UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 CRITIC NOTICES OF THIS WORK. 
 
 FROM THE ECLECTIC REVIEW. 
 
 " The able author of these volumes could scarcely have selected a more important 
 period than the present for favouring the public with his labours. He has acquitted 
 himself well throughout his somewhat arduous labours. There is a manliness of thought 
 and independence of manner about them, which are exceedingly attractive. His own 
 reflections are very little obtruded upon the reader." 
 
 FROM TAIT'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. 
 
 " It sounds like the tolling of funeral bells, as the annunciation is made of one death 
 after another, among those who supported our canopy of empire through the last most 
 memorable generation. The eldest of the Wellesleys is gone he is gathered to his 
 fathers ; and here we have his life circumstantially written. Mr. Pearce is capable of 
 writing vigorously and sagaciously." 
 
 FROM BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE. 
 
 " We have no idea of disregarding the labour which such a work must have demanded , 
 or of regretting that the author has given to the country the most exact and intelligent 
 Biography which he had the means of giving." 
 
 FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE. 
 
 " The distinguished individual, whose Life and Correspondence lie before us, was one 
 of the galaxy of great men by whom the reign of George III. was illustrated and adorned. 
 England was called upon to confront perils, both political and social, such as she never 
 before encountered, and by which the whole framework of her polity seemed about to be 
 disorganized. And not the least among the remarkable men who were raised up to be her 
 stay and protection against the revolutionary madness which was desolating Europe, was 
 Richard Colley Wellesley, whose abilities will bear a comparison with those of the most 
 gifted and brilliant of his contemporaries." 
 
 FROM THE JOHN BULL. 
 
 " This work presents a complete history of the public life of the Marquess Wellesley, 
 and an outline of the great public events in which he bore a more or less distinguished 
 part, prefaced by a brief, but interesting sketch of the origin and antiquity of the Wel- 
 lesley family. 
 
 " With respect to the author's opinions, although we do not always concur with him in 
 what he has advanced upon the subject of the first French revolution, and the consequent 
 war between this country and France, upon the Catholic Relief Bill, and upon certain 
 points of our policy in the East Indies and the Peninsula, he is so little disposed to dog- 
 matism, that we cannot help treating them with respect. But the main value of 
 Mr. Pearce's book consists in his judicious and lucid manner of arranging the narrative 
 portion of it, interspersed with and illustrated by documentary matter, by means of which 
 we follow, not only the career of the Marquess Wellesley himself, but the course of all 
 those great political events in Europe and Asia, which have now become matter of history. 
 The chief defect of the work is, the almost total absence of personal details relative to the 
 private character of the Marquess Wellesley. But it is a valuable addition to this branch 
 of our literature. It contains numerous documents of great historical interest, and pre- 
 sents a well written and connected narrative of the political conduct and opinions of a 
 statesman who, for nearly half a century, occupied an exalted place amongst the great 
 men of his time. We may add, that Mr. Pearce, though an avowed admirer of the Mar- 
 quess Wellesley, is an impartial judge of his actions ; witness, among other things that 
 might be adduced, his condemnation of the M arquess's policy respecting the press in India." 
 
 FROM THE LEAGUE. 
 
 " In these instructive and amusing volumes Mr. Pearce has given a very able sum- 
 mary of the life of a statesman, whose reputation and rewards have been very inadequate 
 for the services he rendered his country. Referring our readers to the work itself for the 
 details of Lord Wellesley's laborious career, we shall merely regard him as an enlightened 
 friend of Education and Free Trade, at a time when neither of these great principles met 
 favour from men in power." 
 
 FROM THE LITERARY GAZETTE. 
 
 " Mr. Pearce has, it is at once evident and unquestionable, done himself honour by his 
 diligent research he has had access to the best information he has acquitted himself of 
 his task with much ability, and in a scholarlike style. This is one of the genuine historical 
 publications of the age." 
 
 FROM THE LITERARY GAZETTE. (Second Notice.) 
 
 Y In our last Gazette we hastily introduced this important publication to our readers, 
 .nd have now, therefore, no occasion to preface our more particular reference to it with 
 farther remarks. It presents the life of a great statesman, long engaged in the most mo- 
 mentous national affairs, and a perfect gentleman, to whom the poet's description of Hamlet 
 might have been as justly applied, as to any individual of the age in which he flourished." 
 
 FROM THE ATLAS. 
 
 " No industry of research appears to have been spared ; documents and pieces of infor- 
 mation new to us have often been gleaned, and, when the occasion called for an opinion, it 
 is judiciously, freely, and manfully delivered."
 
 FHOM THK COURT JOURNAL. 
 
 " Mr. Pearce has written the present work iu a laudable spirit of patriotism. The let- 
 ters of Lord Wellesley, selected from his unpublished correspondence, are of high interest 
 and proportionate value. The biography with which they are interwoven is careful, 
 minute, and satisfactorily voluminous. As a reference for future historians, this work 
 must prove of infinite importance." 
 
 FBOM THE CRITIC. 
 
 " Mr. Pearce has been fortunate in having for his subject the life of so distinguished a 
 ruler and statesman as Lord Wellesley ; who lived and acted in such eventful times, whose 
 public services were so varied and important, whose character influenced the welfare of 
 millions, and affords such prominent features for delineation of the biographer. With the 
 facilities afforded him by accession to state and family papers, Mr. Pearce has produced a 
 work of undeniably sterling merit one distinguished by a spirit of candour and fairness, 
 liberality, temperance, and charitable feeling, and especially by the soundness of its opinions 
 and the breadth and sagacity of its views. His industry in the collection and judgment in 
 the adoption of matter demand honourable notice, for they are conspicuous on every page; 
 his researches, too, have been rewarded with much that elucidates what was obscure in 
 recent state affairs, and will be of service to future historians. Added to this, his narra- 
 tive is succinct, clear, and well-connected ; his style always agreeable sometimes, perhaps, 
 a trifle too stilted ; and his description graphic even to the force and colour of nature. 
 We now take our leave of these carefully compiled, entertaining, and useful volumes, 
 cordially recommending them to every library in the kingdom." 
 FROM THE MORNING HERALD.* 
 
 <c A most interesting and valuable Biography of the Marquess Wellesley. It is appro- 
 priately dedicated to Lord Brougham, the noble Marquess's most cherished and confiden- 
 tial friend to the close of his life. The work is voluminous ; but the interesting events of 
 the moment compel us to postpone its lengthened consideration. Lord Wellesley lived to 
 see the glory and the wisdom of his Indian policy unanimously recognised. He, who in 
 seven years added one-half to the territories of the Company, to its subjects 40 millions, 
 and to its revenue 10 millions sterling he, who destroyed Tippoo Saib, overthrew 
 Scindia, broke up the powerful Mahratta confederacy, extirpated the French, subjugated 
 the Berah Rajah, founded a university, circulated the Scriptures and established Christian 
 churches, wisely regarding every principle of toleration combining the duties of the 
 ' Christian and the British Governor,' and blending ' war's victories ' with those of peace 
 he, who achieved these miracles, amid every kind of discouragement and vexation, at the 
 close of 40 years witnessed the consummation of his glory, and died, as it were, hearing 
 the verdict of posterity." 
 
 FROM THE MORNING ADVERTISER. 
 
 " Through all these varied and important scenes, Mr. Pearce conducts the reader, who, 
 with untiring interest, will follow the admirably arranged and composed narrative, with 
 continually increasing respect and honour for this able and accomplished nobleman. These 
 Memoirs have evidently been prepared with great labour, care, and precision. A lengthy 
 list of the principal authorities consulted gives a good notion of the amount of time and 
 trouble that must have been expended in writing a work so full of all requisite details; so 
 ample in its statement of events ; so deeply interesting from the nature and variety of 
 those events ; and so ably composed and arranged, through the perseverance, talent, and 
 pains-taking qualities of its author." 
 
 FROK THE WEEKLY CHRONICLE. 
 
 " Mr. Pearce has brought to their compilation, sufficient facilities in point of informa- 
 tion and fact, the requisite amount of industry, a large share of talent, and a good practical 
 working liberality of tone. We have, consequently, as the result, three volumes, which 
 will take their place by the side of the Life and Despatches of the noble brother of their 
 hero ; and are likely, as we conceive, to maintain that position." 
 FROM THE YORK HERALD. 
 
 " One of the most interesting biographical records we have ever perused." 
 FROM THE INQUIRER. 
 
 "An important addition to the historic literature of the period, and it is as creditable 
 to its author as it is interesting to the public. The account of Lord Wellesley's Irish Ad- 
 ministration is highly interesting ; but we must abstain from further quotation, and con- 
 clude with a renewed expression of the information and pleasure we have derived from 
 these volumes." 
 
 FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES. 
 
 " Already the Marquess's own Despatches had rendered the subject familiar to those who 
 make the history of India their special study, taken, we mean, in conjunction with the 
 Despatches of the Duke of Wellington, which both receive light from his brother's let- 
 ters, and reflect light on them. The two works should in fact be studied together; and to 
 give soundness and completeness to the study, Mr. Pearce's three volumes should be added 
 to those of the two illustrious men above named. In an historical point of view, these 
 Memoirs are full of value, and we dare say will be extensively popular. At least we are 
 sure they deserve to be so." 
 
 * Repeated in the Standard.
 
 OF THE MOST NOBLE 
 
 RICHARD MARQUESS WELLESLEY, 
 
 K.P.; E.G.; D.C.L., &c.
 

 
 .'ED BT PERMISSION OK M 1 J . S . WE LCH
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE MOST NOBLE 
 
 RICHARD MARQUESS WELLESLEY, 
 
 K.P.; K.G.; D.C.L. 
 
 SUCCESSIVELY GOVERNOR- GENERAL AND CAPTAIN-GENERAL OP INDIA; 
 BRITISH AMBASSADOR IN SPAIN ; SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS ; 
 AND LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND. 
 
 COMPRISING NUMEROUS LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS, NOW FIRST 
 PUBLISHED FROM ORIGINAL MSS. 
 
 BY ROBERT ROUIERE PEARCE, ESQ. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 fa (rtJinaro to i?er 
 
 1847.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSON, and FLEV, 
 Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
 
 v. 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 LORD BROUGHAM AND VAUX, 
 
 Ac. Ac. &c. 
 
 o THIS SECOND EDITION 
 
 s* 
 
 OJ 
 
 OF THE PUBLIC LIFE OF HIS ILLUSTRIOUS FRIEND, 
 THE LATE 
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY, 
 
 IS, 
 
 BY HIS LORDSHIP'S PERMISSION, 
 
 MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 
 BY HIS MOST OBEDIENT AND 
 
 MOST HUMBLE SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 LONDON, DEC. 1846. 
 k 
 
 358048
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THE important events which have occurred on the 
 banks of the Sutledj since the appearance of the first 
 Edition of this Work have added a new interest to 
 every subject connected with the political condition 
 of India ; and cannot fail to excite public curiosity 
 respecting the origin, and progress of the great 
 Empire, raised by British power in Asia. Vis- 
 count Hardinge is a worthy successor of Clive, 
 Hastings, and Wellesley : he was trained up in the 
 school of the Wellesleys; and it will be found, on 
 examination, that his policy, with reference to the 
 Punjab, has been guided by the same comprehen- 
 sive principles on which Lord Wellesley governed 
 India. Lord Gough has emulated the renown of 
 General Lake and Sir David Baird: Sobraon 
 will be as celebrated in history as Assaye or 
 Laswaree. 
 
 For the favourable reception which this work has 
 met with at the hands of the public, and of an in- 
 fluential portion of the public press, the author is
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 bound to express his grateful acknowledgments. 
 In one or two instances only, had he occasion to com- 
 plain that his views were misrepresented, or his 
 objects misunderstood. 
 
 The Eclectic Review, in its very able and discrimi- 
 nating criticism on these volumes (No. VI., vol. xix. ; 
 June 1846), does the author an injustice, which had it 
 proceeded from an organ of less authority, he would 
 have allowed to pass without remark. He is censured 
 for having "violated all rules of right feeling and good 
 taste " in comparing Messrs. O'Connell and Shiel to 
 Moses and Aaron ! The author is fully sensible of the 
 imperfections which may be found in a work of this 
 bulk, and extensive range ; but in the case referred 
 to, he is certainly not liable to the charge advanced 
 against him. On reference to page 298, Vol. III. 
 it will be seen that he did not originate the obnoxious 
 figure, but recorded a matter of fact. It is there 
 stated: "He* was hailed, in the poetic language of 
 his enthusiastic followers, as a Moses about to lead 
 his brethren forth from the bondage of Goshen." 
 In a note were added two lines from some popular 
 verses, to the following effect : 
 
 Ye bondsmen of Egypt ! a Moses appears, 
 
 To lead your dark steps through this desert of tears ! 
 
 It is not necessary now to discuss the propriety of 
 the figure; but it is a fact that Mr. O'Connell was 
 looked upon, by his Catholic brethren, as a man whose 
 mission was similar in some respects to that of the 
 son of Amram. How far the comparison may or 
 may not be consistent with the rules of right feeling 
 
 * Mr. O'Connell.
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 and good taste, Posterity, after all, perhaps will be 
 the only proper tribunal to decide. The author 
 merely submits that he has not stepped beyond the 
 line of an historian's duty, in recording the fervid 
 language addressed to this remarkable public charac- 
 ter, who, in innumerable poems, speeches, and ad- 
 dresses, even within the walls of Parliament, has been 
 described as the " Deliverer of his countrymen." 
 
 The author is so fully aware of the value of the 
 approbation, bestowed in such handsome terms on 
 his labours, by the Eclectic Review^ that he is anxious 
 to relieve himself from the aspersion (in the instance 
 pointed out at least), of having erred against the 
 canons of " right feeling," and " good taste." 
 
 It has been objected that these Volumes afford few 
 details of the private affairs of the late Marquess 
 Wellesley. The author might fairly shelter himself 
 under the apology of the greatest of English biogra- 
 phers, in somewhat similar circumstances : " As the 
 process of these narratives is now bringing me among 
 my contemporaries, I begin to feel myself walking upon 
 ashes under which the fire is not extinguished, and 
 coming to the time of which it will be proper rather 
 to say nothing that is false, than all that is true.'" 1 
 The author proposed to delineate the public life of an 
 eminent Statesman; to treat his subject historically; 
 to present an accurate account of one of the most 
 renowned of the remarkable families known in the 
 annals of this kingdom; to trace the career of the 
 Marquess Wellesley from Eton to the University, from 
 the University to the Senate, from the Senate to the
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 Cabinet; to afford a full yet popular narrative of his 
 splendid and unparalleled administration in India ; and 
 illustrate his policy, both in Asia and in Europe, by 
 selections from the correspondence of Lord Wellesley, 
 which, till the publication of these volumes, had not 
 been accessible to the public. It was his object to 
 bring into notice the wisdom and sagacity of the 
 Marquess Wellesley's political views, the force and 
 propriety of his maxims, the dignity of his oratory, 
 the elegance of his scholarship, and the general success 
 of his public measures; which were all liberal 
 comprehensive, and grand, stamped with the charac- 
 teristics of his own genius. It was no part of the 
 author's plan to furnish materials for scandal, or to 
 withdraw the veil from occurrences in which living 
 persons were concerned, of which it would, perhaps, be 
 difficult to speak without subjecting himself either 
 to the reproach of sycophancy and servility on the one 
 hand, or to the charge of censorious malevolence on the 
 other. 
 
 A few corrections and alterations, suggested to the 
 author, have been made in the body of the work. 
 
 DEC. 1846.,
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE events which marked the personal history, and 
 developed themselves during the career of the illus- 
 trious subject of these Memoirs, were of no ordinary 
 occurrence ; in some respects they stand unparalleled in 
 modern history. The transactions in which he was 
 concerned were of the gravest importance ; influencing 
 materially the destiny of both Europe and Asia, and 
 transmitting to posterity maxims and principles of 
 government which modify the civilization of the nine- 
 teenth century, and which will long be felt in every 
 part of the British Empire. 
 
 The times in which the Marquess Wellesley lived 
 were signal ; the men amongst whom he moved, and 
 with whom he acted, were among the most distin- 
 guished and renowned that this nation ever pro- 
 duced. 
 
 When, by the early death of his father, this remark- 
 able man was called from those classical studies in 
 which he took delight, to enter upon the business of 
 life, Great Britain and Ireland,- though united under 
 one Crown, were separate and distinct kingdoms. Under 
 the anomalous constitution then existing, he sat as a 
 peer in the upper legislative chamber in Ireland, and
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 contemporaneously was the representative of a borough 
 in the British House of Commons. At that period the 
 mass of the Irish people may be said to have been without 
 the protection of the laws, commerce was under the 
 most stringent restrictions, nor was it till several years 
 subsequently > that the corn and agricultural produce of 
 Ireland was admitted into England duty free ; the dis- 
 cussions on the great question of the Regency, in which 
 Lord Wellesley took a prominent part, exhibited the 
 spectacle of the British monarchy divided against 
 itself ; and prepared the way for the Legislative Union, 
 which was achieved soon after on the guarantee, that 
 equal rights should be conferred upon all the inhabitants 
 of the United Kingdom without distinction of race or 
 creed. When the French Revolution astounded the na- 
 tions of the earth, Lord Wellesley (then Earl of Morning- 
 ton) was a Minister of the Crown. In all the questions 
 which arose out of the excentric moral phenomena ob- 
 servable during that tremendous epoch, he took a part, 
 and appeared publicly as a champion against the ene- 
 mies of the monarchical principle and the system of Re- 
 vealed Religion. He assumed a decided Anti-Gallican 
 attitude ; and strenuously advised and supported the 
 war against the French revolutionary Government. His 
 conflict with Mr. Sheridan on this topic in the House 
 of Commons, established his reputation as a vigorous 
 and eloquent debater, though his speech on the occa- 
 sion referred to, had to endure comparison with one of 
 the finest rhetorical outbursts of his brilliant and 
 finely cultivated antagonist. 
 
 The topics of Parliamentary Reform, the Irish 
 Volunteers, the Slave Trade, the Prosecutions for
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 High Treason, Seditious Meetings, the traitorous pro- 
 ceedings of the Society of United Irishmen organ- 
 ized by Theobald Wolf Tone, the India Bill, &c., all 
 pass in review in tracing the life of Lord Wellesley ; 
 nearly every portion of which, from the moment of his 
 attaining manhood, was consecrated to the public 
 service. 
 
 Prior to his appointment as Governor-General of 
 India in 1797, we see him sitting as a Peer in the 
 Irish House of Lords successively member in the Par- 
 liament of Great Britain for the boroughs of Beeral- 
 ston, Saltash, and Windsor one of the Knights of St. 
 Patrick, on the original foundation of that illustrious 
 order a Privy Councillor in Ireland a Lord of the 
 Treasury in England a Member of the English Privy 
 Council a Commissioner for the affairs in India a 
 Baron of Great Britain. 
 
 Nor is it possible to contemplate the career of the 
 Marquess Wellesley apart from the history of those 
 brothers and such brothers ! over whose education, 
 establishment in life and fame, he watched with such 
 genuine fraternal affection. To his care the venerable 
 hero, whose military renown has become one of the 
 most valued properties of this country, was indebted 
 for favourable opportunities for displaying his wonder- 
 ful genius in war. As Governor- General of India in 
 the first instance, and afterwards as Ambassador Extra- 
 ordinary in Spain, and Secretary of State for Foreign 
 Affairs, the Marquess Wellesley had the power of ad- 
 vancing and supporting his brother. Appreciating the 
 sterling qualities of the man, and knowing the innate 
 vigour and sagacity of his brother's capacious mind, he
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 never hesitated to employ his influence to procure the 
 Honourable Arthur Wellesley's advancement ; for, not- 
 withstanding the obloquy to which it exposed him, he 
 was honourably conscious that in promoting his rela- 
 tive to posts of trust and difficulty, he was conferring 
 an advantage on his Country. 
 
 But the Marquess Wellesley's Indian administration 
 is justly regarded as the most splendid period of his 
 Lordship's history ; though perhaps its lustre has, in 
 some degree, tended to cast in the shade other portions 
 of his public services of great utility. "When he as- 
 sumed the reins of Government in Bengal, British 
 power was tottering in the Indian Peninsula. Although 
 the French settlements of Masulipatam, Pondicherry, 
 Chandernagore, Carical, andMahe, had, in 1778, fallen 
 into the hands of the British, a strong Gallican party 
 existed in India, whose constant efforts were employed 
 to promote the views of France, and depress the in- 
 terests of England in the East. His first care was 
 effectually to counteract the pernicious designs of the 
 French agents employed in the armies of the native 
 princes, and by restoring the balance of power, which 
 had been grievously disarranged under the imbecile and 
 divided counsels of his predecessors, as well as by the 
 formation of subsidiary treaties with the native powers, 
 to take security for the safety of the British possessions 
 against internal enemies. His caution and decision in 
 the war with Tippoo Sultaun, which crushed the hopes 
 of the French in India, and the promptitude with 
 which he fitted out an expedition to cooperate from the 
 Red Sea, with the British and Turkish forces against 
 the French in Egypt, completely thwarted the designs
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 of the French Directory, and foiled the gigantic plans 
 of Buonaparte, who had hoped, with the aid of Tippoo 
 and other insurgent chiefs, to build upon the ruins of 
 the British power in the East, an empire that was to 
 combine the glories of Alexander, Mahomet and Charle- 
 magne ! Lord Wellesley anticipated every movement 
 of Buonaparte, he took every precaution that human 
 foresight could suggest, to baffle the machinations of 
 the enemy and maintain the integrity of, and im- 
 part security to, the vast possessions committed to his 
 charge. The wisdom of the Marquess Wellesley's 
 policy in India is now universally recognised ; the 
 voice of all parties is unequivocally expressed in its 
 favour. The calumnies and misrepresentations with 
 which his measures were for a time assailed, have 
 perished and are forgotten ; and the importance of his 
 public services is gratefully recorded by the great Com- 
 pany who sway the destinies of British India ; at whose 
 expense his official dispatches have been circulated for 
 the instruction of the servants of the East India Com- 
 pany in the principles which should guide their public 
 conduct. 
 
 Lord Wellesley filled the offices of Ambassador Ex- 
 traordinary in Spain, and his Majesty's principal Secre- 
 tary of State for Foreign Affairs at a most interesting 
 period of the memorable struggle in the Peninsula, 
 which he sustained with his characteristic constancy 
 and vigour. Sir Arthur Wellesley's movements in the 
 field, it will be found, were not of more importance to 
 the general cause of enslaved Europe, than the less 
 observed movements of the Marquess Wellesley in the 
 cabinet.
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 An examination of Lord Wellesley's correspon- 
 dence with the American Government and the British 
 Plenipotentiary at Washington, will assist materi- 
 ally in developing the merits of the important con- 
 troversies between England and the United States 
 which led to the ill-advised and inglorious war 
 between the two countries in 1812. Questions of 
 the gravest importance in connection with the mari- 
 time rights of this kingdom, and the general principles 
 of international^ law, are involved in those discussions, 
 which sprang out of the arbitrary and unwarrantable 
 Decrees of Berlin and Milan, promulgated by Buona- 
 parte for the purpose of destroying the commerce of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Lord Wellesley was among the ablest and steadiest 
 advocates of Catholic Emancipation and the great 
 principles of civil and religious liberty identified with 
 that question. It is deeply to be lamented that the 
 motion which his Lordship made in the House of Lords 
 in July 1812, and which was only lost by a majority of 
 one, and that one a proxy, was defeated ; Mr. Canning's 
 motion having been carried in the House of Commons. 
 A settlement of the question at that period would have 
 prevented discussions that have since embittered the 
 social and political condition of Ireland. Lord Welles- 
 ley continued to advocate, with undaunted zeal, that 
 just and necessary measure till its final accomplishment 
 in 1829. 
 
 To his Lordship belongs the merit of having crush- 
 d the Secret Societies which convulsed Ireland, and 
 of having first grappled with that great Orange confede- 
 racy, which, banded together by secret oaths unknown to
 
 PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 the laws, perpetuated religious feuds and the contests of 
 rival races in Ireland ; excluded the mass of the popula- 
 tion from the pale of the constitution ; deprived the 
 King's Roman Catholic subjects of every right and privi- 
 lege that makes life valuable to free men, and rendered 
 a real union between the two countries impossible. 
 Originally organized for the purposes of self-defence 
 and maintaining the power of England in Ireland, the 
 Orange Society considered themselves an English garrison 
 in a foreign and hostile land, that was to be retained 
 by the force of arms and ruled by military terror and 
 coercion. It is unquestionably true that they were 
 unwavering in their allegiance, and that they preserved 
 with heroic constancy a steady fidelity to the Crown 
 and people of England, to whom they were attached by 
 the ties of religion and blood ; but as the reward of 
 their fealty they considered that every office of trust 
 and emolument rightly belonged to them, and they 
 jealously and religiously excluded the most upright and 
 the most honourable citizens of the Roman Catholic 
 persuasion from a participation of power. Exclusion was 
 one of their systematic rules of action ; intolerance 
 was, avowedly, a guiding principle. They believed, 
 many of them most conscientiously, that it was neces- 
 sary to act in the nineteenth century as their fore- 
 fathers had acted six hundred years before. They 
 never considered the amalgamation of Saxon and 
 Celt a desirable object. Their whole policy was to 
 keep themselves separate and distinct from their 
 Roman Catholic fellow-countrymen. To impart equal 
 rights to the- Irish, to cover them with the aegis of 
 English law, to promote the real incorporation of
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 Ireland with Great Britain by the abolition of odious 
 and unphilosophical distinctions, and by the full re- 
 cognition of the rights of conscience, appeared to them 
 to be extravagantly absurd. Such a confederacy, when 
 inflamed by religious animosities and prejudices, and 
 animated by a recollection of by-gone conflicts, would 
 present an insuperable barrier to the improvement of 
 any country. So long as Ireland was to be treated as 
 a subjugated foreign province, the existence of a garri- 
 son, looking to England " as the rock from whence they 
 were hewn," ready at any moment to appear in the 
 field in arms to support the authority of the Crown, 
 might have been useful and even necessary : but it is 
 perfectly obvious that the perpetuation of such an 
 institution, under the favour and protection of the 
 Government, presented an insuperable barrier to the 
 pacification of Ireland on the principle of rendering 
 her inhabitants loyal and peaceable British citizens by 
 abolishing all invidious distinctions. However laudable 
 their intentions, and sincere their professions of 
 loyalty were, the existence of an organized body with 
 secret signs and symbols was a precedent for other dan- 
 gerous and illegral associations, and was therefore to be 
 deprecated as deeply injurious to the public peace. 
 
 Lord Wellesley was the first who ventured publicly 
 to discourage the system of Orange ascendancy ; he 
 inflicted a wound upon it from which it never reco- 
 vered. The amelioration of Ireland is now difficult ; 
 but under the sway of the Orange system of exclusion 
 on account of religious opinions, it was impossible. 
 
 Much has been said as to the difference between the 
 Celtic and Saxon races, and many theories have been
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 based upon the differences supposed to be observable 
 in what are considered pure specimens of both races. 
 Without denying the general proposition, that different 
 races of men are marked with distinguishing charac- 
 teristics, we may be permitted to remark that there 
 are great difficulties in the application of such theories 
 to the condition of the Irish people. Climate has 
 notoriously a powerful effect upon the human consti- 
 tution ; and it is not consistent with reason to sup- 
 pose that there could be any radical and essential 
 natural difference between the inhabitants of one por- 
 tion of the British Isles and the other, whose proge- 
 nitors had been established in these islands for upwards 
 of a thousand years. As a matter of fact, too, there 
 are great difficulties in deciding who are Celts and who 
 are Saxons, there being a strong infusion of Anglo- 
 Saxon blood among the Roman Catholic population of 
 Ireland. Stature and weight of the human frame are 
 fallacious standards ; and the difference in habits of 
 the two members of the British family is no certain 
 criterion that there is an essential difference between 
 the constitution of a Celt and Anglo-Saxon. How far 
 are those habits to be ascribed to political circum- 
 stances "? To what extent have they been modified 
 by peculiarities of laws, institutions, social arrange- 
 ments, and food 1 These questions require to be cau- 
 tiously examined ; a candid examination of them 
 cannot fail to produce the conviction that the infe- 
 riority observable in the Celtic peasant in Ireland com- 
 pared with the Anglo-Saxon, is mainly to be ascribed 
 to the sinister effects of misgovernment. It is, perhaps, 
 not too much to say that, if the Saxon rustics of
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 England had been trampled upon for ages, if they had 
 been denied the protection of those wise laws, be- 
 queathed to them by their free ancestors, which have 
 made England what she is, if, instead of enjoy- 
 ing the beneficent effects of a resident independent 
 gentry and nobility, regularly performing their social 
 duties, the landed proprietary had been absentees, the 
 estates of the country had frequently undergone confis- 
 cation, and the mass of the population been compelled 
 to live upon the most inferior food, it may be a ques- 
 tion whether so great a difference would have been 
 observable between the Celts and Saxons of the British 
 Isles as now subsists. If all political distinctions were 
 abolished if equal laws and equal rights were ex- 
 tended to all Britons indifferently, and the blessings of 
 just government, universal education, and, above all, the 
 benign influence of a resident landed proprietary, were 
 extended to Ireland, it may be affirmed with confidence 
 that the leading differences between the peasantry of 
 the two countries would gradually diminish and finally 
 disappear. 
 
 Both the obsolete system of Ascendency, and 
 the modern doctrine of Ireland for the Irish, 
 contra-distinguished from the Anglo-Saxon, would 
 be equally repugnant to the existence of that just 
 and beneficial political equality in Ireland which 
 Lord Wellesley was so desirous of establishing. Nor 
 ought we to dismiss the subject without remark- 
 ing, that while it appears not to be difficult to trace 
 to political sources, many of the qualities which are 
 considered marks of inferiority in the Celtic family, 
 which have been ascribed to physical causes, it is
 
 PREFACE. XV11 
 
 vain, and worse than vain, to seek to depreciate the 
 Saxon race, whose robust manhood, perseverance, 
 energy, skill, indomitable courage, and dignity of cha- 
 racter have made the English name respected in the 
 remotest corners of the earth ! 
 
 Several practical ameliorations of the greatest im- 
 portance distinguished the Viceroyalty of the Marquess 
 Wellesley. 
 
 In the succeeding volumes the events of Lord 
 Wellesley's life are laid before the reader, from 
 the most authentic sources. The valuable collection 
 of original manuscripts, presented by the representa- 
 tives of the late Marquess to the British Museum, and 
 deposited among the national archives, have, by special 
 permission, been carefully examined, and such selec- 
 tions made from his Lordship's papers and the public 
 records as were necessary to illustrate the subject of 
 these volumes. A large collection of letters, written 
 by some of the most celebrated of the Marquess of 
 Wellesley's contemporaries, and illustrative of the 
 times in which he lived, not hitherto published, 
 have been added, and are incorporated with the work. 
 
 LONDON, 
 JAN. 1846. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 PRECIS OF THE MARQUESS WELLESLEY'S 
 CAREER. 
 
 Born June 20th . / ; . '!. ,. 1760 
 
 At Eton . .rf^ .... 1772 
 
 Entered Christ Church College, Oxford, Dec. 1778 
 Succeeded to the Earldom of Mornington May 22nd 1 78 1 
 Took his seat in the Irish Parliament . 1782 
 Knight of St. Patrick . ' ',, 1783 
 Member for Beeralston r '. . . 1784- 
 Member of Irish Privy Council . . . 1785 
 A Lord of the Treasury (England) . ' '.' ' 1786 
 Member for Saltash ' ". . . "'V 1787 
 Member for New Windsor, June ' .' ' . ' 1788 
 British Privy Councillor . ' '. . '? ' ' '(P* 1793 
 Gustos Rotulorum of the County of Meath . 1796 
 Married Mademoiselle Roland, 29th November . 1794 
 One of the Chief Remembrancers of the Irish Ex- 
 chequer ..... 1796 
 
 Created Baron Wellesley of Great Britain, 20th of 
 
 October . . . . . 1797 
 
 Governor-General of India . . .1 797 
 
 Created Marquess Wellesley, December 2nd . 1799 
 Captain General and Commander-in-Chief in the 
 
 East . . . . . . 1800 
 
 Created Knight of the Crescent . . 1801 
 
 Returned from India 1805
 
 XIX 
 
 Ambassador to the Supreme Central Junta of Spain, 
 
 July 28th. . . . ' 1809 
 
 Returned from Spain, December . . . 1809 
 
 Secretary of State for foreign Affairs, December . 1809 
 
 Knight of the Garter . . . . 1810 
 
 Resigned the Order of St. Patrick . . 1810 
 
 Resigned the Office of Foreign Secretary . 1812 
 
 Death of the first Marchioness of "Wellesley . 1816 
 
 Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, December . 1821 
 
 Second Marriage, October 29th . ; : . 1825 
 
 Resigned the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, March 1828 
 
 Appointed Lord Steward of the Household . 1831 
 
 Resigned . . : > . . 1833 
 
 Second time Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, September 1833 
 
 Resigned the Lord-Lieutenancy, December . 1834 
 
 Appointed Lord-Chamberlain to his Majesty . 1835 
 
 Resigned . '".,-'. . . .. 1835 
 Selections from his Lordship's Indian Dispatches, 
 
 published . . . . '' > 1838 
 Prints for private distribution a volume of Poems, 
 
 Primitiae et Reliquiae . .; ', t ,, 1840 
 East India Company resolve to place a marble 
 
 Statue, in honour of Marquess Wellesley, in 
 
 the India House . . . 1840 
 
 Died September 26th .- . . . 1842
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OP 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Antiquity of the Wellesley Family. MS. Pedigree. De Wel- 
 lesleys of Somersetshire, temp. William I. De Wellesleghe accom- 
 panies Henry II. to Ireland settles there. Contest between Abbot 
 of Glastonbury and Philip De Wellesleigh. English Estates pass 
 to Banastres, &e. Sir W. De Wellesley in Parliament. Edward 
 II. grants Kildare Castle. Edward III. grants Demor. Lord John 
 De Wellesley captures O'Tool. Estates County Meath. Sir 
 W. De Wellesley, Sheriff County Kildare, in Parliament, ap- 
 pointed by Richard II. Governor of Carbery Castle. Pursues the 
 O'Briens. De Wellesleys " Barons of Narragh." Spelman MSS. 
 Dengan Castle (birth-place of Wellington), A.D. 1411. Lord- 
 ships of Mornington, &c. Alliances with Cusackes and Plunkets. 
 Drops the " De," Walter Wellesley, Abbot, studies at Oxford, 
 Master of the Rolls, Bishop. Henry VIII. Cowleys, Wellesleys, 
 and Cusackes intermarry. Pedigree traced to Dermot Macmo- 
 rough, King of Leinster, and to Roderick O'Connor, King of 
 Connaught. Name of Wellesley contracted to Wesley proof, 
 Athense Oxonienses. Methodists. Rev. Charles Wesley. Colleys 
 or Cowleys settle in Ireland. Lord Cowleye, Staffordshire, holds 
 various high offices. Sir H. Cowley in Parliament. Providore of 
 Queen Elizabeth. Sidney, &c. Family History. Richard Colley 
 takes the name &c. of Wesley on the death of Garret Wesley. 
 Created Baron. Son becomes Viscount Wellesley, Earl of Morn- 
 ington, father of Richard, first Marquess, &c. Marries Lord Dun- 
 gannon's Daughter, Doctor of Music, T.C.D., &c. Musical com-
 
 CONTENTS. XX111 
 
 PAGE 
 
 positions. Richard Lord Wellesley at Eton. Musae Etonenses. 
 Oxford Prize Poem. Death of his Father. Becomes Earl of 
 Mornington. Generosity to his Mother. Assumes his Father's 
 Debts. Education of his Brothers. Ages of William, Anne, 
 Arthur, Gerald Valerian, Mary Elizabeth and Henry, on the death 
 of their father . . . . . . .1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Lord Wellesley (Earl of Mornington) enters upon public life, 
 1781. State of Europe and America. The Age of great men 
 Chatham, Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, Burke, Curran, Plunkett, Grattan, 
 Flood, Grey, Erskine. Takes his seat in the Irish House of Lords. 
 Repeal of Poyning's Law. Position of the Parliament of Ire- 
 land. In favour of Catholic Emancipation. Advocates Economy 
 in the Government Expenditure. A Knight of St. Patrick. Lord 
 Bellamont attacks the Order. Earl of Mornington defends it. 
 Advocates the holding a Parliament every Year. Censures the 
 Profusion of Government. Supports a loyal Address to the Crown. 
 Objects to the Position of the Volunteers. Armed Convention 
 in Dublin. Excited state of Public Feeling. Lord Mountmorres's 
 Reply to the Earl of Mornington, ridiculing his theatrical gesture. 
 Speech for the Liberty of the Press. Elected Member in the 
 English Parliament for Beeralston. 1785, Privy Councillor in 
 Ireland. 1786, Lord of the English Treasury. Colleague of Pitt. 
 Speaks on the Rohilla War. Attacks Lord North. Returned 
 for Saltash. Speaks on the Treaty of Commerce with France. 
 Elected Member for Windsor. The King's Indisposition. 
 The Regency Question. Opposes the Pretensions of the Prince 
 of Wales in Ireland. Protests. Defends the Lord Lieutenant. 
 Extraordinary proceedings of the Irish Parliament. Collision 
 with the English Parliament. Remarks on the Regency Question. 
 Historical Retrospect. Great Importance of the Constitutional 
 principle at issue. Recovery of Geo. III. Earl of Mornington 
 re-elected for Windsor . . . . . .22 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Supports Mr. Wilberforce on the Slave Trade. Opposes Mr. 
 Dundas's Resolution for gradual Abolition. Moves an Amendment 
 for its immediate Suppression is defeated. Moves a second 
 Amendment. Denounces the traffic as infamous, bloody, and 
 disgraceful to human nature. The Amendment supported by Mr. 
 Pitt defeated. Clarkson's Labours. Vote of the House of Com- 
 mons against the Slave Trade. Lord Mornington opposes Mr.
 
