The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-22 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

RE AL LIFE 11V INDIA ; embracing a View of the
Requirements of Individuals appointed to any Branch of
the Indian Public Service; the Methods of proceeding
to India, and the Course of Life in different parts of
the Country. By an Old Resident.

It is seldom that the contents of a book answer so
accurately to the title-page as do the contents of the
valuable little hand-book under review. It comprises,
in the compass of 168. pages, everything that is ne-
cessary to be known by persons desirous of procuring
appointments in India. The chapter on what appoint-
ments to get, and how to get them, giVes all the infor-
mation necessary as to the interest required to procure,
and the qualifications necessary to receive, Indian
appointments in every branch of the Company's
service, civil, military, on naval, together with regu-
lations, &c., of Haileybinry and Addiscombe. The
rates of retiring allowances, pensions, and furlough
regulations, of the East India Company's service, are
likewise given. Every information regarding the dif-
ferent routes to India, and their comparative advan-
tages and disadvantages, will be found in this volume,
as also a list of the outfits necessary for a lady or a
gentleman proceeding to India, and much useful advice
as to the preservation of health in that country. One
admirable feature of this valuable little work is the
minuteness with which the writer goes into the de-
tails of the necessary expenses of outfit, voyage to,
and living in India. By the help of this manual, the
money required for a voyage to and residence in India
can be calculated to a nicety.

THE POST-OFFICE LONDON DIRECTORY

FOR 1848. Forty-ninth Annual Publication.
Increased in size, in proportion as the metropolis of
which it is the mirror has increased in bulk, The
Post-office London Directory for 1848, makes its ap-
pearance. As a specimen of the great increase in
size, and variety of information by which The Past-
office London Directory for 1848 is advantageously
distinguished from its predecessors, we may state that
the Street Directory contains forty-seven imperial
octavo pages (each page consisting of three closely-
printed columns of names) more than any former edi-
don of the Directory, this large amount of additional
matter being introduced into all the other arrange-
ments and classifications. Mr. Kelly, in his Preface,
informs us, that "a change was, in the year 1844,
introduced into the system under which the informa-
tion had before been collected, which has been since
continued. This was in the employment of selected
agents, having their entire time at their own disposal,
and, as stated in the preface to the last edition, the
change worked excellently. The present volume has,
therefore, been produced entirely under the improved
system, and will consequently be found far more
comprehensive than heretofore." This affords
a complete refutation of the accusations so
industriously dinned into the ears of the
House of Commons concerning . the employ-
ment of letter-carriers in obtaining informa-
tion. Letter-carriers have not been employed in
obtaining information for the Post office London
Directory of 1848, but selected agents, having their
entire time at their own disposal, have been employed
to collect the immense mass of information, which has
afterwards been arranged and classified, in a
manner so beautifully simple, that any portion
of it can be referred to at once and
without difficulty; and when we remember that this
work consists of 2,091 closely printed imperial octavo
pages of names, we must admit that great credit is
due to the compiler, who, by his admirable plan of
arrangement and his copious indexes, has enabled us
to pick out any one name and address from the vast
mass in a space of time certainly not exceeding one
minute. The aggregate of local and specific informa-
tion contained in this volume of the Post-office
London Directory is quite unequalled. It is indeed
the hand-book to the commerce of the first commer-
cial city of the world.