partially self-supporting ones in many considerable towns and villages in this Presidency, and the opening of several English and vernacular libraries. which are supported by voluntary subscriptions, as also the success of several vernacular periodicals and newspapers, prove to a very great extent the truth of our assertion.

These remarks were suggested by the appearance of an interesting original vernacular work, called "Kavicharitra," or Biographical Sketches of the Poets of India; written by a Native gentleman, for Native readers, and dedicated to a learned Native gentleman, occupying a high and influential position in Native society. We have reason to suppose that the work commands a pretty large sale and popularity among the Native community. It is certainly gratifying to see Native gentlemen coming forward as authors, and publishing books upon their own responsibility, and relying more upon the reading public than upon the patronage of Government for their success. It is gratifying on more than one account it makes the writers to speak out their mind more freely than when they look to Government for the reward of their labours; it obliges them to

consult the taste and intellectual capacity of the public for whom they write; in short, it tends to create what is properly called an indigenous and popular litersture. We will now proceed to examine the work of Mr. Janardhan Ramchandra more particularly.

Mr. Janardhan professes to give us Biographical Sketches, as far as the material within his reach would permit him to do, of the poets, or rather of the celebrated authors of India, both Sanscrit and Vernacular, from Shankara Acharya, the famous expounder of the Adwait Vedant Philosophy, down to the present time. He tells us, in the preface, that he has collected his matter from the traditions that are current among the people, from Sanscrit and Pracrit books, and from the results published by European oriental scholars of their researches into the literature of India. The subject is undoubtedly a very interesting one; but to treat it properly, and to produce a really good book upon it, certainly requires very laborious and critical scholarship in the compiler. For the right performance of this arduous task, critical power, if possible, is more necessary than extensive learning. Our author, however, we are constrained to say, does not appear to us to possess either in any very great degree. From the Sanscrit quotations he has made in this work, his knowledge of that classical language does not seem to be very great; while, from the implicit faith which he puts in every story written in a Sanscrit or Murathee book, and in every tradition current among the people, however improbable or absurd, he appears to have no critical judgment whatever. The truth of these assertions

will appear from what we have to say about his book.

At the head of the work stands the life of Shankara Acharya. It is full of the marvellous, from the beginning to the end. The subject of this biography is said to have learnt his mother tongue thoroughly when he was only twelve months old, to have studied all Sanscrit literature except the Vedas before `he was five years of age, and to have committed all the four Vedas to memory within one year! He is said to have performed several miracles: Shankara Acharya once went to the house of a poor Brahmin to ask for alms, when the good lady of the house, having nothing else to give him, gave an avla fruit (emblu myrobolam). The sage, being touched with compassion at the sight of the distressful indigence of the family, propitiated the Goddess of Wealth (Lakshmi) with his prayers, and prevailed upon her to send down a shower of gold fruit (it may be presumed) upon the house of the poor Brahmin. Further on, he is said to have caused the stream of the river Púrna, which was at a great distance from his house, to flow by his house, that his old mother might not be put to the trouble of walking a great distance for bathing. At another time, he is said to have left his own body, and to have revived that of a prince with his own soul; and to have brought fire out of his own arm to burn his mother's dead body with; also to have held conversations with persons who were dead and gone some hundreds of years before his time. His disciples are said to have been incarna tions of different gods; and the compiler details in his book, as matters of fact, of what god each disciple was an incarnation. Marvellous stories, like the preceding, occur not only in the life of Shankara Acharya, but in the lives, notices, of most other writers given in the work under review. These stories are related by the author in a grave tone, as if they were quite established and

sober facts.

or rather

In page 2 of his work, the author says that he has discovered a passage in Shivarahasya prophesying the advent of Shankara Acharya. From the internal evidence, however, the passage will at once appear to any impartial reader to have been written after the event which it pretends to prophesy had actually happened; while our compiler implicitly believes in its prophetic character.

In the 6th and 7th pages, he quotes three Sanscrit shlokes, or verses, to establish the date of the death of Shankara Acharya; but he does not tell us from what book he quotes these verses. He gives a Murathee translation of the first verse, but not of the second and the third. He is also found in several other instances to have neglected to give a Murathee translation of the Sanscrit verses he has quoted. It cannot be said that he has translated the difficult ones only, for, the verses at the top of the 7th page are as difficult as any which he has translated. These Sanscrit verses, as well as some others, are misprinted. For instance, at page 7, line 1, ought to be TT, and in line 3 of the same page, ought to be ra. Again, page 11, line 11, "a àƒÂ... đècàï” is surely some very gross misprint; the line sins against the rules of Sanscrit prosody.

66

In the 7th page, the compiler says,-" Some people believe that Shankara Acharya founded a matha at Shringari, on the borders of the Western Ghauts, in the dominions of the Prince of Mahisur, and established a college there, which exercises supreme ecclesiastical authority over the 'Smarth' Brahmins of India. From this it is established beyond doubt that the Acharya lived 1600 years ago." We confess ourselves quite unable to make out any logical connection between the conclusion and the premises of our author.

In the 8th page, the compiler describes the Charvaks as a sect of Buddhists ; but he is quite wrong-the Charvaks are no more Buddhists than they are Mahomedans. The Buddhists believe in a spiritual existence, in a future world, &c.; while the Charvaks believe only in matter, or in those things only that are cognisable by the senses. They do not believe in a soul, or in any future world. They resemble the Materialists of Modern Europe in many respects.

At the end of the 27th page, the compiler tells us that Shankara Acharya has composed a small work called Mathamnay, in which he has laid down admirable rules for the guidance of his mathas or religious establishments. One naturally expects that our author will give some information regarding those admirable rules; but he is disappointed. The compiler, after having made the preceding remark, quotes a Sanscrit verse, which only enumerates the mathas of Shankara Acharya, but says nothing regarding the rules for their guidance. At the end of page 28, the compiler quotes a verse—“ fadi4iq:” &c. We do not see any connection of this verse with what precedes or follows it. At page 29, he gives a list of works composed by Shankara Acharya. In this list he mentions Nyaya Kusumanjali, which cannot have been written by Shankara Acharya, as it contains doctrines contradictory to those laid down by him in his great work the Bhashya. The reputed author of Nyaya Kusumanjali is Udayana Acharya.

At the opening of the life of Jayadeva, the compiler remarks, that as the Gita Govinda, a poem of Jayadeva, was sung at the court of Vikramaditya, he (Jayadeva) must have lived before Kalidas, a contemporary of Vikrama. But the compiler does not tell us the source from which he has got this information.