 XXIV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Grey's motion for Reform in Parliament, both in Spirit and Sub- 
 stance. Examination of his Arguments. Fallacy that Reform was 
 synonymous with American Democracy or French Republicanism. 
 Eulogies on the general Spirit of the British Constitution. Mr. 
 Fox replies ridicules Lord Momington's Positions. Boroughs and 
 great Towns then unrepresented. Saltash, Beeralston, &c. com- 
 pared with them. Changes since effected by Parliament. Mar- 
 quess Wellesley Member of the Reform Government. 1793, sworn 
 a Member of the English Privy Council. Appointed Commiss- 
 ioner for Affairs of India. Devotes his attention to the posture 
 of the British Government and native Powers in India. Con- 
 fidence reposed in him by Mr. Pitt . . . .46 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The War with France. Difficulty of deciding whether War 
 might honourably have been avoided, or not. The right of the 
 French to depose the Power that violated their fundamental Laws 
 and the Principles of Natural Justice. The French originally 
 justified in their Proceedings. Events become complicated, and 
 the question in relation to Great Britain altered. Palliating cir- 
 cumstances of the French Revolution considered. Publications 
 of Burke, Macintosh, and Erskine. Death of Louis XVI. The 
 French Ambassador required to quit the Kingdom. Message from 
 the King to Parliament to augment the Forces. In ten days after- 
 wards the fact of War communicated to both Houses. Opening of 
 Parliament, January 1794. Address to the Crown on the War. 
 Lord Momington's great Speech, reviewing the Revolution, exhi- 
 biting its progress, and tracing the Revolutionary Government step 
 by step, holding up to reprobation all the atrocities, blasphemies, 
 violence, perfidy, and cruelty that were enacted in France ; pointing 
 out the spirit of aggression and wanton violation of the Laws of 
 Nations that animated the French, and urging upon the Parliament, 
 by every consideration that could be supposed to influence English- 
 men, to support the Crown in carrying on with becoming energy 
 this just and necessary War. Effect of the Speech on the House. 
 Mr. Sheridan's brilliant reply to Lord Mornington. Mr. Wynd- 
 ham and Mr. Dundas defend Lord Mornington. Mr. Fox criticises 
 his Lordship's Speech. Mr. Pitt warmly eulogises it. The effects 
 of the French Revolution on the mind of Europe considered . 60 
 
 CHAPTER V: 
 
 Earl of Momington's Marriage. Lady Momington's Parentage. 
 Madame Roland the French Heroine. Allusions to Lady Morn-
 
 CONTENTS. XXV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ington in the Earl's Correspondence while in India. Their Sepa- 
 ration. Her Ladyship's Death. Her Children. Lord Morning- 
 ton's Speech on the Seditious Meetings Bill, 1795. Mr. Sheridan 
 replies. Business of the India Board. Lord Mornington com- 
 poses a Song at the desire of Mr. Pitt for the Dinner given hy the 
 East India Company to Lord Duncan. Camperdown. Copy of 
 Latin Verses descriptive of France, written hy Lord Mornington 
 for Mr. Pitt, published in the Anti-Jacobin. Translated by Lord 
 Morpeth in the same publication . . . . .127 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Sir John Shore resigns the office of Governor-General of India. 
 Is created Lord Teignmouth. Mysterious Proceedings relative to 
 the Appointment of his Successor. Lord Macartney passed over. 
 The Pretensions of Lord Hobart overlooked. Appointment of 
 Marquess Cornwallis announced. The Appointment rescinded. 
 The Earl of Mornington finally appointed. Alleged Intrigues exa- 
 mined. Lord Mornington's Qualifications. Letter of Marquess 
 Cornwallis. Mr. Mill's Assertion that Lord Mornington went out 
 to India unacquainted with its Aifairs His Lordship's Experience 
 at the India Board, his constant Communication with Mr. Dundas, 
 Marquess Cornwallis, &c. Arrives at the Cape. Is received most 
 cordially by Lord Macartney. The Embassy to China. Wars of 
 Hyder Ali. Letter and Latin Verses of Lord Macartney. Lord 
 Mornington meets at the Cape Lord Hobart and General Baird. 
 Conversations with them on the State of India. Meets by ac- 
 cident Major Kirkpatrick, late Resident at the Court of Hyderabad 
 (i. e. of the Nizam, Soubadahr of the Deccan). Institutes an In- 
 quiry into the state of the French Force in the service of the 
 Nizam. Danger to British Interests from the Presence of French 
 Officers and Engineers in the Armies of the Native Princes. 
 Lord Mornington, while at the Cape, addresses Mr. Dundas on 
 the French Forces employed by the Nizam, Tippoo Sultaun, &c., 
 &c. Thorough Knowledge of the Politics of India therein exhi- 
 bited. Observations on Mr. Mill's Reflections on Lord Morning- 
 ton. His Lordship records his Opinion of the great value of the 
 Colony of the Cape of Good Hope to Great Britain. Sails from the 
 Cape . . . . . . .133 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Lord Mornington, accompanied by Mr. Henry Wellesley (Lord 
 Cowley), arrives at Madras Received by General Harris. Letter 
 of King George III., introducing Lord Mornington to the Nabob
 
 XXVI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 of Arcot. Letter of the Prince Regent. Interviews and Nego- 
 tiation with the Nabob. Lord Mornington's Habit of Observation. 
 Estimate which he formed of the various Servants of the Com- 
 pany at the Presidency. Sails from Madras. Arrival at Calcutta. 
 Reflections on that Event. Magnitude of the Empire committed 
 to his Charge. The Career of the East India Company. Beautiful 
 Scenery of Calcutta. Poetical Description of an Evening in Bengal. 
 Sir Alured Clarke received Lord Mornington at Fort William. 
 His Lordship at once enters upon the Duties of his Office . . 159 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Lord Mornington directs his attention to the Affairs of Tanjore. 
 Geographical position of Tanjore. Danish Settlement at Tranque- 
 bar. The celebrated Missionary Schwarz. Misrepresentations of 
 Mr. Mill. Ameer Sing, the reigning Rajah. Serfojee, the Adopted 
 Son of Tuljajee. Unjust Aspersions on the East India Company 
 and the Governor-General, in Hook's Life of Sir David Baird. 
 Colonel Baird at Tanjore in 1796. His Partizanship. Repri- 
 manded by the Governor of Madras in Council. Examination 
 of the Claims of the Rival Princes. Mr. Mill erroneously describes 
 Ameer Sing as the Son of Tuljajee, the previous Rajah of Tanjore. 
 Serfojee the \dopted Son of Tuljajee. Law of Adoption in 
 Eastern Countries. Adoption among the Romans, &c. Rights 
 conferred by Adoption. Serfojee the Pupil of Schwarz. His Edu- 
 cation, Acquirements, Interview with Bishop Heber. Erects a 
 Marble Monument to the memory of Schwarz. Justification of 
 Lord Mornington's Proceedings. The Governor-General receives 
 a copy of Malartic's Proclamation at the Isle of France respecting 
 an Embassy from Tippoo Sultaun. Copy of the Proclamation, and 
 Translation. Lord Mornington's first Impressions respecting it. 
 Letter to General Harris at Madras, relating to the possible assem- 
 bling of the Army. Communication from Mr. Duncan, Governor 
 of Bombay. Dispatches from Lord Macartney and Sir Hugh 
 Christian. Genuineness of the Proclamation. Lord Mornington 
 examines upon oath Persons at the Isle of France when the Em- 
 bassy arrived there. Conclusions arrived at by his Lordship. 
 Dangers which menaced British India at this crisis. Probability of 
 a French Invasion. French Expedition to Bantry Bay. Lord 
 Mornington resolves to prepare for Hostilities. Final orders to 
 General Harris .... .172
 
 CONTENTS. XXVii 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Career of Hyder Ali, father of Tippoo Saib. Wars with the 
 British. Great Qualities. Marches to the Gates of Madras, and 
 dictates Terms of Peace. War with the Mahrattas. British re- 
 fuse to assist him. Invades the Carnatic. Spreads terror through 
 the country. Tippoo Saib commands a Division of Horse. 
 Hyder Ali encounters the British under Colonel Baillie. Utterly 
 destroys Baillie's Forces Cowardice of Sir Hector Munro in de- 
 serting Baillie. British Prisoners saved from Massacre by the 
 interposition of French Officers. Measures of Warren Hastings. 
 Sir Eyre Coote takes the Field. Fortune of the War changed. 
 Hyder Ali and Tippoo Saib defeated. They gain Advantages 
 over the British. A French Fleet arrives off the Coast of Malabar. 
 Cruel Treatment of the English Prisoners in the hands of Hyder. 
 Hypocrisy of Tippoo Saib. Death of Hyder Ali. Tippoo cuts 
 to pieces the British Force under General Mathews. Mathews 
 cruelly poisoned by the Tyrant. Seventeen British Officers poi- 
 soned in Prison. Others die from the Effects of Imprisonment. 
 Fall of Bednore. Siege of Mangalore Peace between Great 
 Britain and France. Termination of the War with Tippoo. 
 Wealth and Resources of Tippoo Sultaun. Tippoo, in defiance of 
 the British, makes War upon Travancore. Marquess Cornwallis 
 takes the Field. Seringapatam invested. Tippoo alarmed. The 
 Capital spared .Gives his Sons as Hostages. Deprived of a large 
 Portion of his Territory. Obliged to pay the Expenses of the War. 
 Continued Enmity to the British. The Political Balance created 
 by Marquess Cornwallis disarranged in 1798. The Allies weaker. 
 Tippoo's Strength recovered Corresponds with the French, &c. 
 His Letter to Sir John Shore, respecting Lord Mornington. 
 Letters to Sir Alured Clarke and Lord Mornington . . 188 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Dismay produced at Madras by Lord Mornington's orders. Mr. 
 Webbe predicts that the Governor-General will be defeated, and 
 impeached on" his return to Europe. General Harris alarmed. 
 Advises Lord Mornington to temporise with Tippoo Sultaun. 
 Memorandum of Mr. Webbe. Weakness of the Madras Govern- 
 ment. Mr. Webbe trembles at the Prospect of an Invasion by 
 Tippoo. Recounts the Disasters, Dangers, Expenses, and Delays 
 of the Wars with Hyder Ali and Tippoo. Lord Mornington's 
 Firmness. Repeats his Orders. Is supported by the Commander- 9 
 in-Chief and the Council of Bengal. Prepares for the Contest.
 
 XXviii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGR 
 
 Negotiations with the Nizam and the Mahrattas. Acomplishes 
 the Destruction of the French Force of the Nizam without shedding 
 blood. The Nizam receives a British subsidiary Force instead of 
 the disbanded French Corps. Effects of this stroke of policy all 
 through British India. Exultation of the Adherents of the British 
 Government. General Craig congratulates Lord Mornington on 
 the Result. Correspondence between Tippoo Sultaun and the 
 Governor-General 201 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Landing of the French Army in Egypt. Designs of the Direc- 
 tory of France on British India. Effect of the Intelligence in India 
 Buonaparte's Projects for the Invasion of British India. Circum- 
 stances favourable to them. Proposes to cross the Euphrates and 
 the Indus. Alexander, Tamerlane, Nadir Shah. Friendly Dispo- 
 sition of Persia. Zemaun Shah prepared to cooperate with Tippoo 
 Sultaun and Buonaparte. Buonaparte's Letters to the Sheriffe of 
 Mecca and Tippoo Sultaun. Bourrienne's Account of Buonaparte's 
 Plans. Conversations in St. Helena. Battle of the Nile and Defeat 
 of Acre. Buonaparte's Proposals to the Emperor Paul. The 
 Marches of Generals Lord Keane, Nott, Sale, and Pollock through 
 Affghanistan. Boland and Kyber Passes. Tippoo's Correspon- 
 dence with Zemaun Shah. Account of Zemaun Shah. His Power 
 and Hostility to the British. Remarks of Lord Mornington and 
 General Sir J. H. Craig, respecting Zemaun Shah. Effects of the 
 Victory of the Nile. Lord Mornington's Plans for annoying the , 
 French in Egypt. Letter to Lord Nelson. Precautions in Scinde 
 against Zemaun Shah. Memorandum relating to Scinde . . 224 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Lord Mornington leaves Fort William for Madras. Received by 
 Lord Clive, the new Governor. Change in the Sentiments of the 
 Madras Government respecting the Governor-General's Plans. 
 Intelligence that Zemaun Shah had advanced to Lahore. Sir Alured 
 Clarke detained at Calcutta in consequence. Army of Observation 
 under General Sir J. H. Craig on the Frontiers of Oude. Tippoo 
 Sultaun's Delays to reply to the Governor-General's Expostulation. 
 Letter from his Highness to Lord Mornington. Tippoo's Ac- 
 count of the Embassy to the Mauritius. He evades Lord Morning- 
 ton's Propositions. The Governor-General replies, and points out 
 the dangerous Consequences of Delay. Further Correspondence. 
 Lord Mornington receives Intelligence of a fresh Embassy from 
 Tippoo to the French, embarked at Tranquebar. Orders the
 
 CONTENTS. XXIX 
 
 PACK 
 
 Army to advance in Mysore. Military Arrangements. Letter 
 from Tippoo, saying that he was going on a Hunting Expedition. 
 Declaration of the Governor-General in the Name of the British 
 Government and the Allies. Various Private Letters written -by 
 Sir Alured Clarke, from Fort William, to Lord Mornington at 
 Madras, during the Progress of the Military Operations . . 243 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Lord Mornington writes to Sir Alured Clarke at Calcutta. 
 Conspiracy of Shums-oo-Doulah. The Mainspring of Government 
 only to be touched by the Principal Mover. Apprehensions of an 
 Attack on Calcutta. Buonaparte in Egypt. The Nabokof Bengal. 
 General Stewart's Operations against Vizier Ali. Success in 
 Mysore. Anxiety at Cooke's Illness. The Calcutta Newspapers. 
 Lord Mornington strongly censures their Conduct. Declares his 
 intention of adopting Harsh Measures towards the Editors. Orders, 
 in the case of the refractory, that their Papers should be suppressed 
 by force, and their Persons sent to Europe. The Discoveries in 
 Bengal Success of the Army against Tippoo. Disposition of the 
 Forces. Vizier Ali. Oude. The Indian Press. The Mirror, 
 the Telegraph, and the Post. Reprobates their Conduct. Orders 
 Mr. Bruce to be embarked for Europe. New Regulations for the 
 Newspapers. Penalty of any Infraction of them. Establishes a 
 Censorship. Remarks on these Proceedings. Their arbitrary Cha- 
 racter condemned. Lord Wellesley's Authority cited by Sir J. 
 Malcolm, in 1822, in favour of a Censorship on the Press. Evi- 
 dence of Thomas Love Peacock, Esq., 1834. Suppressed Passage 
 in the Report of Major Kirkpatrick. Reference to these Proceed- 
 ings omitted in the published Dispatches of Lord Wellesley. 
 Inferences from these Facts ..... 275 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Tippoo Sultaun, instead of proceeding on a Hunting Expedition, 
 commences a March to attack General Stuart at Seedapore, five 
 days before the British entered Mysore. Defeated in his Attack 
 on General Stuart's Force. Retreats. Re-crosses Mysore, and 
 falls upon the Divisions of Colonel Wellesley and General Floyd at 
 Mallavelly. Tippoo suffers a severe Defeat. Retreats to Seringa- 
 patam. General Harris advances. Operations of the Army before 
 Serihgapatam. Tippoo Sultaun's Letter to General Harris. The 
 General's Reply. Operations continued. Second Letter from Tip- 
 poo. General Harris transmits the Terms of the only Peace that 
 would be granted. -Tippoo declines to accept them. Writes again.
 
 XXX CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preparations for storming Seringapatara. Tippoo's Fortitude and 
 Valour. General Baird leads the Assault. Capture of the For- 
 tress and City. Death of Tippoo Sultaun. Forbearance of the 
 British Troops. The Sultaun's Family and Zenana respected. 
 Consequences of the Fall of Seringapatam. Letter of General 
 Harris in a Sealed Quill to Lord Mornington. Letter of Major 
 Beatson to his Lordship ...... 292 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Anecdote of the Uma, or Bird of Prosperous Empire. Builds 
 its Nest in the Avenue of Banyan Trees in the Garden of Lord 
 Mornington's Residence at Madras. Superstitious Inference of the 
 Natives. Description of the Uma. Figure of the Uma of Gold 
 and Pearl, taken from Tippoo Sultaun's Throne, at Windsor Castle. 
 Other Trophies there. General Baird superseded in Seringapa- 
 tam by Colonel Wellesley. Lord Wellesley accused of having, on 
 this occasion, unfairly pushed forward his Brother. Observations 
 of Alison and Hook. The Question examined. Letters of General 
 Harris, Lord Wellesley, General Baird, and Lord Clive. . . 304 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Division of Mysore. Political Arrangements. Importance of 
 the Conquered Territory to Great Britain. The News received 
 in England with universal Satisfaction and Delight. The Thanks 
 of both Houses of Parliament and of the East India Company voted 
 to Lord Mornington, Lord Clive, and Mr. Duncan, and to General 
 Harris, &c., and the Army. Buonaparte quits Egypt. Series of 
 Private Letters, written from Fort William by Sir Alured Clarke 
 to Lord Mornington at Madras. Letters of Lord Mornington to 
 Sir Alured Clarke and Hon. F. North (afterwards Earl of Guilford). 
 Note respecting Mr. North . . . . .318 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The State Sword of Tippoo Sultaun presented to General Baird. 
 The Army forward for Presentation to Lord Mornington a Star 
 and Badge of the Order of St. Patrick, composed of Tippoo's 
 Jewels. Lord Mornington declines to accept them. Private Letter 
 of Hon. Henry Wellesley (Lord Cowley) to Mr. Canning, respect- 
 ing these Jewels. They are presented to Lord Wellesley by the 
 East India Company. Lord Wellesley declines to accept One 
 Hundred Thousand Pounds from the Booty offered to him by his 
 Majesty's Government and the Court of Directors. Division of 
 the Spoil of Seringapatam. Unfair Distribution. Conduct of
 
 CONTENTS. XXXI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 General, afterwards Lord Harris, open to Censure. Letter of 
 Lord Castlereagh to Lord Wellesley. Statement of the East India 
 Company as to the Over-Payment. Written Opinion of the Attor- 
 ney-General (Mr. Spencer Perceval), the Solicitor-General (Sir T. 
 Manners Sutton), and Mr. Wm. Adam, on this Question. Opinion 
 of the King's Advocate (J. Nicholl). Memorandum on the Amount 
 of Booty in Seringapatam. Memorandum on the French Corps 
 in the Deccan ....... 335 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Public Profession of Attachment to the Christian Faith by the 
 Government of India. Suppression of Sunday Newspapers in 
 India. Important Influence of the Institution of the Sabbath in 
 Heathen Countries. Observations on the State of Religion in Bri- 
 tish India Lord Wellesley ordains a Day for a Public Thanks- 
 giving. Account of the Solemnities observed on the Occasion. 
 Sermon of the Rev. Claudius Buchanan, &c. . . . 351 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Commission of Captain-General conferred for the first time on 
 the Governor-General. Copy of the Writ of Privy Seal. General 
 Orders in the Calcutta Gazette. The Porte confers the Orders of 
 the Crescent on the Marquess Wellesley. Copy of the Letter 
 from the Grand Seignior. Congratulations in Letters from England 
 from the Duchess of Gordon, Lord Dunstanville, Marquess Down- 
 shire, Earl of Westmeath, Earl of Inchiquin, Lord Howden, Right 
 Hon. N. Vansittart, Sir John Newport, &c. Letters of Sir Alured 
 Clarke from St. Helena and from London .... 357 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Treaties negotiated by the Marquess Wellesley with various 
 Native States. Treaties of Hyderabad. Jealousy of the Mahrattas. 
 Closer Alliance between the Nizam and the English. Surat. 
 Historical Sketch. Death of the Nawab. Negotiations with his 
 Successor. Governor Duncan proceeds from Bombay to Surat. 
 Treaty concluded. The Rajah of Nepaul seeks Refuge at Benares. 
 Negotiations and Treaty with his Highness. Negotiations with 
 the Court of Ava. Marquess Wellesley's Measures. Flight of 
 several Thousands of Agriculturists from the Burmese Territory. 
 They take Refuge in the British Dominions. Invasions of the 
 Burmese. Negotiations. Peace firmly reestablished. Letter from 
 Col. Symes. Dr. F. Buchanan's Mission to Mysore. Growth of 
 Cotton iu India . 369
 
 XXX11 CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Free Trade. Observations on the General Question. Lord 
 Wellesley's Measures respecting the Trade of India. Hostility 
 excited against him. Soundness of his View. Adam Smith's 
 Theories. The Controversies ended in 1832. Statement of the 
 Question of the Private Trade of India, by Mr. Udny, in a Minute 
 to Marquess Wellesley. His Lordship's Anxiety on the Subject. 
 Letter to Lord Castlereagh respecting Mr. Udny and the Question 
 of Private Trade . 393 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 /, 1. Translation of the Latin verses written by Lord Wellesley at 
 
 Walmer Castle, by Lord Morpeth . . . 409 
 
 2. The Army at Seringapatam under the command of General 
 
 Harris . . . . . . .411 
 
 3. Extract of a letter from Capt. Macauley to Lieut.-Colonel 
 
 Kirkpatrick ...... 414 
 
 Extracts from Tippoo Sultaun's Secret Correspondence . 414 
 
 4. Correspondence between Major-Gen. Baird and General Harris 
 
 respecting Colonel Wellesley's appointment . . 425
 
 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Antiquity of the Wellesley Family. MS. Pedigree. De Wellesleys 
 of Somersetshire, temp. William I. De Wellesleghe accompanys 
 Henry II. to Ireland settles there. Contest between Abbot of Glas- 
 tonbury and Philip De Wellesleigh. English Estates pass to Banastres, 
 &c. Sir W. De Wellesley in Parliament. Edward II. grants Kildare 
 Castle. Edward I II. grants Demor. Lord John De Wellesley captures 
 O'Tool. Estates County Meath. Sir W. De Wellesley, Sheriff 
 County Kildare, in Parliament, appointed by Richard II. Governor of 
 Carbery Castle Pursues the O'Briens. De Wellesleys " Barons of 
 Norragh." Spelman MSS. Dengan Castle (birth-place of Welling- 
 ton), AD. 1411. Lordships of Mornington, &c. Alliances with 
 Cusackes and Plunkets. Drops the " De." Walter Wellesley, Abbot, 
 studies at Oxford, Master of the Rolls, Bishop. Henry VIII. Cow- 
 leys, Wellesleys, and Cusakes intermarry. Pedigree traced to Der- 
 mot Macmorough, King of Leinster, and to Roderick O'Connor, King 
 of Connaught. Name of Wellesley contracted to Wesley proof, 
 Athense Oxonienses. Methodists. Rev. Charles Wesley. Colleys or 
 Cowleys settle in Ireland. Lord Cowleye, Staffordshire, holds various 
 high offices. Sir H. Cowley in Parliament. Providore of Queen Eliza- 
 beth. Sidney, &c. Family History. Richard Colley takes the 
 name, &c. of Wesley on the death of Garret Wesley. Created Baron. 
 Son becomes Viscount Wellesley, Earl of Mornington, father of 
 Richard, first Marquess, &c. Marries Lord Dungannon's Daughter. 
 Doctor of Music, T.C.D., &c. Musical Compositions. Richard Lord 
 VOL. I. B
 
 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Wellesley at Eton. Musae Etonenses. Oxford Prize Poem. 
 Death of his Father. Becomes Earl of Mornington. Generosity to his 
 Mother. Assumes his Father's Debts. Education of his Brothers. 
 Ages of William, Anne, Arthur, Gerald Valerian, Mary Elizabeth, 
 and Henry, on the death of their father. 
 
 THE Wellesleys are descended from an Anglo-Irish 
 family of great antiquity. In a manuscript pedigree 
 among the papers of the late Marquess Wellesley, 
 which appears to be an authenticated copy from Irish 
 genealogies in MS. in the library of Trinity College, 
 Dublin, the Wellesley family is traced as high as the 
 year A.D. 1239, to Michael De Wellesleigh, the father 
 of Wallerand De Wellesleigh, who was killed, together 
 with Sir Robert De Percival, (one of the Egmont 
 family,) on the 22d of October, 1303. It is stated by 
 Playfair, that the family is of Saxon origin ; deriving 
 its name from the manor of Wellesley, anciently 
 Welles-leigh, in the county of Somerset, which was 
 held under the Bishops of Bath and Wells, and to 
 which the family removed from Sussex soon after the 
 Norman invasion. In the reign of Henry I. a grant of 
 the grand serjeanty of all the country east of the river 
 Ferret, as far as Bristol Bridge, including the manor 
 of Wellesleigh in the hundred of Wells, was made 
 to one Avenant De Wellesleghe, whose descendant, 
 according to some authorities, upon the embarkation 
 of King Henry II. for Ireland, accompanied that 
 Monarch in the capacity of standard-bearer. The 
 manuscript pedigree, to which reference has been made, 
 is silent on this point ; the statement apparently rest- 
 ing on a tradition in the family that a standard, pre- 
 served down to a late period in the mansion-house of
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 
 
 the family in Ireland, had been borne by one of its 
 ancestors before Henry II. A banner of St. George 
 appears in the crest of the family, which was proba- 
 bly worn in consequence of the royal grant of the 
 grand serjeanty mentioned ; tenants under that te- 
 nure having had the honour of carrying the King's 
 sword or banner before him. In England the line 
 was continued for seven generations from Avenant De 
 Wellesleghe. In the sixth year of Edward III. we find 
 Philip De Wellesleigh contesting with the powerful 
 Abbot of Glastonbury the claim which that church- 
 man had set up of exemption from the jurisdiction of 
 the grand serjeanty, till then enjoyed by his family. 
 He produced the original grant of Henry L. and the 
 confirmations of his privileges by succeeding kings, 
 and proved his descent from Avenant ; thereby defeat- 
 ing the pretensions of the Abbot. Philip had no male 
 issue, and his estates passed, by his daughter Elizabeth, 
 into the family of Banastre, and from thence into other 
 families. The English line of the De Wellesleighs 
 thus became extinct. 
 
 We now turn to the Irish branch of this ancient 
 house. William, the son of Wallerand De Wellesleigh, 
 is described in the pedigree as Sir William De Welles- 
 ley (the family name now for the first time being 
 written as it is at present). In the year 1339 Sir 
 William was summoned to Parliament as a Baron of 
 the realm, and had a grant by patent from Edward II. 
 of the custody of his castle at Kildare, previously to 
 the possession of it by the Fitzgerald family ; to hold 
 the same for life, with a fee of twenty pounds a year. 
 Being afterwards obliged to yield up the fortress to 
 
 B 2
 
 4 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the Earl of Kildare, he received from Edward III. a 
 grant of the custody of the manor of Demor in 1342. 
 By his wife Elizabeth he had a son, Sir John De Wel- 
 lesley, Knight, who was also summoned to Parliament, 
 and acted a conspicuous part in the events of his time. 
 Cox the historian, recorder of Kingsale, in his Hiber- 
 nia Anglicana mentions, that in the year A.D. 1327, 
 when Roger Outlaw, Prior of Kilmainham, the Lord 
 Chancellor, was made Lord Justice of Ireland, David 
 O'Tool, " a strong thief," who had been taken pri- 
 soner the Lent before by Lord John [De] Wettesley, 
 was executed at Dublin. This O'Toole was one of the 
 most active of the insurgent Irish chieftains. Sir 
 John De Wellesley was appointed in 1334 a commis- 
 sioner with extensive powers, to preserve the peace in 
 Ireland ; and a grant and free gift passed to him that 
 year for services done against the O'Tooles, or O'To- 
 thells, and for keeping the castle of Dunlavin, and 
 driving out the O'Tothells ; also a grant was made, 
 December 2nd, to his father, Sir William, for services 
 rendered by him in Munster, and as compensation for 
 damages sustained by him in that province. Upon 
 the arrival of Sir Ralph De Ufford in Ireland, and the 
 attainder of Thomas Fitzmaurice, Earl of Desmond, in 
 1343, he became security, jointly with the Earls of 
 Ulster and Ormond, seventeen knights, and sundry 
 gentlemen of note, for the appearance of Desmond, 
 upon whose flight the bond was sued out against them. 
 One of his brothers appears to have been Vicar of 
 Kildare, 1377-8. Sir John De Wellesley, by his 
 first marriage, obtained considerable estates in the 
 county of Kildare, and had one son, William. He
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 5 
 
 married again on the decease of his first wife, and 
 acquired a large landed property by his second mar- 
 riage. His son, who was under age at the time of his 
 father's death, is described in the manuscript pedigree 
 as Sir William De Wellesley of Paynestown, county 
 of Meath, in which county the family have been set- 
 tled from the year 1363 to the present generation. 
 He was summoned to Parliament as a Baron of the 
 Realm in 1374. In 1378 he served the office of 
 Sheriff for the county of Kildare ; and in 1381 re- 
 ceived a commission from Richard II., appointing him 
 keeper and governor of the castle, lands, and lord- 
 ship of Carbery, and the lands and lordships of To- 
 temoy and Kernegedagh for one year. In 1393 a 
 writ was issued for granting him a reward for his 
 labour and services performed against the O'Briens. 
 His son, Sir Richard De Wellesley, served the same 
 office of Sheriff of Kildare in 1418. Play fair men- 
 tions that at this period the family of Wellesley bore 
 the title of "Barons of Norragh," and also distinct 
 arms, sometimes quarterly with their paternal coat, 
 and sometimes singly ; and by an old MS. list of 
 Peers of Ireland, it appears that one of this family was 
 summoned to the Parliament called by Richard II. 
 when in Ireland in 1399, the last year of his 
 reign. Various records show that they had much 
 property in the town of Norragh, the parish of Nor- 
 raghmore, and the barony of Norragh and Rheban, in 
 the county of Kildare ; but whether their barony had 
 been derived from the chief lord of the palatinate of 
 Meath, and not from the Crown, or whatever was the 
 reason, the right of sitting in Parliament as Barons
 
 6 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 does not appear to have been exercised by their pos- 
 terity ; but they have since had a mere honorary ap- 
 pellation of Baron, Baronet, or Banneret of Norragh. 
 Sir Henry Spelman, in his learned work " Glossarium," 
 expressly refers to the Wellesley family and the Bar- 
 rony of Norragh : 
 
 " Coujecturam auxit obiter quidam memorans, esse 
 in Hibernia nonnullos quorum majoribus semel ali- 
 quando ad Parlimentum Regni illius vocatis, hseredes 
 nomen Baronettorum retinuerunt. Qua fide nititur, 
 non mihi constat : sed plures esse in Hibernia Baronet- 
 tos certum est, hsereditarie hoc insignes titulo, ab an- 
 tiquo. Scilicet (praster Nicholaum de S. Michale, 
 Baronet de Rheban cujus meminit Camdenus in sua 
 Hibernia) : 
 
 Sentleger, (quaere 
 
 St. Leger "?) Baronet de Flemarg. 
 
 Den, Baronet de Portsmanstown. 
 
 Fitz Girald, Baronet de Burnechurch. 
 
 Welleslie, Baronet de Norragh. 
 
 Huseie, Baronet de Galtrim. 
 
 S. Mighell, Baronet de Scrine, 
 
 Nangle, Baronet de Navan."* 
 
 Dengan Castle (the birthplace of the illustrious hero 
 of Waterloo) came into the possession of the Wellesley 
 family in the year 1411. Sir Richard De Wellesley 
 is described as the first " Lord of Dengan," in right of 
 his wife Joan, eldest daughter and heiress of Sir Ni- 
 cholas de Castlemarten, by whom the castle of Den- 
 gan, (sometimes written Dangan,) together with the 
 lordships of Dengan, Mornington, Croskyle, Clonebreny, 
 
 * Glossarium, p. 73.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 7 
 
 Kilinessan, Belver, &c., accrued to the family. The 
 fruit of this marriage was a son, Christopher of Den- 
 gan, father to Sir William De Wellesley also of Den- 
 gan, who married Ismay, daughter of Sir Thomas 
 Plunket, Lord of Rathmore, and granddaughter of Sir 
 Lucas Cusake, of Gerardstown ; by whom the Plun- 
 kets obtained the lordships of Killeen and Dunsany, 
 which afterwards became principal seats and titles in 
 their family. 
 
 About the year 1485 we find the prefix of 
 "De " dispensed with ; the name being from hence- 
 forward written simply Wellesley, as at present. The 
 issue of Sir William Wellesley and Ismay Plunket 
 were, first, Gerald his heir, called Lord of Dengan in a 
 special livery of his estate granted in 1539 : Gerald 
 married Margaret, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz- 
 gerald, (second son of Thomas, seventh Earl of Kil- 
 dare,) of Laccagh, Knight, Lord Chancellor of Ireland 
 in 1484, by Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Viscount 
 Gormanstown, Lord Deputy in 1484 : their, second 
 son was Walter Wellesley, Prior of the Canons of the 
 mitred Abbey of Kildare. He is mentioned in Hol- 
 inshed's Chronicles'* among the learned men of his 
 day, and is styled by him " Deane of Kildare " he 
 was employed in procuring the release of Richard Nu- 
 gent Baron Delvin, the Lord Deputy, who was detained 
 a prisoner in the hands of O'Connor. The learned 
 priest was some time Master of the Rolls ; and in the 
 year 1531, on the nomination of King Henry VIII., 
 
 * Vide seventh chapter of the Description of Ireland. Holinshed 
 adds " there is another learned man of the name, who is Archdeacon of 
 St. Patricke's."
 
 8 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 was appointed Bishop of Kildare by Pope Clement VII. 
 It is noted in the manuscript, that he was " restored 
 to the temporals 23rd September in the same year." 
 He retained his priory by dispensation during his life ; 
 and on his death, in 1539, was buried in his convent. 
 In the year in which the Bishop died an act was 
 passed in a Parliament held in Dublin by the Lord 
 Deputy, authorizing the King, his heirs, and successors, 
 to be the supreme head of the church of Ireland, and 
 denying the authority of the see of Rome. The third 
 child of Sir William Wellesley and Ismay Plunket 
 was a daughter Aleson, who ^ was married to John 
 Cusake, of Cushington, county of Meath, the fourth in 
 descent from Sir John Cusake, Knight, and Joan Ge- 
 neville, (to whom we shall have occasion to refer 
 again,) and by him had issue Sir Thomas Cusake of 
 Lismullen in that county, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 
 and one of the Lords Justices, in 1552 ; whose daugh- 
 ter Catherine, being the eldest of seven, married Sir 
 Henry Cmvley, or, as it is sometimes spelt, Colley or 
 Coullie, of Castle Carbery and Edenderry, Knight. By 
 this marriage commenced the alliance, which we shall 
 find was afterwards renewed by many intermarriages 
 between the families of COWLEY, WELLESLEY, and CU- 
 SAKE ; of which three families the illustrious subject 
 of these Memoirs was the common descendant. 
 
