When Impey's son, in an ill-constructed book full of interesting and instructive matter, pointed out how cruelly his father had been libelled, Macaulay refused to retract the slander. Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, in a book which is a model of sound workmanship and research, has cleared the character of Impey with regard to the foul charge of judicial murder brought against him by the Whig historian; but sufficient credit has not been given to the first Chief Justice of Bengal for the independence he showed in maintaining the dignity and liberty of the Court over which he presided. Mrs. Fay mentions how her able but worthless husband was under an apprehension that, having come to India without the permission of the Honourable East India Company, obstacles might be raised as to his admission to the local Bar. On expressing his doubts to the Chief Justice, Impey indignantly exclaimed, "No, sir; had you dropped from the clouds with such documents we would admit you. The Supreme Court is independent, and will never endure to be dictated to by any body of men whose claims are not enforced by supreme authority. It is nothing to us whether you had or had not permission from the Court of Directors to proceed to this settlement. You came to us as an authenticated English barrister, and as such we shall on the first day of the next term admit you to our Bar." Thus was dealt the first great blow to the most valuable patronage which the East India Company possessed-the right of appointing its own lawyers, who were limited to twelve in number. A golden harvest must the twelve have reaped, for Calcutta has always been an El Dorado for lawyers and doctors. Mrs. Fay writes: "A man of abilities and good address in this line, if he has the firmness to resist the fashionable contagion-gambling-need only pass one seven years of his life at Calcutta, to return home in affluent circumstances; but the very

nature of their profession leads them into gay connections, and, having for a time complied with the humour of their company from prudential motives, may become tainted and prosecute their bane from the impulses of inclination." The writer of "Hartley Hall"-a novel which under the thin guise of fiction describes the persons and social life of the day-states: "Physic, as well as law, is a gold mine to its professors, to work it at will. The medical gentlemen at Calcutta make their visits in palanquins, and receive a gold mohur from each patient for every ordinary attendance-extras are enormous." The doctors, however, seem to have been considerate in not interfering with the profits of the undertakers, for a member of that fraternity about to sail for Europe asked twenty thousand rupees for the good-will of his business for the months of August and September.

When the Supreme Court of the East India Company (known as the Sudder Dewani Adalat) was amalgamated with the High Court, it was considered necessary that both should have a common habitation, and the present building was erected on the site of the old Supreme Court. It is designed after the model of the Town Hall at Ypres, but the architecture has suffered from transplantation. In the centre is a tower which the guide-books call "massive," but which has cracked and begun to sink on account of the muddy foundation. From the top of the tower can be had a splendid bird's-eye view of the "City of Palaces." Below is a broad stretch of greensward covered with stately trees, and beyond are the lawn and walks of the Eden Gardens, winding among trees and shrubs of endless variety. In the far distance are the gleaming white barracks of Fort William, and the broad river with vessels of all sizes and descriptions gliding over its waters. Stately ships lie at anchor by the river bank, and their lofty spars tower up black into the air. On the left is the Town Hall; beyond is a vast ugly square pile of buildings-the Imperial Secretariat-where the administration of the Empire is conducted during the winter months.

At

the end of the road is a lofty gateway which leads into the spacious gardens of Government House. The great Marquis, who first attempted to carry out the Imperial policy which the daring genius of Hastings commenced, pulled down the old small house in which the Governors used to reside, and erected the present building. He told his mercantile masters that "India should be governed from a palace, not from a counting-house; with the ideas of a prince, not with those of a retail dealer in muslin and indigo." The palace cost a hundred and fifty thousand pounds, and the furniture fifty thousand pounds; and the merchants of the East India Company expressed their strong disapproval-but the place was built. It was opened with considerable state and pomp to celebrate the Peace of Amiens. Lord Valentia, who was present, has given an interesting and graphic description of the ceremony. "The State rooms," his lordship writes, "were for the first time lighted up. At the upper end of the largest was placed a very rich Persian carpet, and in the centre of that a musnud of crimson and gold-formerly composing part of the ornaments of Tippoo Sultan's throne. On this side was a rich chair and stool of state for Lord Wellesley: on each side three chairs for the members of Council and Judges. Down to the door, on both sides of the room, were seats for the ladies, in which they were placed according to the strict rules of precedency, which is here regulated by the seniority of the husband in the Company's service. About ten, Lord Wellesley arrived, attended by a large body of aides-de-camp, etc., and, after receiving in the northern verandah the compliments of some of the native princes and the vakeels of the others, took his seat. The dancing then commenced, and continued till supper. The room was not sufficiently lighted up, yet still the effect was beautiful. The row of Chunam pillars, which supported each side, together with the rest of the room, were of a shining white, that gave a contrast to the different dresses of the company. Lord Wellesley wore the Orders of St. Patrick and the Crescent in diamonds. Many of the European ladies were also richly ornamented with jewels. The black dress of the male Armenians was pleasing from the variety, and the costly, though unbecoming, habits of their females, together with the appearance of officers, nabobs, Persians, and natives, resembled a masquerade. It excelled it in one respect-the characters were well supported, and the costume violated by no one. About eight hundred people were present, who found sufficient room at supper in the marble hall below; thence they were summoned about one o'clock to the different verandahs to see the fireworks and illuminations. The side of the citadel facing the palace was covered with a blaze of light, and all the approaches were lined with lamps suspended from bamboos. The populace stole much of the oil, and, as it was impossible to light so great a range at one time, the effect was inferior to what it ought to have been. The fireworks were indifferent, except the rockets, which were superior to any I ever beheld. They were discharged from mortars on the ramparts of the citadel. The colours also of several of the pieces were excellent; and the merit of singularity at least might be attributed to a battle between two elephants of fire, which, by rollers, were driven against each other. The night was very damp, and gave very severe colds to many. We returned to our home much pleased with our evening's entertainment.”

