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The Afghauns* constitute the third Asiatic people, among whom we discern considerable proofs of a meliorated state of society, and a practical consciousness of the value of liberty, at least equal to that of many European nations.

Afghaunistaun contains, within a loosely calculated circuit of two thousand miles, more or less, a population of fourteen millions.

The name and importance of the Afghauns are conspicuous in the early periods of the modern history of Hindûstaun. The territories inhabited by that brave and rising people extend in the form of an imperfect circle, the western section of which is composed of some of

*Mr. Elphinstone's "Account of Caubul" has furnished the materials for the observations in the text During the government of lord Minto, in British India, and by his direction, Mr. Elphinstone was charged with a mission to the court of Caubul. Political motives, arising from the possible invasion of India by Napoleon, and the known endeavours of the Imperial Government to effect a good understanding with the states of Western Asia, appear to have been the causes of the embassy, the preparations for which were made at Delhi with a magnificence extraordinary even in the East. Audience was given at Peshawer (the second city of Caubul.) Mr. Ephinstone's work is divided into two parts-The first and shortest, embraces the journey to and from Peshawer, beyond which city the convulsed state of the country prevented him from proceeding;-the second contains a regular, minute, and admirably-digested account of the geography, productions, animals, &c. of Caubul; the inhabitants, their dispositions, attainments, manners, &c.; the tribes composing the population; the dependent provinces; and, lastly, the government. Five appendices are added; the first-a history of the Dooraunee monarchy; from the Ahmed Shaub to Shauh Shuja, the sovereign in possession when the English ambassador arrived at Peshawer;-the second-a narrative of a journey into Caubal by one Mr. Durie, (a native of Bengal,) written at Mr. Elphinstone's request;-the third-an account of countries bordering on the Afghaun dominions; the fourth--an extract from lieut. Macartney's geographical memoir on Caubul;-the fifth-a Vocabulary of the Pushtoo language, the general idiom of Afghaunistaun, and apparently distinct from any other spoken in India. Such are the contents of Mr. Elphinstone's valuable and interesting work; but, to form an adequate idea of its great merits, the mass of information of almost every description which it includes, the correctness and clearness of its arrangement, the sound and discriminating judginent so conspicuous throughout the volume; the masterly manner, in brief, in which the author has managed a subject at once so extensive and complex, and the exemplary modesty which renders him so anxious that his attainments shall not be overrated-to become acquainted with these combined claims to the reader's applause, is not possible without a careful perusal of the work itself.

the eastern provinces of Persia, the oriental including the conquered parts of Hindustaun, and the northern stretching over the snowy peaks of Hindû Kosh (or Caucasus) into the regions of Tartary. A line carried from the southern to the northern limits, and again to the western confines from the eastern boundaries, may be conceived as the general diameter of a circumference of two thousand miles. The ranges of Hinda Kosh proceed in irregular lines from the north through nearly the whole of this tract. The country is divided between mountain and valley, though many plains of considerable extent (those of Caubul and Peshawer are preeminently fertile and beautiful) intervene between the arms of Caucasus, and afford space and pasture to the wandering tribes. The Sind and its branches are the principal streams, but innumerable rivulets, formed by the melting of the snows in the superior cavities of Hindû Kosh, amply suffice for the purposes of irrigation in those parts of the country that are deficient in great rivers. CAUBUL, PESHAWER, Ghaznah, Candahar, and Heraut, of Peshawer be taken as the criterion of are the chief cities; and if the population that of the other towns above mentioned, we shall find that about 1-28th of the whole people of Afghaunistaun is resident in cities immemorially celebrated as seats of Asiatic politeness and science. The climate is healthy, and unsubject to the depressing and overpowering heats of the Indian heavens; but the monsoons rage with awful violence, and during the periods of their stay, the sheety rains and the raving winds transcend the wildest storms of Europe. The productions of both hemispheres abound and flourish in the generally rich soil and temperate atmosphere of Caubul.