 The Cusakes derived their lineage, by heirs female, 
 through the distinguished families of De Lacy, Gene- 
 ville, Marshall, and Strongbow, from Dermot Macmo- 
 rough, King of Leinster * ; his daughter and heiress 
 Eva having married Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pem- 
 
 * MS. Pedigree.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 9 
 
 broke, whose daughter and heiress Isabella married 
 William Marshall, who became in her right Earl of 
 Pembroke. Their eldest daughter and co-heiress mar- 
 ried Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk : the third son of 
 this marriage, Ralph de Bigot, by Berta Furnival his 
 wife, had a daughter Isabella, who, being his heiress, 
 married to Gilbert De Lacy (grandson of Hugo De 
 Lacy, the conqueror of Meath and Lord Justice of Ire- 
 land A.D. 1177, whose second wife * was the daughter 
 of Roderick O'Connor, 56th King of Connaught, and 
 183rd and last Monarch of Ireland). The daughter 
 and co-heiress of Gibert De Lacy, Maud, married Geof- 
 fery de Geneville, Lord Justice of Ireland ; whose 
 great-granddaughter and heiress, Joan Geneville, by 
 marriage with Sir John Cusake, conveyed to their 
 posterity this lineage, and the right of quartering the 
 arms of all these families, and also those of Grant- 
 menil, Clare, and Gifibrd, through the families of Bigot 
 and Strongbow : a right afterwards transferred to the 
 family of Wellesley by the marriage of an heiress of 
 the house of Cusake. The whole of this descent was 
 conveyed to the family of Cowley by Catherine Cusake, 
 wife of Sir Henry Cowley mentioned above, f 
 
 From this statement it will appear that the Mar- 
 quess Wellesley, and the Duke of Wellington, were 
 descended from, or allied to, two of the ancient Irish 
 Kings ! 
 
 The name of Wellesley we find was frequently writ- 
 ten Wesley. Garret, who died at Dengan Castle 1683, 
 
 * This circumstance is recorded in the MS. Pedigree of the Wellesley 
 family, more than once mentioned. 
 
 f Playfair, with MS. annotations by Lord Wellesley.
 
 10 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 William his son, and Garret, who devised all his 
 estates in 1745 to his cousin Richard Colley, Esq., 
 (the paternal ancestor of the late Marquess Welles- 
 ley), wrote their names Wesley. Anthony Wood, in 
 the Athence Oxonienses, in giving an account of Wal- 
 ter Wellesley, the prior of Kildare A.D. 1539, already 
 mentioned, describes him as " Walter Wellesley, com- 
 monly called Wesley ;" adding, "that he was bred up 
 a canon regular of the order of St. Augustine, and 
 among them in Oxford was educated for a time/' It 
 has been surmised that the family of the founder of 
 Wesleyan Methodism originally came from Saxony, 
 and that they were of the same stock as John Wesselus, 
 the famous reformer ; but it seems more probable that 
 Wesley was a mere abbreviation of the old Anglo- 
 Saxon name of Wellesleigh ( Wells, the city, and lea, a 
 field). There is a curious anecdote preserved in the 
 Wesley family, and mentioned by Southey in his Life 
 of Wesley, concerning the connection between the 
 families of Wellesley and Wesley : " While Charles 
 Wesley was at Westminster under his brother, a gen- 
 tleman of large fortune in Ireland, and of the same 
 family name, wrote to the father, and inquired of him 
 if he had a son named Charles ; for if so, he would 
 make him his heir. Accordingly his school bills, dur- 
 ing several years were discharged by his unseen name- 
 sake. At length a gentleman, who is supposed to 
 have been this Mr. Wesley, called upon him, and 
 after much conversation asked him if he was willing 
 to accompany him to Ireland : the youth desired to 
 write to his father before he could make answer : the 
 father left it to his own decision ; and he, who was
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 11 
 
 satisfied with the fair prospects which Christ Church 
 opened to him, chose to stay in England. John Wes- 
 ley, in his account of his brother, calls this a fair 
 escape : the fact is more remarkable than he was 
 aware of, for the person who inherited the property 
 intended for Charles Wesley, and who took the name 
 of Wellesley in consequence, was the first Earl of 
 Mornington, grandfather of Marquess Wellesley and the 
 Duke of Wellington. Had Charles made a different 
 choice, there might have been no Methodists, the Bri- 
 tish empire in India might still have been menaced 
 from Seringapatam, and the undisputed tyrant of 
 Europe might at this time have insulted and endan- 
 gered us on our own shores." 
 
 So much for the maternal family line of this " an- 
 cient house of fame : " we now turn to the family of 
 Colley, or Cowley, which in 1745 assumed the name of 
 Wellesley, or Wesley. 
 
 The Cowleys, we are assured by Playfair, are de- 
 scended from a family of that name seated at Cowley, 
 in the county of Stafford, one of whom, Robert, Lord 
 of Couleye, was Seneschal in the reign of King Edward 
 II. Two brothers of this family, Robert and Walter 
 Cowley, settled in Ireland in the reign of Henry YIIL, 
 and held successively various public employments in 
 that kingdom. In the twenty-second year of that 
 reign a patent passed the great seal, granting to them 
 jointly, during their respective lives, the office of Clerk 
 of the Crown in Chancery. Robert, after having filled 
 various offices, became Master of the Rolls in Ireland. 
 He was appointed in 1540 a commissioner for letting 
 the lands of the dissolved abbeys, and one of the keep-
 
 12 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 ers of the peace within the county of Meath, with 
 power to enforce the statutes of Dublin and Kilkenny. 
 He is mentioned by Hooker as one of the four prin- 
 cipal enemies of the house of Kildare. " This gentle- 
 man, Robert Cowley," adds he, "for his wisdom and 
 policy was well esteemed of the lady Margaret, Coun- 
 tesse of Ossorie, as one by whose advice she was in all 
 her affairs directed." His brother Walter was ap- 
 pointed Solicitor-General of Ireland in 1537, with a 
 fee of ten pounds a year, and was afterwards Surveyor- 
 General of the kingdom. 
 
 Sir Henry Cowley, or Colley, of Castle Carbery, was 
 a member of the Privy Council in the reign of Eliza- 
 beth ; and in the Parliament held in Dublin A. D. 
 1557, he represented Thomastown in the county of 
 Kilkenny. The following letter, appointing him Pro- 
 vidore of the Queen's troops, is a curious document. 
 The Duke of "Wellington's ancestors, it appears, were 
 not ignorant of the science of feeding an army : 
 
 "THOMAS SUSSEX, 
 
 "To all Mayors, Shirifs, Bailives, Constables, Con- 
 trollers, and all others the Queene's Majesty's Officers, 
 Minysters, and lovinge Subjectes, and to every one of 
 them greeting. Wee lette youe witte that wee have 
 auctorised and appoynted, and by these presentes doth 
 auctorise and appoynt, our well-beloved Henry Colley, 
 Esquyer, or the bearer hereof in his name, to provyde 
 and take up in all places, to and for the furniture of 
 her Majesty's armie resydent within the realme of 
 Irelande, as well within the liberties as withoute, 
 within the said realme, salte, wyne, wodd, tymber,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 13 
 
 lyme, brick, and cole for the furnyture of the said 
 armie ; and alsoo shipps, boats, lighters, gables, an- 
 chors, horsses, carriages, and all other provysion, for 
 the conveniaunce of the same, as well by sea as by 
 lande : and also bakers, breawers, coopers, millers, 
 maryners, labourers, and all artificers and ministers 
 as by hym shall be thought meete and convenient, 
 from tyme to tyme for the service aforesaid : and also 
 bake-houses, brew-houses, garnells, and sellers for the 
 stowage of the same, as by him shall be thought good ; 
 he paying for the same at reasonable prices as hathe 
 bene accustomed. Wherefor we will and commaunde 
 youe and every one of youe, &c. Yeven at Kilmay- 
 nam, the 25 of June the yere aforesaid (1561). 
 Willm. Fitz Williams, Henry Radcliff, Francis Agarde, 
 John Parker, Jaques Wyngefelde." * 
 
 He received the honour of knighthood from the 
 Lord Deputy Sydney, who recommended him to his 
 successor Lord Gray in the following terms : "My 
 good lord, I had almost forgotten, by reason of the 
 diversity of other matter, to recommend unto you, 
 amongst other of my friends, Sir Henry Cowley, Knight 
 of my own making ; who, whilst he was young and 
 the vigour and strength of his body served, was va- 
 liant, fortunate, and a good servant ; and having by 
 my appointment the charge of the King's county, kept 
 the county well ordered and in good obedience. He 
 is as good a borderer as ever I found any there. I 
 left him at my coming thence a counsellor, and found 
 him for his experience and judgment very sufficient for 
 
 * Rot. de anno 30 Eliz.
 
 14 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the room he was called unto. He was a sound and 
 fast friend to me, and so I doubt not but your lordship 
 shall find when you have occasion to try him." It 
 appears from Nicholas Malby's account of the govern- 
 ment of Ireland, drawn up and sent to Queen Eliza- 
 beth in 1579, wherein were distinguished all the men 
 of power in the King's County, that Sir Henry Cow- 
 ley was a man of name and power : " he is an English 
 gentleman, Seneschal of the county, who governed 
 very honestly, but now is sore oppressed by the rebels 
 the Connors." His wife was Catherine Cusake, by 
 whom he had issue three sons. 
 
 It would be tedious to trace the genealogy step by 
 step : it will be sufficient, for the purpose of indicating 
 the family history of the Marquess Wellesley to no- 
 tice that Henry Colley, Esq., of Castle Carbery, who 
 died in 1700, was succeeded by his second son 
 Richard Colley, Esq., who came into possession of the 
 Wellesley estates, and was elevated to the peerage in 
 Ireland, by the title of Baron Mornington. In 1728 
 Garret Wesley, as has been already mentioned, devised 
 all his estates to this Richard Colley, who was his 
 cousin once removed, and was descended from the 
 same stock of the families of Wellesley and Cusake, 
 on the condition that he and his heirs should assume 
 the surname and use the coat of arms of Wesley. 
 "After the death of his cousin, Richard Colley, Esq. 
 made a solemn declaration to the following effect : 
 * Whereas Garret Wesley, late of Dangan in the county 
 of Meath, deceased, on March 13th, 1727 made his 
 will, and died September 23rd last ; and by his said 
 will devised all his real estate to Richard Colley,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 15 
 
 Esq., of Dublin, for life, remainder to his issue male 
 with remainder over, provided that he and his sons, 
 and the heirs male of his body, assumed and took 
 upon them the surname and coat of arms of Wesley ; ' 
 whereupon the said Richard Colley, alias Wesley, tes- 
 tified and declared that immediately after the death 
 of the said Garret Wesley he did assume the surname 
 and coat of arms of Wesley, according to the said pro- 
 viso of the said will. Dated November 15th, 1728." * 
 It is not clearly known at what precise time this 
 distinguished family adopted the ancient patronymic of 
 Wellesley for the abbreviated name of Wesley. It is 
 certain that when the Duke of Wellington went out 
 to India, he was called the Hon. Arthur Wesley. On 
 his arrival he presented to Sir John Shore, afterwards 
 Lord Teignmouth, who preceded the Earl of Morning- 
 ton as Governor-General of India, the following note 
 from Lord Cornwallis : 
 
 " Dear Sir, I beg leave to introduce to you Colonel 
 Wesley, who is Lieutenant-Colonel of my regiment ; 
 he is a sensible man and a good officer, and will, I 
 have no doubt, conduct himself in a manner to merit 
 your approbation. 
 
 " I am, &c., CORNWALLIS." 
 
 In the Journals of the Irish House of Commons 
 the name is invariably spelt WESLEY. In 1790, 
 among the list of Members is the Hon. William Wes- 
 ley [Pole], for the borough of Trim ; in 1793 we find 
 his renowned brother sitting for the same borough as 
 the Hon. Arthur Wesley. Lord Mornington is also 
 described in the Irish Parliamentary Register as Richard 
 
 * Rot. pat. de anno 2 Geo. II.
 
 1C LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Wesley, Earl of Mornington. In all the official papers 
 of the Marquess Wellesley written during his adminis- 
 tration in India, his brothers are invariably styled 
 Wellesley. 
 
 Richard Colley Wesley having succeeded to the es- 
 tates of his cousin, was in 1746 created by his Majesty 
 a Peer by Privy Seal. He married Elizabeth, the eldest 
 daughter of John Sale, LL. D., Registrar of the diocese 
 of Dublin ; and was succeeded by his son Garret, who 
 in 1735 was advanced to the dignities of Viscount 
 Wellesley of Dengan Castle, and Earl of Mornington, 
 county of Meath. This was the father of the Marquess 
 Wellesley and the Duke of Wellington. He was a 
 Privy Councillor in Ireland, and Custos Rotulorum of 
 the county of Meath. His Lordship married Anne, 
 eldest daughter of Arthur Hill Trevor, first Viscount 
 Dungannon, and had issue by his lady six sons and 
 two daughters. 
 
 The Earl of Mornington was much distinguished for 
 his musical compositions. He was considered, in his 
 day, an eminent performer and composer ; and the 
 University of Dublin conferred upon him the degree 
 of Doctor and Professor of Music, as a testimony of 
 their estimation of his numerous musical productions. 
 His Lordship is ranked by authorities on music among 
 our principal glee writers,* and was a prominent mem- 
 ber of the Madrigal Society. Amongst the most ad- 
 mired of his compositions are the following, "Here 
 in cool grot ; " " When for the world's repose ; " 
 " 'Twas you, Sir ; " " Gently hear me, charming 
 maid ; " " Come, fairest nymph ; " and, " By Green- 
 wood tree." The Earl of Mornington died on the 
 
 * Vide " History of Music," by William Cooke Stafford, Esq.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 17 
 
 22nd of May, 1781, at Kensington, leaving his title to 
 Richard Colley Wesley, Lord Wellesley, even then dis- 
 tinguished for his brilliant classical attainments, and 
 destined soon to become one of the most illustrious 
 among British statesmen. 
 
 The subject of these Memoirs was born on the 20th 
 of June, 1760, at Dengan Castle, county of Meath, or, 
 according to some, at the residence of the Wellesley 
 family, Grafton Street, Dublin. He was at an early 
 age placed by his father at Eton College ; he held 
 a high place in that venerable and distinguished seat 
 of learning the most celebrated for the classical 
 scholars it has produced of any institution in the king- 
 dom. Lord Wellesley was deeply attached throughout 
 his long life to Eton. As we shall have occasion to 
 mention hereafter, in another part of this work, some 
 of the latest productions of his Lordship's pen were 
 dedicated to his beloved Eton ; and in testimony of 
 the strong affection which he entertained toward the 
 place where he received his first impressions of literary 
 taste, and in accordance with his desire expressed 
 before his death, his body was deposited in the vault of 
 Eton chapel. Lord Wellesley was one of the principal 
 contributors to the three volumes of the Musce Eton- 
 enses. His Lordship's first contribution is dated 1778, 
 and bears the motto, ApuvicQui vegi Targfe. It 
 breathes the spirit of energetic patriotism which was 
 so conspicuously exhibited in the Governor-General of 
 India. We extract as a specimen the concluding 
 twenty-three lines : * 
 
 * They are slightly altered from the original in Lord Wellesley *s 
 Primitue (1841). 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " Quid memorein, qualcm sub libertate Britanna 
 Terra tulit prolem ? satis sequora subdita ponti, 
 Atquc avulsa dolens nudatis lilia parmis 
 Gallia, et infracti toties tcstantur Iberi 
 Virtutem patrum, et generis molimina nostri. 
 At ncc adhuc sacra Libertas, neque vividus ardor 
 Angliacos intra fines et pristina regna 
 Tarn prorsus periere ; manet, manet ilia juventae 
 Vis animi, et flammae scintilla relicta prioris ; 
 Quae jam fulmineo Gallorum marte superbas 
 Frangat opes, nostrisque minantes arceat agris. 
 Illustres animae patrum ! quos territa quondam 
 Gallia servilis vidit fundamina regni 
 Concutere, et trepidas late dare jura per urbes ; 
 Vos saltern faustis coelesti e sede nepotes 
 Respicite auspiciis : vos uno foedere cives 
 Hostilem in gentem perjurique agmina Galli 
 Jungite ; discedat nostra Discordia Terra ! 
 At jam certatim totis capit arma juventus 
 Litoribus ; jam sublimi resonantia pulsu 
 Tympana szepe boves inter sulcosque colonus 
 Audiit assuescitque tubse, gaudetque corusca 
 Prospiciens patrias late per rura cohortes 
 Exultare acie, et castris albescere colics."* 
 
 lu the same year we find the following : 
 
 AD GENIUM LOCI. 
 
 O levis Fauni et Dryadum sodalis, 
 Finium tutela vigil meorum ! 
 Qui meos colles et aprica laetus 
 
 Prata nemusque 
 
 * This was a period of great excitement and embarrassment in Eng- 
 land. This country was at war with the revolted colonies of America, 
 with which, on the 4th of Feb. 1778, France concluded a treaty of defen- 
 sive alliance. Privateers and vessels, carrying American letters of 
 marque, plundered British ships on the high seas, and menaced the 
 coasts of Ireland and Britain. On the 23rd of April in that year, the 
 audacious American pirate, Paul Jones, burnt a sloop in the harbour of 
 Whitehaven ; and afterwards, landing on the western coast of Scotland, 
 near Kirkcudbright, pillaged the house of Lord Selkirk of money and
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 19 
 
 Mobili lustras pede, nunc susurros 
 Arborum captans, modo murmurantis 
 Fluminis servans vitreos reducta in 
 
 Valle meatus ! 
 
 Die ubi attollat melius superbum 
 Verticem pinus ? rigidosque quercus 
 Implicans ramos nimis sestuosam 
 
 Leniat horam ? 
 
 Namque Tu saltu tibi destinato 
 Excubas custos operosus, almae 
 Fertilem silvse sterilemque doctus 
 
 Noscere terrain : 
 Dum malum noctis picese tenello 
 Leniter verris folio vaporem, et 
 Sedulus virgulta foves, futurse 
 
 Providus umbrae. 
 
 Lauream sed campus Apollinarem 
 Parturit myrtosque vigentiores ; 
 Omnis et te luxuriat renascens 
 
 Auspice tellus : 
 
 Te, rosa pulchrum caput impedita, 
 Caiididi conjux facilis Favoni 
 Ambit, ut vernos tuearis sequo 
 
 Numine flores. 
 
 Laetus O ! faustusque adeas, precamur, 
 Nil mei prosunt sine te labores, 
 Nil valeat, cultum nisi tu secundes, 
 
 Rustica cura. 
 
 In the third volume of the Musce Etonenses, which 
 is exclusively occupied with compositions in Greek, the 
 first piece is by Lord Wellesley. Having spent seve- 
 ral years at Eton, under the provostship of the Rev. 
 Jonathan Davies, M.A., * his Lordship was sent to the 
 University of Oxford : 
 
 plate ; in the following year, the united fleets of France and Spain, under 
 Count D'Orvilliers, appeared in the Channel in great force, menacing 
 our shores, and exciting a general fear of an invasion. 
 
 * In a note written in 1840, the Marquess Wellesley thus describes 
 this gentleman. " Doctor Jonathan Davies, Head Master and afterwards 
 
 c2
 
 20 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " To that fair city, wherin make abode 
 So many learned imps, that shoot abroad, 
 And with their branches spread all Britainy, 
 No less than do her elder sister's brood : 
 Joy to you both ye double nursery 
 Of arts, but Oxford ! thine doth Thame most glorify."* 
 
 He matriculated as a nobleman at Christ Church 
 December 24th, 1778. In the congenial exercises of 
 this college, Lord Wellesley employed himself with all 
 the ardour of a youthful mind bent upon achieving 
 that fair fame which the poet tells us, 
 
 " All hunt after in their lives." t 
 
 It would fill a volume to enumerate all the eminent 
 men that Christ Church College has sent forth. Among 
 the statesmen and lawyers who have received their 
 education there, may be mentioned Sir Dudley Carleton, 
 Sir Edward Littleton, Edward Sackville Earl of Dorset, 
 Lord Littleton, William Earl of Mansfield, the Right 
 Hon. George Canning, and Sir Robert Peel, Bart. ; 
 among the poets, and other remarkable members of 
 this great intellectual brotherhood, are, Sir Philip 
 Sydney, Ben Jonson, Otway, Yilliers Duke of Buck- 
 ingham, William Penn, Locke, and Lord Bolingbroke. 
 
 Lord Wellesley was much distinguished for his pro- 
 ficiency in classical literature ; and in 1780 gained the 
 Latin Verse Prize, " In obitum viri eximii et celeber- 
 rimi navigatoris Jacobi Cook." J He remained at 
 
 Provost of Eton, who had been tutor to Lord Wellesley when first he 
 entered Eton school, at the age of eleven years, and who always bestowed 
 the solicitude and affection of a kind parent on the education of Lord 
 Wellesley." 
 
 * Spenser. t " Love's Labour Lost." 
 
 t The Rev. William Jackson (afterwards Bishop of Oxford) was 
 tutor to Lord Wellesley when he was elected from Eton a student of
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 21 
 
 Oxford till 1781, when he was called away from his 
 favourite studies to the more active business of life 
 by the death of his father, the Earl of Morning- 
 ton, who died on the 22nd of May in that year : he 
 did not remain long enough to take a degree. The 
 embryo statesman now returned to Ireland : he at- 
 tained his majority in the month following his father's 
 death : his first act on becoming of age was character- 
 istic of the generosity and integrity of his manly 
 nature. He voluntarily took upon himself the nume- 
 rous pecuniary obligations of his deceased father, and 
 exhibited his filial affection toward his surviving pa- 
 rent by placing the estates, to which he had succeeded, 
 under the management of his mother. His Lordship 
 also directed his attention to the intellectual training 
 of his brothers, who were all greatly indebted to him 
 for his watchful and prudent superintending care in 
 early life. On the death of their father, "William 
 Wellesley Pole* was eighteen years old, Anne Wel- 
 lesleyf thirteen years, Arthur Wellesley ;{; twelve years, 
 Gerald Valerian ten, Mary Elizabeth || nine, Henry 
 eight years old.H 
 
 Christ Church Wishing that Lord Wellesley should be a candidate for 
 the University prize, and anxious to try his powers of writing hexameter 
 verses, he desired Lord Wellesley to translate a passage from the 
 Arcades of Milton into that metre. Mr. Jackson approved of the verses 
 which Lord Wellesley wrote, and encouraged Lord Wellesley to write 
 for the prize ; which he did accordingly in the year 1780, and won it 
 by a poem on the death of the celebrated navigator Captain Cook. 
 (Note by Marquess Wellesley.) 
 
 * Afterwards Lord Maryborough. 
 
 - Married to Henry, son of Lord Southampton. 
 
 Duke of Wellington. In the Church. 
 
 || Lady Culling Smith. IT Lord Cowley.
 
 22 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Lord Wellesley (Earl of Mornington) enters upon public life, 1781 . 
 State of Europe and America. The Age of great men Chatham, Pitt, 
 Fox, Sheridan, Burke, Curran, Plunkett, Grattan, Flood, Grey, 
 Erskine. Takes his seat in the Irish House of Lords. Repeal of 
 Poyning's Law. Position of the Parliament of Ireland. In favour 
 of Catholic Emancipation. Advocates Economy in the Government 
 Expenditure. A Knight of St. Patrick. Lord Bellamont attacks the 
 Order. Earl of Mornington defends it. Advocates the holding a 
 Parliament every Year. Censures the Profusion of Government. 
 Supports a loyal Address to the Crown. Objects to the Position of 
 the Volunteers. Armed Convention in Dublin. Excited state of 
 Public Feeling. Lord Mountmorres's Reply to the Earl of Mornington, 
 ridiculing his theatrical gesture. Speech for the Liberty of the Press. 
 Elected Member in the English Parliament for Beeralston. 1785, 
 Privy Councillor in Ireland. 1786, Lord of the English Treasury. 
 Colleague of Pitt. Speaks on the Rohilla War. Attacks Lord North. 
 Returned for Saltash. Speaks on the Treaty of Commerce with 
 France. Elected Member for Windsor. The King's Indisposition. 
 The Regency Question. Opposes the Pretensions of the Prince of 
 Wales in Ireland. Protests. Defends the Lord Lieutenant. Extra- 
 ordinary proceedings of the Irish Parliament. Collision with the 
 English Parliament. Remarks on the Regency Question. Historical 
 Retrospect. Great Importance of the Constitutional principle at issue. 
 Recovery of Geo. III. Earl of Mornington re-elected for Windsor. 
 
 THE period at which the youthful Earl of Morning- 
 ton entered upon public life, was one of the most 
 eventful epochs in the history of modern Europe. 
 Shortly afterwards the French Revolution shook, as it 
 were with an earthquake, the whole civilized world. 
 The principles which were promulgated in revolution-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 23 
 
 ary France principles of philosophy, " falsely so call- 
 ed," threatened to overturn the most powerful mon- 
 archies ; and essentially modify, if not utterly change, 
 the whole structure of society. 
 
 The public mind in England was much excited on 
 the subject of Parliamentary Reform. This country, 
 oppressed with debt, was engaged in war ; and the 
 proceedings of several treasonable societies, which, at 
 the instigation of bold bad men, contemplated a 
 change in the constitution of the country by means 
 of violence, created alarm for the public safety ; and 
 afforded a seeming excuse for the employment of 
 coercive measures hostile to the spirit of the common 
 law, and hazardous to public liberty. 
 
 A young republic was established on the distant 
 shores of the western world, which professed to be 
 based on perfect equality and freedom, and boasted 
 that it recognised in all their dignity the inalienable 
 rights of man. It was the age, too, of great men of 
 splendid intellects brilliant imaginations unrivalled 
 eloquence. Chatham, Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, Grey, Flood. 
 Burke, Erskine, Curran, Plunkett, Grattan, and other 
 " burning and shining lights," were shedding the rays, 
 either of their rising or setting sun, upon this 
 kingdom ; and Great Britain and France were cradl- 
 ing two of the greatest warriors that ever appeared 
 on the battle-fields of ancient or modern times. In 
 1781, when the Earl of Mornington took his seat 
 in the House of Peers, in College Green, Dublin, 
 Ireland was agitated by the splendid and astonishing 
 appeals of Henry Grattan* one of the noblest pa- 
 
 * " No government ever dismayed him the world could not bribe him
 
 24 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 triots, and most upright characters ever recorded in 
 history : 
 
 " So simple in heart, so sublime in the rest ! 
 With all that Demosthenes wanted endued, 
 And iiis rival or victor in all he possess'd."* 
 
 In 1780 the Irish Parliament passed the memorable 
 resolution, " That the King's most excellent Majesty, 
 and the Lord and Commons of Ireland, are the only 
 power competent to make laws to bind Ireland ; " and 
 a body of armed volunteers, amounting to 50,000 
 men, demanded from England the recognition of the 
 legislative independence of Ireland. We have no 
 means of knowing the sentiments of the Earl of 
 Mornington on the question of Irish independence ; 
 but recollecting the strength of his Lordship's love for 
 his native country, and the statesmanlike sagacity that 
 marked the whole of his subsequent career, we may 
 safely assume that his Lordship would have been pre- 
 pared to insist either that Ireland should be com- 
 pletely identified with Great Britain admitted into 
 the great imperial co-partnership on terms of perfect 
 equality permitted to participate in all the inesti- 
 mable advantages of English laws, English institutions, 
 
 he thought only of Ireland lived for no other object dedicated to her 
 his beautiful fancy, his elegant wit, his manly courage, and all the 
 splendour of his astonishing eloquence. He was so born, and so gifted, 
 that poetry, forensic skill, elegant literature, and all the highest attain- 
 ments of human genius were within his reach ; but he thought the 
 noblest occupation of a man was to make other men happy and free ; and 
 in that straight line he went on for fifty years, without one side-look, 
 without one yielding thought, without one motive in his heart which he 
 might not have laid open to the view of God and man." Rev. Sydney 
 Smith. 
 * Byron.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 25 
 
 and English customs or else rendered competent to 
 legislate for herself, freely and independently, without 
 the humiliating, unjust, and insulting provisions of 
 Poyning's law,* which gave the Anglo-Irish a Par- 
 liament, without the power of action a mere cham- 
 ber for the registration of the decrees of his Majesty's 
 Privy Council. Lord Mornington was in favour of the 
 removal of the disabilities of his Catholic fellow-coun- 
 trymen from the earliest period of his public life ; and 
 happy would it have been for this kingdom, had the 
 eloquent counsels of this statesman prevailed in the 
 legislature, at the time when he urged upon Parliament 
 the settlement of the great Catholic question. The Earl 
 of Mornington at once began to take an active part 
 in the discussions in the Irish House of Peers ; and 
 at an early date we find him urging upon the Minis- 
 try the duty of economy in the administration of the 
 government. On the 5th of February, 1783, King 
 George the Third ordered letters patent to be passed 
 the Great Seal of the kingdom of Ireland, for creating 
 a society or brotherhood, to be called Knights of the 
 Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, of which his Majesty, 
 his heirs and successors, were constituted in perpetuity 
 Sovereigns ; and his Majesty's Lieu tenants- General, and 
 General Governors of Ireland, &c., Grand Masters. The 
 letters patent, dated Whitehall, February 5th, appoint- 
 ed the following knights companions of the newly- 
 created order.f 
 
 * 10 Henry VII. c. 23. 
 
 t " It hath been the custom of wise and beneficent princes, in all 
 ages, to distinguish the virtue and loyalty of their subjects by marks of 
 honour, to be a, testimony of their dignity and their excellency in all 
 qualifications which render them worthy of the favour of their Sovereign
 
 26 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 His Royal Highness Prince Edward. 
 
 His Grace William Robert, Duke of Leinster. 
 
 Henry Smith, Earl of Clanrickarde. 
 
 Randal William, Earl of Antrim. 
 
 Thomas, Earl of Westmeath. 
 
 Morrough, Earl of Inchiquin. 
 
 Charles, Earl of Drogheda. 
 
 George de la Poer, Earl of Tyrone. 
 
 Richard, Earl of Shannon. 
 
 James, Earl of Clanbrassen. 
 
 Richard, Earl of MORNINGTON.* 
 
 James, Earl of Courtown. 
 
 James, Earl of Charlemont. 
 
 Thomas, Earl of Bective. 
 
 Henry, Earl of Ely. 
 
 Chancellor, his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin. 
 
 Register, the Very Rev. the Dean of St. Patrick's. 
 
 Secretary, Lord Delvin. 
 
 Ulster, William Hawkins, Esq. 
 
 Usher, John Freemantle, Esq, 
 
 On the 23rd of October, in the same year, Lord 
 Mornington having moved an address of thanks to 
 Lord Temple, the late Lord-Lieutenant, Lord Bella- 
 
 and the respect of their fellow subjects ; that so their eminent merits 
 may stand acknowledged to the world and create a virtuous emulation in 
 others to deserve such honourable distinctions," &c. Royal Warrant 
 of the Order of St. Patrick, Feb. 1783 ; Blackstone, vol. i. chap. xii. 
 
 Collar days for the most illustrious Order of St. Patrick : Christmas 
 Day : New Year's Day ; Twelfth Day ; St. George's day ; Easter and 
 Whit Sundays ; All Saint's day (if on a Sunday) ; St. Patrick's day ; 
 St. Andrew's day. 
 
 * The Marquess Wellesley resigned the dignity of a Knight of St. 
 Patrick in 1810, on his investment as Knight of the Garter.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 27 
 
 mont* animadverted with some severity on the rise 
 and manner of the appointment of the order of St. 
 Patrick, complaining of the neglect of his own ser- 
 vices. Lord Mornington, according to the painfully 
 brief reports in the Parliamentary Register,^ -"spi- 
 ritedly replied ; and Lord Bellamont answered and 
 declared that he meant nothing personal to his 
 Lordship ; which apology was politely accepted." On 
 the 3rd of November Lord Mornington supported 
 the motion of Lord Mountmorres, "that a session 
 of Parliament should be holden every year in this 
 kingdom \" urging that the motion was strictly par- 
 liamentary and constitutional ; that the situation of 
 the country required it ; that they (the Peers) were 
 the hereditary counsellors of the Crown and nation 
 the medium between the King and the people ; and 
 that it was the duty of the House to advise his 
 Majesty on the wants and necessities of the State. On 
 the 26th of the same month we find the noble Lord 
 commenting on the profusion practised by the admi- 
 nistration in several instances. He condemned large 
 and expensive grants, inadequate to the circumstances 
 of the country great sums given for the ease and 
 indolence of great cotton manufacturers, rather than 
 for the encouragement of manufacture an increase of 
 the salary of the Lord Lieutenant, and 2000 a year 
 for his secretary, with other alarming increase of ex- 
 
 * Lord Bellamont was rather a conspicuous person in his day. He is 
 described as " a nobleman of much quickness of parts, of real but very 
 singular talents, and most fantastic in the use of them." He was very 
 severely wounded in a duel with the Marquess Townshend, on which 
 occasion Lord Charlemont acted as his second. 
 
 t Dublin, 1793.
 
 28 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 pense. " He did not," he said, " mention these things, 
 or rise merely with an intention to oppose Govern- 
 ment ; but he wanted to know what was the eco- 
 nomical plan of Government, or whether they had any 
 such \ If," he continued, " they ran into extraordi- 
 nary expenses, he would, even if he should have the 
 misfortune of standing alone, oppose every expensive 
 measure." But though Lord Mornington did not 
 hesitate to condemn the administration when he 
 thought it his duty to do so, he was always ready to 
 give the Government his independent support when 
 the occasion required it. His Lordship took a leading 
 part in the debate on the 1st of December, 1783, on 
 the message from the Commons bringing up a resolu- 
 tion, " that an humble address be presented to his 
 Majesty, to declare the perfect satisfaction which we 
 feel in the many blessings we enjoy under his Ma- 
 jesty's most auspicious government, and our present 
 happy constitution ; and to acquaint his Majesty, 
 that at this time we think it peculiarly incumbent 
 upon us to express our determined resolution to sup- 
 port the same inviolate, with our lives and fortunes." 
 
