dark efforts to increase his own safety, and his own aggrandisement, to feed his own pride, and assert to the world his supremacy. He counted his subjects by millions; but they were abject slaves in body, mind, and spirit. His dominions were vast, but throughout them was seen the withering blight of desolation and absolute tyranny. No corner of the empire was too remote to escape it,no poorest serf too abject to elude it's deadly touch. The knout was it's gentlest argument; and a life of unceasing gloom in the mines of Siberia awaited either prince, peasant, or soldier, that dare have a will, act, speak, think, or breathe, but as the despot ordered. His army was an army-not of flesh and blood-but of machines; ticketed, labelled, and numbered; as so many pounds of iron in the royal stores, scarcely on a par in value with the muskets they carried, or the boots they wore. His subjects, whether prince or peer, his whole empire, it's wealth, strength, and existence, were all alike by and for him. They were created for his glorification, they existed by his sufferance. This was the creed of the Emperor of all the Russias; in this spirit he lived, and in this spirit death seems to have found him. But, of this last point, God forbid we should judge him; it is in the hands of Him who will judge us all, in truth, and mercy, and justice. A death-bed is too serious a matter for us to discuss in these pages.

Men's lives, however, are to be judged by their actions, as far as we know them; and no monarch can, we imagine, consistently enter on a bloody and terrible war on a pretended plea of religion, and for God's honour, while he openly opposes by every means in his power the endeavour of his people to procure the Holy Book which can alone teach men to love and obey God, and to serve him as His creatures. The Czar Nicholas did both these things; in his wildest moments of ambition, or injustice, the name of God was on his lips; pride, cruelty, and falsehood were in his heart and showed themselves in his deeds. He pretended to be madly zealous for the cause of religion, while from his sixty millions of slaves " a knowledge of the sacred Scriptures was rigidly excluded," (Preface)—a knowledge which alone could make them wise, and lift from myriads of weary hearts and enslaved spirits the burden of ignorance, darkness, and death. Light and freedom ever attend truth; and, therefore, the tyrant kept his people in the valley of the shadow, like the beasts that perish. "In what manner," says Dr. Lee, "this dark stain on humanity will be removed, no one can foretel; but it is impossible to believe that it is destined to endure much longer." We agree with him in this belief; the cry of utter desolation, of the bondsmen and the weary, at last reaches Heaven itself; and in due time. -in the best time-despotism must perish. Let us hope that the beginning of the end is dawning on this earth of our's. And

although we may believe that "neither Alexander, nor even Tamerlane, has been a greater scourge to the human race than the Emperor Nicholas" (p. 210) in his bloody recklessness of human life, let us not forget that there is a Ruler of the earth who is infinitely pure, just, and holy. His dominion is over Kings, Emperors, and Kaisars; who in His sight are but dust and ashes. In due time the reign of right over might will begin. It may be that the downfall of Russian tyranny is to mark the first step of it's progress.

We thank Dr. Lee for bringing before us this point in it's true colours; and assure our readers that his little book is well worthy of perusal on this and many other grounds, which space forbids us to mention here.

FROM CAPE TOWN TO SUEZ, BY WAY OF MADRAS.

WHAT an amusing thing a rubber of whist is, especially when for days you have been tossed on ocean's broad bosom, without one moment's peace or quiet, when your heart is perpetually leaping into your mouth at the sight of the pease-soup and roast pork which the Steward, with that perverseness so common to human nature, is continually offering to you-encouraging, though at the same time inwardly deriding at your awkward attempts at bolting what is set before you; when for days that old lady, who appears the favoured guest of the Captain, has been privately grumbling and growling at everything and everybody connected with the ship; when that pretty lady (married to that tough, yellow-looking old Major, on his return to India), whom you would have supposed to have had the sweetest of tempers, has nearly turned the ship upside-down, because forsooth Mrs. A.'s baby has had half a pint more of cow's milk than her own; then, indeed, when everybody's temper is ruffled, not excepting your own, a rubber of whist is not only an amusing, but a necessary article to the maintenance of peace and good order. It was under some such similar circumstances as these that I found myself a passenger in the good ship "Vigo," bound for Madras. Though considered a tub, as far as her sailing qualities were concerned, yet the known gentlemanlike character of her Captain, the good discipline of her crew, and the comfortable roomy arrangements of her cabin, had contributed to make her no small object of attraction to numerous passengers, who, like myself, had been loitering about Cape Town, indulging in the well-known hospitality of the Dutch residents there, and passing our time in making excursions to the vineyards of Constantia, or, if we could muster patience, to the top of Table Mountain. I could not say that I was either sorry or glad to leave Cape

