The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-12 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE CONQUEST OF SINDE, WITH SOME
INTRODUCTORY PASSAGES IN THE
LIFE OF SIR CHARLES JAMES NAPIER.
By Major-General IV. F. P. Napier. Part 11.
In the present volume we have a brief historical
account of the state of Sinde, about the period when
Sir Charles Napier assumed the command of the
army of occupation—details of the intrigues and plots
of the Ameers, in conjunction with their allies, the
Affghans and Beloochees—and the final results, in-
cluding the battles of Meanee and Dubba, and the
conquest of Sinde. The work will be found of deep
interest, because its object is to show (and in that the
author has been successful) that whatever might have
given rise to the first British connexion with Sinde,
whether our interference was right or wrong, neither
Sir Charles Napier nor Lord Ellenborough had any
thing to do with that part of the question. They
found the country in the possession of British troops, or
at least such parts of it as could command the whole;
they found also certain treaties entered into with the
Ameers, and all they had to do was to see that these
treaties were observed, and that the Anglo-Indian
army suffered no wrong. Wicked attempts have
been made, both by writers in India and this country,
to throw the blame of the whole transaction, if blame

it can be called, on the government of Lord Ellenbo-
rough, for the purpose of screening Lord Auckland
and extolling the merits of Major Outram. The at-
tempt has been defeated in the most triumphant man•
ner, and these men have " fallen into the pit that
they had made." Never did General display more
patience, more forbearance, more reluctance to decide
the contest by battle, than Sir Charles Napier, and
never did any negotiator, whether styled ambassador
or minister, or commissioner or political agent, not
excepting even Mr. Frere, so notorious for mislead-
ing Sir John Moore, bring an army so near the verge
of ruin as did Major Outram, while at Hyderabad.
Sir Charles Napier, the life and soul of the Sinde di-
vision, for it could not be called an army, was saved
from an ignominious death by a miracle. Some
would say no—he was saved by his own far-seeing mind
—by comparing circumstances—by making himself
acquainted with the character of his enemies, and be-
lieving neither their solemn oaths nor the equally
solemn asseverations of the English Commissioners,
when he found them controverted by indubitable
facts. While the negotiations were going on, he dis-
covered beyond the possibility of a doubt, that the
proceedings of the Ameers were deceitful. They
only thought of gaining time for the assembling of
their whole army, amounting to at least 70,000 men ;
and to delay the war till they could be brought toge-
ther, no falsehood, no intrigue nor fraud was spared.
His correspondence with Major Outram was through
their instigations, stolen; the Ameer Roostum
and his sons wrote letters and made statements as to
their troops, and their intentions, designed to mislead
Outram, and they did effectually mislead him ; but
the statements which Sir Charles received through
paid native agents, in other words spies, were clear,
distinct, and positive—all in contradiction of the Ameers
and the British Commissioner, and all in accord with
each other. About the beginning of February 1843,
the troops of many tribes were marching towards
Hyderabad, the Ameers were in close alliance with
the Affghans and Beloochees, and all that was required
to accomplish the annihilation of the British forces
was to keep them at a distance from the capital of
Lower Sinde till the preparations were completed.
Major Outram did every thing in his power to stop
our troops on their march ; he wrote repeatedly from
Hyderabad conveying advice to that effect, nay he
actually invited Sir Charles Napier to leave his army
and come down the country alone to settle affairs
by negotiation, when the train was actually laid for
destroying himself and his small division of 100 men,
and they merely delayed the explosion till the Com-
mander-in-Chief could be brought within the range
of destruction. No intentional mischief, of course, is
ascribed to Majur Outram, it was merely a defect of
judgment—a want of prudence—a complete miscon-
ception of the character of the Ameers, and a fatuous
blindness to palpable events which were passing
around him. Had Sir Charles yielded to this
advice, the Cabul tragedy would have been
repeated at Hyderabad, and Napier and Out-
ram would have suffered the fate of Burnes
and M'Naughten, and probably not one man of the
army would have been left to tell the tale. This was
about the first week of February, and the dreadful
battle of Meanee took place on the 17th of that month.
