was strangely at variance. The contrast was brought strikingly out in the evenings, when the Bedoweens, separating into bands, went out, as the sun sunk behind the mountains, to perform their orisons. Upon these occasions, after casting handfuls of sand upon their heads, in sign of humiliation, they bent gracefully, covering their faces with their hands, to the earth; then they stood erect, and with an expression of deep devotion in their countenances, muttered their invocations. A few ritual attitudes and genuflexions being gone through, the ceremony was at an end, and these simple petitioners of Heaven retired without revelry to their uncurtained rest. But before these living pictures, which seemed to us to have as much of imagination as reality in them, had lost their charm of novelty, we were on the march to Ben-Boo-Ali.

Nothing could have afforded a finer opportunity for the use of the pencil than the breaking up of our camp-the tents taking down, camels loading, groups of soldiers drinking their morning dram, regiments forming into line, officers mounting, the great diversity of costume, the hurry, confusion and crowded animation of the whole scene. Our sultry marches would not have formed so happy a subject. I believe that there is no suffering sustainable by soldiers worse than that which we now endured in the meridian hour of a tropical sun, reflected from burning sands, through which we waded rather than walked. The maddening thirst we suffered was irritated rather than quenched by the scanty provision of water we carried with us. We occasionally halted to refresh ourselves with the above-mentioned beverage, well diluted with a more invigorating liquid. Sometimes even a more delusive refreshment cheated our senses. Once I recollect, during a day of unusual fatigue, a sudden burst of joy broke almost simultaneously from our whole force, on perceiving the village where we were to encamp before us. Its date-groves, towers, huts, and transparent springs; even the camels laden with water coming out to meet us, were all vividly pourtrayed; alas, it was only by our imaginations on the illuminated sands! It was some time before we discovered this to be a mirage, and we often found that we could raise any images we desired. Some, whose fancies were Oriental, conjured up mosques and tanks; others, streams, villas, and flocks; and many were animated by an inspiring vision of a stag-chase sweeping by them. These illusions would have entertained us highly, had we not been too cruelly disappointed to enjoy them. On the same day we passed the ghauts (mountains) with infinite labour and difficulty. They are precipitous rugged rocks of great height; and being eminently exposed to the blaze of the sun, the heat was so intense that many fainted under it, and some, I believe, died. On reaching the summit, we had a most extensive view, and got sight of the distant Desert, which appeared like the sea in restless undulation. When we descended into the plain, a few trees offered us a welcome and unexpected shelter, under which we scattered and reposed ourselves for half an hour.

It was usual with us to reach our halting-ground about four o'clock in the afternoon. Of course we had guides to direct us to the best passes, and pioneers to clear the obstructions of the way; yet, in spite of their assistance and labours, we were often thrown into the most fearful disarray, in scrambling over the rocks, which now and then agreeably relieved us from ploughing the weary waste of sands. The quarter-master and his myrmidons always preceded us, so that by the time we reached our resting-places, the tents were ready for our reception; but, as duty came rapidly round, we had, every other day, but a few hours suspension from fatigue. A little before sunset the men for picket were summoned to march off. This was a post of considerable anxiety. Since the night attack at Zoar, others were justly apprehended, and it is surprising they were not made. The Whabees might have cut up our pickets every night, and have retired before they could have been exposed to any retaliation; or they might have stationed themselves in the difficult passes, and have effected prodigious slaughter among our men with very little loss to themselves; but they preferred, perhaps

emboldened by their former success, to stand the brunt of a regular conflict Nevertheless, the expectation of nocturnal incursions kept the outposts in a state of anxious vigilance, and occasioned many false alarms, which always originated in the timidity of the Sepoys, who fancied they saw an enemy in the shadow of every rock. In spite, however, of his painful responsibility, the officer on picket might pass the hours of his vigil in not unpleasing thoughts. With his watch-cloak about him and his segar in his mouth, pacing a neighbouring eminence, he could not fail to be struck with the peenliar character of the circumjacent landscape, so much unlike the features of the earth, profuse in life and multiform in loveliness, in other parts of the world. The gigantic monotony of mountain and plain, canopied by "the dread magnificence of heaven," and the vast nakedness of nature, dotted only by the tents of the slumbering camp, where "eye nor listening ear an object found," awakened indefinable sensations.

