The one text that has influenced the history of Jewish– not to mention Christian – mysticism andapocalyptic literature more than any other isundoubtedly the book of Ezekiel; and the single mostinfluential passage in it is undoubtedly the openingchapter, centring on Ezekiel's vision of the“likeness of the glory of God”.

Since the Shī'ī response to constitutionalist notionsof government is potentially a very large subject,for the purposes of this discussion Shī'ī will betaken to mean the members of the orthodox'ulamā, those most committed tothe sharī'a and learned in itsprecepts. Whilst even within this group there is awide diversity of opinion, it is hoped that, bylooking at works written over a longer period, thediscussion will show that the response by aparticular ‘ālim toconstitutionalism is to some extent influenced bythe political conditions prevailing at the time ofwriting. These form a factor together with therestrictions imposed by the sharī'ain shaping the views of particular writers. Theideology under consideration is constitutionalism,but it will be observed that for a large part thesubject matter treated consists of ideas such asrepresentation, consultation, legislation, freedomand equality, which are allied to theconstitutionalist theory of government, rather thanthe complete theory itself.

Robert Orme is probably now chiefly remembered as theauthor of the History of the MilitaryTransactions of the British Nation inIndostan. First published in 1763 and1778, the History was widelyadmired in its time. Since then, however, Orme hasbeen steadily displaced by later historians fromJames Mill onwards. The result is that today he ishardly read at all. The purpose of this article isto rescue Robert Orme from the anonymity to which hehas been relegated.

By the ghats in Benares, a young womanappears at the head of a small procession composedof her relations, some priests and a band ofmusicians. The procession moves towards the corpseof a man, draped in cloth and laid out at the edgeof the river. They are observed by an Englishman whoexperiences a mixture of emotions: his horror andmoral outrage do not entirely destroy his delightthat he is about to witness an instance of what heconsiders a most fascinating Hinducustom–sati. The date is October1781, and the Englishman is the artist WilliamHodges.

The popular image of pre-1950 Tibet is of a remote landseldom visited by outsiders. But more than a hundredBritish officials served in Tibet during the earlypart of this century. Between 1904 and 1947 Agentsfrom the Indian Political Service, and supportingstaff, were stationed in Gyantse and Yatung, underthe control of the Political Officer in Sikkim. AnAgency was also maintained at Gartok in WesternTibet, where a native officer was posted as theTrade Agent. After 1936 a mission was stationed atLhasa. The last British official in Lhasa, HughRichardson, departed in 1950 following the Chineseinvasion of Tibet. For the British Trade Agents, analmost forgotten section of British colonialadministration in Asia, Tibet was an officialposting. Their isolation, and the lack of trade,meant that they had the time to study a variety ofaspects of Tibet, and to gain a great knowledge ofthe country and its people.

I have read Dr Nigel Allan's article in the above issueof the most attractively revampedJRAS with great interest, partlybecause the Constantinople 1505 printing of Rashi'scommentary to Exodus 28:6 (reproduced on p. 351)reminds me strongly of the Constantinople 1519printing of the Hebrew letter from Prester John to“the Pope at Rome”, and partly on account of somepregnant differences in Rashi's text as between theWellcome version and that in the Miqra'otGәdolot of the well-known Warsaw 1874edition.