Sir Charles Napier, however, had too much skill and
foresight to fall into the snare; and when the Ameers
found that he could not be caught, they unravelled
the plot, attacked the residence of the British
Commissioner at Hyderabad, and the fearless
courage of Major Outram and the determined
bravery of his small band of British troops alone
saved them from utter destruction. The Commander-
in-chief then saw on what a precipice he stood, and,
with a moral courage never surpassed, resolved at all
hazards to save, if not his life, at least his honour,
and that of his brave army. Ile prepared for the
contest without a moment's hesitation ; and to most
men such a contest would have appeared utterly
hopeless. After detaching a few troops in different
directions, to preserve his communications, he had
2,000 of all arms, officers included ; the rank and file
were only 1,780, but they were of sterling stuff, and
among them were 500 of the Queen's Regiment,
under the command- of the Gallant Colonel Penne-
father—all Irishmen, " strong of body, high-blooded,
1 fierce, impetuous soldiers, who saw nothing before
them but victory, and counted not their enemies."
But their numbers nevertheless were apalling to ordi-
nary minds. The Beloochees of Lower Sinde, 30,000
strong, were assembled on the plain of Meanee; the
princes of I.
Tpper Sinde had 7,000 at Khoonpera ; the
Chandians, 10,000 strong, had crossed the Indus in
rear of the British camp ; Shere Mohamed had 10,000
at Merepoor ; and thousands of the hill tribes were
hastening down to the Indus. Not a moment was to
be lost, and Napier, true to his family motto, " Ready,
aye, ready," rushed at once against this combined
host of 30,000 brave troops. But we will allow his
brother to describe the onset :
" When the line was formed the General gave the sig-
nal to advance, and rode forward himself with his staff,
and his interpreter, Ali Acbar, an Arab gentleman of
high race and true Arab courage, who has never left his
chief's side in any danger. Constant and heavy was the
fire from the Belooch guns ; and though few men could
be discovered, the rapid play of the matchlocks indicated
the presence of numbers, and marked the position.
"The Ameer's right was found to be strengthened and
covered by the village of Kattree, which was filled with
men ; the flank offered no weak point. But in the
Shikargah on their left the General instantly detected a
flaw. It has been before said this argah was covered by
a wall, Laving only one opening, not very wide, through
which it was evident the Beloochs meaned to pour out
on the flank and rear of the advancing British line.
The General rode near this wall and found it was nine
or ten feet high ; he rode nearer and marked it had no
loop-holes for the enemy to shoot through • he rode into
the opening under a play of matchlocks, and looking be-
hind the wall saw there was no scaffolding to enable the
Beloochs to fire over the top. Then the inspiration of ge-
nius came to;the aid of heroism. Taking the grenadiers of
the 22d, he thrust them at once into the opening, telling
their brave Captain (Tew), that he was to block up
that entrance ; to die there if it must be, never to give
way ! And well did the gallant fellow obey his orders ;
he died there, but the opening was defended. The great
disparity of numbers was thus abated, and the action of
six thousand men paralysed by the more skilful action
of only eighty. It was, on a smaller scale as to num-
bers, a stroke of generalship like that which won Blen-
heim for the Duke of Marlborough.
"Now the advancing troops, formed in columns of regi-
ments, approached the enemy's front. The British right
passed securely under the wall of the Shikargah, cheered
and elated as they moved by the rattling sound of Tew's
musketry ; the left was somewhat refused, to avoid the
fire from the village of Kattree, which it was designed
Clibborne should storm with his Sepoy grenadiers.
Meanwhile the dead level of the plain was swept by the
Belooch cannon and matchlocks, which were answered
from time to time by Lloyd's battery, yet not frequently,
for rapidly and eagerly did the troops press forward to
close with their unseen foes. When the 22d had got
within a hundred yards of the high sloping bank of the
Fullaillee, the columns opened line to their left ; and as
the companies formed in succession, they threw their fire
at the top of the bank, where the heads of the Beloochs
could be just seen, bending with fiery glances ever the
levelled matchlocks. The formation was still incomplete,
when the voice of the General, shrill and clear, was heard
along the line commanding the charge.
" Then rose the British shout, the English guns were
run forward into position, the infantry closed upon the
Fullaillee with a run, and rushed up the sloping bank.