An hiatus in my memory occurs here. In our last march, I think, we passed through a village in a state of demolition and desertion from a late visit of our enemies. Before we got within sight of their town, we halted to advance in more scientific order; and scouts and flanking parties were sent out to prevent the possibility of surprise. We crossed over the ground of Captain Thompson's defeat. Here were scattered over a considerable space the skeletons of his five hundred mer, many of them stretched out in frightful completeness, bleached into conspicuous whiteness by the sun. This sight animated our martial machinery with a spirit of retaliation; and many, loud, and coarse were the execrations with which each successive company felt the bones of their comrades under their feet. A little farther on, the town appeared in view. It struck us, after the sterility we had traversed, as a magnificent contrast. Noble groves of datetrees rose on each side of it; and in the open front an imposing line of towers, some of them of ample circumference, gave it a formidable aspect. We were saluted by shot and shell from our own ammunition and our own artillery, taken from Thompson, as we advanced. One of these took such good effect, that a man and some cattle were killed. Our light field-pieces were then ordered out on the exposed flank, and, by returning the fire, they protected us from farther loss. But this did not daunt the enemy; for immediately after they showed us defiance in the gleaming of hundreds of swords and spears, evidently designed to attract our gaze, and make known their resolution; and then again their cannon opened upon us. In a little time we got protection behind some rising sand-banks and a few datetrees. Our commander thought of encamping here, and had, I believe, already sent to hasten the heavy artillery, under the idea that it would be necessary to take the place by regular approaches, when a happy discovery altered his determination. He had,-so at least I presume, sent out some officers of his staff to reconnoitre an adjoining date-grove. They penetrated to its utmost verge without hindrance, and there discovered a large tower. One of them ascended this tower, with his glass, in the hope of getting a view of the enemy's movements in an opposite grove; for there was an ample plain between the two,-when lo! multitudes were seen equipped for action, and ready for the attack. It caused a thrilling sensation of horror, admiration, and pity, to behold their dark figures, made apparent by the glitter of their arms, for the last time under the congenial gloom of their own shades,—a whole tribe coiled up for one spring of desperation,-still steadfast, and purposed upon death, and doomed to die within a few minutes;-the consummation we now hastened to effect.

Our unfortunate enemies might, however, have still made a successful onset upon us. In straggling through the first-mentioned date-grove our men were obliged to pick their way singly, and, being incumbered by their heavy muskets and ammunition, it would have been impossible for them to have made any resistance had they been assaulted. On the contrary, they would have stumbled in all directions over the stumps of trees, and many, no doubt, must have fallen. Even when they issued out, man by man, con

fusedly into the plain, the effect of an attack would have been nearly as fatal. They were, however, allowed to fall into line, and advance. The 65th regiment and 7th native infantry occupied the plain. The remainder of the force was immediately in the rear. A party of our rifle company then entered the enemy's covert, and, after a little popping, brought them out upon us. It was a strange sight-terrific, with something of the ludicrous intermingled. Not less than a thousand of their wild, black figures emerged in a confused swarm, shouting their war-songs, and capering about in the most grotesque attitudes. They seemed for a moment uncertain about the best point of attack, and in the mean time threw stones into our ranks. To bring them to a speedy decision, we fired a volley upon them, and had commenced a charge, when the great body wheeled suddenly about, and rushed precipitately at the Sepoy regiment on our left. As they came on, they sent their spears unerringly before them, and closed instantaneously with their swords, dealing around mortal gashes with frightful rapidity. The native regiment was in a moment cut up and routed; and it might have fared the same with the 65th, if its commanding officer, the late LieutenantColonel Warren, had not taken the precaution, at the critical moment, to wheel back the two flank companies, forming three sides of an oblong square. By this disposition we had a fire upon the enemy in every direction but the rear (where our reserve were stationed), and kept them from closing in upon us. Many, however, succeeded in getting round rearward; but there they were dismayed at our numbers, of which they had probably before no idea. The speed of their flight was then as great as the fierceness of their onset had been; but the incessant independent firing which was kept up, strewed them over the ground by hundreds as they fled.

