It is his works, however, that claim our attention. For more than two centuries he has been almost completely forgotten, and his pictures have been sold under the names and forged signatures of the more popular De Hooch, Metzu, Terborch, and even of Rembrandt. The honour of first recalling the attention of the art-world to this most original painter belongs undoubtedly to Thoré, an exiled Frenchman, who described his then known works in his Musées de la Hollande (1858-60), published under the assumed name of W. Bürger. The result of his researches, continued in his Galerie Suermondt and Galerie d’Aren· berg, was afterwards given by him in a charming, though incomplete, monograph (Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1866, pp. 297, 458, 542). The task has since been prosecuted with success by Havard (Les Artistes Hollandais'), and by Obreen (Hederlandsche Kunstgeschiedenis, DI. iv.), and we are now in a position to refer to Van der Meer’s works. His pictures are rarely dated, but, luckily for us, one of the most important bears the date 1656, and thus gives us a key to his styles. The picture referred to is the only one that has figures of life size. It is the Woman and Soldier, with other two figures, of the Dresden gallery, and is painted with remarkable power and boldness, great command over the resources of colour, and with wonderful expression of life. For strength and colour it more than holds its own beside the neighbouring Rembrandts. To this early period of his career belong, from internal evidence, the Reading Girl of the same gallery, the luminous and masterly view of Delft in the museum of the Hague, La Laitière and the small street view, both in the collection of Μ. Six van Hillegom at Amsterdam, Le Soldat et la Fillette qui Rit of Μ. Double, the Country House in the gallery at Berlin, and others. In all these we find the same brilliant style and vigorous work, a solid impasto and a crisp sparkling touch. His first manner seems to have been influenced by the pleiad of painters circling round Rembrandt, a school which we know lost favour in Holland in the last quarter of the century. During the last ten or twelve years of his life Van der Meer adopted a second manner. We now find his painting smooth and thin, and his colours paler and softer. Instead of masculine vigour we have refined delicacy and subtlety, but in both styles beauty of tone and perfect harmony are conspicuous. Through all his work may be traced his love of lemon-yellow and of blue of all shades. Of his second style typical examples are to be seen in La Coquette of the Brunswick gallery, in the Woman Reading in the Van der Hoop collection at the Hague, in the Lady at a Casement belonging to Lord Powerscourt (exhibited at Burlington House, 1878), and in the Music Master and Pupil belonging to the Queen (exhibited at Burlington House, 1876).

Van der Meer’s works are extremely rare. There is but one in the Louvre, the Lace Maker; Dresden has the two above-mentioned, while Berlin has three, all acquired in the Suermondt collection, and the Czernin gallery of Vienna is fortunate in possessing a fine picture, believed to represent the artist in his studio. In the Arenberg gallery at Brussels there is a remarkable head of a girl, half the size of life, which seems to be intermediate between his two styles. Several of his paintings are to be found in private foreign collections. In all his work there is a singular completeness and charm. In rendering momentary expression he is a master, and his pictures attract by the perfect delineation of character as well as by the technical skill of the painter. His tone is usually silvery with pearly shadows, and the lighting of his interiors is equal and natural. In all cases his figures seem to move in light and air, and in this respect he resembles greatly his fellow-worker De Hooch, who entered the guild of St Luke only two years later than Van der Meer. It is curious to read that, at one of the auctions in Amsterdam about the middle of last century, a De Hooch is praised as being “nearly equal to the famous Van der Meer of Delft.” So nearly are they allied that the best judges are divided in opinion whether the Dutch Family (“La Promenade”) of the academy of Vienna should be attributed to our painter or to De Hooch. Doubtless many of Van der Meer’s works have yet to be restored to their proper author; but, as he is now in vogue, much care will have to be used iu judging. This is specially true in regard to the landscapes and “still life ' subjects which are attributed to him. The task is made more difficult by the diversity of style of this “Protean painter,” as he is called by Dr Waagen, or, as Bürger names him, “the Sphinx of Delft.”

By far the greatest quantity of meerschaum is used in the manufacture of tobacco-pipes, a purpose for which it is well iitted,l>y its porosity. The nodular masses ure first roughly scraped in order to remove the red earthy matrix; they are· then dried, scraped again, and finally polished with wax. In this state the rudely-shaped nodular pieces are sent from the East principally to Vienna and to various parts of Germany. The pipe-bowls, after having been tuι ned and carved, are rubbed with glass-paper and Dutch rushes; they are next boiled in wax, spermaceti, or stearine, and afterwards subjected to careful polishing with bone-ash, chalk, &c.

An imitation of meerschaum for common pipes is made of hardened plaster of Paris, treated with paraffin, and coloured by gamboge and dragon’s blood. A peculiar preparation, into which potato largely enters, is said to have been successfully employed in France as a substitute for meerschaum.