The Beloochs having their matchlocks laid ready in
rest along the summit, waited until the assailants were
within fifteen yards ere their volley was delivered ; the
rapid pace of the British, and the steepness of the slope
on the inside deceived their aim, and the execution was
not great ; the next moment the 22d were on the top of
the bank, thinking to bear down all before them, but
they staggered back in amazement at the forest of
swords waving in their front ! Thick as standing corn,n
and gorgeous as a field of flowers, stood the Beloochs _
their many-coloured garments and turbans ; they filled
the broad deep bed of the Fullaillee, they clustered on
both banks, and covered the plain beyond. Guarding
their heads with their large dark shields, they shook
their sharp swords, beaming in the sun, their shouts
rolled like a peal of thunder, as with frantic gestures
they rushed forwards, and full against the front of the
224 dashed with demoniac strength and ferocity. But
.
with shouts as loud, and shrieks as wild and fierce
Ih
risas
theirs, and hearts a 3 big and arms as strong, the
soldiers mct them with that queen of weapons the mus-
ket, and sent their foremost masses rolling back in blood.
" Now the Beloochs closed their dense masses, and
again the shouts and the rolling fire of musketry and the
dreadful rush of the swordsmen, were heard and seen
along the whole line, and such a fight ensued as has
seldom been known or told of in the records of war.
For ever those wild warriors came close up, sword and
shield in advance, striving in all the fierceness of their
valour to break into the opposing ranks ; no fire of
small arms, no push of bayonets, no sweeping discharges
of grape from the guns, which were planted in one mass
on the fight, could drive the gallant fellows back ; they
gave their breasts to the :lot, they leaped upon the guns
and were blown away in twenties at a time their dead

went down the steep slope by hundreds ; but the gaps
in their masses were continually filled up from the
rear, the survivors of the front rank still pressed for-
wards with unabated fury, and the bayonet and the
sword clashed in full and frequent conflict.
"Thus they fought in this fearful struggle, never more
than three yards apart, and often intermixed, and several
times the different regiments, aye, even the Europeans !
were violently forced backwards and pushed from the
line, overborne and staggering under the might and
passion of the barbarian swordsmen. But always
their General was there to cheer and rally them. At
his voice and intrepid demeanour their strength re-
turned, and they recovered their ground, though nearly
deprived of regimental leaders ; for fast those leaders
had gone down, dying as British officers should, and
always will do, where they cannot win.
" The noble soldier Pennefather (I use his General's
words), the noble soldier Pennefather fell on the top of
the bank, deeply, it was thought at first mortally,
wounded, and his place was taken by Major Poole.
" Major Teasdale, animating his Sepoys of tho 25th
regiment, rode violently over the ridge into the midst of
the Beloochs. and was instantly killed, by shot and
sabre, dying with a glorious devotion.
" Major Jackson, of the 12th, coming up with his
regiment, the next in succession, followed the heroic
example, as if the succession of death had been also in
his orders. Two brave Havildars kept close to him, all
three in advance of their regiment, and all fell dead to-
gether, covered with wounds ; but not passively ; several
of the fiercest Beloochs were seen to sink beneath the
strong arm and whirling blade of Jackson, as crowding
around him they tore his body with their griding
weapons.
" Nearly all the European officers were new slain or
wounded, and several times the Sepoys, wanting leaders,
slowly receded ; but the General, a skilful horseman,
and conspicuous from his peculiar headgear, half helmet
half turban, was always at the point of greatest pressure,
and then manfully the swarthy soldiers recovered the
lost ground. Once he was assailed by a chief, but on
the instant Lieutenant Marston of the 25th Native Regi-
ment was at his side, and slew the Sirdar, whose tomb
has been raised by his tribe since on the spot where he
fell. At another period of the fight he was alone for
several minutes, in the midst of the enemy; they stalked
around him with raised shields and scowling eyes ; but
whether from some appearance affecting their minds, for
the Beloochs are very superstitious, or from some other
cause, none lifted sword against him, and he returned to
his own people unhurt. The 22d soldiers seeing him
thus emerge from a crowd of foes, called to him by name,
and gave him a cheer heard distinctly above the general
din of the battle ! And there are men who think the
murmur of their factious calumnies can stifle that heroic
sound !"

It is needless to extract more. The battle now
had lasted for three hours, but was far from being
won. A skilful manceuvre, however, of the General
and the unabated energy of his troops finally pre-
vailed, and in one hour more the victory was com-
plete. The remainder of the work we will notice at
a future period. In the meantime, it may be instruc-
tive to state that, although all the troops fought well,
Sepoys and Sindians, as well as those of the line, the
mainstay was the little brave Irish division of 500
men ; they were led on by an Irishman, Pennefather ;
Captain Tew, who contributed so much to the vic-
tory, and fell in defending his post, was an Irishman ;
and the General himself belongs to that nation. To
Irishmen we owe the conquest of Sinde—the rank
and file were Irish, and chiefly Irish Catholics. We
allow these Catholics to gain victories for England,
and, by one of the most glorious battles on record, to
raise her name to the highest pitch of glory, yet we
grudge their priests a grant of 17,0001.