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Town. My time had slipped pleasantly away. I had enjoyed the use of that magnificent library, so liberal a boon to strangers; and though the summer had so far advanced that the dust, stirred up by those unsparing south-easterly winds, had made it unpleasant to live in the town, yet I could not but do justice to the hospitality and kind welcome that everywhere surrounded me. The aspect of the town, as you sail out of the bay, is certainly most prepossessing; surrounded as it is by abrupt hills, which, terminating in one grand centre, cause the eye to be agreeably relieved from the volcanic abruptness on each side by the green slopes and flourishing vegetation of the gigantic Table Mountain. A fair wind had soon brought us in view of Robbin Island, a low land, most remarkable for two productions-madmen and rabbits; to which, I believe, at one time, a third was added, namely, convicts. Strange to say, that, notwithstanding these disadvantages above mentioned, the temptation of a good day's rabbit-shooting and the hospitality of the proprietor attracted not a few strangers from the town. Hitherto all had gone on smoothly; neither had my stomach nor my temper as yet been disturbed; and as soon as the last glimpse of land had dissappeared in the horizon, I found myself at leisure to examine my fellow passengers. When you first step on board a ship, the men and women appear to you much as other of your fellow mortals; nor is it till after you have been able to swallow your first dinner, and smoke your first cigar, that you are able to realize the incongruity or chaos (if I may so term it) of characters before you. In the present case, therefore, I was not at all astonished to find myself joining a party consisting of a Jew trader, from London, on his way. to Australia, via Point de Galle; a worthy farmer of Van Dieman's Land; a judge of Ceylon; and a young officer of the Ceylon Rifles; who, together with the tough old Indian major aforesaid, appeared to be amicably smoking their cigars, though from time to time the Jew's voice might be heard attempting to drive a good bargain or bet with some one or other of the party. A sea voyage, with the most agreeable Captain and with the most amusing society, is at the best a monotonous affair. Of course we caught the usual number of sharks, and of course we quarrelled with everybody; suffice it to say, that, after a long, though pleasant, voyage of some eight weeks, I found myself, one fine morning, making a breakfast of mangoes, fresh fish and bananas, in the roads of Madras. Madras, the scene of the foundation of our Indian empire, does not do justice, as far as its situation is concerned, to the foresight of our ancestors. Of harbour there is none; it boasts of being nothing but an open roadstead, and the consequence is that in every sou-westerly gale the damage to the shipping is not inconsiderable. On first arrival, nothing