Those who had effected their escape took refuge in the principal tower, which was the palace of the chief Sheikh, and was fortified with a good deal of skill. Thither we now proceeded. We discerned from this spot numbers of Whabees, mounted on camels and horses, flying across the country. A volley brought some of them down, but most of them got away. Strange to say, the obstinacy of these people was such, that, even after their defeat, they would not open the portals of what I may call their citadel to us. We were obliged to bring our artillery to play upon them. I recollect an old woman sitting under the portal we were firing upon, who, upon every fresh discharge, dodged out of the way, and then resumed her seat. I inquired afterwards the reason of this extraordinary foolhardiness, and was told that her children were all inside, and that two of her sons lay desperately wounded there. The poor mother was watching anxiously for the portal to be blown down, that she might rush in and join them. At last a flag of surrender was seen flying from the top of the tower, which was soon displaced by our colours. On entering their hold, a scene of horrible misery presented itself. About an hundred and fifty men, women, and children, were crowded together in a very narrow space. Most were badly wounded, many were dying; and the suppressed groans, the loud crying of the children, the wo-' men staunching the blood of their husbands and sons with their garments, and the "Allah il Allah," which rose in murmurs of resignation on every side, were truly afflicting. No attention which could be spared from our own hospital, was wanting to aid these wretched beings.

By this time night had come on, and, as it was then impossible to encamp, we wrapped ourselves in our cloaks, and slept soundly en masse, under the pigmy walls of the hive of the exterminated horde. This was considerably more extensive than Zoar, but in other respects appeared much the same. All that struck me as remarkable in it were the vast reservoirs of dates, dried fish, and coffee, which must have been the common property of the whole community. This fact was a strong proof of the strict bond of fraternity which united them. We found nothing valuable; our sole prizes were swords, matchlocks, cloaks, spears, shields, &c.

On the next day we were curious to visit the field of the slain. We' counted about five hundred corpses. Most of them had been middle-aged Feb.-VOL. XXII. NO. LXXXVI.

L

men, handsomely and vigorously built. There were some venerably-bearded patriarchs among them, many slender, smooth-cheeked lads, and not a few females, who had shared. the battle with their husbands. We discovered several still alive, but in a hopeless state. These, as we approached them, closed their eyes to avoid our sight; or, if any cast a look upon us, it was one of unsubdued vengefulness. From us they would not accept of water to quench their dying thirst, but from an Arab they did not hesitate; feebly ejaculating “Allah!" as they received it. This spectacle, perhaps, to one accustomed to carnage-covered plains, would have caused little emotion, but in a novice it excited intensely painful sensations. Before we left the ground where we had pitched our camp, and where we remained for ten days, the bodies became bloated, by the heat of the sun, to gigantic dimensions. This hideous and disgusting sight received an additional horror towards sunset, when the vultures came down to feast upon their prey. More than once, when on picket near them, have I been sickened by their wings flapping over the carcases, and hearing their busy beaks at work.

TRANSCENDENTAL MORALITY.