COMMERCIAL STATISTICS; a. Digest of the
Productive Resources, Commercial Legislation, Customs,
Tariffs, Navigation, Port and Quarantine Laws and
Charges, Shipping, Imports and E.rpolts, and the
Monies, Weights and Measures of all Nations, cc.
By JOHN MACGREGOR, Author of "British
America," and one of the .Joint Secretaries of the Board
of Trade. 3 vols, large Bvo.

No publicist of our times has rendered more signal
services by his contributions to the statistics of British
and universal commerce than Mr. Macgregor. The
wonderful production before us is an epitomized
treasury of all the information necessary for the duly
understanding not only the present condition of our
mercantile and fiscal relations with other states, but
of the natural and political causes which have led to
their establishment. In this respect it is more con-
venient, and more instructive, because far more inte-
resting than the very valuable compilation annually
produced by Mr. G. Porter, under the title of the
" State and Progress of the Nation." The plan of
Mr. Macgregor's work—far from being limited by a
strict tabular arrangement, after assuming an:admira-
ble methodical development, illustrates and combines
the voluminous data which it incorporates by copious
references to the domestic history of each state,
wherever events have happened therein, that controul
or bear upon the international regulations subsisting
between it and our own country, touching the trade
maintained between them. From the careful fidelity
with which Mr. Macgregor (in his " Commercial
Statistics" of Turkey, Austria, Russia, &c. &c., from
time to time presented), preserved those portions of
original treaties and agreements that record the pri-
mary and rare ancient stipulations agreed upon be-
tween our own Ministers and those of foreign govern-
ments, on the origin of all existing branches of our
commerce, we were prepared to expect the very im-
portant feature we find embodied in the present work.
He gives us all the modern and effective treaties
applicable to these regulations. These commercial
papers form part of the general collection we are now
presented with, and they are modestly alluded to by
Mr. Macgregor in connexion with a just tribute to
the memory of the late Lord Sydenham, and a hand-
some acknowledgment of the liberal co-operation and
encouragement of his Lordship's successors in office.
In the same very interesting preface in which these
acknowledgments occur, mention is made of a gentle-
man, now no more, in terms which will find a ready
echo in the breast of every man, who has enjoyed (as
it was the fortune of the writer of this notice to do)
the advantage of frequent personal intercourse with
him, and the ready communications to which that was
sure to lead, of the abundant stores of his gifted mind,
imparted with a simplicity and epigrammatic force
peculiarly his own. We allude to the late Mr. Deacon
Hume. It is a melancholy pleasure to fall upon such
a reminiscence, where one might least have expected
it, and a sincere gratification to learn that he had
earned additional claims to the respect in which he
was universally held, by having been, it should seem,
the principal cause of Mr. Macgregor's really admirable
labours in the same wide field of public usefulness.
" The whole customs laws of the United Kingdom
have been consolidated in one octavo volume by my pre-
decessor and intimate friend, and the friend of the whole
human race, as well as the indefatigable benefactor of
his own country, the late James Deacon Hume, many
years comptroller of the customs of the Port of London,
and afterwards for thirteen years one of the joint secre-
taries of the Board of Trade. That volume was pro-
claimed by Mr. Huskisson in Parliament to be the per-
fection of codification. When it is considered that
about 2,200 Acts had been passed by Parliament to
regulate the customs and navigation of the United King-
dom and British possessions ; and that in 1815 more
than eleven hundred of those ambiguous and conflicting
statutes were in force, it was not surprising that, not
only the merchants, shipowners, and manufacturers who
had to regulate their commercial and shipping transac-
tions by such a heterogeneous mass of laws, but that
those, also, who had to execute them, acted generally in
almost utter ignorance of the legislation formed to
govern the trae and navigation of the empire. Mr.
Hume, therefore, in consolidating, under the Treasury
and Board of Trade, the whole customs and navigation
laws of England within the compass of one octavo
volume, rendered the greatest service to his country.