 Lord Mornington was one of those who considered 
 that the proceedings of the volunteers were unconsti- 
 tutional ; and that an armed assembly, holding regular 
 sittings in the vicinity of the Houses of Parliament, 
 should not be permitted to dictate to, or overawe the 
 legislature. It is presumed that it was on this ground 
 alone that he supported the resolution sent up from 
 the House of Commons ; for, looking at the abject 
 slavery in which the mass of the Roman Catholic 
 population of Ireland then groaned trodden down by
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 29 
 
 as cruel a system of despotism as ever was devised by 
 the evil genius of mankind ; and recollecting the then 
 state of parliamentary representation in all parts of 
 the United Kingdom, it would be difficult to justify the 
 expression of that " perfect satisfaction " in the " many 
 blessings " enjoyed under his Majesty's " most auspi- 
 cious government," and the existing "happy constitu- 
 tion." Lord Mornington, in addressing the House of 
 Lords, said : " This address comes from the Com- 
 mons, and they desire your Lordships to concur in it. 
 The assembly of the volunteers has sat for nearly 
 three weeks, with all the forms of Parliament ; and 
 will any noble Lord say they have no intention to 
 infringe the privileges of Parliament, and to attempt 
 the total extinction of the laws of the land. Have 
 not both Houses of Parliament been surrounded by 
 armed mobs "? and will any man pretend to say it is 
 not time for this House to interfere 1 Shall any noble 
 Lord, high in office though not in confidence, or any 
 noble Lord in confidence though not in office, not 
 have a sense of the danger of the times, as the House 
 of Commons seem to have. I am for this address, and 
 upon this ground, that it offers to his Majesty a suffi- 
 cient and a necessary pledge of our loyalty and affec- 
 tion to his person and the constitution of the country : 
 and to the people it speaks our firmness for Parlia- 
 ment will not be robbed of its privileges, even by its 
 own children ; and we cannot, for the sake of our pos- 
 terity, suffer it. We ought to give the Government 
 our assistance, when its imbecility may require it, to 
 support the Constitution. A great deal has been said 
 relative to the volunteers ; there is no man that
 
 30 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 reveres, that respects, them more than I do; their 
 temper and moderation have made the greatest impres- 
 sion on my mind ; but I am not blind to their imper- 
 fections, when I find that they have gone beyond the 
 original idea of their institution* If," added his 
 Lordship, emphatically, "the Constitution is suffered 
 to be infringed, I will not remain to be a witness of 
 it, but leave the country. If the Constitution is not 
 supported, no body of people can be happy." The 
 reply of Lord Mountmorres was principally directed 
 against the Earl of Mornington : " To enter into a 
 competition with the noble Lord (Mornington)," said 
 he, " I should wish to avoid. The public interest may 
 be promoted by our co-operation, but not much by our 
 collision. Discretion tells me that among the candi- 
 dates for public opinion and popular fame, Fortune, 
 like other females, usually prefers the younger to the 
 older claimant. I shall give the noble Lord full credit 
 
 * The appearance of Mr. Flood and of the delegates by whom he was 
 accompanied in their volunteer uniforms in the Irish House of Commons, 
 excited an extraordinary sensation. On both sides the passions were 
 worked up to a dangerous height. The debate lasted all night. The 
 tempest (for, towards morning, debate there was none) at last ceased. 
 The question was put, and Mr. Flood's motion for Reform in Parliament 
 was negatived by a very large majority. The House of Commons then 
 entered into resolutions declaratory of their fixed determination to main- 
 tain their just rights and privileges against any encroachments whatever. 
 Meantime an armed convention continued sitting the whole night, 
 waiting for the return of their delegates from the House of Commons, 
 and impatient to learn the fate of Mr. Flood's motion. (Edgeworth.) 
 Whoever was present in the House of Commons on the night of the 29th 
 of Nov. 1783, cannot easily forget what passed there. I do not use any 
 disproportionate language, when I say the scene was most terrific. 
 Several of the minority and all the delegates who had come from ' the 
 Convention,' were in military uniforms, and bore the aspect of stern 
 hostility. (Hardy.)
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 31 
 
 for the display of abilities we have witnessed. I ad- 
 mit that he has held manly language. The character 
 which has been drawn by a masterly hand, by the 
 great Speaker of the Convention Parliament (by Lord 
 Halifax) the character of a trimmer will not apply 
 to the Noble Earl trimming will not be evidenced by 
 his conduct ; neither, I am persuaded, will his Lord- 
 ship TRIM* upon this, or upon any other, occasion. 
 To the big words and inflated expressions which I 
 have heard of danger to the Constitution, and insults 
 from conventions of armed men, I answer in two short 
 emphatic words Prove it. If formidable jspectres, por- 
 tending the downfall of the Constitution, were to appear 
 in this House, I admit that the nofele Lord is fright- 
 ened with becoming dignity. The ancient Roscius, or 
 the modern Garrick, could not stand with a better 
 grace at the appearance of a spectre." On the llth 
 of December, in the same session, Lord Mornington 
 delivered a speech on the liberty of the press ; observ- 
 ing, that any invasion on the liberty of the press, 
 while restrained within just bounds, would, in his 
 apprehension, be highly detrimental to the liberty of 
 the subject. 
 
 But Lord Mornington, who had now attained his 
 24th year, could not confine his ambition to the sub- 
 ordinate Parliament of Ireland ; he longed to enter on 
 a wider field ; and, without neglecting his duty in the 
 Irish House of Peers, aspired to a place in the Parlia- 
 ment of England, where he might measure weapons 
 with some of his contemporaries of Eton and Oxford 
 
 * An allusion to the borough of Trim, under Lord Mornington's 
 influence.
 
 32 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 who now began to distinguish themselves in debate. 
 At the general election of 1784, his Lordship was 
 returned to the British House of Commons, as member 
 for Beeralston, a small borough- town near the river 
 Tamer, Devonshire ; which returned two members 
 from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the Reform Act, 
 when its powers were extinguished. It was a nomina- 
 tion borough, in the patronage of the Earl of Beverley. 
 In the year 1785 the Earl of Mornington was sworn a 
 member of the Privy Council for Ireland ; and so 
 rapidly did his Lordship rise in public estimation, that 
 in September 1 786 he was appointed one of the Lords of 
 the Treasury, or Commissioners for executing the office 
 of Lord High Treasurer of England ; his colleagues 
 being the Right Hon. William Pitt, James, Marquis of 
 Graham, Hon. E. J. Elliot, and Sir John Aubrey, 
 Bart. The first occasion on which the Earl of Morn- 
 ington addressed the English House of Commons, was 
 on the debate on the articles against Mr. Hastings, 
 and the conduct of the Rohilla war. He attacked 
 Lord North with a good deal of spirit. " He expressed 
 his surprise at 'the extraordinary reasons which the 
 noble Lord had assigned for his having three times 
 appointed Mr. Hastings to the chief place in the go- 
 vernment of Bengal, subsequent to the Rohilla war. 
 First, the noble Lord had said that he knew nothing of 
 the Rohilla war till lately ; this was an extraordinary 
 declaration from a noble Lord who had been at the 
 head of his Majesty's councils at the time ; for who 
 ought to know such a fact, but an administration pos- 
 sessing the then newly -given control and inspection 
 over the Company's affairs and dispatches. Next, the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 33 
 
 noble Lord had expressed great delicacy with regard 
 to interfering with the East India Company's consti- 
 tution. He was glad to hear that the noble Lord's 
 delicacy, on that subject, had been of such antiquity : 
 he presumed, therefore, that it had been owing to that 
 subserviency, which a right honourable gentleman had 
 lately talked of exacting from all parties which coales- 
 ced with him or his friends, that the noble Lord had 
 condescended to pursue that line of conduct which he 
 had followed in respect to a bill relative to the East 
 India Company, which was not a little famous in that 
 House, and throughout the country. The noble Lord 
 had stated to the House, that the Court of Directors 
 condemned every one of the acts of Mr. Hastings ; and 
 therefore the noble Lord thought it would be wrong to 
 turn him out of the Government ! A most extraordi- 
 nary reason, with an explanation to which he hoped 
 the noble Lord would favour the House ; not without 
 stating (what he had hitherto omitted) his sentiments 
 concerning the subject of the present debate." 
 
 Having vacated his seat for Beeralston, on his ap- 
 pointment as a Lord of the Treasury, Lord Mornington 
 was elected for the borough of Saltash, on the river 
 Tamer, in Cornwall, within a few miles of Beeralston, 
 January 23rd, 1787 ; but the return being petitioned 
 against, his Lordship was unseated by a Parliamentary 
 Committee ; John Lemon, Esq., being declared to be 
 entitled to the seat. In the February of that year, 
 we find the rising Statesman taking a part in the great 
 debate on the Treaty of Commerce with France ; on 
 which occasion Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, Mr. Burke, Mr. 
 Sheridan, Mr. Charles Grey, Mr. Flood, Mr. Grenville 
 
 VOL. i. D
 
 34 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and Mr. Wilberforce addressed the House. Lord 
 Mornington rose immediately after Mr. Burke had 
 spoken, and delivered a highly effective speech. There 
 is one passage in his address which is worthy of pre- 
 servation. " It had been eloquently urged, that what- 
 ever might be the commercial merits of the treaty in 
 a political view, it prostrated the Majesty of this coun- 
 try at the feet of France, and deposed Great Britain 
 from the throne of Europe. HE ANSWERED, THAT THE 
 
 TRUE MAJESTY OF GREAT BRITAIN WAS HER TRADE, AND 
 THE THRONE OF THE COMMERCE OF THE WORLD WAS THE 
 
 FITTEST OBJECT OF HER AMBITION. He said that the 
 industry and ingenuity of our manufactures, the opu- 
 lence which these had diffused through various chan- 
 nels, the substantial foundation of capital on which 
 they had placed our trade capital which had that 
 night been well described as predominant and tyrant 
 over the trade of the whole world all these, as 
 they had been our best consolation in defeat, were the 
 most promising sources of future victory ; and that to 
 cultivate, to strengthen, and to augment these, could 
 not be inconsistent with the glory of the kingdom." 
 
 In June, 1788, the Earl of Mornington was elected 
 member of the royal borough of Windsor ; and in that 
 year was called upon to take a part in the counsels of 
 the administration, on the great and eventful contro- 
 versy on the Regency Question, which arose in conse- 
 quence of the attack of mental derangement with 
 which George III. was afflicted. 
 
 With the exceptions only of the case of the Conven- 
 tion Parliament, which assembled (contrary to the letter 
 of the law, and the constitution of the country) with-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 35 
 
 out the King's writ, to recall Charles II., and the case 
 of the Parliament, which assembled at the call of the 
 Prince of Orange, at the Revolution, 1688, to declare 
 the throne of these realms vacant, the Regency Ques- 
 tion, in 1788, is decidedly the most interesting point 
 of constitutional law which has arisen in modern times. 
 An emergency arose, for which the wisdom of our an- 
 cestors had made no provision : our statesmen were 
 thrown back on first principles : they had to examine 
 the foundations on which the venerable pillars of the 
 British Constitution were based. The Lord President 
 of the Council expressed his opinion, "that, in conse- 
 quence of the absence and incapacity of the King, the 
 legislature was defective and incomplete ; whence all 
 the functions of the executive government of the coun- 
 try were actually suspended." The Lord President 
 stated the case too strongly ; but the Parliament was 
 unquestionably reduced to a most momentous dilemma. 
 To vest the powers of royalty in another individual, 
 even for a limited period, to the prejudice of the reign- 
 ing Sovereign, required an act of Parliament : the 
 King is an essential branch of that Parliament : no 
 Act can, in law, be valid, without the King's assent : 
 but the King, by the act of God, was rendered inca- 
 pable of attending to any business, public or private. 
 What then was to be done \ Mr. Fox, in the zeal of 
 his friendship for the Prince of Wales, made an asser- 
 tion which was equally repugnant to the common law 
 of England, and to the democratic principles of the 
 Whigs : he stated, that, " in his firm opinion, his 
 Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, had as clear, as 
 express a right to assume the reins of government, and 
 
 D2
 
 3G LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 exercise the powers of sovereignty during the continu- 
 ance of the King's illness and incapacity with which it 
 had pleased God to afflict his Majesty, as in the case of 
 his Majesty having undergone a natural and perfect 
 demise." * Mr. Pitt opposed this courtly doctrine ; he 
 defied all Mr. Fox's ingenuity to support it, upon any 
 analogy of constitutional precedent, or to reconcile it 
 to the spirit and genius of the Constitution itself ; and 
 he laid down what seems to be the correct principle. 
 " He maintained that it would appear from every pre- 
 cedent, and from every page of our history, that to 
 assert such a right in the Prince of Wales, or any one 
 else, independent of the decision of the two Houses of 
 Parliament, was little less than treason to the consti- 
 tution of the country. He pledged himself to this 
 assertion, that in case of the interruption of the per- 
 sonal exercise of the royal authority, without any pre- 
 vious lawful provision having been made for carrying 
 on the Government, it belonged to the other branches 
 of the legislature, on the part of the nation at large 
 the body they represented to provide, according to 
 their discretion, for the temporary exercise of the royal 
 authority, in the name and on the behalf of the Sover- 
 eign, in such a manner as they should think requisite ; 
 and that, unless by their decision, the Prince of Wales 
 had no more right (speaking of strict right) than any 
 other individual subject of the country." Lord Morn- 
 ington coincided in opinion with Mr. Pitt ; and there 
 can be no doubt that their view of the case was both 
 the most correct and the most popular one. But how 
 were the legal objections to be met ? How meet the 
 
 * Parl. Hist. 1788.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 37 
 
 temporary evils, without wounding the constitution 1 
 Necessitous non habet legem ; * and here was an irre- 
 sistible necessity : still the difficulty remained, how 
 was the solemnity of an act of the legislature to be im- 
 parted to a bill, without the assent of the Crown 1 The 
 Attorney-General, Sir Archibald Macdonald, appears to 
 have suggested the only imaginable way of meeting the 
 exigency : " He wished the distinction between the 
 politic or official capacity of the Crown, and the natu- 
 ral and human capacity of the person of the King, 
 might ever be kept separate ; for upon that distinc- 
 tion depended the rectitude of their proceedings." 
 The Solicitor-General, Sir John Scott (afterwards Lord 
 Eldon), following up the same remark, observed, in the 
 course of one of the debates : " The throne was as yet 
 full of the monarch, and no man dared to say that his 
 Majesty was deficient in his political capacity." As in 
 cases of the tender infancy of the Sovereign, the ex- 
 pression of the King's will, by his great seal, had in 
 former times been directed by his Privy Council ; it 
 was at length determined upon by both Houses, that 
 the Lord Chancellor should affix the great seal to a 
 bill, creating the Prince of Wales, Regent with 
 limited powers.f 
 
 In 1789 the Earl of Mornington took a conspicuous 
 part in the memorable debates in the Irish House of 
 Lords, on the Regency Question which arose in Ire- 
 land in a still more complicated and embarrassing form. 
 In that year, in consequence of the continued indispo- 
 
 * Noy. 
 
 t Lord Mornington voted in favour of Mr. Pitt's resolutions limiting 
 the powers of the Regent.
 
 38 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 sition of King George III., the Marquess of Buckingham, 
 Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, made the following com- 
 munication to the Houses of Parliament at Dublin : 
 
 " MY LORDS, AND GENTLEMEN, 
 
 " "With the deepest concern I find myself obliged, on 
 opening the present session of Parliament, to commu- 
 nicate to you the painful information, that his Ma- 
 jesty has been for some time afflicted by a severe 
 malady ; in consequence of which he has not honoured 
 me with his commands upon the measures to be re- 
 commended to his Parliament. I have directed such 
 documents as I have received respecting his Majesty's 
 health, to be laid before you : I shall also communi- 
 cate to you, so soon as I shall be enabled, such further 
 information as may assist your deliberations on that 
 melancholy subject." 
 
 Both the Irish Houses at once voted an address to 
 his Royal Highness George Prince of "Wales, consti- 
 tuting the Prince, Regent of the kingdom of Ireland 
 with unlimited powers ; while the Parliament of Great 
 Britain had imposed several limitations upon the 
 powers vested in his Royal Highness. " We have, 
 however," said the Irish Parliament, " the consolation 
 of reflecting that this severe calamity hath not been 
 visited upon us until the virtues of your Royal High- 
 ness have been so matured as to enable your Royal 
 Highness to discharge the duties of an important trust, 
 for the performance whereof the eyes of all his Ma- 
 jesty's subjects are directed to your Royal Highness. 
 We therefore beg leave humbly to request, that your
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 39 
 
 Royal Highness will be pleased to take upon you the 
 government of this realm, during the continuance of his 
 Majesty's present indisposition, and no longer ; and, 
 under the style and title of Prince Regent of Ireland, 
 in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, to exer- 
 cise and administer, according to the laws and Consti- 
 tution of this kingdom, ALL REGAL POWERS, JURISDIC- 
 TIONS, AND PREROGATIVES TO THE CROWN AND GOVERN- 
 MENT BELONGING." Lord Mornington opposed and pro- 
 tested against the subservient adulation and unconsti- 
 tutional character of this address. The Parliament 
 of Great Britain had, with becoming regard for the 
 dignity of the Crown, and the safety of the Constitu- 
 tion, resolved, " that it is expedient that his Royal 
 Highness shall be empowered to use, execute, and per- 
 form, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, 
 all authorities, prerogatives, acts of Government, and 
 administration of the same, which belong to the King 
 of this realm, to use, execute, and perform, according 
 to the laws thereof, subject to the limitations and 
 exceptions as shall be provided" In England the 
 Regent had no power to grant any rank or dignity of 
 the peerage, or to grant any office in reversion, or any 
 office, pension, or salary, for any other term than 
 during his Majesty's pleasure ; or to grant any part of 
 the King's real or personal estate. Beside, the care of 
 the King's person was specially committed, during the 
 regency, to the Queen, who was vested with power to 
 remove any of the household. In Ireland the Regent 
 was invested with COMPLETE SOVEREIGNTY. The colli- 
 sion between the Parliaments of the two countries, on 
 this occasion, (which, but for the happy recovery of
 
 40 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 King George III., might have been attended with 
 serious consequences,) was one of the events which led 
 to the act of Union ; by which the British Isles were 
 incorporated inseparably into one kingdom : Ireland 
 being in 1800 united to Great Britain, as "Wales was 
 united to England in the reign of Henry VIIL, and as 
 Scotland was in the reign of Anne. Lord Mornington 
 at once saw the danger which was likely to arise to 
 the peace of the empire, by a conflict between the two 
 Legislatures on the subject of the regency : and he 
 probably asked himself the question, if the Irish Par- 
 liament had a right to act independently of the British 
 Parliament, and confer unlimited powers on the indi- 
 vidual in whom the English people would not confide 
 them, had not the Irish Parliament a right to select a 
 totally different person as Regent, from the individual 
 chosen by the Parliament of Great Britain 1 Lord 
 Mornington was one of the twenty-three Irish peers 
 who entered the following protest against the address 
 to the Prince of Wales : 
 
 " Dissentient : 1st. Because the address in question 
 to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, is an 
 address requesting that he will be pleased to take 
 upon him the government of this realm, in such man- 
 ner as is therein mentioned ; and to exercise and 
 administer, according to the laws and Constitution of 
 this kingdom, all royal powers, jurisdiction, and prero- 
 gatives to the Crown and Government thereof belong- 
 ing, without any law or authority whatsoever, that we 
 know of, authorizing him so to do. 2ndly. Because 
 we are apprehensive that the said address may be 
 construed to be a measure tending to disturb and
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 41 
 
 weaken that great constitutional Union, whereby, as 
 fully declared, and enacted, and specified in sundry 
 acts of Parliament in this kingdom, this realm of Ire- 
 land is for ever united and knit to the imperial Crown 
 of England, and as a member appending and rightfully 
 belonging thereto. Srdly. Because, although in every 
 sentiment of duty, aifection, and respect toward his 
 Royal Highness, we hold ourselves equal to, and will 
 not be exceeded by, any of those who join in the said 
 address, or by any other person whatsoever ; and are, 
 and ever shall be, ready to lay down our lives and 
 fortunes in the support and maintenance of the just 
 rights of our most gracious Sovereign, and of every 
 branch of his royal and august family ; we cannot pay 
 any compliment to his Royal Highness, or to any one, 
 at the expense of what we consider as great constitu- 
 tional principles ; and we cannot (for such are the 
 workings of duty, affection, and respect in our breasts) 
 join in the said address ; which may, as we are appre- 
 hensive, bring difficulty and embarrassment upon his 
 Royal Highness, already too much oppressed by the 
 great calamity which hath befallen our most gracious 
 Sovereign, his royal father." 
 
 The Marquess of Buckingham, the Lord-Lieutenant, 
 declined to transmit the addresses of the two Houses to 
 England ; and, on a calm review of the legal and 
 constitutional points involved in this important dis- 
 cussion, it seems to be impossible to doubt that his 
 Excellency acted strictly according to law. His Excel- 
 lency the Lord-Lieutenant's reply to the upper and 
 lower houses of the Irish Parliament was as follows :
 
 42 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 "Mr LORDS, AND GENTLEMEN, 
 
 " Under the impression which I feel of my official 
 duty, and of the oath which I have taken, as chief 
 Governor of Ireland, I am obliged to decline trans- 
 mitting this address into Great Britain. For I cannot 
 consider myself warranted to lay before the Prince of 
 Wales an address purporting to invest his Royal 
 Highness with powers to take upon him the govern- 
 ment of this realm, before he shall be enabled by law 
 to do so." * 
 
 The transaction now became more complicated. 
 Not only were the Parliaments of two countries (inse- 
 parably united to the same Crown) at issue, but the 
 House of Lords and House of Commons in Ireland 
 were directly at variance with the Viceroy ! The 
 Houses agreed to resolutions declaring their right to 
 
 * The office of Regent is one unknown to the common law : and 
 perhaps the only mode of appointing a Regent free from objections and 
 legal difficulties, is by the authority of a prospective Act of Parliament, 
 duly enacted by the Lords Temporal and Spiritual, the Commons, and 
 the Crown. The Earl of Pembroke, by his own authority, assumed the 
 Regency of Henry III. when that King was but nine years old. A 
 guardian and Council of Regency was named for Edward III. by the 
 Parliament which deposed his father. On the accession of Richard II., 
 in his eleventh year, the Duke of Lancaster took upon him the manage- 
 ment of the kingdom till Parliament met, which appointed a nominal 
 council to assist him. Henry V., on his death-bed, named a Regent and 
 a guardian for his infant son Henry VI., then nine months old : but 
 the Parliament altered his disposition, and appointed a Protector and 
 Council with a special united authority. Edward V., at the age of 
 thirteen, was, on the recommendation of his father and the authority 
 of the Privy Council, placed under the protectorate of the Duke of 
 Gloucester. By two statutes passed in the reign of Henry VIII., it was 
 provided that his successor, if a male and under eighteen, or if a female 
 and under sixteen, should be till such age in the government of his or 
 her natural mother (if approved by the King) and such other counsellors
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 43 
 
 appoint a Prince Regent, and passed a vote of censure 
 on the representative of the Crown ! Lord Morning- 
 ton, who, as a Privy Councillor, and one of the Lords of 
 the English Treasury, exercised much influence in the 
 counsels of the Lord-Lieutenant, vigorously supported 
 the Marquess of Buckingham. His Lordship, together 
 with twenty-four other peers, entered protests against 
 the resolutions of the majority. The protest against 
 the resolutions, voted February 1789, asserting the 
 right of both Irish Houses to declare a Prince Regent, 
 was as follows : 
 
 " Because the undoubted right, and the indispen- 
 sable duty, declared in the said resolution to have been 
 exercised and discharged by the Lords and Commons 
 of Ireland, and to which it is alleged they alone are 
 competent, do not, in any legal or sound sense, appear 
 to us to have any existence. And because the assum- 
 
 as his Majesty should appoint : he accordingly in virtue of those enact- 
 ments, entrusted his son Edward VI. to his sixteen executors, who 
 elected the Earl of Hertford Protector. The statute 24 Geo. II. c. 24, 
 in case the Crown should descend to any of the children of Frederick, 
 late Prince of Wales, under the age of eighteen, appointed the Princess 
 Dowager Regent ; and that, 5 Geo. III. c. 27, in case of a like descent 
 to any of his Majesty's children, empowered the King to appoint a 
 guardian and Regent to be assisted hy a Council of Regency ; the 
 powers of them all being expressly defined by several acts. By 1 Wm. 
 IV. c. 2, her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent was appointed the 
 guardian of her daughter (her present most gracious Majesty) until she 
 attained the age of eighteen years ; and it was also provided that the 
 Duchess should be Regent in case of the descent of the Crown during 
 the Queen's minority an event which, it need scarcely be remarked, 
 did not take place. By 3 and 4 Viet. c. 52, his Royal Highness Prince 
 Albert the Queen's august consort, is constituted guardian of any issue 
 of Queen Victoria becoming King or Queen of these realms under the 
 age of eighteen years, subject to various provisos. Vide Chilly's 
 Blackstone's Com. by Hargrave.
 
 44 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 ing a right in the Lords and Commons alone to confer 
 upon his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales the 
 Government of this kingdom, under the style and title 
 of Prince Regent of Ireland, in the name and on be- 
 half of his Majesty, to exercise and administer accord- 
 ing to the laws and constitution of this kingdom all 
 regal powers and prerogatives to the Crown and Govern- 
 ment thereof belonging, or the addressing his Royal 
 Highness to take upon himself such government in 
 manner aforesaid, before he be enabled by law to do 
 so, seems altogether unwarrantable, and to be highly 
 dangerous in its tendency to disturb and break the 
 constitutional Union whereby this realm of Ireland is 
 for ever knit and united to the Imperial Crown of 
 England ; on which connection the happiness of both 
 kingdoms essentially depends ;* and we are the more 
 apprehensive of the danger, lest the doing so should be 
 considered as tending to the prejudice, disturbance, or 
 derogation of the King's Majesty, in, of, or for the 
 Crown of this realm of Ireland." 
 
 The happy recovery of King George III. solved the 
 question, and averted the dangers of the threatened 
 collision. From this time the Earl of Mornington was 
 admitted more closely into the confidence of the King, 
 who expressed his warm approbation of the young 
 statesman's conduct in the painful emergency which 
 gave rise to these discussions ; intimating his Majesty's 
 displeasure against those who had supported the anta- 
 
 * The King of England, de facto, being the King of Ireland de jure 
 Ireland necessarily appending and rightfully belonging to the English 
 Crown the local legislature of Ireland was clearly incompetent to in- 
 vest a Regent with powers which the Parliament of Great Britain had 
 withheld from him.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 45 
 
 gonist pretensions of the Prince of Wales by the dis- 
 missal of the Duke of Queensberry, the Marquess of 
 Lothian, and Lords Carteret and Malmesbury. In the 
 year following Lord Mornington was re-elected as repre- 
 sentative in Parliament for the borough of Windsor. 
 
 * Before the year A. D. 1690, the chartered corporation of Windsor 
 usurped the exclusive right of voting in the election of members of Par- 
 liament ; but it was afterwards extended to all inhabitants paying scot 
 and lot. The greatest number of electors polled at any election in 
 Windsor, during the thirty years before the passing of the Reform Act, 
 was 363 : in the years 1839-40, the number of parliamentary electors 
 was 667.
 
 4G LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Supports Mr. Wilberforce on the Slave Trade. Opposes Mr. Dundas's 
 Resolution for gradual Abolition. Moves an Amendment for its im- 
 mediate Suppression is defeated. Moves a second Amendment. 
 Denounces the traffic as infamous, bloody, and disgraceful to human 
 nature. The Amendment supported by Mr. Pitt defeated. Clark- 
 son's Labours Vote of the House of Commons against the Slave 
 Trade. Lord Mornington opposes Mr. Grey's motion for Reform in 
 Parliament, both in Spirit and Substance, Examination of his Argu- 
 ments. Fallacy that Reform was synonymous with American Demo- 
 cracy or French Republicanism. Eulogies on the general Spirit of the 
 British Constitution. Mr. Fox replies ridicules Lord Mornington 's 
 Positions. Boroughs and great Towns then unrepresented. Saltash, 
 Beeralston, &c. compared with them. Changes since effected by 
 Parliament. Marquess Wellesley Member of the Reform Govern- 
 ment. 1793, sworn a Member of the English Privy Council. Ap- 
 pointed Commissioner for Affairs of India. Devotes his attention to 
 the posture of the British Government and native Powers in India. 
 Confidence reposed in him by Mr. Pitt. 
 
 MR. WILBERFORCE was strenuously supported, in 
 1792, by the Earl of Mornington, in his noble efforts to 
 extinguish the Slave Trade. His Lordship vigorously 
 opposed the resolutions of Mr. Dundas for the gradual 
 abolition* of the inhuman traffic. He contended that 
 the British Parliament had an undoubted right to 
 abolish the trade, notwithstanding any previous sanc- 
 
 * One of Mr. Dundas's resolutions was, " That from Oct. 10, 1797, 
 duties be laid on every male negro [imported] according to his stature, 
 from five pounds to fifteen pounds."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 47 
 
 tion* which it might be supposed to have given.f The 
 utility of a continuation of this inhuman commerce to 
 the real welfare of our islands he positively denied : 
 and conceiving the point at issue to be, in fact, a ques- 
 tion of principle and feeling, he disdained to reason on 
 the policy of the measure. On the 25th of April 
 Lord Mornington moved an amendment, that the Slave 
 Trade should end on the 1st of January 1793 ; the 
 amendment was lost by a majority of 49 ; the numbers 
 on the division having been, yeas 109 ; noes 158. On 
 the 27th of April, the House having again resolved 
 itself into committee on Mr. Dundas's resolution, "That 
 it is the opinion of this committee, that it shall not 
 be lawful to import any African Negroes into any of 
 the British colonies or plantations in ships owned or 
 navigated by British subjects, at any time after the 1st 
 day of January 1800," Lord Mornington then moved 
 another amendment with a view to a more immediate 
 abolition of the Slave Trade. 
 
 The noble Lord " lamented the fate of his former 
 motion for a speedy termination of the trade which 
 had been already condemned as criminal, inasmuch as 
 it was repugnant to the principles of justice and hu- 
 manity. Had he followed his feelings, he should have 
 proposed for the total abolition of this hateful traffic 
 
 * " It has the authority of Acts of Parliament passed in this country, 
 as well as colonial laws, which recognise, if they do not confirm it, and 
 the sanction of ancient and universal custom." Apology for Negro 
 Slavery, 1786. 
 
 t According to the law in this country even during the permitted ex- 
 istence of the Slave Trade, a negro slave became, on the moment of 
 touching the British soil, a free man. Vide Salkend, 666 ; and the case 
 of the negro Somerset; State Trials, xx. 79.
 
 48 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the 2nd day of January 1 793, immediately after the 
 House had determined by a majority that it should 
 not be so on the 1st day of January 1793. He was 
 sorry that so infamous, so bloody a traffic should exist 
 for one hour. Upon the justice of it nothing could 
 be said ; upon the humanity of it nothing could be 
 said. Being destitute of principle, being hated by all 
 good men, and, as far as regarded its justice or hu- 
 manity, abandoned by its own advocates, what could 
 be said on the subject 1 But lest it should be thought 
 that he was persevering in a cause which, though good, 
 was not likely to succeed to his wishes, he was willing 
 to concede something to the opinions of those who 
 differed with him, and move for a more remote period 
 than 1793 for the abolition of a trade which he 
 loathed and detested. He thought in his conscience 
 that it ought not to last one hour longer ; but as he 
 could not get the committee to think with him on this 
 subject, he must give up his own opinion to a certain 
 degree ; and as he could not do all the good he 
 wished, he would do all that he could. Gentlemen 
 had said in a former debate, that time should be 
 allowed to the planters to cool, and to discover the 
 truth of the assertions of those who contended that the 
 abolition would ultimately be for their advantage. 
 What length of time it would require to cool them, 
 and for truth to make its way among the planters, 
 while the liberty and happiness of thousands were 
 exposed to invasion during the tedious process, it was 
 impossible for him to say. If he were to put the 
 question mathematically, he would say, ' The force of 
 truth being given, and the hardness of a planter's heart
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 49 
 
 being ascertained, in what space of time will the for- 
 mer be able to penetrate the latter f For his part, he 
 was free to say that he had known great numbers of 
 planters of the clearest heads, and most quick and 
 lively conceptions ; and he believed they were, in ge- 
 neral, persons who would not be the last to discover the 
 truth of a proposition. On this occasion, however, he 
 meant to allow them two years; and he would ask whe- 
 ther (if all that was wanted was to convince the planters 
 that the abolition would not injure them) two years 
 would not do as well as seven ? He believed the com- 
 mittee would be of opinion, that the time proposed 
 for the purpose of convincing their judgment was much 
 too long ; for that, in point of fact, they were con- 
 vinced already ; and it was nothing but mean and 
 sordid avarice that induced them to wish for the con- 
 tinuance of this abominable, infamous, bloody traffic 
 this commerce in human flesh this spilling of human 
 blood this sacrifice of human right this insolence to 
 justice this outrage to humanity this disgrace to 
 human nature ! Private follies from habit had some- 
 times been excused by the charitable ; they aifected 
 chiefly those who displayed them ; they were objects 
 of compassion to some, and from the most severe they 
 met nothing but ridicule : but for crimes, and those of 
 the most public, notorious, hateful, detested nature, 
 nothing could be said as an excuse or palliative. 
 Every hour that this nefarious traffic was allowed 
 to be continued was a disgrace to Great Britain." 
 
 Mr. Pitt supported his friend on this occasion. He 
 urged the committee to adopt Lord Mornington's reso- 
 lution, " That the Slave Trade do cease from the first of 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 January, 1795.' "I feel," said Mr. Pitt, "the infamy of 
 the trade so heavily, the impolicy of it so clearly, that 
 I am ashamed I have not been able to convince the 
 House to abandon it altogether at an instant to pro- 
 nounce, with one voice, the immediate and total abo- 
 lition. There is no excuse for us, seeing this infernal 
 traffic as we do. It is the very death of justice to 
 utter a syllable in support of it !" Yet the eloquence of 
 these two great men, which must have made the hearts 
 of the man-stealers quail within them, could do no 
 more than induce the committee to adopt the year 
 1796 as the time for the abolition of the legalized 
 commerce in the human species.* 
 
 In the following year we find Lord Mornington, 
 with more questionable judgment, opposing Mr. Grey's 
 motion for a reform in Parliament. On the 7th of 
 May, 1793, his Lordship addressed the House of Com- 
 mons " against the whole spirit and substance" of the 
 proposition submitted by Mr. Grey. The purpose of 
 those who supported the measure then the subject of 
 debate, said his Lordship, " was to change, not the 
 administration only, but the very genius and spirit of 
 the British Government ; to separate those elementary- 
 principles of monarchy, of aristocracy, and of demo- 
 cracy, which are now mixed and blended in the 
 
 * In looking back to the history of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 
 it is impossible not to revert with a feeling of admiration to the early 
 labours of that venerable and distinguished advocate of the rights of 
 human nature, THOMAS CLARKSON, Esq., Playford Hall, Suffolk, who 
 still lives in honoured old age to witness the fruit of that great 
 harvest for which he broke up and tilled the ground, by his celebrated 
 prize essay at Cambridge University, On the Slavery and Commerce of 
 the Human Species, and his subsequent publications.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 51 
 
 frame of this House, and, by combining them again ac- 
 cording to some new and different rule of proportion, 
 to create a system of which we at present know no- 
 thing more than that it is to be new in its texture, 
 and wholly different in its effects, upon the existing 
 order of our happy constitution. A project so stated, 
 and of such extent, has not been agitated in Parlia- 
 ment during the present century ; and it is a duty 
 which we all owe to the present and succeeding times, 
 to pause and to deliberate with the utmost caution be- 
 fore we consent even to take the first step towards a 
 measure of such powerful effect, and of such lasting 
 consequences. Before we part with those foundations 
 on which the Government has been so long settled, it 
 becomes us to recollect what that is which we are 
 about to destroy, and to ascertain, as far as human 
 foresight can enable us, what is likely to be substituted 
 in its place." 
 
 Lord Mornington eulogized enthusiastically, some 
 perhaps will think extravagantly, considering the cir- 
 cumstances under which his Lordship spoke, the 
 British Constitution ; and dwelt with great force upon 
 the admitted excellences of the body of our municipal 
 laws. " Never," said he, " under any distribution of 
 political power of which the memory has reached us, or 
 of which we now see the operation, have the true ends 
 of society been so effectually accomplished, or so long 
 preserved, as under that Government which it is the 
 professed design of this motion to change. Under that 
 Government the life of every individual is secured by 
 the mild and equal spirit of the law ; by the pure ad- 
 ministration of justice ; by the admirable institution 
 
 K 2
 
 52 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of juries; and by the gracious and equitable exercise of 
 that prerogative which is the brightest ornament of the 
 British Crown the power of mitigating the rigour of 
 criminal judgments, and of causing law and justice to 
 be executed in mercy. Under that Government the 
 liberty of the subject is established on the same foun- 
 dations, and protected by the same safeguards, which 
 maintain the whole system of order in the State ; it is 
 a temperate and rational liberty, inseparably connected 
 with all the most sacred duties of society ; and while it 
 adds new force to every civil, every moral, and every 
 religious obligation, it derives from them its most pow- 
 erful activity and its most substantial strength. Rest- 
 ing on such foundations, and united with all the virtues 
 and with all the genuine interests both of the Monarch 
 and the people, it has long remained inviolate ; and it 
 seems to contain every principle of stability which can 
 enter into the frame of any human institution ; for it 
 can neither be abused by the subject nor invaded by 
 the Crown, without equal hazard to the safety of both; 
 without endangering some fundamental principle of 
 private tranquillity and domestic comfort on the one 
 hand, or without disturbing the harmony and impairing 
 the vigour of the monarchy on the other." 
 