Afghaunistaun has seen the rise in her bosom of the most powerful Muslim states. To Hindustaun she has sent forth her colonies of conquerors and kings, and but. for the superior fortune of the descendants of Timour, the present shadow of an emperor might have been an Afghaun. On the west they have pushed their victorious Sefies was the work of an Afghaun mounarms into Iraun, and the expulsion of the taineer, in whose name the Khootba resounded in the musjids of Isfahaun-and whose dynasty gave way only to that mighty chief, who, from the humblest obscurity, burst forth into greatness and renown-and bound the diadem of Persia round the brows of a hero, and sent out afar the tidings of his exploits, and called up the reverence of the East for the name

of NADIR. Previously, however, to the appearance and reign of Ahmed, the Afghauns, though thus powerfully interfering in the concerns of circumjacent states, and held to be formidable neighbours by the potent sovereigns of Persia, Hindustaun, and Tartary, had not permanently established their dominion over the regions now comprehended within the boundaries of Caubul. The' form of society among them favourable to the achievment of foreign conquest, was wholly hostile to the establishment at home of a great and well-settled empire. The division of the nation into tribes, between whom the bonds of friendship and alliance were seldom strong, or for any considerable time lasting, confined the attention of the clans and their chiefs to their own peculiar interests; civil dissentions would, of course, frequently occur between communities, whose views and enterprises must so often clash and the weaker party, yielding to the stronger, vented its resentment on, and procured a settlement in, the territories of its less martial neighbours. The authority of their chiefs might depend, in some measure, on their personal character; but their legitimate power was confined within very narrow limits. As the administrators of justice, they were the constitutional depositories of the law, and the legal dispensers of rewards and punishments. In disputes between members of the same community, it was permitted, nay, it was almost imperative upon them, to interpose their respectable influenceto assuage the animosity of the contending parties, and by amicable compromise, prevent the fierceness of the quarrel from degenerating into a bitter and incurable feud. But when any plan or enterprize was in agitation touching the interests of the tribe at large, and to execute which the efforts and resources of the community would be required, the chief was under the wholesome and indispensible necessity of convening the members of the clan, and taking the sense of a general council on the expediency of the measure in deliberation.

to free his compatriots from the yoke of foreigners, and the reward he proposed to himself was the sovereignty of his country. Those glorious scenes on which the eyes of ambition delight to dwell, floated before the vision of the daring and undazzled aspirant. His vigorous and undaunted mind contemplated the perils of the enterprise-and despised them. His sagacity indicated the measures proper to accomplish his object--and he embraced them. The hatred of the Afghauns against the Persians was, at once, political and religious;-as their oppressors, they detested them-they abhorred them as schismatics. This disposition the khaun rendered the lever of his designs. By his deeds of arms he attracted the observation, the applause, of his countrymen; his victories gained at the head of his tribe, over the late conquerors and lords of Afghaunistaun, excited their grateful enthusiasm; the spirit of an avenger seemed enshrined in the frame of Ahmed, and it required but slight persuasion to induce the people and their leaders to choose a hero for their king.

The deliverer of his country was the first monarch of Caubul; but those who from the establishment of a regal government, should infer, that from the heights of independence the Afghauns dropped at once to the depths of slavery;-that having for centuries enjoyed the liberty, somewhat licentious;--and the manners, somewhat rude--of a turbulent but highsouled people-they were suddenly metamorphosed by the spells and incantations and mighty magic of royalty, into the servile vassals of an overbearing despotism, would be, indeed, wonderfully deceived. The spirit of independence which their domestic manners and laws, and, above all, their martial habits, so powerfully fostered, was at least equal to their grateful admiration of the merits of Ahmed. Raiscd to the throne by a nation to whom the name of king was a strange name, that politic sovereign was too wise to imitate the system of tyranny and spoliation so generally in vogue with oriental princes. Such was the domestic polity of the Af- A revenue sufficient for the expenses of ghauns till the death of Nadir Shah. The the state, and its punctual payment--the assassination of that extraordinary poten- appointment of magistrates--the establishtate gave birth to an order of things con- ment of a national army-the selection of siderably different. The civil wars that ministers-the choice of viceroys and proconvulsed Persia on the demise of her vincial governors-such appear to have late sovereign, would not permit the can- been the principal features of the modidates for the throne to attend to the se- narchy as established by Ahmed. But curity of the distant dependencies of the these provisions for the moderate power empire. The khaun of the Dooraunees, and dignity of the prince were not sufferthe chief of the Afghaun tribes, was ed to encroach on the rights, well underyoung, brave, and ambitious. He aspired stood and strictly guarded, of the people.