Mr.Huskisson, who relied implicitly on the knowledge,
acuteness, judgment, and above all, on the uncompro-
mising honesty of Mr. Hume, said, on bringing forward
that volume in Parliament, in February, 1826, ' the
task' (consolidating the customs laws) ' was of great
magnitude, but we did not shrink from it. But I am
free to admit, that we never could have succeeded in our
undertaking without the assistance of an official gentle-
man, in the service of the Customs—a gentleman of the
most unwearied diligence, and who is entitled, for his
persevering exertions, and the benefit he has conferred
on the commercial world, to the lasting gratitude of the
country. Of the difficulties of the undertaking the
House will be enabled to judge, when I state that thereh
were no fewer than five hundred statutes, relative to
numerous enactments concern'
Customs alone, to wade through, indeprdenwtliyreohfottohse:
n.ntfiesmeugrin 'two of this
ing, the plantation!), &c. I.
now, , .
battles without end to fight.
comprised
duty we had innumerable difficuAltoipeds to encounter,str aonnde
all the laws at present in
theexistoefoce
customs, of naviga-
little volume, which I hold in my
ohoanthdo, asroeh
jcooomt
Pof the
management and the revaernetjeousiom
and of our colonial
tion of smuggling: of w h
manner, that no min cal!np,
Mr. Hume continued in
trade, compressed in so cleaorsasinhdlyyemt
issotachoomtphreehmeneasinvienag
or the application of the... • _
lamentable death of the latter, a,.
whichto co
care,iium teo,
the intimate confidence of ,111 r. dllaumskoinssona until the
so rdreeastphr
committeeden ce,
a few
of privateroon
ttasPbeerfsoarendhic
make such use of as I might judge fit, Mr. iluskisson's
private letters to Mr. Hume show the great con;:4ence
he placed in his judgment. To Mr. Hume's confideb..ce
and friendship I certainly owe the confirmation of those
principles, and that ambition to labour, through all the
difficulties, at my sole expense, of collecting in Europe
and America the materials of the work which I now
venture to present to the public."
No better notion can be afforded of the enormous ap-
plication and energy which our compiler's task de-
manded and received at his hands, than what he states
in the following passage :
" I consulted Mr. Hume on the subject: but the com-
plete accomplishment of such work was considered too
arduous, from the circumstance of our scarcely pos-
sessing any one foreign tariff, nor any of the foreign
revenue or customs laws (except those of the United
States), printed in the English language. I, however,
had previously arranged nearly all those then in force in
America, and had also prepared the way to obtain all
subsequent information relative to the commercial re
sources and legislation of each of the North and South
American States. In 1832, being then disengaged from
any official employment, I visited France with the view
of collecting the materials for my contemplated work.
in the following summer I travelled over 134Plgiurat

Holland, and the principal States of Germany, for th
same purpose, and in 1834, 1835, and 1836, travelled
over several other European states, returning during the
winter of each year to Paris to arrange the materials I
had collected. The years 1837, 1838, 1839, I spent
chiefly in the Austrian States and in Italy, and last
autumn I revisited Germany and Holland, in order to
completed my researches. With the exception of the
commercial laws and tariffs of Russia, which I employed
a very able foreign gentleman (who, from having for a
long time held office in the finance department of that
country, understood the subject well) to translate ; and
with the exception also of the tariffs of Sweden and
Denmark, I translated or supetintended the translation
of all the other tariffs and commercial regulations, in
this work, into English from the French, German,
Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese languages : the labour
of which was not, however, so much that of verbal trans-
, lation, but of arranging the tariffs alphabetically, after-
wards, in the tabular form which I considered necessary,
and in the weights, measures, and monies of England, as
well as in those of their respective countries."
And again—
" In the progress of my researches, the natural re-
sources, and the agriculture and manufacturing pro-
ducts of foreign countries, the prices of earn, and the
wages of labour ; the trade and the navigation ; the
taxation, and the revenue of foreign countries, consti•
tuted a principal object of collection and arrangement ;
and I for some time considered that these should form a
distinct work from the mere commercial treaties, tariffs,
and customs laws of Europe and America. My view
of carrying into execution this separate plan was over-
ruled by the mature opinion of Mr. Deacon Hume, and
by a letter to me while I was in Germany, from the late
Lord Sydenham, of whose friendship, for several years
before his death. I must speak with gratitude, and under
whose auspices it was then intended that the. work,
when completed, should have been presented by her
Majesty's command to both Houses of Parliament. I
am bound to state this in honesty, and in justice to the
memory of the late Governor-General of Canada."

