# 
_A description of the ruins of Buddha 
aE Lh Achaea aOR 
5 POM. oe et res) rE nied YAAK iy 
hess ree yaluable Persian MSS. were pre- 
aE Cank, J.-Grant Duff, and: the 
ysecond. set of» his. Mélanges Asiatiques, 
from M. J. Klaproth. 
eorsirL Wm. Betham, Kt. and Lieut.-Col. 
Martin White were eleeted members. 
‘“£wo papers were read, viz. the first, an 
atithentic,account of two females whodes- 
so. Hire 
Monthly Review of Literature, 
troyed themselves on the funeral pile of the 
lated from the Persian by Mr. 
[Jury, 
Rajah of Tanjore, extract, of an official des- 
patch frum the British Resident,at Tanjore 
tothe Chief Secretary at Fort.St..George, 
dated 24th April, 1802. yr amialet feu 
The other paper _is an account of the;dif- 
ferent festivals observed by. the Mahome- 
tans in India, drawn up by a, Moonshee of 
the’ Circuit Court of Chittore, and trans- 
J. Stokes of 
Madras. oy I 
th 
MONTHLY REVIEW OF. LITERATURE, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 
> +) Hoasiiic 
“<The Life and Correspondence of Major 
Cirlivright, edited by his Niece, F. D. Carv- 
wricut. 2 vols. 8v0o.—Nobody can skim 
these volumes without a deep conviction 
of the thorough honesty of Major Cart- 
wright." Honesty is the distinguishing cha- 
raétévistie’ of the man, coupled with a gen- 
tleness ‘that nothing could ruffle, an un- 
dauntédness that power never appalled, 
and @i atdour that age itself did not chill. 
His‘ activity is equally remarkable; nothing 
that concerned ‘the great and general in- 
terests of society, immediately or remotely, 
escaped his notice, or failed of engaging his 
exertions—sometimes impotently, but al- 
ways vigorously. It was not merely the 
subject of reform, that drew forth the ener- 
gies'of such aman for more than half a 
centuty?’ Eé has! been marked by Haslitt 
among his’one-idea men’; but never truly, 
was? aly man’s mind more variously occu- 
pied) "Phe" question’ of reform was with 
hith @ leading one, but only a. léading, 
not ‘an’ excluding one. “No opportunity was 
lost! by him ‘of pushing the cause, but tliis 
aetivity was the result of the watchfulness 
of his‘ zeal: The subject might, and did 
occasionally sleep, and but for him would, 
perhaps, ‘have slept for ever; but in the in- 
tervals, he was not a whit less ardent in 
other matters of great national importance. 
Confessedly he laboured diligently and per- 
severingly from first to last in the cause 
of, reform; and what good has he done? 
None ‘aetually ; but who will say, none po- 
tentially? By his exertion it is, that the 
exigencies of reform are now generally un- 
derstood, and we may add generally ac- 
knowledged by every unbiassed and intel- 
ligentman in the kingdom. By his exer- 
tions, itis'too, that the existing impediments 
have been so thoroughly exposed. The 
way is*'paved*for its easy and, perhaps, 
speedy accomplishment. Can any man 
doubt,: that’ ifsthose who advocated the 
principles of*reform, had been as honest 
and)sineere'as ‘Major Cartwright, but an 
effectual-change would have taken place 
long ago?) The*truth is, scarcely a man of 
these, who talked'so loudly, was a bit more 
heantysinethe cause than Pitt’ or Burke, 
themselves.o. Moore) imhis lifeef Sheridan, ~~ 
says, ‘It may be doubted, if Fox was 2 
sincere friend to the principle of reform;’’ 
and we learn, from the volumes before us, 
on the authority of Lord Stanhope, that 
Mr. Fox in conversation with himself and 
another, said, “reform is a fit thing to be 
made use of in argument in the House of 
Commens, but not to be carried into exe- 
cution.” Here is the true source of the 
failure of reform; and this is the cause of 
the general distrust that prevails in society, 
to a lamentable extent, of public men. 
Major Cartwright was born in the .year 
1740. His family were. of great respecta-' 
bility in Lincolnshire, descended maternally 
from a sister of Cranmer, who in his:frater- 
nal care, presented Cartwright, her husband, 
with no less than three abbies, of the pre- 
sent value of £3,000 a-year ; ‘a part Of ‘his 
share of church plimder. AEE Hes: of six- 
teen, young Cartwright entered the navy. 
He was present at the engagement between 
Lord Hawke and. Conflans in. 1759, and. 
continued actively employed, .on. board, .or~ 
as, Deputy- Commissary onthe Newfound- 
land station, till 1770.» Incthe American 
War a very advantageous appomtment was © 
offered him by Lord Howe; but he'declined 
serving against the Americans. He had by 
this time published his.‘ Independence of 
America ;”” and so lately as the Jubilee, . 
being still on the list of Lieutenants, he 
was included in the promotions, and made. 
Master and Commander, Through life 
naval matters were a subject of deep inter=" 
est with him. At different periods:of his 
long life, he proposed a’scheme for securing 
a permanent supply of British Oak; advo- 
cated the rights and interests of Fishing 
Companies ; published some improyements 
on gunnery, and a treatise on nayal suryey- 
ing; a plan for the defence of Portsmouth, , 
in 1778, when the British Fleet retreated... 
into. harbour before the French and.Spanish ; 
invented a flying drawbridge, a bearding:« 
pike, and a lite-boat; designed atemple for’ 
nayal celebration, at a time when the nas” ’ 
tion was in a fever of elation; and had the 
good fortune to see"many of his suggestions __ 
wholly or partially adopted, though none_ 
of them acknowledged. } 
In 1775, he was appointed Major of the _ 
