l64- Lieict.-Colonel Briggs' Trmislaiion of the 



It is, I think, impossible to read this interesting series of private docu- 

 ments, without confessing, that, in Europe, we are still but imperfectly 

 acquainted with the natives of our eastern empire. Nay, I am of opinion, 

 that until an European quits the British territory in India, where every 

 Englishman looks on himself as a master, and on the people rather as his 

 dependents than as his fellow subjects, it is extremely difficult for him to 

 know much of their domestic habits, or private character. 



The individuals who moved on the scene which has been exhibited in the 

 letters I have translated, lived within our own time. Some of them even 

 are now alive : and the facts, to which the correspondence alludes, are fresh 

 in the minds of the present generation. It should be recollected also, that 

 up to that period the court of Poona had had little or no intercourse with 

 Europeans ; so that the letters afford a fair sample of the materials which 

 compose an Indian court, when left to itself. In this point of view, I 

 consider these papers as singularly valuable and instructive ; and, as 

 historical records, very important. 



I would appeal to those members of the Society, who have heard the whole 

 of this correspondence read, whether it be the production of a barbarous or 

 uncivilized race ? Whether the sentiments expressed in the letters, or the 

 conduct of the individuals by whom they were written, exhibit a people 

 deficient in talent, or different in any respect from what might be expected 

 from persons considerably elevated in the scale of human society ? 



It has been my lot to pass a great part of my life in familiar intercourse 

 with the natives of the east, and principally among those who have for the 

 most part lived beyond the precincts of our jurisdiction, and my notions of 

 them are drawn from such sources. I have found the people, generally 

 speaking, intelligent in a very high degree, though, from education, 

 deficient in the knowledge of European history and sciences. They, how- 

 ever, are ready to admit their ignorance, and desirous of instruction. 

 They are usually liberal in their opinions ; and the Hindus especially are 

 tolerant on the subject of religion : for though tenacious of any interference 

 in the exercise of their own, they oppose no worship or custom which does 

 not affect themselves. Among their domestic virtues, I should class affection 

 and tenderness to their relatives ; kindness tc their domestics ; integrity in 

 their dealings with each other ; hospitality to strangers ; and charity to the 

 distressed and poor. Among the upper classes I have found refined notions 

 of delicacy of conduct and manners ; and among statesmen and financiers, I 