 Lord Mornington, in opposing Mr. Grey's motion, 
 pressed upon his hearers the inestimable advantages 
 which every subject of this realm enjoyed the safety 
 of his life, his liberty, and his property ; and seemed 
 to hint that the adoption of Mr. Grey's measure might 
 possibly place these blessings in jeopardy : " What- 
 ever might be contended to be the defective state of 
 the representation in theory, it is an undeniable fact,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 53 
 
 proved by daily and almost hourly experience, that 
 there is no interest in the kingdom, however inconsi- 
 derable, which does not find some advocate in the 
 House of Commons to recommend it to the attention of 
 the Legislature. From the same sources are necessarily 
 derived the wealth, the power, and the splendour of the 
 empire : it is the sense of safety, it is the confidence 
 reposed in the protection of the Government, which 
 have encouraged the subject to adventure the fruits of 
 his industry and skill in those enterprises of agricul- 
 ture, of commerce, and of manufactures, which, in the 
 various stages of their progress, contribute equally to 
 the profit of individuals and the prosperity of the 
 State. From the united effects of all these circum- 
 stances, the collective interests of the empire have been 
 in a progressive state of improvement ever since the 
 period of the Revolution." After alluding to the 
 depression which followed the American war, his Lord- 
 ship added, " thus, with all the imperfections and 
 irregularities of this reprobated frame of Parliament, 
 the nation has risen from the lowest state of humili- 
 ation and adversity 
 
 ' More glorious and more dread than from no fall, 
 And trusts herself to fear no second fate.' " 
 
 Lord Mornington, after dwelling with much force on 
 this branch of the question, painted in strong colours 
 the blood-stained government of revolutionary France : 
 " Although questions of great magnitude and import- 
 ance have engaged the attention of the House since the 
 affairs of France have been the immediate subject of 
 deliberation, the Hon. Gentleman will find that a topic
 
 54 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 leading to such serious reflections, and furnishing such 
 useful lessons, has not been so soon effaced from the 
 memory of this House or of the country : the business 
 of this day must revive every passage of those transac- 
 tions with the most direct and forcible application to 
 the present question. It will be pressed home to the 
 recollection and to the feeling of every British subject, 
 that a change in the existing Government (the avowed 
 object of this motion), was the great revolutionary 
 machine, by the working of which our enemies trusted 
 to have reduced this happy people to the level of their 
 own miserable condition. ' Commemoratio illius sce- 
 leris intermissa est, non memoria deleta, dum genus 
 humanum, dum populi Romani nomen exstabit, (quod 
 quidem erit, si per illos licuerit, sempiternum), ilia pes- 
 tifera intercessio nominabitur.' " 
 
 Mr. Fox, in his reply, contended that the sovereign 
 remedy for the discontents of the people was Represen- 
 tation. Alluding to its effects in former times, in the 
 cases of Wales, Chester, and Durham, he remarked 
 " When the day-star of the English Constitution had 
 arisen in their hearts, all was harmony within and 
 without" 
 
 " Simul alba nautis 
 
 Stella refulsit, 
 
 Defluit saxis agitatus humor ; 
 Concidunt venti, fugiuntque nubes, 
 Et minax (quod sic voluere) ponto 
 
 Unda recumbit." 
 
 Mr. Fox, turning to Lord Mornington's argument, said : 
 " the Noble Lord had discovered that Rousseau, in his 
 Social Compact, had said a very extravagant thing ! 
 He was not very well qualified to judge, for he had
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 55 
 
 found the beginning of the Social Compact so extrava- 
 gant that he could not read it through, but he believed 
 it was one of the most extravagant of that author's 
 works. He did not mean to say that the Noble Lord 
 had produced an extravagant saving from Rousseau as 
 a novelty; but it was somewhat remarkable, that an ex- 
 travagant thing from the most extravagant work of an 
 extravagant foreign author, should be produced as an 
 argument against a reform in the representation of the 
 people of Great Britain." In answer to those who con- 
 tended that that was not the right time to enter on an 
 inquiry into the state of the representation, Mr. Fox 
 quoted, with much effect, the poet's raillery on some 
 noble Earl 
 
 " Let that be wrought which Mat doth say : 
 Yea, quoth the Erie, but not to-day." 
 
 In these days, when the principles resisted by the 
 Earl of Mornington in 1793 are the established law of 
 the land,* when the changes then denounced as preg- 
 nant with danger to the constitution have been for- 
 mally adopted by the Legislature, without producing 
 any of the consequences that it was supposed would 
 follow from them, it is difficult to conceive how any 
 intelligent, unbiassed person could have concealed from 
 himself the necessity of the proposed reform in the 
 representation of the country the desirableness of 
 which had been pointed out by the great constitutional 
 authority Mr. Justice Blackstone.f The Earl of 
 Mornington, in 1793, witnessed with concern and 
 alarm the giant strides of democracy in neighbouring 
 states, and recoiled, naturally enough, from the wild 
 
 * 2 and 3 Wm. IV. c. 45. t Com. vol. I. chap. n.
 
 56 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 projects of the designing knaves and mischievous enthu- 
 siasts, who mix themselves up with every important 
 movement : but on what principle could Lord Morn- 
 ington defend the system that gave to Beeralston 
 
 the population of which " borough" had arrived at 
 
 the vanishing point in 1832 the power of sending 
 members to Parliament, while Manchester, with all its 
 wealth, population, and energetic industry with its 
 100,000 souls had not the power of electing a mem- 
 ber ? * The fallacy of his Lordship's argument con- 
 sisted in this, that the adoption of Mr. Grey's proposal 
 
 * The following is a list of the great towns which were unrepresented 
 in Parliament when Lord Mornington opposed Mr. Grey's motion, and 
 which were empowered by 2 and 3 Win. IV. c. 45, to return Members : 
 
 NEW BOROUGHS TO RETURN TWO MEMBERS TO PARLIAMENT. 
 
 
 Population. 
 
 
 Population, 
 
 Manchester 
 
 . 187,022 
 
 Lambeth . 
 
 203,329 
 
 Birmingham 
 
 142,251 
 
 Bolton 
 
 . 41,195 
 
 Leeds . 
 
 . 123,323 
 
 Bradford . 
 
 23,233 
 
 Greenwich 
 
 62,009 
 
 Blackburn . 
 
 . 27,091 
 
 Sheffield 
 
 . 90,657 
 
 Brighton . 
 
 40,684 
 
 Sunderland 
 
 43,078 
 
 Halifax 
 
 . 15,382 
 
 Devonport . 
 
 . 44,454 
 
 Macclesfield 
 
 23,129 
 
 Wolverhampton 
 
 67,414 
 
 Oldham 
 
 . 50,513 
 
 Tower Hamlets 
 
 . 359,820 
 
 Stockport . 
 
 25,469 
 
 Finsbury 
 
 244,077 
 
 Stoke-upon- Trent 
 
 . . 52,946 
 
 Marylebone . 
 
 . 240,294 
 
 Stroud 
 
 13,721 
 
 * The population of Saltash, for which Lord Mornington had been 
 returned, was three thousand and twenty-nine : Beeralston, for which 
 his Lordship previously sat, was, according to the parliamentary returns, a 
 perfect blank. The whole of the fifty-six disfranchised boroughs were 
 decayed, insignificant places ; the right to nominate members for which 
 was considered the private property of certain great individuals ! Yet it 
 was the theory of the constitution " that all elections of Members of 
 Parliament ought to be free to be made with an entire liberty without 
 any sort of force, OR THE REQUIRING THE ELECTORS TO CHOOSE SUCH PER- 
 SONS AS SHALL BE NAMED TO THEM."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 
 
 57 
 
 for a constitutional reform in Parliament or a resti- 
 tution of rights recognized in the ancient laws of the 
 country involved the reception of the wild theories 
 and profligate maxims of J. J. Rousseau, and the vir- 
 tual establishment of the ultra- democratic doctrines 
 and godless system of Thomas Paine. It must be ad- 
 mitted, that the political changes in progress in 
 Europe when his Lordship came forward as the oppo- 
 nent of Mr. Grey's measure of Reform were calculated 
 to excite alarm, even in the breast of the most enthu- 
 siastic reformer ; but the evils which had fallen on 
 neighbouring nations ought to have served as a warn- 
 ing to the British Legislature, to apply a timely remedy 
 to notorious evils, and not to trifle with popular dis- 
 content till it had been inflamed into settled rancour, 
 eager for an opportunity of vengeance and deliverance ! 
 The Earl of Mornington lived to see the groundlessness 
 of the apprehensions which he entertained in 1793 ; 
 and by a singular coincidence was, as Marquess Wel- 
 lesley, a member of the Government which, in 1832, 
 under the guidance of his old opponent, then Earl 
 
 NEW BOROUGHS TO RETURN ONE MEMBER TO PARLIAMENT. 
 
 
 Population. 
 
 
 Population. 
 
 Ashton-under-Lyne 
 
 . 33,597 
 
 Salford 
 
 50,810 
 
 Bury 
 
 15,086 
 
 South Shields 
 
 . 18,756 
 
 Chatham 
 
 . 19,000 
 
 Tynemouth 
 
 16,926 
 
 Cheltenham 
 
 22,942 
 
 Wakefield . 
 
 . 12,232 
 
 Dudley . . 
 
 . 23,043 
 
 Walsall . 
 
 15,060 
 
 Frome 
 
 12,270 
 
 Warrington . 
 
 . 16,018 
 
 Gateshead 
 
 . 15,177 
 
 Whitby . 
 
 10,399 
 
 Huddersfield 
 
 31,041 
 
 Whitehaven , 
 
 . 17,808 
 
 Kidderminster 
 
 . 14,981 
 
 Merthyr Tydvil . 
 
 30,000 
 
 Kendal , 
 
 11,265 
 
 
 
 Rochdale 
 
 . 25,764 

 
 58 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Grey, carried the Reform Bill.* His Lordship's 
 speech, however, to which we have referred, was cal- 
 culated to exalt him in the estimation of both the 
 King and his Lordship's colleagues ; and accordingly we 
 find that soon afterwards, 21st June 1793, he was sworn 
 a member of the English Privy Council ; and was ap- 
 pointed a Commissioner for the affairs of India, an 
 office which was peculiarly adapted to prepare him for 
 the efficient discharge of the high duties which after- 
 wards devolved upon him as Governor General of 
 India. 
 
 Mr. Pitt's Bill of 1784 appointed six Privy Council- 
 lors to be Commissioners for the affairs of India ; of 
 whom, one of the Secretaries of State for the time 
 being was President. These Commissioners, who were 
 appointed by his Majesty, and removable at his plea- 
 sure, were vested with a control and superintendence 
 over all civil, military, and revenue officers of the East 
 India Company ; and the Directors of that corporation 
 were obliged to lay before them all papers relative to 
 the management of their possessions ; and to obey all 
 orders which they received from them, on points con- 
 nected with their civil or military government, or the 
 revenues of their territories. The Commissioners were 
 obliged to return the copies of papers which they 
 received from the Directors in fourteen days, with 
 their approbation, or to state at large their reasons 
 for disapproving of them ; and their dispatches, so 
 approved or amended, were to be sent to India, unless 
 the Commissioners should attend to any represen- 
 
 * The Marquess Wellesley was Lord Steward in Earl Grey's 
 Ministry, 22nd Nov. 1830.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 59 
 
 tations of the Court of Directors, respecting further 
 alterations in them. 
 
 Lord Mornington applied himself with his charac- 
 teristic diligence to a thorough study of the various 
 interests of our Indian empire ; and obtained a mas- 
 terly and comprehensive knowledge of the relations of 
 the several states to the British Government, as well as 
 the power, resources, and position of the several parties 
 in the Peninsula. He acquainted himself, as far as 
 possible, with the details of every fact bearing upon the 
 commerce, the government, and the laws of the coun- 
 try ; and with the instinctive sagacity of great genius, 
 pondered upon the future destiny and the possible exi- 
 gencies of Hindostan. It has been already mentioned, 
 that the first subject on which Lord Mornington spoke 
 in the British House of Commons was that of India. 
 He appears to have directed his attention to it from 
 the beginning of his career in the English Parliament ; 
 and very probably regarded the post of Commissioner 
 for the affairs of India as a stepping-stone to the 
 splendid appointment of Governor-General. The no- 
 mination of Lord Mornington to the Board of Control 
 at this period when the public mind was so much 
 excited by the discussions in Parliament on the India 
 Bills, shows the confidence which Mr. Pitt and the 
 Government reposed in the judgment and discretion of 
 that nobleman, then in the thirty-fourth year of his
 
 60 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The War with France. Difficulty of deciding whether War might 
 honourably have been avoided, or not. The right of the French to 
 depose the Power that violated their fundamental Laws and the Prin- 
 ciples of Natural Justice. The French originally justified in their 
 Proceedings. Events become complicated, and the question in rela- 
 tion to Great Britain altered. Palliating circumstances of the French 
 Revolution considered. Publications of Burke, Macintosh, and 
 Erskine Death of Louis XVI. The French Ambassador required 
 to quit the Kingdom. Message from the King to Parliament to aug- 
 ment the Forces. In ten days afterwards the fact of War communi- 
 cated to both Houses. Opening of Parliament, January 1794. Ad- 
 dress to the Crown on the War. Lord Mornington's great Speech, 
 reviewing the Revolution, exhibiting its progress, and tracing the 
 Revolutionary Government step by step, holding up to reprobation all 
 the atrocities, blasphemies, violence, perfidy, and cruelty that were 
 enacted in France ; pointing out the spirit of aggression and wanton 
 violation of the Laws of Nations that animated the French, and 
 urging upon the Parliament, by every consideration that could be sup- 
 posed to influence Englishmen, to support the Crown in carrying on 
 with becoming energy this just and necessary War. Effect of the 
 Speech on the House. Mr. Sheridan's brilliant reply lo Lord Morn- 
 ington. Mr. Wyndham and Mr. Dundas defend Lord Mornington. 
 Mr. Fox criticises his Lordship's Speech. Mr. Pitt warmly eulogises 
 it. The effects of the French Revolution on the mind of Europe 
 considered. 
 
 THAT the war with France in 1793 might have been 
 delayed, or in some way avoided, few will now be dis- 
 posed to question ; but whether, under all the circum- 
 stances, it could have been evaded without compro- 
 mising the monarchical principle in Europe, without
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 61 
 
 danger to the permanent, political, and commercial 
 interests of Great Britain, and without the injury to 
 the constitution of this kingdom, which would pro- 
 bably have followed from a fraternizing with French 
 atheism and democracy, it is more difficult to decide. 
 That the French had a right to reform or remodel 
 their constitution, no Englishman could deny, without 
 reproaching his ancestors, who had declared that King 
 Richard the Second had broken the original contract 
 between the Sovereign and people, violated the funda- 
 mental laws of this realm, and by misgoverninent for- 
 feited the Crown; and who then, by the authority of 
 Parliament, conferred that Crown, with multiplied legal 
 solemnities, on Bolingbroke, afterwards King Henry the 
 Fourth. That the French were fully justified in hold- 
 ing an inquisition on the Government that had fla- 
 grantly abused the power which it possessed, by 
 gross and grievous oppressions, and had subverted the 
 fundamental laws of France, it is impossible to 
 doubt with the great precedent of 1688, sanctioning 
 and confirming the principle laid down by the English 
 Parliament in 1399, before us, declaring the throne 
 vacant, and summoning thereunto William Prince of 
 Orange and his wife Mary. If the French were jus- 
 tified, according to the principles of natural justice and 
 the law of nations, in proceeding to re-adjust their 
 Government, it is quite obvious that the coalition of 
 the Kings of Europe in 1792, for the purpose of in- 
 vading the frontiers of France, and constraining her 
 inhabitants to alter the form of government they had 
 chosen, was utterly indefensible. That coalition was 
 both a crime and a blunder an act of imbecility and
 
 62 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 folly, and a daring infringement of the jus gentium. 
 To it may be traced much of the savage phrenzy, the 
 terrible atrocities, and the unspeakable villany that 
 were developed in the later stages of the French revo- 
 lution. Much was said of French propagandism : but 
 what evoked that fell spirit 1 Those who based the 
 justification of the war with France upon the aggres- 
 sions which the French committed, might have recol- 
 lected that the Anti-Gallican coalition had provoked 
 those aggressions, and that in the month of July 
 1792, the following important proposition was sub- 
 mitted to Great Britain by the Government of France : 
 " The steps taken by the cabinet of Vienna amongst 
 the different Powers, and principally amongst the 
 Allies of his Britannic Majesty, in order to engage 
 them in a quarrel which is foreign to them, are known 
 to all Europe. If public report even were to be 
 credited, its successes at the Court of Berlin pre- 
 pare the way for others in the United Provinces ; 
 the threats held out to the different members of the 
 Germanic party to make them deviate from that wise 
 neutrality which their political situation and their 
 dearest interests prescribe to them ; the arrangements 
 taken with the different sovereigns of Italy to deter- 
 mine them to act hostilely against France ; and, lastly, 
 the intrigues by which Russia has been induced to 
 arm against the constitution of Poland ; everything 
 points out fresh marks of a vast conspiracy against free 
 states, which seems to threaten to precipitate Europe 
 in universal war. The consequences of such a confe- 
 deracy, formed by the concurrence of powers who have 
 been so long rivals, will be easily felt by his Britannic
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 63 
 
 Majesty ; the balance of Europe, the independence of 
 the different Powers, the general peace, every consi- 
 sideration which at all times has fixed the attention of 
 the English Government, is at once exposed and threat- 
 ened. The King of the French presents these serious 
 and important considerations to the solicitude and to 
 the friendship of his Britannic Majesty. Strongly 
 penetrated with the marks of interest and affection 
 which he has received from him, he invites him to seek, 
 in his wisdom, in his situation, and in his influence, 
 means compatible with the independence of the French 
 nation, to stop, while it is still time, the progress of 
 that confederacy which equally threatens the peace, 
 the liberty, the happiness of Europe; and above all, to 
 dissuade from all accession to this project, those of his 
 Allies whom it may be wished to draw into it, or who 
 may have been already drawn into it, from fear, seduc- 
 tion, and different pretexts of the falsest as well of the 
 most odious policy." His Britannic Majesty declined 
 the proposed mediation, observing, "the same senti- 
 ments which have determined him not to take a part in 
 the internal affairs of France, ought equally to induce 
 him to respect the rights and independence of other 
 sovereigns, and especially his Allies." 
 
 There was something so exasperating in the idea of 
 foreign intervention ; something so repugnant to the 
 feelings of a brave people, in an attempt to overawe and 
 coerce them on the part of foreign Potentates, that we 
 can scarcely wonder at the tremendous energy with 
 which the whole French population rose in resistance 
 to the coalition of Kings, nor be surprised at the mad 
 excesses committed by men who had been goaded into
 
 64 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 hostilities with all Europe, and compelled to assume 
 the offensive in order to preserve their own existence. 
 
 But, in estimating the part taken by the Earl of 
 Moruington at this unparalleled crisis, it is not enough 
 to look at the circumstances which tend to palliate the 
 atrocities of the excited populace of France. The 
 question is, was the war, which has entailed upon 
 Great Britain and Ireland an enormous debt, and which 
 cost this kingdom some of its best blood, necessary 
 and justifiable 1 ? In this great controversy, in which 
 Burke, Mackintosh, and Erskine were the literary 
 combatants,* and in which Mornington, Pitt, Fox, 
 
 * See Reflections on the Revolution in France, p. 51 ; and a Regicide 
 Peace, by the Right Hon. Edmund Burke. 
 
 Vindicia: Gallicee, by James Mackintosh, of Lincoln's Inn, Esquire. 
 
 Observations on the War with France, by the Hon. Thomas Erskine. 
 
 " The French Revolution," observes Mr. Thomas Moore, in speaking 
 of the first of these remarkable publications, "still continued, by its comet- 
 like course to dazzle, alarm, and disturb all Europe. Mr. Burke had 
 published his celebrated ' Reflections' in the month of Nov. 1790, and 
 never did any work, with the exception perhaps of the ' Eikon Basilike,' 
 produce such a rapid, deep, and general sensation. The Eikon was the 
 book of a king, and this might in another sense be called the book of 
 kings ! Not only in England, but throughout all Europe in every part 
 of which monarchy was now trembling for its existence this lofty 
 appeal to loyalty was heard and welcomed. Its effect upon the already 
 tottering Whig party, was like that of ' the voice' in the ruins of Rome's 
 ' departing towers.' The whole fabric of the old Rockingham confe- 
 deracy shook to its base. Even some, who afterwards recovered their 
 equilibrium, at first yielded to the eloquence of this extraordinary book, 
 which, like the era of chivalry, whose loss it deplores, mixes a grandeur 
 with error, and throws a charm round political superstition, that will 
 long render its pages a sort of region of royal romance to which fancy 
 will have recourse for illusions that have lost their last hold on the 
 reason." Mr. (afterwards Lord) Erskine, in alluding to the same work, 
 says, *' differing wholly from Mr. Burke, and lamenting the conse- 
 quences of his late writings, I always think of the works and of the 
 author in this kind of temper. Indeed, when I look into my own mind I
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 65 
 
 Sheridan, and the other " chiefs of the eloquent war," 
 exerted the whole power of their Parliamentary rhetoric, 
 it becomes us to speak with great diffidence. Origi- 
 nally France had justice on her side ; she had unques- 
 tionably the right which, according to law of nature 
 and nations, every independent state hath and must 
 have, to regulate her own internal affairs. And not 
 only was France originally in the right, (viewing the 
 matter in relation to foreign countries,) but the confe- 
 deracy of the Allies was clearly in the wrong. The 
 proclamations of the Duke of Brunswick were vio- 
 lations of international law ; the fact that certain 
 German Princes were the proprietors of property in 
 Alsace, could afford no justification to an invasion for 
 the purpose of maintaining feudal rights by the means 
 of a foreign force, in opposition to the national will, 
 as declared in the legislature. We may go further, 
 and assert the general expediency and necessity of a 
 revolution in the government of France ; and admit 
 that a heavy responsibility rested upon those emigrant 
 nobles and clergy who, instead of remaining at home, 
 as the bulk of the English nobility did during the 
 usurpation of Cromwell, to moderate and assuage the 
 
 find its best lights and principles fed from that immense magazine of 
 moral and political wisdom which he has left as an inheritance to man- 
 kind for their instruction, I feel myself repelled by an awful and grate- 
 ful sensibility from petulantly approaching him." Mackintosh pays a 
 similar tribute to the genius of his great antagonist : " Argument every- 
 where dexterous and specious, sometimes grave and profound, clothed 
 in the most rich and various imagery, and aided by the most pathetic 
 and picturesque description, speaks the opulence and the powers of 
 that mind of which age has neither dimmed the descernment nor en- 
 feebled the fancy, neither repressed the ardour, nor narrowed the range." 
 Vindicite Gallicce. 
 
 VOL. I, F
 
 66 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 feelings of the people, basely deserted the post of dan- 
 ger and of duty; filling Europe with their lamenta- 
 tions, and inviting foreigners to invade their native 
 land, and by force of arms restore the ancient tyranny 
 which the French nation had discarded. So far we 
 can go with the opponents of the war.* But when we 
 
 * The feelings of a great portion of the English people with reference 
 to the French Revolution on its first outbreak, and the revulsion which 
 followed, is well expressed in the following fine stanzas of Coleridge : 
 " When France in wrath her giant limbs upreared, 
 
 And with that oath, which smote air, earth, and sea, 
 Stamped her strong foot and said she would be free, 
 Bear witness for me, how I hoped and feared ! 
 With what a joy my lofty gratulation 
 
 Unawed I sang, amid a slavish band : 
 And when to whelm the disenchanted nation, 
 Like fiends embattled by a wizard's wand 
 The monarchs marched in evil day, 
 And Britain joined the dire array ; 
 Though dear her shores and circling ocean, 
 Though many friendships, many youthful loves 
 
 Had swoll'n the patriot emotion, 
 And flung a magic light o'er all her hills and groves ; 
 Yet still my voice, unaltered, sang defeat 
 
 To all that braved the tyrant-quelling lance, 
 And shame too long delayed, and vain retreat ! 
 For ne'er, O Liberty ! with partial aim 
 I dimmed thy light or damped thy holy flame ; 
 But blessed the paeans of delivered France, 
 
 And hung my head and wept at Britain's name. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Forgive me, Freedom ! O forgive those dreams ! 
 
 I hear thy voice, I hear thy loud lament, 
 
 From bleak Helvetia's icy cavern sent 
 I hear thy groans upon her blood-stained streams ! 
 
 Heroes, that for your peaceful country perished, 
 And ye that, fleeing, spot your mountain-snows 
 
 With bleeding wounds ; forgive me, that I cherished 
 One thought that ever blessed your cruel foes ! 
 
 To scatter rage, and traitorous guilt, 
 
 Where Peace her jealous home had built ;
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 67 
 
 find the French passing the Rubicon occupying the 
 Netherlands seizing upon the sea-ports of Belgium 
 annexing that country to France, and thus menacing 
 the maritime supremacy of England ; when we see 
 French emissaries endeavouring to excite revolution in 
 Great Britain, and to establish an independent Galli- 
 cised republic in Ireland ; not only murdering their 
 King and Queen, and committing such inhuman atroci- 
 ties and freaks of anarchical fury, as to render it 
 incumbent on surrounding nations, on the principle of 
 self-preservation, to interfere, but publicly proclaim- 
 ing war against the principle of kingly government 
 and religion, and in the name of the National Assembly 
 of France offering their protection and alliance to all 
 nations desirous of recovering their liberties i. e. of 
 cashiering kings and priests ; above all, when we recol- 
 lect that the French revolutionary government struck 
 the first blow, that the mass of the French people 
 became possessed and infatuated with a desire for 
 rapine, pillage, and foreign war, and that England 
 
 A patriot race to disinherit 
 Of all that made their stormy wilds so dear ; 
 
 And with inexpiable spirit 
 
 To taint the bloodless freedom of the mountaineer 
 O France, that mockest Heaven, adulterous, blind, 
 
 And patriot only in pernicious toils, 
 Are these thy boasts, champion of human kind ? 
 
 To mix with kings in the low lust of sway, 
 Yell in the hunt, and share the murderous prey ; 
 To insult the shrine of Liberty with spoils 
 
 From freemen torn ; to tempt and to betray ? 
 The sensual and the dark rebel in vain, - 
 Slaves by their own compulsion ! In mad game 
 
 They burst their manacles and wear the name 
 
 Of Freedom, graven on a heavier chain ! 
 
 F 2
 
 68 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 was the oldest, the most constant, and the most power- 
 ful of the enemies of France, and therefore an object of 
 hatred to a vain and excited people, it would be diffi- 
 cult to censure the policy so warmly and so ably 
 recommended by the Earl of Mornington in 1794, 
 of which, as we shall soon see, his Lordship was 
 recognised as the most conspicuous champion. That 
 policy was bold, vigorous, decided, and adequate to the 
 occasion. If it has left to us the responsibility of a 
 heavy debt, it has transmitted to us the noble and 
 venerable fabric of the British Constitution unim- 
 paired ; it consolidated the English empire in all its 
 parts, preserved and extended the commerce of Eng- 
 land, established and confirmed the naval supremacy 
 of this nation, brought into play the great mental 
 energies and astonishing resources of this kingdom, and 
 added lustre to the renown of the British arms ; it 
 restored the balance of power in Europe, we may 
 add, it saved British India, and it preserved us from the 
 pest of having a godless levelling democracy * estab- 
 lished in the neighbourhood of our shores ! 
 
 The part sustained by Lord Mornington, with refer- 
 ence to the war with France, established his character 
 as one of the most able politicians of his time ; and, it 
 will be found, most materially influenced the course of 
 his policy when at the head of the government of 
 
 * It is not here meant that democracy is necessarily godless and level- 
 ling. In the United States there are great inequalities of property ; and 
 the general character of the people is decidedly religious. The Ameri- 
 cans achieved their revolution wisely and righteously ; they proceeded 
 soberly ; adhering to the great bulk of the laws and customs of their 
 ancestors (see Kent's Commentaries) ; and notwithstanding Paine's Age 
 of Reason, never abjured Christianity, or threw off the restraints of re- 
 ligion.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 69 
 
 India. His great speech in the House of Commons in 
 1794, to which Mr. Sheridan replied in a strain of 
 brilliant raillery and remarkable earnestness of feeling, 
 created a profound sensation throughout the nation ; 
 it vindicated the policy of the Government, of which 
 his Lordship formed a part, with singular ability ; 
 placing before the country, in all its bearings, the 
 merits of the question at issue between Great Britain 
 and France. 
 
 The tragical death of the unfortunate French King, 
 Louis XVI., created one general sentiment of indigna- 
 tion and abhorrence in every part of the kingdom. It 
 was immediately followed by the annexed note from Lord 
 Grenville, the Foreign Minister, to M. Chauvelin the 
 French Minister Plenipotentiary in England, ordering 
 him in the course of eight days to quit this realm : 
 
 " I am charged to notify to you, Sir, that the cha- 
 racter with which you have been invested at this 
 Court, and the functions of which have been so long 
 suspended, being now entirely terminated by the fatal 
 death of his late most Christian Majesty, you have no 
 more any public character here. The King can no 
 longer, after such an event, permit your residence here. 
 His Majesty has thought fit to order that you should 
 retire from this kingdom within the term of eight 
 days ; and I herewith transmit to you a copy of the 
 order, which his Majesty in his Privy Council has given 
 to this effect. I send you a passport for yourself and 
 your suite ; and I shall not fail to take all the other 
 necessary steps in order that you may return to 
 France with all the attentions which are due to the
 
 70 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 character of Minister Plenipotentiary from his most 
 Christian Majesty, which you have exercised at this 
 Court. " I have the honour to be, &c., 
 
 " GRENVILLE." 
 
 " Dated, Whitehall, January 24th, 1793." 
 
 Four days after the date of this note, the King sent 
 down a message to the House of Commons, in which, 
 after alluding to " the atrocious act recently perpe- 
 trated at Paris," his Majesty observed, " In the present 
 situation of affairs, his Majesty thinks it indispensably 
 necessary to make a further augmentation of his forces 
 by sea and land ; and relies on the known affection 
 and zeal of the House of Commons to enable his 
 Majesty to take the most effectual measures in the 
 present important conjuncture, for maintaining the 
 security and rights of his own dominions, for support- 
 ing his allies, and for opposing views of aggrandize- 
 ment and ambition on the part of France, which would 
 be at all times dangerous to the general interests of 
 Europe, but are peculiarly so when connected with the 
 propagation of principles which lead to the violation 
 of the most sacred duties, and are utterly subversive 
 of the peace and order of all civil society/' Mr. Pitt, 
 in the debate on this message, spoke of the death of 
 Louis as " a subject which, for the honour of human 
 nature, it would be better, if possible, to dismiss from 
 our memories, to expunge from the page of history, 
 and to conceal it both now and hereafter from the 
 observation of the world : 
 
 " Excidat ille dies aevo, neu postera credant 
 Secula ; nos certe taeeamus, et obruta multa 
 Nocte tegi nostrae patiamur erimina gentis."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 71 
 
 Up to this moment England had maintained a strict 
 neutrality ; during the previous summer France was en- 
 gaged in war with Austria and Prussia, but this coun- 
 try abstained from taking any part in it. The aggran- 
 dizements of France in Savoy and the Netherlands, in 
 defiance of several solemn engagements entered into 
 with England, and the declarations of members of the 
 French Government of an intention to excite a revolu- 
 tion in this kingdom, altered the posture of affairs, 
 and suggested an immediate augmentation of the 
 forces. Ten days after the message from which we 
 have quoted, another royal message was sent down to 
 Parliament, to the following effect : 
 
 " GEORGE R. 
 
 " His Majesty thinks proper to acquaint the 
 House of Commons that the assembly now exercising 
 the powers of government in France have, without pre- 
 vious notice, directed acts of hostility to be committed 
 against the persons and property of his Majesty's sub- 
 jects, in breach of the law of nations and the most po- 
 sitive stipulations of treaty ; and have since, on the 
 most groundless pretences, actually declared war against 
 his Majesty and the United Provinces. Under the 
 circumstances of this wanton and unprovoked aggres- 
 sion, his Majesty has taken the necessary steps to main- 
 tain the honour of his Crown, and to vindicate the 
 rights of his people ; and his Majesty relies with con- 
 fidence on the firm and effectual support of the House 
 of Commons, and on the zealous exertions of a brave 
 and a loyal people, in prosecuting a just and necessary 
 war, and in endeavouring, under the blessing of Provi-
 
 72 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 dence, to oppose an effectual barrier to the farther pro- 
 gress of a system which strikes at the security and 
 peace of all independent nations, and is pursued in 
 open defiance of every principle of moderation, good 
 faith, humanity, and justice. 
 
 " In a cause of such general concern, his Majesty has 
 every reason to hope for the cordial co-operation of 
 those powers who are united with his Majesty in the 
 ties of alliance, and who feel an interest in preventing 
 the extension of anarchy and confusion, and in contri- 
 buting to the security and tranquillity of Europe. 
 
 " G. R." 
 
 In all the responsibilities arising from these grave 
 events, the Earl of Mornington bore a part, his Lord- 
 ship being, at that time, one of the Lords of the Trea- 
 sury, and an influential member of the Government. 
 
 On the opening of Parliament on the 21st of January, 
 1794, a most important and memorable debate took 
 place on the original policy and the progress of the 
 war. The discussion originated in the motion for an 
 address of thanks to the King, in answer to his Ma- 
 jesty's speech.* The ministerial champion was Lord 
 
 * " That an humble address be presented to his Majesty to return his 
 Majesty the thanks of this House, for his most gracious speech from the 
 Throne. 
 
 " To assure his Majesty that the circumstances under which we are 
 assembled will not fail to command our most serious attention, as we are 
 sensible that, on the issue of the contest in which we are engaged, depends 
 the maintenance of our Constitution, laws, and religion, and the security 
 of all civil society. 
 
 " That we have observed with satisfaction the advantages which have 
 been obtained by the arms of the allied powers in different parts of Eu- 
 rope, and the change which has taken place in the general situation of
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 73 
 
 Mormngton, the leading advocate for amity with 
 France, Mr. Sheridan ; Pitt and Fox being content to 
 play subordinate parts on the occasion. We have the 
 advantage of having a copy of Lord Mornington's 
 
 affairs upon the Continent, since the commencement of the war : and that 
 we must in a particular manner congratulate his Majesty on the valuable 
 possessions which have heen acquired from the enemy ; on the undisputed 
 superiority at sea, which has enabled his Majesty to afford such effectual 
 protection to the commerce of his subjects ; and on the important and 
 decisive blow which has been given to the naval power of his enemies, 
 under circumstances which reflect the highest honour upon the conduct, 
 abilities, and spirit of his Majesty's commanders, officers, and forces, 
 both by sea and land. 
 
 " That the system from which our enemies have derived the means of 
 temporary exertion, founded as it is upon the violation of every principle 
 of justice, humanity, and religion, evidently productive of internal discon- 
 tent and confusion in France, and tending rapidly to exhaust the natural 
 and real strength of that country, appears to prove, in the strongest man- 
 ner, the necessity of vigour and perseverance on our part, and to afford in 
 itself a just expectation of ultimate success. 
 
 " That we must undoubtedly join with your Majesty in regretting the 
 necessary continuance of the war ; but we are persuaded that it would 
 be inconsistent with the essential interests of his Majesty's subjects to 
 look to the restoration of peace on any grounds but such as may provide 
 for their permanent safety, and for the independence and security of 
 Europe : and it is impossible for us not to perceive that the attainment 
 of these ends is obstructed by the prevalence of a system in France 
 equally incompatible with the happiness of that country and with the 
 tranquillity of all other nations. 
 
 " That we acknowledge his Majesty's goodness in having directed to 
 be laid before us copies of the Declaration which his Majesty has thought 
 proper to issue, and also of the several Conventions and Treaties which 
 his Majesty has concluded. 
 