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The clans still continue to enjoy their distinct local governments and jurisprudence. The khauns are occasionally, it may be, appointed by the king-but this, when it occurs, is an affair that requires considerable delicacy; and he whom the voice of the clan pronounces to be best adapted to the office, is the person on whom it will be most prudent in the sovereign to confer it. All affairs of general importance or interest are still discussed in open Jeerga, or council, and decided by a majority. No acts of summary punishment or capricious cruelty, either by the monarch or heads of tribes, can be committed with safety. The khauns, indeed, are regarded rather as magistrates than political rulers. Literature is cultivated and encouraged; some even of the abstruser branches of science are beginning to be inquired into, and known, and the condition of the softer sex is much superior to what is observed in other parts of Asia. The recent and existing distractions of the state do not appear to have stopped, though they may have retarded the career of improvement. Works of public utility and convenience are actively proceeding. Like the Sikhs, the Afghauns are rapidly ascending the steps of civilization. The present tumults will, it is probable, terminate in the election to the throne of some new Ahmed, who will collect and consolidate the fluctuating energies of Afghaunistaun, and, with a resolved heart and a vigorous arm, give them a direction auspicious to the prosperity and grandeur of his people, and send down to posterity a name embalmed in the tears and admiration of his country.

G. F. B.

Biographical Sketch of the late Geographer, JOHN H. EDDY, of New-York.

The subject of the following memoir, died, at the house of his father, on the morning of the 22d of December, last, in the thirty-fifth year of his age. The few particulars of his life, which are here given, though drawn up by the band of friendship, are stated with all the impartiality of truth, and it is hoped may serve to furnish to the reader some idea of the unwearied industry and extensive attainments of the deceased, though labouring under one of the most severe calamities incident to humanity. Those who were happy in a personal knowledge of the subject of this hasty sketch can best bear testimony to his integrity as a man, and to his warmth and constancy as a friend; while the manner in which he performed

his several duties, must have left an indelible impression on the bearts of those who were the peculiar objects of them.

JOHN H. EDDY was the eldest son of Thomas Eddy, Esq. of New-York, and was born in this city, in 1784. At an early age he entered upon the study of the ordinary elements of education, and equally by the ardour of his application and by his progress in knowledge, while labouring under all the disadvantages of a total deprivation of hearing, engaged the most affectionate sympathy of his friends. It was between the twelfth and thirteenth years of his age, that he had the great misfortune to lose entirely the sense of hearing, by a dangerous and protracted attack of the scarlet fever. Notwithstanding the great personal disadvantage under which he thus laboured, the powers of his mind were not suffered to lie dormant, and he improved with great earnestness every opportunity of cultivating them. To an ample knowledge of the Latin and French languages, he added that of algebra and the mathematics, all which he acquired without assistance from teachers. The intervals of time not devoted to these substantial pursuits, were occupied in reading, and few persons of his age have excelled him in the knowledge of ancient and modern history. It was his practice during the winter to rise an hour or two before day-light, and apply himself in the morning to general reading, and during the course of the day he seemed to be every moment employed in the pursuit of some favourite study.

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That such ardent and constant intellectual exertions were not calculated to do good to his constitution, will not excite surprise; and the anxiety of his relatives became awakened at the symptoms of disease which he himself little regarded. In order to restore him to his former health, he was persuaded to abandon for a time his closet studies. It has often been observed, that a change of mental occupation is itself sufficient for the purposes of physical renovation. now resolved to indulge that fondness for the works of nature, to which, at an early age, he had formed an attachment, but which he had, from various circumstances, been prevented from gratifying. That his attainments in this pleasing department of rational investigation, entitled him to high praise, cannot be denied; and the success that attended his labours in botany and mineralogy, is known to the cultivators of these branches of science.