And here, in justice to Mr. Macgregor, we subjoin
the acknowledgments of which we have spoken

above :--

"If I have felt myself bound to acknowledge my ob-
ligations to the memory of Lord Sydenham, I am justly
compelled to declare—that the several comidereial
tariffs, regulations, and statistics of Europe and America
that I prepared, in the form in which they have been
presented by her Majesty's commands to Parliament
(and which are embodied in, and constitute a great por-
tion of these volumes), were brought out under the
prompt and kind auspices of the Earl of Ripon, the late
President, and of Mr. Gladstone, now President of the
Department of which I have the honour of being one of
the joint secretaries. In stating this publicly, I must
say further, that on no occasion have I known any but
the most liberal willingness on the part of not only the
Earl of Ripon and of Mr. Gladstone, but also on the part
of Mr. Laboucbere, when President of the Board of
Trade, to have statistical, and all really useful returns
prepared for the information of Parliament and the
public."
The Introduction is divided into three sections, which
treat, respectively, of " Commercial and Financial
Legislation," " Interchange of Commodities," " Taxes
and Consumption." The first and second volumes in-
clude the Commercial Statistics of the Austrian Em-
pire ; Belgium ; Denmark ; France ; the Germanic
Union of Customs, Holland; the Italian States, Gib-
raltar ; Malta, and the lonian Islands ; Ottoman
Empire in Europe ; Greece ; African States ; the
Russian Empire ; Sweden and Norway ; Spain; Por-
tugal. Each of these divisions treats of the geographi-
cal position, boundaries ; area and population ; com-
mercial legislation, tariffs, revenues, &c. ; agriculture,
trade, navigation ; seaports, shipping ; products and
their prices, conventions and agreements with this
country ; exports, imports ; manufactures, wages,
fairs, &.. In short, there is no information which
can be gleaned from any authentic source on all these
topics, that Mr. Macgregor has not fused into his
compilation. Row agreeable and interesting some
portions of this excellent work are to the common
reader, who may be absolutely ;nnocent of all com-
mercial and fiscal curiosity, some extracts that we
have marked for future notice may suffice to show.
Altogether, Mr. Macgregor's work is one of the most
remarkable, and, what is more, one of the most useful
works which has been published since the commence-
ment of the present century.

THE COCK AND AZVCHOR. A CHRONICLE
OF OLD DUBLIN CITY. 3 vas.
This is a narrative of old Dublin, some hundred
and fifty years ago, bearing the name of a celebrated
public-house, supposed to have flourished about that
period. It is not a tale that will amuse, but it is one
that will afford both interest and instruction. It is
a history of the gradual progression of crime, showing,
as the French say, " ce n'est que le premier pas qui
cage." It is easy to deviate from the right
course, but a false step once taken, it is
not only impossible to recede,—it is impos-
sible to pause. Fault follows fault, like the steps
of a ladder, till by imperceptible degrees the
hapless victim finds himself from the borders of virtue
fallen to the depths of vice. The hero, in whose
history this lesson is conveyed, is Henry Ashwoode,
a young baronet, of moderate fortune, and proud and
passionate disposition. His faults having increased
by bad education and bad example, he is the
willing slave of his own passions. Step by
step, he advances in the path of sin.
First, his love for play leads him into bad company,
then, by his pride, be insults his low companions, and
thus creates a powerful enemy. Ruined by gambling,
he is induced by cunning representations to forge s
signature to a bond, whichshall free him from danger.
This bond falls into the possession of his enemy, who
now has an opportunity of gratifying his revenge.
Through the fear of exposure, the haughty Ba-
ronet is compelled to obey the caprices of his cruel
tormentor; till at last his pride gets the better of his
fears, he refuses to submit, and then—but we will
not destroy the interest of the story by giving
the conclusion; suffice it to say, that it conveys a
moral lesson well worthy of attention. It is written
in a bold and vigorous style, adapted to the characters
and the subject. The gentle Mary Ashwoode, the sister
of the gambler, forms a beautiful contrast to the
gloomy pictures of her brother and his companions.
