gs afford
many proofs of his keen interest in the sciences of geology,
agricultural chemistry, and political economy, and of his intelligent
appreciation of the lessons taught by history. Nor was he insensible
to the charms of art, especially those of poetry. His favourite
authors among the poets seem to have been Shakespeare, Milton, Scott,
Wordsworth, and Cowper. His knowledge of the customs and modes of
thought of the natives of India, rarely equalled and never surpassed,
was more than half the secret of his notable success as an
administrator. The greatest achievement of his busy and unselfish
life was the suppression of the system of organized murder known as
Thuggee, and in the execution of that prolonged and onerous task he
displayed the most delicate tact, the keenest sagacity, and the
highest power of organization.

His own words are his best epitaph: 'I have gone on quietly,' he
writes, '"through evil and through good report", doing, to the best
of my ability, the duties which it has pleased the Government of
India, from time to time, to confide to me in the manner which
appeared to me most conformable to its wishes and its honour,
satisfied and grateful for the trust and confidence which enabled me
to do so much good for the people, and to secure so much of their
attachment and gratitude to their rulers.' [5]

His grandson. Captain J. L. Sleeman, who, when stationed in India
from 1903 to 1908, visited the scenes of his grandfather's labours,
states that everywhere he found the memory of his respected ancestor
revered, and was given the assurance that no Englishman had ever
understood the native of India so well, or removed so many oppressive
evils as General Sir W. H. Sleeman, and that his memory would endure
for ever in the Empire to which he devoted his life's work.

This necessarily meagre account of a life which deserves more ample
commemoration may be fitly closed by a few words concerning the
relatives and descendants of Sir William Sleeman.

His sister and regular correspondent, to whom he dedicated the
_Rambles and Recollections_, was married to Captain Furse, R.N.

His brother's son James came out to India in 1827, joined the 73rd
Regiment of the Bengal Army, was selected for employment in the
Political Department, and was thus enabled to give valuable aid in
the campaign against Thuggee. In due course he was appointed to the
office of General Superintendent of the Operations against Thuggee,