some man or men of the fateful European races. A man of British nationality would not be suitable because presumably he could not be trusted to oppose his own people. Moreover he would not be obtainable because, if really an able man, he could find employment under his own Government. Thus the men available would be of Continental origin. It was thought that even if they were not as effective as the English, they were at all events white men with a good share of the capacity which always distinguishes Europeans. Some were chosen either in reference to credentials or to known antecedents, others again were employed first in some humble capacity and then raised themselves higher by sheer prowess. Several of them won victories or other military advantages for their chiefs. All of them without exception were rewarded with a richness astonishing even to Anglo-Indians. Some of them amassed really immense fortunes in reference to the nature of their work and to the circumstances of their epoch. Indeed the amounts and sums of wealth would at first sight seem unaccountable when it is remembered that at this time India was agitated from end to end, her social life being shaken to its very foundations. It is, however, to be remembered that, despite all superficial appearances to the contrary, the accumulated wealth of India has at all times been enormous. Casual observers may be attempted to suppose otherwise, but those whose gaze can penetrate to the bottom well know that with an abounding population of thrifty habits addicted generally if not universally to save and spare, to accumulate and to secrete, there will always be resources amassed in a smaller or greater degree according to the ability of the individual. Consequently at this dark era, that is to say, in the second half of the eighteenth century there were incalculable quantities of stored and hoarded possessions. Therefore it is that in a brief time these European soldiers of fortune acquired that wealth that would have appeared to them fabulous before they entered the Oriental service, and must have transcended any visions that may have haunted their ambitious dreams.

Some of them were not content with Native Indian subordinates, but employed Europeans in lesser, even humble, capacities. Such men of course merged into obscurity, while the names of their leaders remained conspicuous. Thus the number of Europeans great and small in Native Indian service was at certain times and in certain places quite appreciable. On the whole it may be said that in the contests, which were going on at this era, running sometimes crosswise, at other times parallel, to one another, and oftentimes over-lapping each other, the Europeans in native employ did in some degree mould events and almost directed the strategy of conflicting forces. Their system of drill and discipline was generally adopted, especially in the artillery and infantry, and where it was not adopted, particularly in the cavalry, which was usually irregular, the results were disastrous. One of the great authorities of the time is understood to have pronounced that the Native Indian princes would have fared better had they never made use of the alien aid of the Europeans. It is difficult to say whether any such dictum could be affirmed or not, inasmuch as the Native States which then comprised threefourths of India were foredoomed to subjugation by the British. power whatever they might do or not do. But this much may be affirmed, that owing to the European officers in the Native States the rising floods and streams of anarchy were diverted in directions where they would not otherwise have flowed. Moreover, when at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the British came to close quarters with the Native States, the influence of these European officers had abated, and their numbers had decreased. Nevertheless the drill and discipline, which they had introduced, still remained and caused the native resistance to the British forces to be stiffer than it would otherwise have been on several well fought fields.

It may be well for a moment to dwell on the character of the area, the field and theatre of action, in which these European adventurers, under their Native Indian chiefs and sovereigns, fought, conquered, conducted or endured sieges, managed

provinces, during the eighteenth century. These lands are indeed some of the most classic and historic in the East, and upon each one of them these white soldiers of fortune had left the mark of European handiwork, although serving under Native Indian règime, before British authority came to comprehend the whole country with its all-embracing control. Such a summary survey of this historical geography can be immediately had from a glance at the map.

Let a beginning be made from about midway in the north of India, midway also in the southern base of the long Himalayan mountain range; that is to say in Hindostan, or the upper basin of the Ganges and its affluent the Jumna; ever the principal seat of Empire in India, a uniquely Imperial province; politically the most important part of the whole country. In it are the twin capitals of Delhi and Agra; and around Delhi in particular are laid some of the most striking scenes in Mr. Keene's drama of the Great Anarchy. Then let us, advancing due south, in imagination cross first the Ganges then the Jumna. So we pass by Oojein, with its ruins of hoar antiquity, then by Gwalior, the rock-citadel destined to become the seat of the one power that stayed the course of the Great Anarchy, and by Rajputana, bordering the Western Desert of India, that after severe struggles barely escaped submergence under the flood of almost universal revolution. Next let us, still proceeding southwards, march into the very heart of Central India, crossing the Vindhya range and the broad uplands and undulations connected therewith, right down to the north bank of the Nerbudda, point after point in which is signalized by some event in Mr. Keene's story. Crossing this, the queen of beauty among Indian rivers, we must on our historic tour, ever advancing southwards, ascend the Sautpura range, the true backbone of the Indian continent, descend into the valley of the Tapti river, and so reach the northern uplands of the Deccan, marked by the remains of nationalities many centuries old and by the comparatively modern associations of the Great Anarchy. So we arrive at the Deccan, the southern