But, while thus engaged, Mr. Eddy did not neglect those ornamental studies

which enable the possessor to take a part in elegant and polite conversation, but of which, from his peculiar situation, he was painfully deprived. His taste was improved by the perusal of the best poetical and prose authors of the present and former times. What he himself wrote he communicated in a style characterized by its perspicuity and force and in his occasional interviews with the muses, he evidenced some of the stronger marks of genuine poetry. In a small volume of manuscript poems which he has left, there is one written on the occasion of his loss of hearing, in which he deplores, in plaintive accents, what so seriously affected his sensibility; and in no other instance has he ever been known on that account to utter a complaint.

Geography, however, was the favourite pursuit to which Mr. Eddy was attached it is by his acquisitions on this important subject that he is to be especially regarded. How large were his pecuniary expenditures, what sacrifices of time and of health he made in order to acquire correct geographical knowledge, how honourably he supported his pre-eminence, and how extensively was his usefulness in this study directed for the benefit of his country, are circumstances familiarly known and universally admitted. He maintained an extensive correspondence with many of the most eminent characters in England and France, as well as in different parts of the United States, on geographical topics. The several maps which he published exhibit a display of taste and science exceeding any thing of the kind that had been presented to the American public. Among the first of these was his circular map of thirty miles round New-York, which appeared in 1814. He also published, at the request of the Canal Commissioners, a map of the western part of the state of New-York, with the proposed tract of the intended canal from lake Erie to the Hudson, accompanied with an accurate profile of the levels, and with a scale showing the number of feet of each level above Hudson river and below lake Erie. Next followed, at the request of his excellency governor Clinton, the President of the Board of Canal Commissioners, a map illustrative of a communication between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic ocean, by means of lake Erie and Hudson river. On this map are laid down the North-Western Territory, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, the western part of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the western part of the state of NewYork; with a table, showing the respec

tive distances from principal places to New-Orleans, New-York, Montreal, &c. About the same time he gave to the public a map of the Niagara river, with a profile view of the country from lake Erie to lake Ontario. The materials of these different maps were derived from the best sources, and the accuracy of his illustrations could not be questioned. Mr. Eddy had, more than two years before, viz. in 1812, accompanied his father and other commissioners for the purpose of exploring the western part of the state, and of ascertaining the practicability of a canal communication between lake Erie and the Hudson.

A short time previous to his death, Mr. Eddy finished a map of the state of NewYork. This may be pronounced his best executed work: as to style, accuracy, and scientific arrangement, it may be safely said to exceed all other maps hitherto published in America. It cost him nearly four years of unremitted labour: his materials were original; he collected them with uncommon care, and incurred great expense in obtaining distinct surveys of every county in the state.*

He had also engaged in other important labours of a like nature. Governor Dickenson, of New-Jersey, and a num, ber of gentlemen of that state, made application to Mr. Eddy to undertake a map of New-Jersey, and, with that view, furnished him with considerable surveys. The legislature, anxious that this work should be executed by one so competent, passed a resolution, unsolicited and unknown to Mr. E. directing that he should be supplied from the public offices of the state with such copies of surveys or records as he might suppose useful for his purpose. He collected no small amount of information for the Jersey map.

The premature death of this useful man has also deprived the country of an American atlas, which he had been solicited to undertake by a number of enterprising individuals. Nothing perhaps would more conclusively have shown how defective and erroneous are the European maps as it respects the geography of the United States. The enterprising projectors of the atlas intended it as a national work: they have now to lament the death of him whom they deemed so abundantly qualified to take the lead in

* The writer is informed, that this valuable

map will not be lost: the engraving is stated to phia, and copies of the work will be published be already executed, by able artists in Philadelwith all convenient expedition by Messrs. James Eastburn & Co. of New-York

this great attempt, and they have candidly expressed that the loss of his assistance is irreparable.