The description of her escape from the power of
Blarden, her brother's enemy, is one of the most inte-
resting passages in the book. Among the various
scenes we are introduced to the Vice-Regal Court,
during the Lieutenancy of the profligate Marquis of
Wharton, the father of the celebrated Duke Philip;
here we see Addison, Swift, and others, but we have
only a passing glimpse of these important charac-
ters, the chief interest of the story following the for-
tunes of Ashwoode. The following remarks on the
inveterate pursuit of gaming are full of melancholy

truth
" With the immediate urgency of distress, any
thoughts of prudence or retrenchment which may have
crossed his mind vanished, and along with the command
of new resources came new wants and still more extrava-
gant prodigality. His passion for gaming was now
indulged without restraint, and almost without the in-
terruption of a day. For a time his fortune rallied, and
sums, whose amount would startle credulity, flowed into
his hands, only to be lost and squandered again in dissi-
pation and extravagance, which grew but the wilder and
more reckless, in proportion as the sources which sup-
plied them were temporarily increased. At length, after
some coquetting, the giddy goddess again deserted him.
Night after night brought new and heavier disasters ;
and with this reverse of fortune came its invariable
accompaniment—a wilder and more daring recklessness,
and a more unmeasured prodigality in hazarding larger
and larger sums ; as if the victims of ill luck sought, by
this frantic defiance, to bully and browbeat their capri-
cious persecutor into subjection. There was scarcely
an available security of any kind which he had not
already turned into money, and now he began to feel,
in downright earnest, the iron gripe of ruin closing
upon him.
,‘ He was changed—in spirit and in aspect changed.
The unwearied fire of a secret fever preyed upon his
heart and brain; an untold horror robbed him of his
rest, and hauntd him night and day."

-----
WILL OF THE LATE BARON GURNEY --Probate
of the will of Sir John Gurney, Knight, of Lincoln's Inn-
fields, late one of the Barons of her Majesty's Court of Ex-
chequer, was granted cn the 6th inst. to his sons, the Rev.
John Hampden Gurney, clerk ; Russell Gurney, Esq., and
Sidney Gurney, Esq., the executors. Personal estate sworn
under 80,000/. Sir John died on the Ist of March last, aged
seventy-seven. He leaves to his wife 6,000/., and the fur-
niture, &c.; also the residue of his property for her life.
His library (not law books) to be divided among his chil-
dren after Lady Gurney has made a selection. Bequeaths
to his eldest son, the Rev. John Hampden Gurney, a legacy
of 8,0001, and the chambers in Paper-buildings. To his
second son, Russell Gurney, barrister-at-law, he bequeaths
all his freehold estates at Northlands and Abbots Farms,
and the property at Cuckfield, in Sussex, and his chambers
in King's Bench-walk; also his law library. To his son,
Sidney Gurney, a legacy of 2,0001. To his three daughters
1,000/. each. The residue of his property, at the death of
Lady Gurney, to be divided among his children in portions,
as directed by the will. To each of his nine grand-children a
legacy of 100/., and to his faithful clerk, who had been with
him many years, a legacy of 400/. The will is written in
draft, dated November 30, 1844, signed, " John Gurney,"
witnessed by C. Ewens, Basinghall-street, and his clerk.
On a separate paper is a list of his children and grand-
children, and their ages, places Of birth, &c.
WILL OF THE BISHOP OF ELY.—Probate of the
will of the Right Reverend Joseph Allen, D.D., late Lord
lishop of Ely, who died at Ely, in the county of Cambridge,
on il,e 20th of March last, aged seventy-six, was granted
on the 1;:..h instant to his daughter, Ellen Allen, and to %his
two sons, Cleorge J. Allen and William Joseph Allen,
Esqs., the excel:l-ors and trustees, a power being reserved
to his widow, Margart:t Allen, to prove hereafter. Personal
estate sworn under 40,0061. Bequeaths to his wife a life
interest both in the funded property and landed estates, and
directs that she may receive the sum of 500/. for immediate
use ; and leaves to her for her absolute' use such furniture,
&c., as she may select, the remaindor he bequeaths to his
children • but such articles as they may. not require are to
be offered to his successor to the Bishopric, at a fair valua-
tion. His books on divinity to be given, with the consent
of his wife, to the dean and chapter of the cathedral church
of Ely for the library. Thep rop.erty after the decease
estatesof
his wife be bequeaths in the following manner: His
~.n
at Manchester he gives, devises, and bequeaths to his ,
George J. Allen, and to his heirs forevetor.
hTishOsosen , ik 2.
the county of Chester lie bequeaths_ 11
: 1 near
lir
The.bast India stock he leaves
Joseph Allen, and his heirs.to be
September
to his daughter. And the rThideuewiouf
ishisaPtreodPertY
divided among his children.
23, 1844, signed "J. Ely." Witueesed by hie. butter awl
gardener.