The census of 1872 returned the population of the district at 1,276,104, the Hindus numbering 991,226. Among the higher castes Brahmans muster strong (109,804). The Rajputs (both Hindus and Mohammedans) number 55,083, and enjoy great social distinction as landholders; the Banias, or traders (66,942), also now hold considerable landed property. The great cultivating castes are the Chaînât» (197,273) and Jàts (145,514). The Gujars (60,350) are a pastoral tribe, with an ancient character for plunder and cattle-lifting, which is now passing away. The Mohammedans (281,857) are for the most part the descendants of converted Hindus. The Christian population consists of 2149 Europeans, 142 Eurasians, and 730 natives. Fifteen towns in the district contain a population exceeding 5000; namely, Meerut, 81,386; H⅛pur, 14,544; Sardhana, 12,466; Garhmukhtesar, 7962; Bâgpat, 7367: Ghaziaba l, 7365; Shahdara, 7257; Baro, 7056; Mawana, 6864; Pilkhua, 6239; Khekara, 6045; Tikri, 5698; Kirthal, 5651; Dasna, 5605; Chaprauli, 5594.

Meerut is one of the most flourishing and best tilled districts of the Doâb. Out of a total area of 1,505,824 acres, as many as 1,048,221 were under cultivation in 1881, 281,095 acres being irrigated by Government works, and 303,526 by private individuals. The grazing lands comprehended 242,091 acres, and the waste 185,400. The condition both of agricultural labourers and of artisans and workmen in the towns has considerably improved of late years. About one-half the soil is cultivated by the proprietors themselves, the remainder being about equally divided between tenants with occupancy rights and tenants-at-will. Rents are paid in money, and range from 18s. 10d. per acre for the best canal-watered lands down to 2s. 5∣d. per acre for “dry” unirrigated soils. The chief exports of the district are grain, cotton, and indigo; and the principal imports are Manchester goods, English hardware, tobacco, drugs, and spices. The chief commercial centres are Meerut, Ghaziabâd, and Bâgpat. Besides the great waterways of the Jumna and Ganges, and the navigable canals, communication is afforded by the East Indian and the Punjab and Delhi Railways; also by 1505 miles of made roads. In 1876 the district was in the administrative charge of four covenanted civilians, and contained seventeen magisterial and fifteen civil courts. The gross revenue in 1881 was £248,754, of which £203,977 was derived from the land-tax; the cost of officials and police was £27,520. In 1881 there were 214 schools, attended by 6677 pupils. The comparatively high latitude and elevated position of Meerut make it one of the healthiest districts in the plains of India. The average temperature varies from 57° Fahr, in January to 87° in June. The rainfall is small, less than 30 inches annually. The only endemic disease in the district is malarial fever; but small-pox and cholera occasionally visit it as epidemics.

The authentic history of the district commences with the

Moslem invasions. Until the 11th century it is probable that Meerut was mainly in the hands of predatory native tribes, such as the Jâts and Dors. The first undoubted Mohammedan invasion was that of Kutab-ud-din in 1191, when Meerut town was taken, and all the Hindu temples turned into mosques. In 1398 Timur swooped down upon the district, captured the fort of Loni after a desperate resistance, and put all his Hindu prisoners to death. He then proceeded to Delhi, and after his memorable sack of that city, returned to Meerut, captured the town, razed all the fortifications ami houses of the Hindus, and put the male inhabitants to the sword. The firm establishment of the great Mughal dynasty in the 16th century, under Babar and his successors, gave Meerut a period of internal tranquillity and royal favour. After the death of Aurangzeb, however, it was exposed to alternate Sikh and Mahratta invasions. From 1707 till 1775 the country was the scene of one perpetual strife, and was only rescued from anarchy by the exertions of the military adventurer Walter Reinhardt, afterwards the husband of the celebrated Begâm Samru, who established himself at Sardhana in the north, and ruled a large estate. The southern tract, however, remained in its anarchic condition under Mahratta exactions until the fall of Delhi in 1803, when the whole of the country between the Jumna and the Ganges was ceded by Sindhia to the British. It was formed into a separate district in 1818. In the British period it has become memorable as being the place where the first outbreak of the great mutiny of 1857 took place. *

Meerut, a city, and cantonment in the above district, is situated about half way between the Ganges and the Jumna, in 29° 0' 41" N. lat. and 77° 45' 3" E. long. The city proper lies south of the cantonments, and although a very ancient town, dating as far back as the days of the Buddhist emperor Asoka (cire. 250 b.c. ), Meerut owes its modern importance to its selection by the British Government as the site of a great military station. In 1805 it is mentioned as “a ruined depopulated town.” The cantonment was established in 1806, and the population rose rapidly to 29,014 in 1847, and 82,035 in 1853. In 1872 the census returned the population (exclusive of the military) at 81,386, viz., Hindus, 47,606; Mohammedans, 33,532; Christians, 248, The slight decline of population between 1853 and 1872 may probably be attributed to the mutiny of 1857. Most of the streets have a poor appearance, owing to the hasty manner in which they were erected. The cantonment, a little to the north of the city, forms the headquarters of a military division. The principal building is the Meerut church with its handsome tall spire. There are also a Boman Catholic church, mission chapel, asylum for the relief of Europeans and Christians, and a club. Tlιe Mall is one of the finest drives in India.