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should imagine that all reasonable men would unite: but I am not so forward as some of my Asiatic friends in supposing that the time is not only come, but that the expediency or rather the necessity of the measure is of such a pressing nature as to justify us in forcing by any means rather than none, the Christian religion on the consciences of the Hindoos. It is perhaps true that the horrors of idolatry ought never to be regarded with complacency by a Christian legislator, but it surely nothing derogates from his religion, that he should act as a cautious and prudent general in unfurling the banners of the cross amongst the votaries of a religion, the principles of which so strongly militate against the one he has been taught to adopt.

I will now, Mr. Editor, in leaving the question to the calm discussion

which I hope your pages will afford it, take the liberty of pressing on the advocates of missionary exertions the two following considerations; first, the desirableness of endeavouring to ascertain whether the time for prosecuting this important and delicate work is yet arrived, and whether we ought not to wait the further progress of civilization; and, secondly, the urgent necessity there is, if the time is already come, that the utmost temper, prudence, and judgment should influence the con duct of those who may be appointed to labour in a soil which can be full of promise to those only who act with caution, and who are never weary in well doing.

I beg you to accept my best wishes for the success of the work you have undertaken, which promises much utility; and that you will believe me, Sir, &c. &c.

ASIATICUS.

To the Editor of the Asiatic Journal.

Ad generum Cereris sine cæde et vulnere pauci

Descendunt reges, ac sicca morte tyranni,

Few are the tyrant homicides that go Unpierc'd and bloodless to the realms below. SIR,-When Brutus, animated by a regard for his country, stifled every other consideration but that of terminating the reign of Cæsar, the noble Romans approved his deed, and though, of late years to deprive a tyrant of the further power of doing mischief, by assassination, has been discouraged, yet no one has been found prejudiced enough in favour of despotism to deny that justice ought to hold over all" the balance and the rod," and that every member of the body politic, whatever may be his birth or

rank, elevation or degree, should be amenable to its laws.

These reflections have been suggested to me by the disposal of Napoleon Buonaparte after a breach of his parole, a violation of his engagement and his oath to abdicate the thrones of France and Italy for ever, and finally a treasonable usurpation. This culprit, through the weakness of the King of France, and the artifices of Fouché, has been spared a public trial for his offences; and is now consigned, without the slightest punishment, to a larger, more productive and more inviting island for his residence, than he was before allowed to inhabit.

but

The island of St. Helena appropriated for his reception, naturally attracts our notice as a part of the East India Company's possessions, and on many accounts a most useful and valuable part. Whatever advantages it possesses as a place of refreshment for the homewardbound ships from India, and a rendezvous for convoys in time of war, are now to be cancelled by the transfer of this Island to the Crown, and the prohibition of all intercourse with it, extending to every class of "foreign and mercantile shipping." The consequences of this transfer, owing to the political arrangements connected with the attention shewn to Napoleon Buonaparte, are to St. Helena, wretchedness and ruin. It will be seen hereafter in what degree these misfortunes operate; at present it may be worth our while seriously to consider whether a single subject of His Majesty, in any part of our colonies or settlements, ought to be visited with a public evil, owing and attributable solely to this very man, who has already been the means of so materially injuring thousands of their fellow-subjects and relatives in Great Britain, and nearly the whole of Europe beside. I fear that the interests of the good people of St. Helena have been entirely postponed in the consideration shewn to a criminal, whom we cannot forget as the bitter enemy of every people that opposed his designs. But it may be urged that I carry my resentments against the fallen too far. Not so. Consigned as he was to quiet at Elba, I had hoped to have heard no more that name,

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sidious as the serpent, there is a remorseless cruelty in his actions, and a perpetual danger in his wiles. Had he learnt from calculation, that all Europe would array against him, and over-match his power; had he reasoned as a politician and felt as a Christian, he would have taken advantage of the quiet permitted him to atone for past misdeeds by penitence and prayer.

His last attempt confirmed what the whole tenor of his reign has shown, that to depend on his professions or his oath, was to deceive one's self.