ALL trades and professions have their exoteric and their interior doctrines; and each class in society has its own particular code of morality, accommodated, with an indulgent tenderness, to the infirmities of its constitution and position. Nobody expects the same rigid propriety of exterior in a soldier that is looked for in a parson; and the affectation of especial sanctity or parade would become a general as ill as a shovel-hat. A placeman may indulge in many innocent peccadilloes that would be monstrous in a patriot. The perjury at which Jove laughs, in the Custom-house, would be taken very seriously ill in the Old Bailey; and a trick that would be fair at Newmarket, would be deemed no better than common fraud on the Royal Exchange. There exists a wide difference of opinion on the morality of debtor and creditor, between tailors and their customers; while that which your young men between forty and fifty call gallantry, is branded by a jury of sexagenary cuckolds with the odious appellations of seduction and adultery. In all ages of the world human actions have, to a certain degree, been estimated pro ratione et modo. In morals, as in all things else, Providence has tempered the wind to the shorn lamb; having rendered the conscience callous on those particular points, on which the wear and tear of the world create a strong friction. But it is in moral England most especially, where every male is by birth a man of honour, and every female, in her mother's right, "chaste as the icicle on Dian's temple," that the morality of individuals is closely defined by their station in society; and that wealth and rank are the measures of right and wrong. Divines and moralists indeed still pretend, as of old, that there is but one God, and one law. Certain it is, that, however they may preach, their practice shows that they entertain juster notions of the case; and their actions are calculated upon larger and more philosophical views of human nature than their sermons. If men are neither naturally (that is physically) nor politically equal, it is impossible that they should be morally so. As the necessities of the poor man are different from those of the rich, so also must his duties be different; and to suppose that a gentleman born is to be d-d like a coalheaver, is one of those perilous doctrines which the prevailing jacobinism of the age can alone render palatable; one of the detestable axioms of those

philosophers and conventionalists, whom the French Revolution spawned upon Europe for the downfal of religion and the overthrow of social order. It is more especially under the cloak of this innovating sophism, (the more dangerous because it bears on its surface the semblance of a venerable antiquity,) that such furious attacks are daily made upon the Corinthian capital of society; that the lords temporal and spiritual are any of them represented as destitute of principle, or any among the gentry stigmatized as unfeeling and corrupt. If it were once admitted, as it clearly should be, that morality varies with station, and that the principles of action in the higher classes are more transcendental and elaborate than those which govern the artizan and the labourer, the radical would be deprived of all materials of complaint, and the phenomena of society would be reducible to the simplest elements. The clergy, it is well known, are the most generous people on the face of the earth. They would scorn to lay their little finger on a wisp of tithe straw, except as they earned it by labouring in their vocation; yet if they meddle with the morals of the upper classes, it is only pro forma, while they bestow all their trouble upon the poor; in the evident conviction that the gentry, being exempted by nature from those rules which press on their inferiors, have no need of their services. The same observation applies to the magistrates in their administration of the laws, and to the vice-suppressing societies in their patriotic activity. This cannot in possibility arise from any conviction of the hopelessness of all attempts to mend the morals of the rich; still less can it be attributed to respect of persons,-a servility and meanness wholly unworthy of Christian teachers and constitutional governors. Neither can it proceed from a contempt for the aristocracy, which none but infidels and democrats would avow. It must therefore arise in the knowledge, that every man has a right to the vice he can afford to pay for; that rank changes the character of actions, and that

"That in the captain's but a choleric word,
Which in the soldier is foul blasphemy."

It is only necessary to cast an eye over the most approved books of morality, in order to see the justice of this position. In the very first pages, their inapplicability to the circumstances of the rich comes into evidence. What is the use, for example, of dwelling upon the Eighth Commandment to a man of ten thousand a year? or of preaching against adultery to him who can pay the damages, when he is detected? "Thou shalt commit no murder," is a command which cannot possibly be addressed to lords of manors, who shoot poachers like carrion crows; nor indeed to any individual, whose place in society renders him amenable to the code of honour. Let it then be set down as an acknowledged verity, that if "universal man" ever existed in these islands, it has now totally disappeared; or rather, has separated itself into the divisions of gentleman and blackguard, the somebody and the nobody, the tax-eater and the tax-payer; that the whole duty of man has, therefore, become as obsolete as the laws of the Medes and the Persians, and that the decalogue is no longer to be understood, but with a "distinguo."

If liberty be well defined to be "the power of doing all things not prevented by law," virtue must consist in abstaining from such things