 " That we most cordially rejoice that his Majesty has so much reason 
 to reflect with satisfaction on the steady loyalty and firm attachment to 
 the established Constitution and Government, which, notwithstanding the 
 continued efforts employed to mislead and to seduce, have been so gene- 
 rally prevalent amongst all ranks of his Majesty's subjects. That the 
 zeal and alacrity of the militia to provide for our internal defence, and 
 the distinguished bravery and spirit displayed on every occasion by his 
 Majesty's forces, both by sea and land, are the natural result of these
 
 74 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 speech, corrected by his Lordship himself, and pub- 
 lished in a pamphlet in 1794, under his own direction. 
 It deserves to be remarked, as a singular coincidence, 
 that the only speech ever known to have been cor- 
 rected for publication by Mr. Sheridan was the speech 
 in reply to Lord Mornington, delivered during this 
 debate. 
 
 sentiments, and might well be expected from a brave and free people, 
 animated by the example of his Majesty's illustrious progeny, and sen- 
 sible of the value of those blessings which it is the object of all our exer- 
 tions to preserve. 
 
 " That although we must at all times lament the necessity of any 
 additional burthens, we feel it our indispensable duty to make a speedy 
 and ample provision for the public service ; and that we steadily en- 
 deavour to defray those expenses which the exigencies of the time 
 must require, in such a manner as to avoid as far as possible any 
 pressure which could be severely felt by the nation. 
 
 " That his Majesty may be assured that in all our deliberations we can 
 never lose sight of the true grounds and origin of the war : we have been 
 called upon by every motive of duty and self preservation to repel an 
 attack upon his Majesty and his allies, founded upon principles which 
 tend to destroy all property, to subvert the laws and religion of every 
 civilized nation, and to introduce universally that wild and destructive 
 system of rapine, anarchy, and impiety, the effects of which, as they 
 have already been manifested in France, furnish a dreadful but useful 
 lesson to the present age and to posterity. 
 
 " That we are sensible that the discountenance or relaxation of our 
 exertions could hardly procure even a short interval of delusive repose, 
 and could never terminate in security or peace ; and we trust that all 
 his Majesty's subjects, impressed with the necessity of defending what- 
 ever is dear to them, and relying with confidence on the valour and 
 resources of their country, on the combined efforts of so large a part of 
 Europe, and above all on the incontestable justice of their cause, will 
 study to render their conduct a contrast to that of their enemies ; and 
 by cultivating and practising the principles of humanity, and the duties 
 of religion, will endeavour to merit the continuance of the divine favour 
 and protection which have been so eminently experienced by these 
 kingdoms." 
 
 The address was proposed by Lord Clifden, and seconded by Sir 
 Peter Burrell.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 75 
 
 Lord Mornington began his address by drawing the 
 attention of Parliament to the impossibility of retreat- 
 ing from the contest in which they had engaged. " If," 
 said his Lordship, " the present juncture of our affairs 
 afforded us a free option between war and peace ; if 
 the necessity which originally compelled us to engage 
 in the present contest had ceased, and the question for 
 our deliberation on this day were merely, whether we 
 should return to the secure and uninterrupted enjoy- 
 ment of a flourishing commerce, of an overflowing re- 
 venue, of tranquil liberty at home, and of respect and 
 honour abroad ; or whether, on the other hand, we 
 should wantonly commit to the doubtful chance of 
 arms all those accumulated blessings ; no man could 
 hesitate one moment in deciding on such an alternative. 
 To us, more especially, no other guide would be neces- 
 sary than our own recent experience. "Within our own 
 memory, the country has passed with such rapid steps 
 from the lowest state of adversity to the utmost degree 
 of opulence, splendour, and power, that all our minds 
 must be furnished with whatever useful lessons are to 
 be drawn from either fortune. We all know and have 
 felt what may be lost by the calamities of war, and 
 what may be gained by a wise improvement of the ad- 
 vantages of peace. But whether I revert to the grounds 
 and origin of this war, whether I look forward to the 
 probable issue of the contest, or fix my attention on 
 the inevitable effects of any attempt to abandon it in 
 the present crisis, my judgment is drawn to the painful 
 but irresistible conclusion, that no such alternative is 
 now before us. Our choice must now be made between 
 the vigorous prosecution of our present exertions, and
 
 76 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 an ambiguous state neither of open hostility nor of real 
 repose ; a state in which we should suffer most of the 
 inconveniences of war, in which we should enjoy 
 none of the solid advantages of peace ; in which, even 
 if we could purchase, at the expense of our honour and 
 our faith, a short respite from the direct attack of the 
 enemy, we should never for a moment feel the genuine 
 sense of permanent security, unless we could contem- 
 plate, without emotion, the rapid progress of the arms 
 and principles of France in the territories of our allies ; 
 unless we could behold, without anxiety, the rapid ap- 
 proaches of the same danger threatening the British 
 dominions ; unless we could sit at ease, with the axe 
 suspended over our heads, and wait with tranquillity 
 of mind the moment when these formidable enemies, 
 after the extinction of every element of order and re- 
 gular government in their own country, after the sub- 
 jugation of every foreign power whose allegiance might 
 assist us in our last struggles, strengthened by addi- 
 tional resources, animated by the prospect of new 
 plunder, and flushed with the triumphant success of 
 their prosperous crimes, should turn their whole force 
 against the British Monarchy, and complete their vic- 
 tory over the interests of civil society by the final 
 destruction of that fair fabric of government, under 
 which these happy kingdoms have so long enjoyed the 
 inseparable advantages of substantial liberty, settled 
 order, and established law. No part of the speech 
 from the Throne more fully meets my sentiments on 
 this important question, than that in which his Ma- 
 jesty recommends us to bear in mind the true grounds 
 and origin of the present war. We cannot have for-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 77 
 
 gotten that before the French had declared war against 
 us, we had seen in their conduct views of aggrandize- 
 ment, projects of ambition, and principles of fixed hos- 
 tility against all established government ; and we had 
 been convinced that, unless the foundation of our com- 
 plaints should be removed by a total alteration in their 
 system with respect to foreign nations, war on our part 
 would become at length inevitable. We cannot have 
 forgotten that, instead of endeavouring to remove our 
 just apprehensions, their explanations afforded fresh 
 motives of jealousy, and their conduct aggravated every 
 cause of offence ; until at length they interrupted all 
 negotiation by a sudden declaration of war, attended 
 by circumstances of unexampled perfidy and violence. 
 At that time we declared, at the foot of the Throne, 
 ' that we considered whatever his Majesty's subjects 
 held most dear and sacred, the stability of our happy 
 Constitution, the security and honour of his Majesty's 
 Crown, and the preservation of our laws, our liberty, 
 and our religion, to be all involved in the issue of the 
 present contest ; and we pledged ourselves that our zeal 
 and exertions should be proportioned to the importance 
 of the conjuncture, and to the magnitude and value of 
 the objects for which we had to contend. Impressions 
 conceived after such deliberate examinations, assur- 
 ances so solemnly pledged in the face of the nation 
 and of all Europe, will not be abandoned by the wis- 
 dom and firmness of this House, upon such suggestions 
 as have hitherto been offered in this debate. Before 
 we can be justified in relinquishing the principles by 
 which our proceedings have hitherto been governed, 
 we shall require satisfactory proof, either that the im-
 
 78 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 pressions which we had originally conceived of the 
 views of France were erroneous ; or that, by the course 
 of subsequent events, the success of the war is become 
 desperate and impracticable ; or that, from some im- 
 provement in the system and principles which prevail 
 in France and in the views and characters of those who 
 now exercise the powers of government there, the mo- 
 tives of justice and necessity which compelled us to 
 enter into the war no longer continue to operate." 
 
 On each of these propositions separately, and on the 
 combined result of the whole, Lord Mornington declared 
 his intention to bring the question to an issue. " In the 
 present moment, however superfluous it may appear to 
 search for any additional justification of our conduct, 
 or to endeavour to throw any new light on a question 
 already so well understood, yet it cannot but prove 
 satisfactory to us that a variety of occurrences since 
 the commencement of the war, and many new and 
 striking proofs have concurred to confirm the wisdom 
 and justice of our decision, not merely on general 
 grounds, but precisely on the very grounds on which it 
 was originally founded." " If," continued Lord Morn- 
 ington, " I could bring to your Bar the most malignant, 
 the most active, and the most able enemy of the Bri- 
 tish name in the National Convention, the author of 
 the most scandalous official libels against the views, in- 
 terests, and power of Great Britain, the author of the 
 most inflammatory speeches tending to provoke the 
 war in which we are engaged, the author of the decla- 
 ration of war itself, and the inventor of all the pre- 
 tences by which it has since been palliated both in 
 France and in England ; if I could bring him to a cross-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 79 
 
 examination in your presence, confront him with his 
 own reports, speeches, and manifestoes as with those of 
 his colleagues in office, and comparing the result of the 
 whole with concurrent and subsequent events, convict 
 him and his associates of falsehood, treachery, and pre- 
 varication, in all their pretended explanations of their 
 own designs, as well as in all their affected complaints 
 of the supposed views of his Majesty's counsels, I am 
 persuaded that you would not reject an investigation, 
 the issue of which must tend to confirm the nation in 
 the original justice of our cause : such is the nature of 
 the proof which I am about to offer to you." 
 
 Lord Mornington then called the attention of the 
 House of Commons to a letter addressed by Brissot, the 
 leader of the Diplomatic Committee and the mainspring 
 of the French Government at the breaking out of the 
 war, to his constituents in defence of his measures after 
 he had fallen into disgrace. " In that letter," said Lord 
 Mornington, " Brissot reveals the whole secret and 
 mystery of the French Revolution, and makes an open 
 confession of the principles by which France was di- 
 rected in her intercourse with other powers, of the 
 means which she employed, and of the ends which she 
 pursued." 
 
 " The views," said his Lordship, " which are attri- 
 buted to France previous to the war, were views of 
 aggrandizement and ambition, connected with the pro- 
 pagation of principles incompatible with, the exist- 
 ence of any regular government. The particular acts 
 by which those views were manifested were first, 
 the decree of the 19th of November,""" in which France 
 
 * 1792.
 
 80 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 made (according to her own language) a grant of uni- 
 versal fraternity and assistance, and ordered her gene- 
 rals everywhere to aid and abet those citizens who 
 had suffered, or might suffer hereafter, in the cause 
 of (what she called) liberty. Her sense of liberty, 
 as applied to England, was shown by the reception 
 of seditious and treasonable addresses, and by the 
 speeches of the President of the National Convention, 
 expressing his wish for the auspicious institution of 
 a British Convention, founded, as such an institution 
 must have been, upon the destruction of every branch 
 of our happy Constitution. 2nd. The conduct of 
 France in incorporating the territories of other powers 
 with her own, under colour of voluntary acts of union, 
 pretended to have been freely voted by the people : 
 particularly in the cases of Savoy and the Nether- 
 lands, of both which countries France had assumed 
 the sovereignty. 3rd. The opening of the Scheldt, 
 in direct violation of the most solemn treaties, gua- 
 ranteed by France herself. And, lastly, by her gene- 
 ral designs of hostility against Holland." 
 
 When the decree of the 19th of November was com- 
 plained of in England, the Executive Council of France 
 answered, that it would be injurious to the National 
 Convention to charge them with the project of pro- 
 tecting insurrections. Lord Mornington undertook to 
 show the hypocrisy of this reply : 
 
 "Brissot, in his confessions, is pleased to admit, 
 'that the decree of the 19th of November was absurd 
 and impolitic, and justly excited uneasiness in foreign 
 cabinets. 1 You shall now hear the wise, politic, and 
 conciliatory exposition of the principles of France,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 81 
 
 which he opposes to that decree. 'What was the 
 opinion of enlightened men of men who were re- 
 publicans before the 10th of August who desired 
 liberty, not only for their own country, but for all 
 Europe ? They thought that liberty might be estab- 
 lished every where, by exciting those for whom go- 
 vernment is administered against those who administer 
 it, and by proving to the people the facility and ad- 
 vantages of such insurrections/ This theory of uni- 
 versal liberty/' continued Lord Mornington, "founded 
 upon universal insurrection this system of exciting 
 the people against all regular -government, of what- 
 ever form, against all authority, of whatever descrip- 
 tion this plan for the instruction of the mob in the 
 advantages of disorder, and in the facility of outrage 
 and plunder, is deliberately applauded by Brissot, as 
 the established doctrine of the most moderate men in 
 France; to which no one could object, on account 
 of its absurdity or impolicy, or of its tendency to ex- 
 cite uneasiness in foreign cabinets." * 
 
 After quoting other passages from the writings of 
 Brissot and Condorcet, illustrative of the proceedings 
 of France with reference to Belgium, Lord Mornington 
 called the attention of the House to the conduct of 
 
 * " The King and his Parliament mean to make war against us ; will the 
 English Republicans suffer it ? Already these freemen show their dis- 
 content, and the repugnance which they have to bear arms against their 
 brothers, the French. Well ! we will fly to their succour ; we will make 
 a descent on the island ; we will lodge there fifty thousand caps of 
 liberty ; we will plant there the sacred tree, and we will stretch out our 
 arms to our Republican brethren ; the tyranny of their Government will 
 soon be destroyed. Let every one of us be strongly impressed with this 
 idea!" Letter of Monge, the French Minister of Marine, 31st Decem- 
 ber, 1792. 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the French revolutionary agents in the United States 
 of America, St. Domingo, and Constantinople : "In 
 America, Citizen Genet was appointed President by 
 Brissot and Le Brun : he there commenced his opera- 
 tions by the institution of a Jacobin club ; he publicly 
 insulted the magistrates ; disputed the acts of the 
 Government ; opened what he was pleased to call a 
 Consular Tribunal, under the authority of the French 
 Republic, for the condemnation of prizes within the 
 territory of America ; enforced the execution of its 
 sentences by acts of open violence ; and at length, 
 the powers and privileges of the consul acting under 
 his orders having been annulled by the President of 
 the United States, and his proceedings having been 
 checked, as being contrary to the law of nations, and 
 to the rules by which the relations of independent 
 states are governed, Citizen Genet presents a remon- 
 strance to the Secretary of State, in which he gravely 
 says that ' he does not recollect what the worm-eaten 
 writings of Grotius, Puffendorff, and Vattel say on 
 these subjects ; he thanks God he has forgotten what 
 those hireling civilians have written on the rights 
 of nations, in times of universal slavery ; but he knows 
 that his conduct has been agreeable to the spirit of 
 the French constitution, of the American constitution, 
 and of the rights of man, which are for ever engraven 
 on his heart, and from which he learns that an appeal 
 must be from the President, who is a mere ministerial 
 officer, to the sovereign people of America/ Thus 
 this disciple of Brissot takes upon himself to super- 
 sede every maxim of the law of nations, by doctrines 
 drawn from the constitution of France ; and, not con-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 83 
 
 tent with that outrage, he arrogates to himself the 
 right of interpreting the constitution of America by 
 reference to the same polluted source, and affects to 
 depose the President of the United States from his 
 constitutional authority under colour of the sacred 
 rights of man, and the indefeasible sovereignty of the 
 people ! Citizen Descorches, employed by the same 
 party at Constantinople, proceeded in the same spi- 
 rit ; he established Jacobin clubs, and held primary 
 assemblies for the propagation of the true faith of 
 liberty among the Janissaries of the Porte. Thus, 
 from Mr. Jefferson to the Reis Effendi, from the Pre- 
 sident of the United States of America to the Grand 
 Seignior, from the Congress to the Divan, from the 
 popular form of a republic to the most unmixed mili- 
 tary despotism, every mode and gradation of lawful 
 authority, or of established power, was the object of 
 deliberate, systematic, and uniform attack ! There is 
 another feature of this project which I cannot omit, 
 because it so nearly concerns the security of some of 
 the most valuable possessions of the British Empire. 
 We are told by Robespierre, that a part of the general 
 scheme of Brissot and his associates was to free and 
 arm all the negroes in the French colonies in the West 
 Indies. Brissot, instead of attempting to refute this 
 charge, takes merit to himself for the ingenuity and 
 simplicity of the invention. He says, that by the 
 simple operation of purifying the colonial system of 
 the French islands, he would have accomplished the 
 destruction of all the British colonies in the West 
 Indies. He adds 'This is a secret of which few 
 have any idea.' Those who have given their 
 
 G 2
 
 84 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 attention more particularly to the case of the African 
 negroes will be the first to feel the complicated horror 
 of this detestable project of massacre and desolation. 
 An abrupt emancipation of the slaves in the West 
 Indies, accompanied with the circumstance of putting 
 arms into their hands, would instantly occasion a scene 
 of bloodshed and misery which our imaginations could 
 scarcely conceive, if it had not already been realised in 
 the Island of St. Domingo, under the auspices of the 
 commissioners appointed by Brissot and his party. 
 There cannot be a more striking instance of the gene- 
 ral tendency of the views of those who governed France 
 at the time of the declaration of war ; it contains an 
 epitome of that extensive conspiracy against the order 
 of society and the peace of mankind, which we have 
 already considered in detail." 
 
 This was the first stage in Lord Mornington's argu- 
 ment. He had shown that the mischievous spirit of 
 the decree of the 19th of November, granting universal 
 fraternity, &c., had been avowed, acknowledged, and 
 defended by Brissot, while it was denied by the Execu- 
 tive Council in their communications with the British 
 Government, Brissot being the champion of all their 
 principles and the author of all their plans ; that Bris- 
 sot's exposition of this destructive spirit had been con- 
 firmed by a variety of concurrent circumstances ; and 
 that the arguments by which the difference of opinion 
 between the contending parties and France, with respect 
 to the decree of the 19th of November, had been main- 
 tained, served only to prove more strongly their unani- 
 mous agreement in the main principle of destruction 
 on which that decree was founded. The noble Lord
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 85 
 
 then proceeded to discuss the principle of the incorpo- 
 rations or re-unions of the different territories annexed 
 to the dominions of France ; dwelling strongly upon the 
 gross prevarications and contradictions of the author of 
 the declaration of war as well as the shallow artifices 
 employed by the Executive Council of France, in the 
 hope of concealing the ambitious views of the French 
 from the eyes of Europe. 
 
 " First, with respect to Savoy and Nice ; Brissot in 
 a report made to the National Convention, on the 12th 
 of January 1793, in the name of the Committee of 
 General Safety, a report intended to prepare them for 
 the approaching war, and professing to contain a full 
 and candid discussion of all the complaints of Great 
 Britain, uses these words ' The unanimous wish of all 
 the communities of Savoy, legitimates the union with 
 that country.' Thus writes Brissot before the com- 
 mencement of the war : observe how frankly and 
 honestly he has since confessed the truth. ' Cambon 
 wanted to unite everything, that he might sell every- 
 thing : thus he FORCED the union of Savoy and of 
 Nice. 1 With regard to the Netherlands, Brissot tells 
 us in his confessions, that Cambon, the French Minister 
 of Finance, forced that measure also with two views ; 
 the compulsory introduction of assignats into that 
 opulent country, and the universal plunder of property ; 
 he introduces Cambon and his party reasoning with 
 the Convention upon the manner of negotiating an 
 union with the free and sovereign people of Belgium, 
 in the following words : 'The mortgage of our assignats 
 draws near its end : what must be done \ Sell the 
 church property of Brabant ; there is a mortgage of
 
 86 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 two thousand millions (eighty millions sterling). How 
 shall we get possession of them 1 By an immediate 
 union ! Men's minds are not disposed to it. What 
 does that signify \ Let us make them vote by means 
 of money. Without delay, therefore, they secretly 
 order the Minister of Foreign Affairs to dispose of four 
 or five hundred thousand livres (20,000/. sterling) to 
 make the mob of Brussels drunk, and to buy proselytes 
 to the principle of union in all states. But even these 
 means, it was said, will obtain but a weak minority in 
 our favour : What does that signify \ Revolutions, 
 said they, are made only by minorities I It is the 
 minority which has made the Revolution of France.' 
 Thus," continued Lord Mornington, " you see that the 
 union of these vast territories, with all their immense 
 population, wealth, and commerce, was considered by 
 the French Minister of Finance as nothing more than 
 a mere financial operation, for the purpose of sup- 
 porting the sinking credit of his assignats. The 
 sacred regard paid to the general will of the people in 
 the doctrines respecting minorities, cannot have es- 
 caped the observation of the House. Something has 
 been already said of the means employed to obtain the 
 free consent of the people to these unions. On this 
 subject we have full information from Brissot. * Do 
 you believe the Belgians were ever imposed upon by 
 those votes and resolutions made by what is called 
 acclamation for their union, for which corruption paid 
 in part and fear forced the remainder 1 Who at this 
 time of day is unacquainted with the springs and wires 
 of their miserable puppet-show ? Who does not know 
 the forces of primary assemblies, composed of a presi-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 87 
 
 dent, of a secretary, and of some assistants, whose day- 
 work was paid for 1 ? How could they believe them- 
 selves free and sovereign when we made them take 
 such an oath as we thought fit, as a test to give them 
 the right of voting? What could the disarmed Bel- 
 gians object to all this, surrounded as they were with 
 seventy thousand men \ They had only to hold their 
 tongues, and to bow down their heads, before their 
 masters ! They did hold their tongues, and their 
 silence is received as a sincere and free assent ! ' Brissot 
 states, with equal force of language, the ruinous effects 
 of all these measures ; he says ' Despotism and anarchy 
 are the benefits which we have transplanted into 
 this soil ; we suppressed at once all their ancient 
 usages, all their prejudices, all the ranks and orders of 
 their society ; we proscribed their priests ; we treated 
 their religious worship with open marks of contempt ; 
 we seized their revenues, their domains, and their 
 riches, for the profit of the nation ; we carried to the 
 very altar those hands which they regarded as profane. 
 Doubtless,' adds Brissot, 'these operations were founded 
 on true principles, but those principles ought to have 
 had the consent of the Belgians before they were car- 
 ried into practice.' Have, then/' demanded Lord 
 Mornington, " the e true principles' of France been mis- 
 represented or exaggerated in this House \ Is it pos- 
 sible for the most honest and enthusiastic indignation 
 which the scenes exhibited in France have raised in 
 any British heart to vent itself in terms of more se- 
 verity than those which Brissot has used in expound- 
 ing what he justly calls the true principles of the 
 French Republic!"
 
 88 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Lord Mornington then, with great effect, confronted 
 Brissot's confession in his communication to his con- 
 stituents with Brissot's official report, in the name of 
 the Committee of General Defence, 12th Jan. 1793, 
 in which he stated, " that the Belgians themselves 
 formed, and alone will form their constitution ;" as 
 well as with the declaration of the Executive Council. 
 " It is difficult," said his Lordship, " to determine whe- 
 ther the prevarications of Brissot, the reporter from the 
 Committee of the General Safety, or the subterfuges of 
 the Executive Council are most worthy of animadver- 
 sion ; both are so gross and flagrant that I cannot 
 aggravate by any comments the impression which 
 they have already made." The noble Lord then 
 traced minutely the whole course of the hostile policy 
 of the French toward Holland ; and contended, that 
 the facts which he had submitted to the House all 
 tended to confirm those impressions as to the ulterior 
 designs of France, which had induced Parliament to 
 enable his Majesty to augment his forces previous to 
 the declaration of war. " The aggression of France, 
 which was the immediate cause of the war," said Lord 
 Mornington in continuation, " forms another material 
 branch of the argument ; it was attempted to be justi- 
 fied under the pretence of certain alleged acts of hos- 
 tility, particularly the stopping the export of corn to 
 France in the month of November 1792 : that measure 
 was defended by my right honourable friends near me 
 on the ground of their knowledge that warlike prepara- 
 tions were then actually making in France. Upon this 
 subject, Brissot's testimony is not only ample and un- 
 equivocal, but it proves that preparations had been
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 89 
 
 commenced at an earlier period, and were proposed to 
 be carried on to a much greater extent than could have 
 been supposed by any person in this country in the 
 month of November. While France was thus prepar- 
 ing an armament against the maritime powers of Eu- 
 rope, what should we have thought of the conduct of 
 our ministers, if they had suffered the export of corn to 
 that country, and thereby had contributed to accele- 
 rate the equipment of those formidable fleets which the 
 Minister of Marine had engaged to provide 1 But, 
 while we are inquiring in this House the immediate 
 cause of the war, we may derive some useful informa- 
 tion on that head from the contentions and divisions 
 which have disturbed the councils of our enemies. In 
 the Act of Accusation against Brissot and his party, 
 one principal charge is, ' the proposal from the diplo- 
 matic committee by the organ of Brissot, to declare 
 war abruptly against England, war against Holland, 
 war against all the powers which had not yet declared 
 themselves. 1 During the trial of Brissot, Chaumette 
 says in the Jacobin club, ' Every patriot has a right to 
 accuse in this place the man who voted the war ; and 
 the blood which has been shed in the Republic and 
 without the Republic in consequence of it, shall be 
 their proofs and their reasons.' Robespierre, in his 
 Report on the 17th of November, 1793, says, 'With 
 what base hypocrisy the traitors insisted on certain 
 pretended insults said to have been offered to our am- 
 bassador ! ' Brissot, on the other hand, replies, ' Who 
 has been the author of this war 1 The anarchists only, 
 and yet they make it a crime in us/ Robespierre im- 
 putes it to Brissot ; Brissot retorts it upon Robespierre ;
 
 90 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the Jacobites charge it upon the Girondists ; the Gi- 
 rondists recriminate upon the Jacobins ; the -Mountain 
 thunders it upon the Valley, and the Valley re-echoes 
 it back against the Mountain. For my part, I condemn 
 them both the share of this guilt which belongs to 
 Brissot and his associates is already known to you. 
 They who murdered Brissot and his associates upon the 
 scaffold were not only the most active promoters of the 
 decree of the 19th of November and of the several 
 unions, but the principal agents in all the odious vexa- 
 tions exercised over the people of the Netherlands, and 
 not one voice among them was raised against the mea- 
 sures which immediately led to the war. Therefore I 
 repeat it, whatever be the crime of having drawn down 
 upon their own country the indignation of Great Britain 
 and of her numerous allies, and of having fomented a 
 general war in Europe, I charge that crime equally 
 upon both these sanguinary factions/' 
 
 Lord Mornington then entered into an examination 
 of the various operations during the first campaign of 
 the war. In mentioning the success of the Allies in 
 Holland, his Lordship quoted a remarkable observation 
 of Eobespierre, regretting that Duinouriez had not in- 
 vaded Holland immediately after the conquest of the 
 Netherlands. * If we had invaded Holland, we should 
 have become masters of the Dutch navy ; the wealth of 
 that country would have been blended with our own ; 
 her power added to that of France, the Government of 
 England would have been undone, and the Revolu- 
 tion of Europe secured.' The success of his Britannic 
 Majesty's navy had been signal. 'In the month of 
 March,' observed Brissot, ' all our privateers were de-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 91 
 
 stroyed by the English in the Channel. In the month 
 of April our trading-vessels were taken by English 
 frigates at the very mouths of our rivers.' Having 
 drawn attention to the advantages gained over the 
 French in Newfoundland, the islands of Tobago and 
 St. Domingo, Lord Mornington adverted to the posture 
 of affairs in Asia. It is evident from his remarks, that 
 he had even then conceived in his mind the outline of 
 that policy which afterwards distinguished his adminis- 
 tration in British India, and imparted unity, strength, 
 and solidity to our colossal eastern empire. " In the 
 East Indies the French have been expelled from all their 
 possessions excepting Pondicherry, the capture of which 
 could not (according to the latest advices) long be de- 
 layed. The acquisition of the fort of Mahe, on the 
 coast of Malabar, is of the greatest advantage to our 
 new territories on that coast, both with a view to the 
 commerce and good government of those countries ; in 
 a political view, it is obviously of considerable import- 
 ance that the French should not continue to hold a 
 possession which afforded them the means of so direct 
 and easy an intercourse with Tippoo Sultan." 
 
 Having dwelt at some length on the history of 
 the revolutionary government, Lord Mornington con- 
 tinued : " Such was the origin, and such is the form 
 of that monster in politics, of which, as the very notion 
 involves a contradiction of ideas, the name cannot be 
 expressed without a contradiction in terms A Revo- 
 lutionary Government ! a government which, for the 
 ordinary administration of affairs, resorts to those 
 means of violence and outrage which had hitherto 
 been considered, even in France, as being exclusively
 
 92 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 appropriated to the laudable and sacred purpose of 
 subverting all lawful and regular authority. The 
 sense of the epithet, Revolutionary, which is so la- 
 vishly applied by the Convention to every part of this 
 new system, requires some explanation. An extract 
 from the proceedings of the National Convention, will 
 serve to exemplify the manner in which that singular 
 phrase is understood and admired by the most un- 
 questionable authority in the service of revolutions. 
 Barrere makes a report respecting the situation of the 
 Republic in the month of December ; he reads a va- 
 riety of dispatches from the National Commissioners in 
 various parts of the Republic ; and at length he pro- 
 duces a letter from Carrier, one of the Commissioners 
 of the Convention, dated Nantz, December the 10th. 
 This letter, after giving an account of a successful 
 attack against the Royalists, concludes with the follow- 
 ing remarkable words : ' This event has been follow- 
 ed by another, which has, however, nothing new in its 
 nature. Fifty-eight individuals, known by the name 
 of refractory priests, arrived at Nantz from Angers. 
 They were shut up in a barge on the river Loire, 
 and last night they were all sunk to the bottom of that 
 river. What a revolutionary torrent is the Loire ! ' 
 You expect to hear, perhaps, that the disgusting rela- 
 tion of this inhuman action raised some emotions of 
 horror, if not of compassion, in the audience ; you 
 expect to hear that the Convention manifested its 
 resentment at this abuse of the revolutionary lan- 
 guage ; but does any symptom of such sentiments 
 appear 1 No ! after having listened to this interesting 
 report, the Convention votes the following resolu-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 93 
 
 tion : ' The National Convention, highly satisfied with 
 the report of Barr&re, orders it to be printed, inserted 
 in the votes, and sent to all the armies/ Highly 
 satisfied with this figurative illustration of the style 
 and title of that mild government which they had so 
 lately instituted, they order it to be proclaimed and 
 published over the whole territory of the Republic, to 
 conciliate the affections of a free people and animate 
 the enthusiasm of a brave and generous army. Here 
 you learn the full force and energy of their new phra- 
 seology. The Loire is a revolutionary torrent because 
 it has been found an useful and expeditious instrument 
 of massacre, because it has destroyed by a sudden and 
 violent death fifty-eight men, against whom no crime 
 was alleged but the venerable character of their sacred 
 functions and the faithful adherence to the principles 
 of their religion. But this event is truly said to have 
 nothing new in its nature ; I dwell upon it for the ap- 
 plication of the phrase, not for the singularity of the 
 fact : every proceeding since the commencement of the 
 troubles in France which has been dignified by the 
 title of revolutionary, is marked with similar characters 
 of violence or blood. The seizure of the property of 
 the clergy and the nobility was a revolutionary mea- 
 sure ; the assassinations of Foulon and Berthier at 
 Paris, and of the King's guards at Versailles in the 
 year 1789, were revolutionary measures. All the suc- 
 ceeding outrages, the burning of the title-deeds and 
 country-houses of all gentlemen of landed property, the 
 numberless confiscations, banishments, proscriptions, and 
 murders of innocent persons all these were revolu- 
 tionary measures ; the massacres of the 1 Oth of Au-
 
 94 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 gust and the 2nd of September the attempt to extend 
 the miseries of civil discord over the whole world, the 
 more successful project of involving all Europe in the 
 calamities of a general war, were truly revolutionary 
 measures ; the insulting mockery of a pretended trial 
 to which they subjected their humane and benevolent 
 sovereign, and the horrid cruelty of his unjust, precipi- 
 tate, and execrable murder were most revolutionary 
 measures : it has been the art of the ruling faetion of 
 the present hour to compound and to consolidate the 
 substance of all these dreadful transactions into one 
 mass, to concentrate all their noxious principles, and, 
 by a new process, to extract from them a spirit which 
 combines the malignity of each with the violence of all, 
 and that is the true spirit of a REVOLUTIONARY GOVERN- 
 MENT ! " 
 
 The revolutionary system of Finance next came 
 under review. Lord Mornington, with great ability, 
 exhibited to the House the fiscal operations of the 
 French Government in all their details. Speaking of 
 the efforts employed to procure gold and silver, his 
 Lordship observed : " It will appear rather extraordi- 
 nary to the House that the first measure taken with 
 this view should have been the proscription of those 
 metals. A letter is received from Fouch^, commis- 
 sioner in the central and western departments, in 
 which you may perceive the first symptoms of a grow- 
 ing indignation against gold and silver. He says 
 ' Gold and silver have been the causes of all the cala- 
 mities of the Republic : I know not by what weak 
 compliance those metals are still suffered to remain in 
 the hands of suspected persons ; let us degrade and
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 95 
 
 vilify gol(J and silver; let us fling these deities of 
 monarchy in the dirt, and establish the worship of the 
 austere virtues of a republic.' He however adds " I 
 send you seventeen chests filled with gold, silver, and 
 plate of all sorts, the spoil of churches and castles : you 
 will see with peculiar pleasure two beautiful croziers, 
 and a ducal coronet of silver gilt.' This ingenious 
 idea of vilifying and degrading valuable effects by 
 seizing them for the use of the Republic, is not lost 
 upon the French Minister of Finance. A few days 
 after the receipt of this letter, a citizen appears at the 
 bar, and desires to be permitted to exchange certain 
 pieces of gold and silver bearing the image of the 
 tyrant for Republican paper. This patriotic and disin- 
 terested offer, as you may imagine, was gladly accepted 
 by the Convention ; but, upon a motion being made 
 that honourable mention of this transaction should be 
 inserted in the notes, the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 rises with the utmost indignation to oppose so mon- 
 strous a proposition ; he delivers- a most eloquent 
 and vehement invective against gold and silver : he 
 says, ' In a short time the world will be too happy, if 
 we should deign to receive pieces of metal bearing the 
 effigy of tyrants in exchange for Republican assignats ; 
 already the whole nation rejects and despises those 
 corrupting metals, which tyrants originally brought 
 from America for the sole purpose of enslaving us. I 
 have in contemplation the plan of a sumptuary law, by 
 which I will drive the vile dung once more into the 
 bowels of the earth.' What was the sumptuary law by 
 which the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed to ac- 
 complish this salutary reform ? Here is that excellent
 
 96 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 law. ' All gold and silver metal in specie or plate, all 
 jewels, gold and silver lace, or valuable effects which 
 shall be discovered buried in the earth, or concealed in 
 cellars, walls, rubbish, floors or pavements, hearths or 
 chimneys, or in any secret place, shall be seized and 
 confiscated for the use of the Republic ; and the in- 
 former shall receive a twentieth part of the value of 
 whatever he shall discover; to be paid in assignats.' 
 Concealment alone is the crime on which the law at- 
 taches, without even any of the ordinary pretences of 
 aristocracy or disaffection. In consequence of this de- 
 cree, every place in which it was possible to conceal 
 treasure is searched with the utmost rigour ; the pri- 
 vacy of every house is violated ; every cellar and garden 
 is dug up ; and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with 
 the most unrelenting spirit of persecution, pursues the 
 objects of his hatred and contempt even to the bowels 
 of the earth, where he had threatened to drive them." 
 The formal renunciation of religion in France the 
 public abjuration of the faith of Jesus and the bold 
 denial of the existence of a God, produced sentiments 
 of horror in England, and excited a spirit of deep 
 indignation throughout all ranks and classes of the 
 people. Lord Mornington did not fail, in the course of 
 his address, to bring these circumstances, in all their 
 deformity, before the attention of the House : " The 
 Commissioners in the several departments," observed 
 his Lordship, " received instructions to enlighten the 
 public mind, and to encourage the abdication of the 
 clergy. Some extracts from the addresses of the 
 clergy, and from the letters of the National Commis- 
 sioners, will best explain the true spirit of these pro-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 97 
 
 ceedings. An address, dated the 30th of October, from 
 the curate of Villos de Luchon, says ' For my part, I 
 believe that no religion in any country in the world is 
 founded in truth. I believe that all the various reli- 
 gions in the world are descended from the same pa- 
 rents ; they are the daughters of Pride and Ignorance. 
 I believe that heaven is nothing more than the happi- 
 ness which attends virtue on earth. I render this 
 solemn homage to Truth. Universal morality is be- 
 come my gospel ; and henceforth I mean to draw my 
 texts from thence alone, and to preach in no other 
 cause than that of liberty and of my country.' Upon 
 receiving this address the Convention decrees, ' that all 
 similar addresses of renunciation, of the ecclesiastical 
 character and of the functions relating to it, shall be 
 lodged with the Committee of Public Instruction, which 
 is ordered to take effectual measures for rendering all 
 such public acts useful to the history of the revolution 
 and to the public education.' This proceeding does not 
 satisfy the eagerness of Thuriot : he observes that he 
 has no doubt that the new creed will soon efface all 
 memory of the old. But in order that truth may be 
 carried into every part of the Republic with more 
 promptitude and effect, he moves that all similar let- 
 ters should be translated into all the provincial idioms ; 
 and upon his motion it is decreed, that all renunci- 
 ations of the functions of religion shall be translated 
 into all foreign languages. In the same month, the 
 Archbishop of Paris enters the Convention, accompanied 
 by a solemn procession of his vicars, and by several 
 curates of Paris : he makes a speech, in which he re- 
 nounces the priesthood in his own name and in the 
 VOL. i. H
 
 98 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 name of all his attendants ; and he declares, that ' he 
 does it because he is convinced that no national wor- 
 ship should be tolerated, excepting the worship of 
 Liberty and Equality.' The votes of the Convention 
 mention that the Archbishop and his curates were re- 
 ceived and embraced with transport by the whole Con- 
 vention ; and that the Archbishop was solemnly pre- 
 sented with a red cap. The day concludes with a 
 speech from Julien of Toulouse, a member of the Con- 
 vention and a minister of the Protestant Church : he 
 says, ' For twenty years have I exercised the functions 
 of a Protestant minister ; I declare that I renounce 
 them for ever. In every religion there is more or less 
 of quackery. It is glorious to be able to make this 
 declaration under the auspices of reason, of philosophy, 
 and of that sublime constitution which has already 
 overturned the errors of superstition and monarchy in 
 France, and which now prepares a similar fate for all 
 foreign tyrannies. I declare that I will no longer enter 
 into any other temple than the sanctuary of the laws ; 
 that / will acknowledge no other God than Liberty; 
 no other worship than that of my country ; no other 
 gospel than the Republican Constitution. Such is my 
 profession of moral and political faith.' The letters of 
 the National Commissioners are full of the same zeal. 
 Lequinio and Laignelot, deputies of the Convention, 
 wrote to that assembly from Rochefort, on the 2nd of 
 the same month, in these words : ' Eight priests of the 
 Catholic persuasion and one minister of the Protestant 
 Church unfrocked themselves on the day of the last 
 decade, in the presence of the whole people, in the 
 Temple of Truth, heretofore called the parish church of
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 99 
 
 this town : they abjured the errors which they had so 
 long taught, and they swore henceforth to teach no- 
 thing but the great principles of morality and of sound 
 philosophy ; to preach against all tyrannies, political 
 and religious ; and at length to display the light of 
 reason to mankind. The whole people, Protestants and 
 Catholics, swore to forget their ancient superstition. 
 Everything goes on smoothly here : the people, of their 
 own accord, approach the torch of Reason, which we 
 hold up to them with an air of mildness and fraternity. 
 The Revolutionary Tribunal which we have established 
 quickens the motions of the Aristocrats ; and the guil- 
 lotine strikes the heads of traitors to the ground.' 
 Boissett, another commissioner, gives an account of his 
 operations in the departments of Ardche la Drome, 
 du Gard, and Herault. He says, ' Fanaticism is de- 
 stroyed. Catholics and Protestants, forgetting their 
 former animosities, unite in the same worship that of 
 Liberty and the Laws. The altars of Christianity are 
 replaced by altars more holy.' Wherever the priests 
 could not be induced by corruption to abjure their pro- 
 fession; wherever the people did not willingly approach 
 the torch of Reason and Truth, the most rigorous mea- 
 sures of persecution were adopted. Dumont, one of the 
 National Commissioners, announces to the Convention 
 that, in order to destroy fanaticism, he arrests all 
 priests who celebrate religious ceremonies on Sundays. 
 He adds, ' that he includes those monsters called 
 priests in his general list of proscription ; and that he 
 has made several captures of those infamous bigots.' 
 This letter was greatly applauded in the Convention. 
 But the zeal of the municipality of Paris was most 
 
 H 2
 
 100 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 eminently distinguished in every period of this im- 
 pious and cruel persecution. They decreed, ' that all 
 churches and temples of religious worship, of whatever 
 denomination, should be instantly shut; that the 
 priests and ministers of the different religions should 
 be responsible for any commotions on account of reli- 
 gion which might happen in consequence of this de- 
 cree ; that any person requiring the opening of a 
 church or temple for the celebration of religious wor- 
 ship of any kind, should be put under arrest as a sus- 
 pected person ; and that the Revolutionary Committees 
 should be invited to keep a watchful eye over the 
 clergy of every denomination.' In consequence of this 
 decree, the cathedral church of Notre Dame at Paris, 
 and all the parish churches, were shut up for some 
 time, until they could be regenerated and purified 
 from every taint of Christianity." 
 