strikes you so much as the nasty, low, sandy shore, acting the part of

an intense reflector to a burning tropical sun, and extending for miles inland, with naught to relieve it but a few cocoa-nut trees. The principal building, the Fort, was constructed by the French, according to the system of Cormontaigne, but is now fast tumbling to pieces; and should it ever be its fortune, or misfortune rather, to be attacked by a Russian fleet, the first discharge of its own artillery would probably be its finishing stroke. The public buildings, of which Madras can boast outside the Fort, are few. Among the best may be named the club-house (second to none in India), the cathedral, and the government-house. What, however, the town may loose in public building, is made up by the neat, one might almost say magnificent, villas, belonging to the merchants and Company's civil and military servants. The natives are, for the most part, either of the Mahommedan or Roman Catholic religion; and the quarter of the town which each inhabits is very clearly defined by the clean or filthy condition of the streets. The climate is one of the warmest in India; and were it not for the substantial ice-house, the good water, and the plentiful supply of the finest tropical fruits, the life of the Madrassee would be but a poor one. It is a common supposition in England that the life of the Anglo-Indian is a luxurious dream my small experience went to show that what might be termed luxury in Europe, became the veriest necessity there. As I found that our ship, after unloading her cargo, was preparing to reload, further down the coast, with rice, preparatory to her return homeward, I determined to land and take up my quarters with a friend, to whom I had received a letter of introduction. My time was limited, as my engagements necessitated my return to England within six weeks. I therefore, after having secured my passage beforehand in one of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamers, prepared to pass my time as pleasantly as a tropical sun and, as yet, an uninjured liver might allow me. The amusements that are to be found in India certainly speak highly of the ingenuity of Englishmen, in adapting those of their own country to every climate under the sun. To say nothing of cricket, rockets, and fives, horse-raceing, even shooting, to the probable eternal detriment of the health of the sportsman, is to be found practised in every part of the land. Far was it from my wish, however, that this should be altered; quite the contrary, it appeared to me a most desirable thing, when the amount of animal food and strong drinks, as a counterpoise, came to be calculated. Madras is well known for its curries and good dinners, and I may own to having often, during my six weeks' stay, exceeded the bounds of prudence in that particular. In the season (for Madras has its season as well as London), balls are plentiful-not so blooming young ladies; and though one cannot but admire the cool temperature of the ground-floor-rooms, yet one is painfully disap

pointed in the pale, sallow looks of its fair occupants. On taking up a book on natural history, in England, your mind is impressed with the idea that the wild-beasts you read of are to be met with within ten miles of the place you land, and that possibly in some of your midnight strolls you may become the dainty repast of some wary tiger or lion; but, with the exception of a few jackalls, birds of prey, and snakes, quite the reverse is the case at Madras; nor is it till the sportsman reaches the magnificent Weinaut jungle, some three or four hundred miles up the country, that the display of large game offers a fair field for trying the powers of his rifle. Many was the story related to me of this said jungle; and its dangers, arising from the pestilential influence of the marshes, appeared to form rather an attraction than otherwise to the adventurous sons of Britain. Among other tales that I heard, I cannot help relating one told me, of his younger days, by an old service-seeing captain, to whom I had been introduced, and with whom I soon became the best of friends, the more so as I found he was likely to accompany me homewards overland. It appears that his regiment had been ordered from Bangalore to Cannanore, which, much to the joy of those officers who were at all expert with their rifles, involved a passage through this jungle aforesaid. My friend, though a good soldier, was by no means so good a sportsman; nor in fact had the chase any charms at all in his eyes; for, being born and bred a cockney, his early predilections had retained a firm hold on him. It was therefore with some reluctance that one fine morning he accepted the invitation of a sporting friend to adjourn to a neighbouring pool, some two miles off, there to lie in wait for the chance of a shot at a herd of elephants, known frequenters of the spot, and, after a good bath, to return to camp to a still better breakfast. Had the two latter propositions formed the only part of the invitation, my friend's reluctance would probably have been got over with more ease; as it was, he had to make the best of it. Dressed in a loose pair of drawers, a light flannel shirt, and a pair of slippers (for the weather was intensely warm at the time) the two friends arrived at their destination shortly before sunrise. The fickle goddess seemed propitious; for hardly had they sheltered themselves in an adjoining thicket, before the crash of the branches around foretold the approach of their game. "Now," said his friend, "here they come; do have a shot; I know you can hit them, if you do not get nervous about it. Mind, the right barrel is loaded with ball; the left with duck-shot. Be sure you do not pull the wrong trigger." My friend, who seldom, if ever, fired a gun off before in his life, inwardly determined, like Mr. Tupman, to shut his eyes and pull boldly, which feat he accordingly performed, on his friend nudging his elbow that they were near enough. As luck would have it, however,