The blood of thousands has been sacrificed before the mischief occasioned by this false generosity, to a man declared by his own senate to be out of the pale of all civilized society, could be repaired. Say ye, who mourn your sons or husbands slain; say, if their innocent blood does not rest upon the head of that guilty miscreant, who was the sole author of your afflictions? Does he deserve our notice or respect, who only conquered to destroy? Does the usurper of a throne, of which on solemn oath he signed his abdication, and again abdicated, merit the countenance of a country whom he laboured to annihilate ? Is not the receiver of the rebel, who fails. to deliver him over to public justice, a culpable party? and ought we to compromise treason by providing a safe retreat for the conspirator?-This too, at England's cost! Proh pudor! Is this the result of a protracted war, attended with inconceivable burdens to the community, caused by the very man who became their sole author in refusing to listen to accommodation? Is it thus we are to acquit ourselves to posterity, for an act VOL. I. C

unparalleled in any age or country? Would this have been the treatment exercised towards our good King had he fallen into the Tyrant's hands? For, flying from public justice in one's own country to an enemy in another, is literally falling into an enemy's hands, and entitles a man to no other treatment, whatever his expectations may have been, than that of being handed back again to account for his conduct, especially if that enemy be an ally of the power against whom the aggression has been committed, and the act, a notorious public wrong.

It has been laid down by an eminent Chief Justice, that "it seems a gross perversion of terms to say that a man comes to settle, because he takes shelter for the purpose of concealment without the knowledge of the landlord, and the wife in observance of her duty, does not turn him out. There is no communication, no hiring, no right to settle; it is a mere intrusion of a fugitive, a mere hiding-place in the course of his flight. There is no pretence for asserting that a legal settlement has thus been gained."

This decision is altogether analogous to the case of Buonaparte. Had the laws of national justice been consulted, we maintain that this man should have been delivered over to the King of France, for the purpose of a public trial, in some of the islands off the French coast, where it would not have been possi ble, by means of our navy, for his numerous proselytes in France to have interposed. There he might have been arraigned at his own favourite bar, viz. the military tribunal, and unquestionably conviction would have followed, when a life might have been terminated like

Murat's, which, so long as it exists, must carry with it the perpetual condemnation of thinking men. But the evil does not rest here ;-hopes of his return are fostered pretty generally among his infatuated votaries in France; which, unfortunately, form a numerous proportion; and so long as these ideas are cherished, it is in vain to expect loyalty and patriotism among Frenchmen. Not that I apprehend he will ever again succeed in repossessing himself of the throne; yet, the effect is mischievous, and far out-balances any consideration of sparing his life.

St. Helena has been peculiarly the scene of repeated mutiny, and even so late as three or four years since, a most serious disturbance of this nature arose. Is it not likely then, that the injury sustained by the community of that island, in consequence of its loss of trade, or the intemperate conduct of a commander, may impel some arm more daring than the rest, to set the example of rebellion? In such a crisis what would be the influence produced on the condition of the state prisoner? Undoubtedly most alarming. Were his release at all likely to turn the scale in favour of one party, assuredly it would not be heeded, and in the desperation of the moment, some frantic hand might perhaps be found

"To set the Monster loose to scourge mankind."

Well disciplined as the British soldier may be in England; abridge his comforts abroad, and you excite the whole vengeance of his character. There is a remarkable instance of this in the annals of St. Helena, as related in the interesting work of Mr. Brooke, page 259. For the details, I must refer you to the work itself, contenting myself with stating, that in the year 1783, a mu

tiny having broken out in the garrison, the disorderly troops, to the number of two hundred men, planned the seizure of the post on Ladder Hill in that island, where there were field-pieces, mortars, and various ammunition, and actually gained possession of the alarm-house, turned their arms upon their officers, and were not subdued but by the regular means of war.

I have entered into these details, more with a view to shew the intrigues and discontents that arise in a confined settlement like St. Helena, together with the consequences resulting from them, than to lay any stress upon the probability of their occurring in such a degree as to excite any serious apprehensions. I am, &c. CATO.

To the Editor of the Asiatic Journal.
To the Editor.