 Lord Mornington, having related the circumstances 
 attending the renunciation of the service of God by a 
 Jewish Rabbi, proceeded : " On the same day a report 
 was received from the popular Society of the Section of 
 the Museum, announcing that they had executed justice 
 upon all the books of superstition and falsehood ; that 
 breviaries, missals, legends, together with the Old and 
 New Testament, had expiated in the fire the follies which 
 they had occasioned among mankind.* In order to take 
 the lead in completing the salutary work in which 
 they had hitherto borne so active a part, the Council 
 
 On the 1st of November, 1793, Fouche ordered a festival at Lyons, 
 in honour of Chalier. An ass formed a conspicuous part of the proces- 
 sion, having a mitre fastened between his ears and dragging in the dirt a 
 Bible, tied to its tail, which Bible was finally burnt before the populace, 
 and its ashes scattered to the winds !
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 101 
 
 General of Paris decreed * that a civic feast should be 
 celebrated in the heretofore cathedral church, and that 
 a patriotic hymn should be chanted before a statue of 
 Liberty, to be erected in the place of the heretofore 
 Holy Virgin.' You remember," continued the noble 
 Lord, "the circumstances of that extravagant orgy to 
 which this decree was the prelude. You remember 
 the introduction of the Goddess of Reason into the 
 Convention, the fraternal ardour with which she was 
 embraced by the President in the chair, by the Secre- 
 taries at the table, and by all the members present, 
 and the piety with which she was afterwards publicly 
 worshipped by the whole legislature of France in the 
 cathedral church, or, to use their own language, in the 
 regenerated Temple of Reason and Truth. There the 
 Archbishop of Paris officiated in his new character, 
 with a red cap on his head, and a pike in his hand ; 
 and with that sacred weapon, which he bore as the 
 symbol of the united deities of Reason and Liberty, 
 having destroyed or defaced whatever emblems of the 
 Christian religion had escaped in the first purification 
 of the regenerated Temple, he terminated this auspi- 
 cious ceremony by placing the bust of the regicide 
 Marat on the altar of God ! To perpetuate the me- 
 mory of this solemn act and celebrity of Atheism, the 
 Convention voted that a colossal statue should be 
 erected upon the ruins of all the emblems of monarchy 
 and religion. The Sections of Paris congratulated the 
 Legislature ' that Reason had gained so great a victory 
 over Superstition ; that a religion of error and of 
 blood was annihilated, a religion which for eighteen 
 centuries had occasioned nothing but evils upon earth,
 
 102 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and yet it was pretended to be of divine origin ! Such 
 are the works, such are the trophies of this religion ! 
 may it be obliterated from the face of the earth ! 
 Happiness will then return ; mankind will live like 
 friends and brothers : from this auspicious moment, 
 History, whose painful task has hitherto been to record 
 the crimes of religion, shall have nothing to commemo- 
 rate but virtue and happiness. We swear that we will 
 tolerate no other worship than that of reason, liberty, 
 equality, and the republic ! ' It appears by the votes 
 that the whole Convention joined in this oath ; and the 
 President made the following reply to this address : 
 ' In a single moment you have annihilated the memory 
 of eighteen centuries of error. Your philosophy has 
 offered to Reason a sacrifice worthy of her acceptance, 
 and fit to proceed from a true republican spirit. The 
 Assembly receives your offering and your oath in the 
 name of the country.' From the mouths of the prin- 
 cipal actors in this extraordinary scene," continued 
 Lord Mornington, " I have brought before you the 
 scope and aim of their design. It was not (as we have 
 been told on this day) to purify their own established 
 mode of worship, and to clear it from the errors of the 
 Church of Rome. Protestants were invited to unite 
 with Catholics in the extinction of the Protestant as 
 well as of the Catholic religion ; Protestants as well as 
 Catholics were denied the liberty of assembling for the 
 purpose of public worship ; Protestant as well as Ca- 
 tholic churches were shut up ; and those who dared to 
 celebrate religious worship of any kind were arrested, 
 and treated as suspected persons. Christianity was 
 stigmatized through the organ of the President of the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 103 
 
 Convention, amidst the applauses of the whole audi- 
 ence, as a system of murder and massacre, which could 
 not be tolerated by the humanity of a revolutionary 
 government. The Old and New Testament were pub- 
 licly burnt as prohibited books. Nor was it even to 
 Christianity of any denomination that their hatred was 
 confined. Even Jews were involved in this compre- 
 hensive plan : their ornaments of public worship were 
 plundered, and their vows of irreligion recorded with 
 enthusiasm. The rigour of the laws respecting fo- 
 reigners was relaxed, in order that impiety might be 
 propagated for the general benefit of all mankind. 
 The existence of a future state was openly denied, and 
 modes of burial devised for the express purpose of 
 representing to the minds of the people that death was 
 nothing more than an everlasting sleep.* And, to 
 complete the whole project, doctrines were publicly 
 circulated, under the eye of the Government, main- 
 taining that the existence of a supreme God was an 
 idea inconsistent with the liberty of man. And yet 
 a noble Earlf in this debate has lamented that the 
 French Government should have met with any interrup- 
 tion in their laudable efforts for the destruction of 
 despotism and superstition ! I trust these expressions 
 were inconsiderately used : we are not yet sufficiently 
 enlightened in this House to consider an attack upon 
 Christianity, and even against the belief and worship 
 of a God, as a laudable effort to destroy superstition. 
 
 " Fouche, in 1793, issued a decree in the department of Nievre, di- 
 recting the words, " Death is an eternal sleep I" to be placed over the 
 entrance of every hurial ground. 
 
 f Lord Wycombe.
 
 104 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 * * * Such were the pro- 
 
 ceedings by which the abolition of religion was at- 
 tempted in France : but for the honour of human 
 nature they did not answer the expectations of those 
 who had digested the plan, and had been most active 
 in providing the means for its execution. Disciplined 
 in crimes, and accustomed to every scene of rapine, 
 injustice, and cruelty, the people of France could not 
 yet be induced to renounce for ever the consolations of 
 religion. The provinces, almost without exception, 
 were scandalised at the audacious profligacy of the 
 Government, and even at Paris the strongest symptoms 
 of the same sentiment appeared. Robespierre himself 
 was alarmed ; and the Jacobin Club thought it prudent 
 to declare that under all the existing circumstances, 
 they admitted the idea of a God. Apprehensions were 
 entertained that the salutary movement of terror might 
 take a new direction, and that the order of the day 
 might be enforced against the Government itself. At 
 length, amid the discontents of the people, who claimed 
 aloud the free exercise of religious worship guaranteed 
 to them by the Constitution, after many struggles, and 
 many unsuccessful evasions, slow, and reluctant, and 
 ambiguous, forth comes the repentance of the Conven- 
 tion! * * * * Their 
 next step was to endeavour to vindicate their conduct 
 to all Europe ; and with that view Robespierre drew 
 up an answer (as he styles it) to the manifestoes of all 
 Kings, in which he refutes in the most triumphant 
 manner the charge of irreligion which had been alleged 
 against the revolutionary government. He says, * We 
 are accused of having declared war against Heaven it-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 105 
 
 self : but what people ever offered a more pure worship 
 to the Supreme Being \ The death-warrant of tyrants 
 lay dormant and forgotten in the timid breasts of men ; 
 we called it forth ; we executed it ; TO PUNISH KINGS, 
 is TO HONOUR GOD.' Here, then, is their creed publicly 
 proclaimed in the face of all Europe : in the murder of 
 their innocent King is comprised the whole principle 
 and practice of their religion, their sole profession of 
 faith, and their established mode of worship." 
 
 Lord Mornington, having exhausted the religious 
 branch of his argument, next proceeded to recapitu- 
 late the sources of the revenue of the Revolutionary 
 Government for the current year (1794), "The tax 
 upon all yearly income below the value of four hun- 
 dred pounds, the seizure of all yearly income 
 above that sum, including a tax upon the funds, upon 
 commercial capital of every description, upon private 
 debts, and upon all money not laid out at interest, 
 arbitrary local loans levied upon the egotism of pro- 
 perty and the malevolence of wealth, taxes raised 
 by incompetent authority, the confiscation of all con- 
 cealed property, and the abolition of religion. To this 
 list might be added the revenue arising from their 
 system of criminal justice, from their violations of 
 personal freedom, and collaterally from their regula- 
 tions for the destruction of agriculture and commerce, 
 and for the maintenance of their army/' Having 
 examined separately the regulations of the French re- 
 specting agriculture, commerce, and internal trade, his 
 Lordship observed : " Such is the system established 
 upon the ruins of every right of property, and of every 
 foundation of general opulence, by which the Revo-
 
 106 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 lutionary Government have hitherto procured their 
 revenue, and maintained and supplied their numerous 
 armies. It remains to be considered by what appli- 
 cation of terror this system has been enforced. Among 
 the most sacred rights of a free people and the most 
 essential maxims of justice are the right of personal 
 freedom, and the maxim that no person should be 
 punished without being heard. These rights were 
 guaranteed to the people of France by the Consti- 
 tution of the 10th of August, 1793. In defiance, 
 however, of that constitution, arbitrary imprisonment 
 and punishment upon mere suspicion the most vexa- 
 tious and odious instrument of despotic power have 
 been employed by the Revolutionary Government with 
 a violence surpassing all that is recorded of the most 
 rigorous tyrannies that have ever afflicted mankind. 
 They have formally and openly abolished every trace 
 of personal liberty in France by a single law, which 
 requires no other comment than the proceedings of 
 the Convention itself. Barrere, in a report from the 
 Committee of Public Welfare, explains the principal 
 and object of this law: he says 'The quality of 
 mercy is the first sacrifice which a good republican 
 owes to his country. In order to preserve the revolu- 
 tionary vigour of the Government, an institution ter- 
 rible, indeed, but necessary an institution which has 
 been the salvation of France, has been disseminated 
 throughout all the sections and all the municipalities : 
 I mean, the law for the arrest of suspected persons. 
 The keen and piercing eye of jealous Liberty has been 
 fixed upon every citizen, has penetrated into every 
 family, and pervaded every habitation. Public opi-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 107 
 
 nion has marked out the persons who ought to be 
 suspected, and they have accordingly fallen under the 
 severity of the law. Birth, prejudices of pride, and 
 habits of aristocracy, have branded every remnant of 
 the gentry of France as a just object of suspicion. 
 The useless, if not dangerous nature of their occu- 
 pation, their illicit gains, their confidential concern 
 in the pecuniary affairs of foreigners, are sufficient 
 grounds for the arrest of the whole class of bankers. 
 Their cruel speculations, their contempt for assignats, 
 their sordid attachment to their own interest, have 
 estranged all merchants from their fellow-citizens ; 
 they therefore form another class of suspected persons. 
 The relations of emigrants those who have aided 
 them in their escape, those whom nature and the ties 
 of blood have made the necessary accomplices of all 
 their sentiments of hatred or affection all these are 
 equally obnoxious to suspicion. All the clergy who 
 have refused the constitutional oath, and who think 
 that all is lost because their trade has become useless ; 
 all the ancient magistrates, all those who have been 
 bred to the profession of the law, are destined by 
 their habits and interests to people the public prisons. 
 These are the classes of society which are sentenced at 
 once without being heard; these are the professions 
 which carry their condemnation with them ; these 
 are the natural connection of parentage and affection, 
 which it is the duty of the law to strike without trial 
 and without mercy. Let us banish all compassion 
 from our bosoms ! Oh ! what innumerable mischiefs 
 may be produced by a false sentiment of pity F 
 But," added the noble Earl, commenting on this
 
 108 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 extraordinary document, "these violations of the 
 liberty of the subject will appear as acts of clemency, 
 when compared with the daily murders and massacres 
 which compose that sanguinary and merciless system, 
 entitled by the Revolutionary Government, the Ad- 
 ministration of Criminal Justice. * 
 The effusion of blood at Paris has been such, that not 
 less than a thousand executions have taken place there 
 within the course of six months. Yet the vengeance 
 and avarice of the Government is so far from being 
 satiated, that the Commissioners of Police have lately 
 acquainted the municipality of Paris, that the pit 
 which had been appropriated for the burial of the 
 unfortunate victims of the revolutionary tribunal was 
 nearly full, and could not hold above 'some sixty' 
 more ; they therefore desire immediate authority to 
 dig another, in order to prevent any delay of justice ! 
 I cannot," said Lord Mornington, " forbear to remark 
 in this place, that during the whole period when all 
 the power and authority of government in France were 
 exercised by that humane and benevolent Prince whose 
 innocent blood was shed on the scaffold, not one in- 
 stance is to be found of an execution for a state 
 crime ! * * * You have 
 
 now before you the principal features both of the 
 theory and practice of the Revolutionary Government. 
 Reviewing this unexampled system in all its details, 
 you will find special and effectual provision established 
 for the indiscriminate misery and ruin of every rank 
 and order of society. It contains a principle of im- 
 partial persecution, equally applicable (as the occasion 
 may require) to the separate interests of every dis-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 109 
 
 tinct class and description of the people, from the 
 gentleman of landed property and the opulent bankers 
 and merchants, down to the industrious manufacturer 
 and laborious peasant. Are these the arts of govern- 
 ment 1 Are these the means by which the discordant 
 interests and the contending passions of mankind can 
 be brought to act in concert, and can be directed to 
 the welfare of the community, the end of all political 
 society, and the only solid foundation of power ? I 
 speak to an assembly versed in all the great maxims of 
 government, affectionately attached to the genuine 
 principles of liberty, and accustomed to deliberate on 
 whatever can affect the interests of a powerful state 
 and the happiness of a numerous people. In such an 
 assembly I am persuaded that I should not be con- 
 tradicted, if I were to contend, without any further 
 proof, that a tyranny so constituted and so exercised 
 must of necessity be odious to the people, and con- 
 sequently, whatever might be its temporary efforts, 
 must rest upon an insecure and uncertain foundation. 
 But I need not rely on general topics, however justly 
 drawn from the constitution of human affairs, and 
 from the character of man in all situations and in all 
 ages. The people of France have not tamely sub- 
 mitted to the oppression of this mean and humiliating 
 usurpation. In no less than forty of the departments 
 a spirit of indignation has broken out against the Go- 
 vernment ; in many the people have taken up arms 
 and waged open war ; in some they have expressed 
 their discontent by riots and insurrections, by opposing 
 the levies for the army, and by refusing to submit 
 to the confiscation of their incomes, and to the plunder
 
 110 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of their goods. This spirit has appeared with great 
 strength in all the most opulent commercial towns ; 
 but it has not been confined to them ; it has been 
 diffused as widely as the oppression which excited 
 it, and its symptoms (varying with opportunities and 
 means of exertion) are to be traced in almost every 
 town and village of France. 
 
 From the facts I have already enumerated, it is in- 
 contestable that, in proportion as this tyranny con- 
 sumes the property of France, it must entertain pro- 
 jects of ambition and aggrandisement ; it must endea- 
 vour to repair its disordered finances by preying upon 
 its neighbours, and to supply the exhausted resources 
 of domestic confiscation by foreign plunder. It is 
 equally evident, on the same general grounds, that 
 it must be the immediate interest of a government, 
 founded on principles wholly contradictory to the re- 
 ceived maxims of all surrounding nations, to propagate 
 the doctrines abroad by which it subsists at home, to 
 assimilate every neighbouring state to its own system, 
 and to subvert every constitution which can form a 
 disadvantageous contrast with its own absurdities. 
 Such a government must therefore, from its nature, 
 be hostile to all regular governments, of whatever form; 
 but above all, to those which are most strongly con- 
 trasted with its own vicious structure, and which afford 
 to their subjects the best securities for the maintenance 
 of order, liberty, justice, and religion /" 
 
 Lord Mornington concluded his elaborate address, 
 which occupied several hours in the delivery, with the 
 following stirring peroration : 
 
 " Thus, Sir, I have endeavoured to prove that the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. Ill 
 
 original justice and necessity of this war have been 
 strongly confirmed by subsequent events ; that the 
 general result of the last campaign, both upon our 
 own situation and upon that of the enemy, affords a 
 reasonable expectation of ultimate success ; and that 
 not only the characters, the interests, and the disposi- 
 tions of those who now exercise the powers of govern- 
 ment in France, but the very nature of that system 
 which they have established, render a treaty of peace 
 upon safe or honourable terms impracticable in the 
 present moment, and consequently require a vigorous 
 and unremitting prosecution of the war. Hitherto I 
 have addressed my arguments to the whole House ; in 
 what I shall now urge I must declare, that I do not 
 mean to address myself to those few among us who did 
 not share the common sentiment of the House and of 
 the public in that period of general alarm which im- 
 mediately preceded this war. But I appeal to those 
 who, previous to the commencement of the war, felt, in 
 common with the great body of the people, a well- 
 grounded apprehension for the safety of our happy 
 constitution and the general interests of civil society. 
 Do they now feel the same degree of anxiety 1 Even 
 in the midst of hostilities, in the very heat of the con- 
 test, and after a campaign which, although greatly 
 successful in its general results, has neither been ex- 
 empt from difficulty, nor from the ordinary vicissitudes 
 of a state of war, do they not now feel in their own 
 breasts, and perceive in the public mind, such a degree 
 of confidence in the security of all that can be dear 
 and valuable to British subjects, as they would have 
 gladly purchased before the war, even by surrendering
 
 112 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 a part of those interests, the whole of which was me- 
 naced in that gloomy period of general consternation ? 
 What change of circumstances, what happy combina- 
 tion has calmed the anxiety and revived the depressed 
 spirits of the nation 1 Is it the decree of counter-fra- 
 ternity, declaring that France will no longer interfere 
 in the internal affairs of independent states, but re- 
 serving to her the sovereignty of all those countries 
 which were overrun by her arms in the first career of 
 her inordinate ambition "? Is it the reply of Robes- 
 pierre to the manifestoes of all the Princes of Europe, 
 in which he pronounces kings to be the master-piece 
 of human corruption, in which he libels every monarch 
 in Europe, but protests that France has no intention to 
 disturb monarchy, if the subjects of kings are still 
 weak enough to submit to such an institution \ Is it 
 the murder of Brissot and his associates \ Is it the 
 disgrace and imprisonment of Anacharsis Clootz, the 
 author of the Revolutionary Diplomatics, or of Thomas 
 Paine, the author of the Rights of Man \ * Is it any 
 
 * The reader will recollect Canning's satirical verses, 
 
 " Have you not read the Rights of Man by Tom Paine ? 
 (Drops of compassion tremble on my eyelids, 
 Ready to fall as soon as you have told your 
 
 Pitiful story.) " 
 
 A singular account of Paine's imprisonment, and of the motives which 
 induced that person to write his celebrated " Age of Reason," was pub- 
 lished by William Cobbett in Philadelphia, in the year 1796. " From the 
 thief-catchers in England," says Cobbett, in his own characteristic way, 
 " Tom fled, and took his seat among the thieves of Paris. This may be 
 looked upon as the happiest part of Tom's life : to live in a continual state 
 of insurrection : to sit seven days in the week issuing decrees for plunder, 
 proscription, and massacre, was a luxurious life indeed ! It lasted, how- 
 ever, but five months. The tender-hearted, philanthropic murderer, 
 Brissot and his faction, fell from the pinacle of their glory, poor Tom's 
 wares got out of vogue, and his carcass got into a dungeon. This was a 
 dreadful reverse for ' Old Common Sense.' But this was not all. He well
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 113 
 
 profession, assurance, or act of the revolutionary 
 government of France? You all know it is not. 
 The confidence of a wise people could never be 
 rested on such weak and unsubstantial foundations. 
 The real cause of our present sense of security is 
 to be found in our own exertions combined with 
 those of our Allies. By those exertions we were 
 enabled to withstand and repel the first assault of the 
 arms and the principles of France ; and the continu- 
 ance of the same effort now forms our only barrier 
 against the return of the same danger. Who then 
 shall venture to persuade you to cast away the defence 
 which has afforded you protection against all the 
 objects of your former apprehension, to subvert the 
 foundations of your present confidence, and to resort, 
 for your future safety, to the inconsistent decrees, to 
 the contradictory declarations, and to the vague as- 
 surances of a guilty, desperate, and distracted faction, 
 which ofiers no possible ground of security either in 
 the principles of its policy or in the stability of its 
 power? All the circumstances of your situation are 
 now before you. You are now to make your option, 
 You are now to decide whether it best becomes the 
 dignity, the wisdom, and the spirit of a great nation, 
 to rely for existence on the arbitrary will of a restless 
 
 knew that the National Razor was at work, and he had every reason to 
 believe that his days were numbered. He lay extended on the dirt like a 
 sheep or a calf in a slaughter-house, expecting every moment that the 
 butcher would come for him. How Thomas came to escape, is something 
 that will probably remain a mystery. Be the motive for sparing his 
 worthless life what it might, he was kept in his cage, and there he wrote 
 the first part of his ' Age of Reason.' Now to the motive which led him 
 to the composition of this blasphemous work, which was no other than 
 that of saving his ugly uncombed head from the guillotine ! " &c. &c. 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and implacable enemy, or on her own sword : you are 
 now to decide, whether you will entrust to the valour 
 and skill of British fleets and British armies, to the 
 approved faith and united strength of your numerous 
 and powerful Allies, the defence of the limited mon- 
 archy of these realms, of the constitution of Par- 
 liament, of all the established ranks and orders of 
 society among us, of the sacred rights of property, and 
 of the whole frame of our laws, our liberty, and our 
 religion ; or whether you will deliver over the guard- 
 ianship of all these blessings to the justice of Cambon, 
 the plunderer of the Netherlands, who, to sustain the 
 baseless fabric of his depreciated assignats, defrauds 
 whole nations of their rights of property, and mortgages 
 the aggregate wealth of Europe ; to the moderation 
 of Danton, who first promulgated that unknown law of 
 nature, which ordains that the Alps, the Pyrenees, the 
 Ocean, and the Rhine, should be the only boundaries of 
 the French dominion ; to the religion of Robespierre, 
 whose practice of piety is to murder his own Sovereign ; 
 who exhorts all mankind to embrace the same faith, 
 and to assassinate their kings for the honour of God ; 
 to the friendship of Barrere, who avows in the face of 
 all Europe, that the fundamental articles of the Revo- 
 lutionary Government of France is the ruin and anni- 
 hilation of the British empire ; or, finally, to whatever 
 may be the accidental caprice of any new band of 
 malefactors, who, in the last convulsions of their ex- 
 hausted country, may be destined to drag the present 
 tyrants to their own scaffolds, to seize their lawless 
 power, to emulate the depravity of their example, and 
 to rival the enormity of their crimes !"
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 115 
 
 Lord Mornington's address produced a powerful im- 
 pression on the House, and that impression was not 
 removed by the brilliant reply of Mr. Sheridan. In a 
 speech delivered by Mr. Sheridan upon a subsequent 
 occasion, we have a description of the Earl of Morning- 
 ton's manner as a speaker, " Exactly two years ago at 
 the opening of the session, he remembered to have seen 
 the noble Lord with the same sonorous voice, the same 
 placid countenance, in the same attitude, leaning 
 gracefully upon the table, and giving an account from 
 shreds and patches of Brissot, that the French republic 
 would last but a few months longer/' His Lordship in 
 early life paid much attention to the graces of elocu- 
 tion : as we have already seen, his fine manly voice, 
 and graceful deportment were noticed upon his first 
 appearance in the Irish House of Lords, where Lord 
 Mountmorres sneeringly compared his attitudes with 
 those of Garrick. 
 
 The greater part of Sheridan's reply to Lord Morn- 
 ington, was, we are assured, * unprepared, and it is 
 impossible to withhold our admiration from the natural 
 earnestness of feeling and argument which characterised 
 the effort of this great orator upon that occasion. 
 " Undue advantage," Mr. Sheridan contended, " had 
 been taken of the passions attached to human nature, 
 in order to excite the indignation of the British public 
 against the French, on account of the enormities they 
 had committed in the course of the Revolution. The 
 guilt and infamy of their conduct no person could 
 deny ; but it only affected them, and no people had 
 any other right than to lament the misfortunes of that 
 
 Vide Moore's Life of Sheridan. 
 
 i 2
 
 116 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 country, without assuming, however, the least interfer- 
 ence in its domestic affairs, unless by amicable media- 
 tion between the parties. But had Europe acted this 
 friendly part ? Had it not, on the contrary, since the 
 commencement of the Revolution, expressed a decided 
 aversion to one of the parties, and a manifest parti- 
 ality to the other t Had it not proceeded from words 
 to deeds, and espoused the cause of the Court in such a 
 manner as could not fail to exasperate the people of 
 France 1 Doubtless, the popular fury and its conse- 
 quences were deserving of execration ; still, however, 
 it did not follow that the whole nation ought to be 
 punished for the crimes committed by the multitude 
 during the rage of tumult and insurrection. The 
 French were bursting, as it were, out of the prison of 
 a long slavery : they had recovered their liberty, but 
 knew not how to use it : they were hurried by resent- 
 ment to retaliate on their oppressors the ill usage they 
 had suffered, and had carried this retaliation to the 
 most unjustifiable and criminal excess. But was it 
 either equitable or wise in the European powers to 
 coalesce for their punishment 1 They had an unalien- 
 able right to freedom in common with all the human 
 race ; and allowing the vengeance they had wreaked 
 on their former masters to have been ungenerous, base, 
 and cruel in the extreme, it had been confined to 
 France : and foreign potentates ought to have reflected 
 that by leaving the French to act towards each other 
 without interposing between them, though that country 
 would probably have been deluged with blood, it would 
 have been the blood of Frenchmen alone, and humanity 
 would not have to regret the additional destruction of
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 117 
 
 the many thousands whose lives had been thrown away 
 in this fatal quarrel. 
 
 " But," demanded Mr. Sheridan, " what was the sum 
 of all that he (the Earl of Mornington) had told the 
 House ? that great and dreadful enormities had been 
 committed, at which the heart shuddered, and which 
 not merely wounded every feeling of humanity, but 
 disgusted and sickened the soul. All this was most 
 true ; but what did all this prove ? what, but that 
 eternal and unalterable truth which had always pre- 
 sented itself to his mind, in whatever form he had 
 viewed the subject, namely, that a long-established 
 despotism so far degraded and debased human nature, 
 as to render its subjects on the first recovery of their 
 rights, unfit for the exercise of them. But never had 
 he, or would he meet but with reprobation, that mode 
 of argument which went in fact to establish as an in- 
 ference from this truth, that those who had been long 
 slaves, ought therefore to remain so for ever ! No, 
 the lesson ought to be, he would again repeat, a ten- 
 fold horror of that despotic form of government, which 
 had so profaned and changed the nature of civilized 
 man, and a still more jealous apprehension of any sys- 
 tem tending to withhold the rights and liberties of our 
 fellow creatures. Such a form of government might 
 be considered as twice cursed; while it existed, it was 
 solely responsible for the miseries and calamities of its 
 subjects ; and should a day of retribution come, and 
 the tyranny be destroyed, it was equally to be charged 
 with all the enormities which the folly or frenzy of 
 those who overturned it should commit. But the 
 madness of the French people was not confined to their
 
 118 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 proceedings within their own country ; we and all the 
 powers of Europe had to dread it. True : but was 
 not this, also, to be accounted for "? Wild and unset- 
 tled as their state of mind was, necessarily, upon the 
 events which had thrown such power so suddenly into 
 their hands, the surrounding states had goaded them 
 into a still more savage state of madness, fury, and 
 desperation. We had unsettled their reason, and then 
 reviled their insanity ; we drove them to the extremi- 
 ties that produced the evils we arraigned ; we baited 
 them like wild beasts, until at length we made them 
 so. The conspiracy of Pilnitz, and the brutal threats 
 of the royal abettors of that plot against the rights of 
 nations and of men, had, in truth, to answer for all the 
 additional misery, horrors, and iniquity which had 
 since disgraced and incensed humanity. Such has 
 been your conduct towards France, that you have cre- 
 ated the passions which you persecute ; you mark a 
 nation to be cut off from the world ; you covenant for 
 their extermination ; you swear to hunt them in their 
 inmost recesses ; you load them with every species of 
 execration ; and you now come forth with whining 
 declamations on the horror of their turning upon you 
 with the fury which you inspired !" 
 
 However correctly Mr. Sheridan may have traced 
 the causes which led to the lamentable crisis in France, 
 he appears in the above passage to have admitted the 
 whole of Lord Mornington's case the necessity for 
 defensive operations and precautions. He conceded the 
 facts of the " madness," " fury," " desperation," and 
 " the iniquity which had disgraced and incensed hu- 
 manity" of the French : he described them as reck-
 
 MARQUESS WELLES LEY. 119 
 
 less men, impelled by "insanity," and even compared 
 them to ferocious " wild beasts/' Whatever was the 
 original cause of the frenzy of the French nation, it 
 was, in 1794, clearly the duty of British statesmen to 
 protect their country against its fury. 
 
 Mr. Sheridan betrayed no small degree of bitterness 
 in the course of his reply. Alluding to the observa- 
 tions of Lord Mornington, contrasting the privations and 
 sacrifices demanded of the French by their Minister of 
 Finance with those required of the English people, he 
 said : " The noble Lord need not remind us that there 
 is no great danger of our Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 making any such experiment. I can more easily fancy 
 another sort of speech for our prudent Minister. I can 
 more easily conceive him modestly comparing himself 
 and his own measures with the character and conduct 
 of his rival, and saying, ' Do I demand of you, wealthy 
 citizens, to lend your hoards to Government with- 
 out interest ? On the contrary, when I shall come 
 to propose a loan, there is not a man of you to whom I 
 shall not hold out at least a job in every part of the 
 subscription, and an usurious profit upon every pound 
 you devote to the necessities of your country. Do I 
 demand of you, my fellow-placemen and brother-pen- 
 sioners, that you should sacrifice any part of your 
 stipends to the public exigency ? On the contrary, 
 am I not daily increasing your emoluments, and your 
 numbers in proportion as the country becomes unable 
 to provide for you \ Do I require of you, my latest 
 and most zealous proselytes, of you who have come 
 over to me for the special purpose of supporting the 
 war a war, on the success of which you solemnly have
 
 120 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 declared that the salvation of Britain and of civil 
 society itself depend do I require of you that you 
 should make a temporary sacrifice in the cause of 
 human nature of the greater part of your private 
 incomes 1 No, gentlemen, I scorn to take advantage 
 of the eagerness of your zeal ; and to prove that I think 
 the sincerity of your attachment to me needs no such 
 test, I will make your interests co-operate with your 
 principles. I will quarter many of you on the public 
 supply, instead of calling on you to contribute to it ; 
 and while their whole thoughts are absorbed in patri- 
 otic apprehensions for their country, I will dexterously 
 force upon others the favourite objects of the vanity 
 or ambition of their lives/ 
 
 Sr -K -5'r % # -55- 
 
 " Good God ! that he should have thought it prudent 
 to have forced this contrast upon our attention ; that 
 he should triumphantly remind us of everything that 
 shame should have withheld and caution would have 
 buried in oblivion ! Will those who stood forth with 
 a parade of disinterested patriotism, and vaunted of 
 the sacrifices they had made, and the exposed situation 
 they had chosen in order the better to oppose the 
 friends of Brissot in England, will they thank the noble 
 Lord for reminding us how soon those lofty professions 
 dwindled into jobbing pursuits for followers and de- 
 pendants, as unfit to fill the offices procured for them, 
 as the offices themselves were unfit to be created I 
 Will the train of newly-titled alarmists, of super- 
 numerary negotiators, of pensioned paymasters, agents, 
 and commissaries thank him for remarking to us how 
 profitable their panic has been to themselves and how
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 121 
 
 expensive to their country ? What a contrast, indeed, 
 do we exhibit ! What ! in such an hour as this, at a 
 moment pregnant with the national fate, when, press- 
 ing as the exigency may be, the hard task of squeezing 
 the money from the pockets of the impoverished people, 
 from the toil, the drudgery of the shivering poor, must 
 make the most practised collector's heart ache while he 
 tears it from them can it be, that people of high 
 rank, and professing high principles, that they or their 
 families should seek to thrive on the spoils of misery, 
 and fatten on the meals wrested from industrious 
 poverty? Can it be, that this should be the case with 
 the very persons who state the unprecedented peril of 
 the country as the sole cause of their being found in 
 the ministerial ranks ? The Constitution is in danger, 
 religion is in danger, the very existence of the nation 
 itself is endangered ; all personal and party consider- 
 ations ought to vanish ; the war must be supported by 
 every possible exertion, and by every possible sacrifice : 
 the people must not murmur at their burdens ; it is 
 for their salvation ; their all is at stake. The time 
 is come when all honest and disinterested men should 
 rally round the throne as round a standard ; for 
 what, ye honest and disinterested men "? to receive, for 
 your own private emolument, a portion of those very 
 taxes wrung from the people on the pretence of saving 
 them from the poverty and distress which you say the 
 enemy would inflict, but which you take care no 
 enemy shall be able to aggravate. Oh ! shame ! shame! 
 Is this a time for selfish intrigues and the little dirty 
 traffic for lucre and emolument ? Does it suit the 
 honour of a gentleman to ask at such a moment ?
 