The Marquis of Hastings, a magnificent nobleman of the grand old school, who completed the Imperial work which Hastings conceived and Wellesley commenced, had even a more exalted notion of Viceregal magnificence than the great Marquis himself, and transplanted to India the State forms and ceremonies of an European Court. The minuteness of the Court regulations, and the etiquette to be observed, would do credit to some petty German State. "The first aide-de-camp and chamberlain "-an old Official Gazette informs us- -"had the management of all

processions," and a Viceregal procession must then have been a very brave show. At a Levée a procession formed in one of the corridors of Government House in the following order: "The Chamberlain with his wand; Captain of the Body Guard; the Lieutenant of ditto; Aides-de-camp, two and two; the Governor-General; Master of the Horse; Aide-de-camp in Waiting; Chaplain, Secretaries, etc., etc., and the rest of the suite." "During the Levée," we are told, "a captain's guard of Grenadiers was on duty, and a lieutenant's guard, or half-squadron of Dragoons." The avenues to the Presence Chamber were lined with the Body Guard, dismounted; servants, all in State liveries; and State trumpets and kettle-drums. A band of music, of course, attends the Grenadier Guards.

The programme for the Drawing Room was even more elaborate and minute than the programme for the Levée, and illustrates the extent to which State etiquette was carried in those days.

"The Governor-General having taken his station-as at the Levée-the Countess follows in the procession, handed by the Lord Chamberlain, and her train borne by two pages. She takes her place upon the left of the Governor-General, under the throne. The Chamberlain presents the person who requires that ceremony. The person presented makes a sliding bow of courtesy, and passes on, unless detained by the Countess addressing him or her. The presentation being over, their Excellencies converse, going round the circle. They then retire to the cardroom, where two commerce tables are placed. Lady Loudon plays at one, His

Excellency, the Governor-General, at the other: the Chamberlain and Masters of the Ceremonies selecting persons of the highest rank in the room to form the party. They play on guinea pool. If their Excellencies are successful, it is the perquisite of the pages. When it is over they retire to their apartments, in the same order they came in; and the suite observe the same conduct as at the close of the Levée."

The Lord Chamberlain with his wand, the Chaplain, and the Master of the Horse have disappeared in these prosaic and economic days. The Viceroy and Vicereine stand before Tippoo's throne, supported on either side by the leading officials, who have the right of private entrée; and the Military Secretary to the Viceroy reads the name of the lady as she advances. The fair dame-the men are no longer presented at the Drawing Room-makes a "sliding bow of courtesy," and passes on to the ball-room upstairs, where she is received by her friends of the other sex. The vast room, with its double line of noble white pillars, lighted by innumerable wax candles, in rows of glittering chandeliers taken from a French ship in the good old times, presents a fine spectacle. Bright-coloured uniforms of every regiment in the army mingle with the rich dresses of stately, handsome women, who would adorn any Court in Europe. It is a representative party. Bengali ladies in graceful white robes mingle with their English sisters; and, standing by an English warrior who has won his knighthood in frontier battle, is an Indian prince, one blaze of diamonds. As the band strikes up the National Anthem the many-coloured wave divides into two. The Viceregal procession-a mass of scarlet-enters and slowly proceeds down the room, their Excellencies stopping to be introduced to the strangers who are present-and every year the number of strangers who flock from all quarters of the globe to Calcutta for the winter season increases. A winter at Calcutta promises soon to become as popular as a winter at Cairo. The Drawing Room marks the opening of the winter season, and balls, picnics, dances, paperchases, follow each other in rapid succession till the first day of Lent. Society at Calcutta is the only cosmopolitan society in India. To the stranger within the gates it is difficult to comprehend the different social sets-their laws of procedure, their jealousies, and their relations to each other. There is the Official set, consisting of military men and civilians who hold high office. As their position is by Royal enactment assured, their wives view from a slight eminence the Mercantile circle. Calcutta is, however, a great leveller-high officials become ordinary by mere force of numbers. It is a terrible revelation to the wife of a civilian, who has been a king in his own district, to find that at the capital he only counts as an ordinary citizen. The Mercantile circle consists of those who, thanks to tea, indigo and jute, are in a position to keep up a palace at Chowringhee. They are generous and hospitable in a degree not common in other lands. The third circle is the Lawyer set-and lawyers are good company all over the world. They have a larger experience of life than officials, and therefore, as a rule, take a wider view of affairs. If they are apt to be cynical, it must be borne in mind that their lives are mainly occupied with the worst side of Bengali human nature.

North-east of Government House runs Old Court-house Street-so called from the old Court-house which, as we have stated, stood at or near the site of St. Andrew's Church. The broad street, with its lofty row of houses and splendid shops, would do credit to any European capital. In fact, it is a Continental street transplanted to the East. Far different is the Burra Bazaar, with its old and shabby native houses, whose wooden verandahs face the street, and the marvellous dens on the ground floor filled with goods of every class and description. Here are to be found rich shawls from Cashmere, and piece goods of every vulgar colour from Manchester. Jewellers are sitting cross-legged before their charcoal pans making