plateau of the Indian continent, second only to Hindostan in importance amidst the medieval revolutions and in the more recent politics of India. For Mr. Keene's story the Deccan must be divided into two distinct spheres of action, one the Deccan of the Hindu Mahrattas, with its capital at Poona, the other the Deccan of the Moghuls, or the Moslem Nizams, with its capital at Hyderabad. Now this line of imaginative march has extended over full a thousand miles, Outside the regions thus compassed there are no doubt provinces in the North-West, the East, the South. Still within it are most of the dominant places in India, most of the localities best deserving the attention of the student, who desires to understand the miserable condition of the heritage which fell into the hands of the British at the beginning of the nineteenth century; the vineyard, which having been broken down, torn up and trampled under the iron heel, had to be restored to order by British conquest, and set up again by Western administration. Indeed a practical apprehension of the geography above sketched is most desirable, if not absolutely essential, to the appreciation of Mr. Keene's narrative.

In a preface like this it is impossible even to mention these numerous European adventurers. The reader who may be curious to follow their careers will gladly refer to Mr. Keene's pages. The life of each one among them is strange and peculiar, indeed very uncommon even for a land like India, which is ever fertile in wonders. Each career is full of instruction to every student who wishes to observe human capacity and individual possibilities under abnormal conditions. Among the most remarkable of these cases, will be found that of DeBoigne, a Savoyard by birth, education and experience, who rose to be the righthand man of Sindhia, the most potent Native chief then in India, who ultimately retired to his native Savoy, dying there in wealth and honour; that of Perron, a deserter from the French Navy, a common man, who, by his mother wit, became the military successor of DeBoigne, was taken prisoner of war by the British General, Lord Lake, and after release, died obscurely in France;

that of George Thomas, a deserter from the British Navy, an unlettered man, with some genius, who contrived to establish an almost independent dominion in parts of Northern India, but had ultimately to surrender himself to British authorities in whose custody he died on his way to Calcutta. The effect of these and all the other careers can be gathered only by a perusal. of Mr. Keene's book.

In this brief summary justice cannot be done to Mr. Keene's historical style, which has a masterly grasp of details and arrays them with truly pictorial effect. To the general reader just a few passages may be specially commended, as examples illustrating the romance of Indian life during the eighteenth century; though indeed the whole history is like an epic poem, save that the composition has the living force derivable only from reality and truth. For facility of reference the numbers of the chapters are given from which the examples are taken. The passages may be designated as the capture by the British of Law (nephew of the notorious speculator), the Franco-Scot who was fighting on the Native Indian side against his own countrymen (Ch. II); the narrow escape of De Boigne from assassination (IV); the headlong charge of Rajput chivalry, and their return through a Valley of Death, four thousand saddles emptied by the fire of regular infantry (IV); the rescue of the Emperor of Delhi from imminent death by the Sardhana troops (VII); the superb charge of the heavy armed cavalry of Rajputana upon du Drenec's regulars (VI); the Moslem defeat at Kardla, and the memory of Raymond, to this day cherished at Hyderabad as that of the prieux chevalier (VI); the fateful flight of the princess Begum Somroo, her attempted suicide with an ineffectual stiletto, and the simultaneous self-destruction of her husband by a pistol shot; the last struggles and final surrender of George Thomas (VII); the capture of Perron by Lord Lake (X); the bloody and hard fought battle between the Mahratta chiefs when the troops on both sides were led by European officers, and when indeed Greek did meet Greek (X); Skinner and his "yellow" regiment of horse, at the siege