Mr. Eddy was the author of a number of essays which appeared in the newspapers, on botany and other branches of natural history; on geography and the internal improvement of this state. An essay on geography which he intended for publication in this magazine, will probably shortly appear. He was a member of the New-York Historical Society, and, in 1816, was elected to a similar honour in the Literary and Philosophical Society of New-York. To this latter association Je communicated an interesting memoir on the geography of Africa. That unfortunate mariner, Capt. James Riley, the narrative of whose sufferings has awakened so large a portion of public attention, had applied to Mr. Eddy to draw for him a map of part of Africa. This gave Mr. Eddy the occasion of examining the different accounts that had been published by different travellers on African geography; and, without passing sentence of condemnation on any writer for wilful misrepresntations, he gives due credit to the statement of Capt. Riley. Capt. Riley has indeed been pronounced a loose writer by an anonymous reviewer,* but the testimonies to his worth and veracity are most respectable, and, besides, he is subject to the evidence of living witnesses. It cannot be denied that his work contains most important views of interior Africa; and it is gratifying to observe, that a gentleman possessed of the talents and learning of Hugh Murray, Esq. should, in his enlarged edition of Leyden's Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Africa, pay the tribute of high regard to our American narrator.

Enough has been said to show that the strongest principle of action in John H. Eddy, was the laudable desire to be useful: that he was superior to making a trade of liberal pursuits, and generous in

* Vide Quarterly Review, No.,xxxiv. "Capt. Riley, it would appear, however competent as a mariner, was far from being a good anatomist and physiologist. He has stated that the weight of some of his companions on their reach ing Mogadore did not exceed forty pounds each; whereas he ought to have been aware that the weight of the skeleton of a common sized man would be 13 pounds; the usual weight of the brain 43 pounds; that of the circulating blood 27 pounds: so that there are 45 pounds without either muscles or intestines." Did the Quarterly Reviewer want more decisive proof of the general inaccuracy of Capt. Riley's whole statement of his shipwreck, sufferings and sojourpeyings?

pecuniary matters, is admitted by those to whom he was best known. To conclude this hasty sketch: it is unfortunately too frequently our lot to lament the seemingly untimely departure of aspiring genius and worth; but it may confidently be said, seldom could our regret and lamentation be more feelingly bestowed than on the subject of this brief memorial. Time and talents have rarely been more constantly or more undeviatingly directed to objects of substantial importance; and it is painful to reflect that his fatal illness was prematurely induced in consequence of such exertions. Let the qualities of his heart and his moral excellence command our regard; for the services he has rendered let the debt of gratitude be paid to his memory.

W.

Three cases of Gun-shot Wounds, communicated by Wm. Thomas, of Poughkeepsie, Hospital Surgeon to the Division of the Army commanded by Gen. Brown, in the Campaign of 1814.

Major Benjamin Birdsal of the 4th Rifle Regt. was wounded by a musket ball at the storming of Fort Erie, August 15, 1814. The ball struck the base of the under jaw and raked it to the angle where it is articulated with the head. For three days there was no bleeding of importance and the wound was dressed in the usual manner. But on the 4th, when the wounded parts had recovered from the torpor produced by the ball, a violent hemorrhage began, which ceased before any medical aid could be procured (the major being half a mile from the general hospital.) I was at a loss for some time to know whether the blood came from the facial or lingual artery, until the third or fourth hemorrhage, when it proved to be the facial artery that was wounded. The tongue was much injured and the frenum wounded, which, as at first, induced a belief that the lingual artery was the injured one. The larged, and the wounded artery, to the parts became greatly inflamed and enfinger, was twice its natural size and beat violently. Compresses of sponge were used, but the involuntary motion of the jaw and the formation of matter crowded the sponge from the artery, and, after repeated trials, they were discontinued. The swelling of the head and the integuments covering the external carotid artery, forbade searching for that artery from whence the facial branches, else it would have been tied, and the only alternative was a compress that would press immova

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