SIR,-It has afforded me much satisfaction to find, that we are at last to have, what has been so long wanted, an Asiatic Journal, and I have not the least doubt, but that yours will prove a very valuable and interesting work.

point out how far, in every case, what may have been recommended as advantageous in the cure of them in cold climates, has been thought beneficial in warmer latitudes; though I must confess, that the field is a very fair one for ingenious and useful discussion, and unquesAs, in your Prospectus, you have tionably, one hitherto but little set apart a division for medical sub- trodden. I shall, therefore, withjects, I take the liberty of now out further delay, proceed to lay sending you copy of a paper which before you the immediate object of I some time ago transmitted to the this report, in communicating to Honourable Court of Directors from you what has come within my own Madras, on the virtues of the Balnotice, regarding some of the worst sam of Peru. Should you think it kind of ulcers in this country, with deserving of a place in your Jour- an account of a mode of treatment, nal, it is altogether at your service. which, as it is uncommon, may I remain yours, &c. perhaps be in some measure inteWHITELAW AINSLIE, M.D. resting; and, from its having, in Edinburgh, Nov. 22, 1815.

There are, I believe, few diseases to which the human frame is liable, that have oftener baffled the skill of our surgeons in all parts of the world, than those called ulcers, and which form a very numerous and multiform class. It is not my purpose, however, at this time, to particularize the different kinds which have been treated of by many late able writers, nor to

every instance in which I have had recourse to it, been attended with success, may at least be deemed worthy of a more extensive trial,

Whilst I had charge of the Field Hospital at Hurryhur, in the months of March, April, and May 1803, which received the sick of the General Army under the command of his Excellency General Stuart, it was with peculiar uneasiness that I witnessed the great havock committed by what is called the sphacelous or

phagedenic ulcer. It was at that time confined almost entirely to the Native Corps, and especially to such as had been recently exposed to great fatigue, cold, and moisture, and poor living in unhealthy districts. Most of the Sepoys who were so afflicted, ascribed their misfortunes to slight causes, such as scratches, bruises, &c. but which, in place of healing up kindly, soon became foul and painful ulcers; the discharge ichorous and offensive, the edges rugged, and attended with a degree of inflammation for several inches round. These sores, for the most part spread rapidly, not unfrequently laying the bones bare, and were accompanied with the greatest debility and anguish in the patients, whose appetite for food soon became impaired, their pulses quick and feeble, and in fact a hectic diathesis was induced, from the absorption of a morbific matter, evidently of a most dangerous nature. Every external application, and every mode of bandaging and management, was

had recourse

to at different times, as recommended by Messrs. Bell, Home, &c. but with, I am concerned to say, little or no good effect. Bark and wine seemed to do most good; but the cures were at best tedious, never without great loss of substance, if not the limb itself, and but too frequently they left the patient emaciated and drooping. I could not help feeling for the suffering of many valuable men, and regretting that some more efficacious remedy had not been discovered, to arrest the progress of this terrible disease; and this regret I oftener than once expressed to Dr. Berry, the Superintending Surgeon of the division to which I belong, a gen

tleman from whose professional research I have on many occasions experienced the most flattering support. His feeling of anxiety on this occasion, he informed me, was not less than mine; and he was at much pains to explain to me all that had been done in such lamentable cases by several of the surgeons of his extensive circuit. After my return to the Carnatic, about, I think, the end of August 1803, it was not for many months that I had a case of a sphacelous ulcer under my care; when one occurred in a Lascar of the second battalion of Artillery, at St. Thomas's Mount. Aware that if something, more powerful than any thing I had formerly used, was not applied, I should, in a few days, witness a repetition of all the sad symptoms that had caused me so much uneasiness at Hurryhur, I was determined to try what could be done; and bethought me of the Balsam of Peru, a medicine for many years past almost entirely neglected (except indeed in the composition of the lac virginale); but as I knew it to be stimulating in a high degree, and at the same time balsamic, I could suggest nothing from which I could more reasonably look for advantage. The Lascar's sore, when I first saw it, was not larger than a crown piece, situated near the inner ankle of his left leg, and first brought on, he said, by a slight blow: it was foul, offensive to the smell, and evidently phagedenic. The patient was weak and irritable, his appetite gone, nights restless, and his pulse weak and fluttering. I immediately ordered the sore to be dressed twice daily with lint moistened in the Balsam of Peru; and the better to judge of the effects

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