 122 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Does it become the honesty of a minister to grant \ 
 Is it intended to confirm the pernicious doctrine, so 
 industriously propagated by many, that all public men 
 are impostors, and that every politician has his price ? 
 or, even where there is no principle in the bosom, 
 why does not prudence hint to the mercenary and the 
 vain to abstain awhile at least, and wait the fitting of 
 the time ? Improvident impatience ! Nay, even for 
 those who seem to have no direct object of office or 
 profit, what is the language which their actions speak 1 
 'The throne is in danger!' 'we will support the 
 throne, but let us share the smiles of royalty ;' 'the 
 order of nobility is in danger ! ' I will fight for no- 
 bility/ says the viscount, ' but my zeal would be much 
 greater if I were made an earl.' ' Rouse all the mar- 
 quess within me,' exclaims the earl, ' and the peerage 
 never turned forth a more undaunted champion in its 
 cause than I shall prove.' 'Stain my green ribbon 
 blue,' cries out the illustrious knight, 'and the foun- 
 tain of honour will have a fast and faithful servant.' 
 What are the people to think of our sincerity ? What 
 credit are they to give to our professions 1 Is this 
 system to be persevered in 1 Is there nothing which 
 whispers to that Right Honourable Gentleman that 
 the crisis is too big, that the times are too gigantic, to 
 be ruled by the little hackneyed and every-day means of 
 ordinary corruption." 
 
 Mr. Wyndham defended Lord Mornington from the 
 accusation of Mr. Sheridan, that he had not spoken 
 to the question before the House ; declaring that the 
 Noble Lord " had recapitulated the conduct of France 
 in a manner so masterly, so true, and so alarming, as
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 123 
 
 seriously to fix the attention of the House and the na- 
 tion." Mr. Dundas declared that Lord Mornington 
 had illustrated the propriety of the war " in a manner 
 not soon to be forgotten." Mr. Fox, in the debate 
 which ensued, concentrated his attention upon Lord 
 Mornington's speech : " I hope that the Noble Earl," said 
 he, " will not deem me guilty of any incivility if I say 
 that, on this point, the last few sentences of his speech, 
 long and eloquent as it was, were much more to the 
 purpose and afforded more valuable information than 
 all the rest. The Noble Lord has declared, in explicit 
 terms, ' That while the present, or any other Jacobin 
 Government exists in France, no propositions for 
 peace can be made or received by its. 1 Such are his 
 remarkable words, from which we learn that while the 
 present Government exists in France peace is impos- 
 sible." Mr. Fox, contrasting the conduct of the Ame- 
 ricans with that of the British Government, exclaimed, 
 " Happy Americans ! while the whirlwind spreads de- 
 solation over one quarter of the globe you remain 
 protected from its baneful effects by your own virtues 
 and the wisdom of your Government ! Separated from 
 Europe by an immense ocean, you feel not the effects 
 of those prejudices and passions which convert the 
 boasted seats of civilization into scenes of horror and 
 bloodshed ! You profit by the folly and madness of 
 contending nations, and afford in your more congenial 
 clime an asylum to those blessings and virtues which 
 they wantonly contemn or wickedly exclude from their 
 bosom ! Cultivating the arts of peace under the influ- 
 ence of freedom, you advance by rapid strides to opu- 
 lence and distinction ; and, if by any accident, you
 
 124 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 should be compelled to take part in the present 
 unhappy contest ; if you should find it necessary to 
 avenge insult or repel injury, the "world will bear 
 witness to the equity of your sentiments and the mo- 
 deration of your views, and the success of your arms 
 will no doubt be proportioned to the justice of your 
 cause." 
 
 Mr. Pitt warmly defended Lord Mornington's argu- 
 ments. He said, " The speech of his noble friend had 
 been styled declamatory ; upon what principle he 
 knew not, except that every effort of eloquence in 
 which the most forcible reasoning was adorned and 
 supported by all the powers of language, was to be 
 branded with the epithet of declamation." The divi- 
 sion which followed the debate was decisive : but fifty- 
 seven members were found in favour of the amend- 
 ment to the address moved by Mr. Fox ; two hundred 
 and seventy-seven voted for the vigorous prosecution 
 of the war ! 
 
 In looking at the French Revolution historically, we 
 must not permit our minds to dwell too exclusively 
 upon the atrocities and dark scenes which accompanied 
 that grand and awful event. It was a terrific hurricane, 
 it is true, which ruined many a fair edifice and spread 
 terror and disaster far around ; but it purified the 
 moral and political atmosphere ; and, though we may 
 stand appalled at the marks of its fury, and look with 
 sympathetic concern on the places and objects scathed 
 by its " sulphurous bolts, 1 ' we, of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, breathe the freer for it. M. Guizot, in speaking 
 of the burst of mind, the spirit of free inquiry which 
 formed the paramount feature of this era, has for-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 125 
 
 cibly depicted ' the instructive fact ' which was promi- 
 nently displayed at that great conjuncture. " I allude," 
 observes the philosophic statesman, " to the proof of 
 
 THE DANGER, THE EVIL, THE INVETERATE VICE OF ABSO- 
 LUTE POWER, WHATEVER THAT POWER MAY BE, WHAT- 
 EVER NAME IT MAT BEAR, OR TO WHATEVER END DI- 
 RECTED. We have already seen the government of 
 Louis XVI. perish from this single cause. The power 
 which succeeded it, the human understanding, which 
 was the veritable ruler of the eighteenth century, un- 
 derwent the same fate ; it possessed an almost absolute 
 power in its turn, and thence derived an overweening 
 confidence in itself. Its outbreak was glorious and 
 useful: and if I were called upon to give an opinion 
 upon the general operation, I should not hesitate to 
 declare that the eighteenth century is to me one of 
 the greatest eras of history that, perhaps, which has 
 rendered the most important services to humanity, 
 which has given to it its greatest stimulus, resulting in 
 the most universal advancement ; so that, pronouncing 
 upon it as a public administration, if I may be allowed 
 to use that expression, my judgment should certainly 
 be given in its favour. Still, it is not the less true 
 that the absolute power possessed at that epoch by the 
 human mind, corrupted it and led it to hold contem- 
 porary facts and opinions different from those that 
 were in chief respect, in an illegitimate disdain and 
 aversion, which brought it into error and tyranny. 
 So much of error and tyranny, in fact, as mingled 
 with the triumph of human reason towards the end of 
 the century, which we cannot conceal from ourselves 
 nor ought to deny, was very considerable, mainly re-
 
 12G LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 suited from the extravagance into which the human 
 mind was thrown by the extent of its power. It is 
 the province and will form, I believe," adds M. Guizot, 
 " the peculiar merit of our times, to proclaim that all 
 human power, be it intellectual or material, vested in 
 governments or people, in philosophers or ministers of 
 state, and exerted in any cause whatever, bears inhe- 
 rently a natural viciousness and a principle of weak- 
 ness and abuse ivhich call imperatively for the pre- 
 scribing fixed limits to its exercise. Thus it is only a 
 system of general freedom for all rights, interests, and 
 opinions, their unfettered manifestation and legalised 
 co-existence, that can restrain each individual power or 
 influence within its proper limits, prevent it from in- 
 fringing upon others, and make the spirit of free in- 
 quiry an actual and general enjoyment. The conflict 
 between Material Absolute Power and Intellectual 
 Power which occurred at the close of the eighteenth 
 century, has impressed upon our minds this great 
 truth."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 127 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Earl of Mornington's Marriage. Lady Mornington's Parentage. Ma- 
 dame Roland the French Heroine. Allusions to Lady Mornington in 
 the Earl's Correspondence while in India. Their Separation. Her 
 Ladyship's Death. Her Children. Lord Mornington's Speech on the 
 Seditious Meetings Bill, 1795. Mr. Sheridan replies. Business of 
 the India Board. Lord Mornington composes a Song at the desire 
 of Mr. Pitt for the Dinner given hy the East India Company to Lord 
 Duncan. Camperdown. Copy of Latin Verses descriptive of France, 
 written by Lord Mornington for Mr. Pitt, published in the Anti- 
 Jacobin. Translated by Lord Morpeth in the same publication. 
 
 ON the 29th of November, 1794, the Earl of Morn- 
 ington was married, at St. George's Church, Hanover 
 Square, to Mademoiselle Hyacinthe Gabrielle Roland, a 
 native of France, and only daughter of Pierre Roland 
 and of Hyacinthe Gabrielle Daris, of the city of Paris. 
 This lady, whose beauty and accomplishments had for 
 some years exercised a powerful influence over the 
 heart of the noble Lord, seems to have possessed many 
 of the fascinating qualities of her distinguished syno- 
 nyme, Madame Roland, who was guillotined by the 
 French Jacobins in the previous year, exclaiming on 
 the scaffold, " Liberty ! what crimes are committed 
 in thy name \" Some have supposed that the Countess 
 of Mornington was the daughter of the revolutionary 
 heroine, and that she was the child to whom the most 
 pathetic and affecting of farewells ever penned was ad- 
 dressed. This, however, was not the case : the name
 
 128 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of Madame Roland,* the wife of the Girondist Minister 
 of the Interior, was Manon Philipon, not Hyacinthe 
 Gabrielle Daris. Although the contrary has been sug- 
 gested, Lord and Lady Mornington lived on terms of 
 the utmost affectionate harmony till the period of the 
 noble Lord's appointment as Governor-General. The 
 Countess remained in England ; but the frequent in- 
 cidental allusions to her Ladyship in his Lordship's 
 correspondence evince a continued anxiety for her 
 happiness, and a tender regard for their children. 
 One of their sons, it appears from a letter from Lord 
 Auckland to the Marquess Wellesley, was at Eton in 
 the year 1800. In December 1812, Hyacinthe Mary, 
 their daughter, was married to Mr. Littleton, of Ted- 
 dersley Park, county of Stafford a gentleman who, 
 during the Marquess Wellesley's viceroy alty in 1834, 
 filled the office of Chief Secretary of Ireland, and who 
 has since been elevated to the peerage as Viscount Ha- 
 therton. The Marquess and Marchioness of Wellesley, 
 after the noble Lord's return from India, did not live 
 long together : they separated, and appear not to have 
 been again reconciled. The Marchioness lived till the 
 year 1816, in which year she died, at the seat of her 
 son-in-law, Mr. Littleton, in Staffordshire. Her remains 
 were buried at Penkridge. Her Ladyship had enjoyed 
 a separate income of 4,000/. a year, which at her 
 death reverted to the Marquess. Viscountess Hatherton 
 and her brothers, Mr. R. Wellesley and the Rev. Henry 
 Wellesley, M.A., have survived both their parents, the 
 elder of whom would have succeeded to the family 
 titles, if the rules of the civil and canon law had 
 prevailed in England. 
 
 * See Memoirs of Madame Roland. Paris, 2 vols. 8vo.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 129 
 
 In the debate on the Seditious Meetings Bill, in 
 November, 1795, Lord Mornington took a prominent 
 part; vehemently denouncing the societies which met 
 at Copenhagen House, and reading a variety of ex- 
 tracts from the violent and disloyal publications which 
 at that period inundated the metropolis : 
 
 " One passage he thought it necessary to read, as it 
 contained a direct incitement to regicide : it was a de- 
 finition of a guillotine * an instrument,' as they called 
 it, ' of rare invention.' ' As it is the custom to deca- 
 pitate, and not to hang kings, it is proper to have 
 this instrument ready, to make death easy to them, 
 supposing a necessity of cutting them off. This in- 
 strument is used only for great malefactors such as 
 kings, bishops, and prime ministers. England and 
 France have had their regular turns in executing their 
 kings ! France did it last/ &c. And in conclusion," 
 added Lord Mornington, " Ankarstroem and Damiens, 
 the two regicides,* were held up to the reverence of 
 mankind. This, too, was from a printer given to the 
 public by the societies in the list of patriotic printers. 
 [*N<xme ! name /' came from all parts of the House.] 
 Citizen Lee!" said his Lordship. "What can the 
 House now suppose is the tendency of this pacific sys- 
 tem this bloodless conquest 1 For would it not be 
 supposed that, instead of being the production of an 
 Englishman, this foul, most foul treason [Hear] 
 I do not say that, if brought for decision in the 
 
 * Ankarstroem was a Swede, who assassinated Gustavus III. at a 
 masked-ball. Damiens, a native of Artois, stabbed Louis XV., while 
 stepping into his carriage at Versailles : the wound was slight, and the 
 king recovered. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 judgment of a court, it would be decided to be treason, 
 but I will maintain that the heart that uttered it was 
 the heart of as foul a traitor as ever raised the dagger 
 of a parricide." 
 
 Mr. Sheridan replied to Lord Mornington : " The 
 noble Lord had been looking for plots with the utmost 
 diligence, but could find none. Would the House 
 decide the most important subject ever committed to 
 their consideration, upon vile scraps and paltry passages 
 from pamphlets, collected by rummaging old book- 
 shops, and turning up the dirt of every stall in London 1 ?" 
 
 This was the last occasion upon which Lord Morn- 
 ington spoke prior to his appointment as Governor- 
 General. He appears to have confined his attention 
 at this time almost exclusively to the business of the 
 India Board. 
 
 In the last week of October, 1797, an entertainment 
 was given by the East India Company to Lord Duncan, 
 in honour of the victory of Camperdown. At the re- 
 quest of Mr. Pitt, Lord Mornington composed the fol- 
 lowing ballad, at Wimbledon, which was sung at the 
 dinner, and was received with great enthusiasm by the 
 company : 
 
 Enrolled in our bright annals lives full many a gallant name, 
 But never British heart conceived a deed of prouder fame, 
 To shield our liberties and laws, to guard our Sovereign's crown, 
 Than noble Duncan's mighty arm achieved at Camperdown. 
 
 October the eleventh it was, he spyed the Dutch at nine, 
 The British signal flew " To break their close embattled line" 
 Their line he broke for every heart, on that auspicious day, 
 The bitter memory of the past had vowed to wipe away.* 
 
 * The Mutiny of the Fleet at the Nore happened a short time before 
 the victory of Camperdown.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 131 
 
 At three o'clock nine gallant ships had struck their colours proud, 
 And three brave Admirals at his feet their vanquished flags had bowed ; 
 Our Duncan's British colours streamed all glorious to the last, 
 For in the battle's fiercest rage, he nailed them to the mast.* 
 
 Now turning from the conquered chiefs to his victorious crew, 
 Great Duncan spoke, in conquest's pride to heavenly faith still true, 
 " Let every man now bend the knee, and here in humble prayer,f 
 Give thanks to God, who, in this fight, has made our cause his care." 
 
 Then on the deck, the noble field of that bright day's renown, 
 Brave Duncan with his gallant crew in thankful prayer knelt down, 
 And humbly blessed his Providence, and hailed his guardian power, 
 Who valour, strength and skill inspired in that dread battle's hour. 
 
 The captive Dutch the solemn scene surveyed in silent awe, 
 And rued the day when Holland crouched to France's impious law ; 
 And felt how virtue, courage, faith unite to form this land 
 For victory, for fame, and power, just rule, and high command. 
 
 The Venerable was the ship that bore his flag to fame, 
 
 Our veteran hero well becomes his gallant vessel's name, 
 
 Behold his locks ! they speak the toil of many a stormy day,J 
 
 For fifty years, through winds and waves, he holds his dauntless way. 
 
 The subjoined verses were written at Walmer 
 Castle in 1797, at the desire of Mr. Pitt. They were 
 published, after Lord Mornington's departure for India, 
 in the Anti-Jacobin, No. VI., December the 18th, 1797. 
 They were very much admired at the time ; and in the 
 succeeding number of the Anti-Jacobin, December the 
 25th, a very beautiful translation of them, from the pen 
 
 * This is a fact well known at the time. 
 
 t " Lord Duncan received the swords of the three Dutch Admirals on 
 the quarter-deck of the Venerable ; and immediately, in their presence, 
 ordered his crew to prayers. The scene was most animating and af- 
 fecting." Note by Marquess Wellesley. 
 
 J " Lord Duncan was of very noble and venerable appearance, with 
 a fine complexion and long grey hair." Note by Lord Wellesley. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of the present Earl of Carlisle (then Lord Morpeth) 
 was printed : 
 
 Ipsa mali Hortatrix scelerumque uberrima Mater 
 In se prima suos vertit lymphata furores, 
 Luctaturque diu secum, et conatibus aegris 
 Fessa cadit, proprioque jacet labefacta veneno. 
 Mox tamen ipsius rursum violentia morbi 
 Erigit ardentem furiis, ultroque minantem 
 Spargere bella procul, vastseque incendia cladis, 
 Civilesque agitare faces, totumque per orbem 
 Sceptra super Regum et Populorum subdita colla 
 Ferre pedem, et sanctas Regnorum evertere sedes. 
 
 Aspicis ! Ipsa sui bacchatur sanguine Regis, 
 Barbaraque ostentans feralis signa triumphi, 
 Mole gigantea eampis prorumpit apertis, 
 Successu seelerum, atque insanis viribus audax. 
 
 At qua Pestis atrox rapido se turbine vertit, 
 Cernis ibi, prisca morum compage soluta, 
 Procubuisse solo civilis foedera vitae, 
 Et quodcunque Fides, quodcunque habet alma verendi 
 Religio, Pietasque et Legum fraena sacrarum. 
 
 Nee spes Pacis adhuc necdum exsaturata rapinis 
 Effera Bellatrix, fusove expleta cruore. 
 Crescit inextinctus Furor ; atque exaestuat ingens 
 Ambitio, immanisque ira Vindicta renata 
 Relliquias Soliorum et adhuc restantia Regna 
 Flagitat excidio, praedaeque incumbit opirnae. 
 Una etenim in mediis Gens intemerata ruinis 
 Libertate proba, et justo libramine rerum, 
 Securum faustis degit sub legibus aevum ; 
 Antiquosque colit mores, et jura Parentum 
 Ordine firma suo, sanoque intacta vigore, 
 Servat adhuc hominumque fidem, curamque Deorum. 
 Eheu ! quanta odiis avidoque alimenta furori ! 
 Quanta profanatas inter spoliabitur aras 
 Victima ! si quando versis Victoria fatis 
 Annuerit scelus extremum, terraque subacta 
 Impius Oceani sceptrum foedaverit Hostis !
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 133 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Sir John Shore resigns the office of Governor-General of India. Is created 
 Lord Teignmouth. Mysterious Proceedings relative to the Appoint- 
 ment of his Successor. Lord Macartney passed over. The Preten- 
 sions of Lord Hobart overlooked. Appointment of Marquess Corn- 
 wallis announced. The Appointment rescinded. The Earl of Morn- 
 ington finally appointed. Alleged Intrigues examined. Lord Morn- 
 ington's Qualifications. Letter of Marquess Cornwallis. Mr. Mill's 
 Assertion that Lord Mornington went out to India unacquainted with 
 its Affairs His Lordship's Experience at the India Board, his constant 
 Communication with Mr. Dundas, Marquess Cornwallis, &c. Arrives 
 at the Cape. Is received most cordially by Lord Macartney. The 
 Embassy to China. Wars of Hyder Ali. Letter and Latin Verses 
 of Lord Macartney. Lord Mornington meets at the Cape Lord Ho- 
 bart and General Baird. Conversations with them on the State of 
 India. Meets by accident Major Kirkpatrick, late Resident at the 
 Court of Hyderabad (i e. of the Nizam, Soubadahr of the Deccan). 
 Institutes an Inquiry into the state of the French Force in the service 
 of the Nizam. Danger to British Interests from the Presence of 
 French Officers and Engineers in the Armies of the Native Princes. 
 Lord Mornington, while at the Cape, addresses Mr. Dundas on 
 the French Forces employed by the Nizam, Tippoo Sultaun, &c., &c. 
 Thorough Knowledge of the Politics of India therein exhibited. 
 Observations on Mr. Mill's Reflections on Lord Mornington. His 
 Lordship records his Opinion of the great value of the Colony of 
 the Cape of Good Hope to Great Britain. Sails from the Cape. 
 
 EARLY in the year 1797, Sir John Shore resigned 
 the office of Governor-General of India, and in the 
 beginning of 1798, sailed for England, having trans- 
 ferred the Government to Sir Alured Clarke, the Com- 
 mander-in-chief of the Forces, and Vice-President of
 
 134 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the Council. Sir John Shore was the eldest son of 
 John Shore, Esq. of Melton in the county of Suffolk. In 
 early life he proceeded to India as a writer, and rose 
 by the force of his own efforts, till at length he 
 attained the high dignity of Governor-General the 
 powers of which office have been well said to partake 
 of the character of those of an independent sovereign.* 
 In 1792 he succeeded Lord Cornwallis, and was 
 created a Baronet ; he was subsequently created an 
 Irish Peer with the title of Baron Teignmouth. 
 
 A degree of mystery hung over the appointments of 
 several of the Governors-General prior to 1797. After 
 the return of Mr. Warren Hastings, Lord Macartney was 
 appointed to the office : the commission had passed the 
 Great Seal of the Company ; but from some cause, 
 never very satisfactorily explained, his Lordship was 
 superseded before he entered on his official duties, and 
 the Marquess Cornwallis became Governor-General. 
 It was generally supposed that Lord Hobart, who had 
 gained some $clat by the promptitude evinced by him 
 in the seizure of the Dutch settlements in Ceylon, &c. 
 as soon as he received intelligence of the commence- 
 ment of hostilities between Holland and England, 
 would have succeeded Lord Cornwallis, his Lordship 
 having actually been officially nominated as his succes- 
 sor on the 24th of December 1793. As we have seen, 
 however, a civil servant of the Company, recommended 
 by his intimate knowledge of the revenue system, (Sir 
 J. Shore,) was preferred to him : it was said that, enjoy- 
 
 * See the Opinion of R. RYDER, Esq., of Lincoln's-inn-Fields, on a 
 Case submitted to him as to the Legality of Major-General WELLESLEY'S 
 Appointment by bis Brother in 1803 ; vol. ii.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 135 
 
 ing honourable and affluent prospects at home, and 
 fulfilling an office of high dignity and trust, Lord 
 Hobart would not have left England for less than an 
 assurance that the highest place in India was reserved 
 for him : this perhaps was true ; but the reasons 
 which induced the authorities in Leadenhall-street and 
 Downing-street to disappoint his Lordship's expecta- 
 tions, must be sought for in the motives which dictated 
 his recal from the Government of Madras. On the 
 resignation of Sir John Shore, Lord Cornwallis was 
 nominated a second time to the offices of Governor- 
 General and Commander-in-chief! Under the circum- 
 stances, the appointment was considered an extraordi- 
 nary one, and it of course gave rise to much specula- 
 tion and conjecture among political circles at the time. 
 What tended to render the matter still more myste- 
 rious was, that the Marquess Cornwallis did not act 
 upon the commission which he had received. After an 
 interval of doubt, and (according to those virtuous 
 critics who are accustomed to draw unfavourable in- 
 ferences from any fluctuations of counsel in cabinets) 
 of "ministerial intrigue," it was announced by the 
 Directors, " that various circumstances had induced the 
 Marquess Cornwallis to resign his appointments ;" and 
 that " under circumstances and for reasons of a pecu- 
 liar nature," the Earl of Mornington had been ap- 
 pointed Governor-General. The truth appears to be this : 
 Lord Teignmouth was desirous of enjoying his newly- 
 acquired honours at home ; Lord Hobart, who had 
 been involved in some unpleasant altercations with the 
 Supreme Government and the Court of Directors, was 
 not an acceptable person to the Company; and
 
 136 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas clearly saw that the exigen- 
 cies of the times required greater energies than Lord 
 Cornwallis was then capable of bringing to bear on the 
 Government of India. * 
 
 Lord Mornington was appointed Governor-General 
 of India on the 4th of October, 1797; and, having 
 been raised to the dignity of a peer of Great Britain, 
 with the title of Baron Wellesley, Earl of Mornington 
 in the peerage of Ireland, sailed from England on the 
 7th of November following. It has been asserted 
 by Mr. Mill, that his Lordship " had possessed but 
 little time for acquainting himself with the compli- 
 cated affairs of India, when all his attention was at- 
 tracted to a particular point." But little time for ac- 
 quainting himself ! No assertion -could possibly have 
 been more groundless. Lord Mornington had been an 
 active and indefatigable member of the Board of Con- 
 trol from 1794 to the time of his being sworn as 
 Governor-General; he had acquired a thorough know- 
 ledge of all the details of the Indian Government, 
 under the able direction of Mr. Dundas (afterwards 
 Lord Melville.) Every document connected with our 
 Indian empire during that eventful period, must have 
 come under his observation : he was on terms of inti- 
 
 * In a letter written by Lord Cornwallis to the Earl of Mornington, 
 dated, Dublin Castle, March 18th, 1798, his Lordship says : " My dear 
 Lord I little thought when we parted, that my first letter to you would 
 have been dated from this place ; but my evil stars have determined that 
 I never should enjoy quiet or comfort, and after relieving me from what 
 I then thought a painful task (a second embarkation to India), have 
 driven me into a situation ten times more arduous, and in every respect 
 more intolerable." It is painful to reflect that this aged nobleman was 
 induced again to go out to India in 1805, there to sink under his 
 accumulated cares and infirmities.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 137 
 
 macy with Marquess Cornwallis ; and as a member of 
 the Government in 1793, had necessarily acquainted 
 himself with the whole case of India, so frequently 
 discussed on the renewal of the Company's charter in 
 that year. It is quite obvious, that Lord Mornington 
 possessed unusual facilities for gaining an intimate 
 knowledge of the empire that it was his destiny to 
 rule over ; and it was owing to the rare combination 
 of talents of the first order with thorough information 
 as to the condition of India, that Mr. Pitt and his 
 colleagues reposed such entire confidence in his Lord- 
 ship. 
 
 Lord Mornington arrived at the Cape of Good Hope 
 in the month of February, 1798, and had the good 
 fortune to meet there some persons peculiarly well 
 able to afford him an insight into the affairs of India. 
 Lord Macartney, who had filled the office of Governor 
 of Madras during the second war of Hyder Ali, and 
 who had himself been nominated to the post of Go- 
 vernor-General, was at this time at the head of the 
 Government at the Cape, and received Lord Mornington 
 with the utmost friendship and hospitality.* Lord 
 Hobart, who had just been recalled from the Govern- 
 ment of Madras, was then also at the Cape of Good 
 Hope on his return from India ; and the gallant Major- 
 General David Baird, who had been a captive in the 
 dungeons of Seringapatam, and a victim of the relentless 
 hatred of Tippoo Sultaun to the English, had arrived 
 but a few weeks previously at that settlement. Lord 
 
 * In a letter written from his seat in Ireland to the Marquess Wel- 
 lesley, Lord Macartney (whose celebrated embassy to Pekin, in 1793, 
 will not be forgotten by the reader) sends the Governor-General a spe-
 
 138 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Mornington was extremely anxious to obtain from Ge- 
 neral Baird whatever information he could with respect 
 to the state of India when he quitted it ; and General 
 Baird, with his characteristic openness, gave his Ex- 
 cellency all the details of which he was in possession, 
 as well as his views and opinions upon the facts and 
 circumstances connected with them.* What the tenor 
 of Baird's observations respecting Tippoo Sultaun was, 
 may be gathered from a letter written by him, the 
 29th of August, 1797, from Wallajahbad to General 
 Gordon, in which he communicates the fact that Tippoo 
 had collected a very large army and seventy pieces of 
 artillery in the neighbourhood of Seringapatam ; add- 
 ing, " It is reported that he expects to be supported 
 from France." 
 
 While the Governor-General was at the Cape of Good 
 Hope, the ship Houghton touched there, on her way 
 
 cimen of his Latin composition : " I have placed," says Lord Macartney, 
 " an inscription over my gateway, which, if you will allow me the authority 
 of Ausonius for the quantity or one adverh (fere), I will venture to sub- 
 mit to the rigour of your prosody: 
 
 Suh Libertate Quieti, 
 
 Hos avitos agros, has aedes auctas et ornatas, 
 D. D. D. 
 
 GEORGIUS COMES DE MACARTNEY, 
 In patriam redux, Anno salutis, 1800. 
 
 Erin nos genuit, vidit nos Africa, Gangem 
 Hausimus, Europaeque plagas fere visimus omnes, 
 Nee latuit regio primum patefacta Columbo. 
 Sinarum licuit dextram tetigisse Tyranni, 
 Tartaricos monies, murum et transcendere magnum, 
 Turbidaque impavidi tentavirnus alta Pechelse. 
 Casibus et variis acti terraque marique 
 Sistimus hie tandem, atque lares veneramur Avorum. 
 Hook.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 139 
 
 from Calcutta. She had on board a packet, addressed 
 to the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors. 
 With his characteristic decision, Lord Mornington re- 
 solved to open this packet, in order to gain early in- 
 telligence of the actual state of things in the Peninsula. 
 " I had learnt/' observes his Lordship, in his dispatch 
 to the Secret Committee, explaining the circumstance, 
 "by vague reports, the outline of the grave events 
 which have happened in Oude the apprehensions en- 
 tertained of the return of Zemaun Shah towards the 
 frontiers of that province, the several movements of 
 Tippoo Sultaun, and the sudden suspension of the 
 expedition embarked for the attack of Manilla. It 
 appeared to me," adds his Lordship, " on every ground 
 to be an indispensable article of my duty to obtain 
 as speedily as possible the most authentic account of 
 events so deeply affecting the interests committed to 
 my charge, and of which any false impression might 
 render me less equal to the execution of my public 
 trust." In addition to all these facts, which tend to 
 negative the statement of Mr. Mill that when Lord 
 Mornington entered upon the duties of government, he 
 was possessed of but little information on the com- 
 plicated affairs of India we must not overlook the 
 circumstance that his brother, Colonel Arthur Wel- 
 lesley, who had joined his regiment at the Cape, in 
 September, 1796, had been a year and three months 
 in India prior to Lord Mornington's arrival, and had 
 no doubt communicated the result of his observations 
 made in Bengal and Madras to his Lordship. 
 
 By accident, also, Lord Mornington found at the 
 Cape Major Kirkpatrick, lately Resident at the Court
 
 140 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of Hyderabad, and formerly at the Court of Scindiah,* 
 an intelligent officer, who had repaired to the Cape 
 on account of his health, which had been affected by 
 the climate of India. To Major Kirkpatrick the Go- 
 vernor-General proposed a number of queries respect- 
 ing the European officers, and the corps commanded 
 by them, in the service of the Nizam.t These queries 
 and the report of Major Kirkpatrick, are printed at 
 length, with one or two omissions that shall be ad- 
 verted to hereafter, in his Lordship's dispatches : they 
 bear internal evidence of Lord Mornington's industry 
 and zeal in acquiring information upon all the details 
 of Indian affairs. It is, perhaps, not too much to 
 say, that if Mr. Mill had had the advantage of perusing 
 the remarkable letter written from the Cape of Good 
 Hope in February, 1798, to Lord MelvilleJ he would 
 have retracted the aspersions cast upon Lord Morn- 
 ington in his great, but somewhat prejudiced, History 
 of India. That letter has been aptly described as a state 
 paper, which will bear a comparison with any in the 
 world for sound and enlarged views of complicated 
 politics. An extract from this document is abso- 
 lutely necessary to an accurate knowledge of the state 
 of India in 1798. A perusal of it will enable the 
 reader to see at a glance the immense amount of 
 French influence then at work to disturb the British 
 
 * Scindiah was the family name of a great Mahratta Chief, Jaghiredar 
 of the empire, but afterwards independent. His territory was in Malwah 
 and his capital Ongein. 
 
 t Nizam is the name given to the Souhahdar of the Deccan, reigning 
 over a large portion of territory between the Wurda, Godavery and 
 Kistna Rivers. His capital is Hyderabad. 
 
 I Wellesley Despatches, vol. i. Alison.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 141 
 
 interests in the East, and to estimate the importance 
 of effecting instantaneously the destruction of the 
 French subsidiary force at Hyderabad, and the restora- 
 tion of British influence at the Court of the Nizam, and 
 in the Mahratta empire. This letter was addressed 
 from the Cape of Good Hope, 23rd of February, 1798, 
 to the President of the Board of Control : 
 
 " It appears that the Nizam had recently, at different 
 periods, retained in his service, exclusive of our de- 
 tachment, three distinct corps of sepoys, under the 
 command of European or American officers : one com- 
 manded by a Frenchman named Raymond, another by 
 an American of the name of Boyd, and a third by 
 an Irishman of the name of Finglass, for some time a 
 quarter-master in the 19th regiment of dragoons. 
 
 " The corps of Boyd and Finglass were taken into 
 the service of the Nizam during the residence of Azim 
 ul Omra at Poonah, at the suggestion of our Resident 
 at that Court, acting under the sanction of the Govern- 
 ment of Bengal. This measure was taken by our 
 Resident, and by that Government, principally with 
 a view of forming a counterpoise to the corps of 
 Raymond. Boyd's corps consisted of about 1800 
 men ; it is no longer in the service of the Nizam, and 
 has probably passed into that of the Mahrattas. Fin- 
 glass's corps still remains at Hyderabad, but consists 
 of only one battalion of about 800 men. Both these 
 corps appeared to be well affected to our interests, as 
 may be judged by their willingness to assist our de- 
 tachment in repelling an expected attack from the 
 corps of Raymond. The corps of Raymond had been 
 in the service of the Nizam before the last war with
 
 142 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Tippoo Sultaun, and in 1792 its strength was not 
 more than 1500 men, at the highest estimation ; at 
 the battle of Khurdlah, in 1795, its strength amounted 
 to no less than 11,000 men ; it now consists of 10,000 
 men, and the order has actually been given for aug- 
 menting it to the number of 14,000 men. Attached 
 to this corps is a train of artillery of about thirty field 
 pieces, and a troop of eighty native dragoons. The 
 discipline of the corps does not appear to be by any 
 means good, and accordingly it has never yet ren- 
 dered any distinguished service in the field. The pay 
 of the corps is now secured by the assignment of a 
 large district of country, part of which borders the 
 Carnatic ; at this particular station is a fortified 
 post, and constant communication is maintained be- 
 tween it and the port of Narpilly, as well as with Ongole 
 and other parts of the territories of the Company, and 
 of the Nabob of Arcot. The corps is recruited in the 
 proportion of one-third of its total numbers, from our 
 territories, and from those of the Nabob of Arcot, and 
 partly from deserters abandoning our service. The 
 chief officers are Frenchmen, of the most virulent and 
 notorious principles of Jacobinism ; and the whole 
 corps constitutes an armed French party, of great 
 zeal, diligence, and activity. The efforts of this party 
 are continually directed to the object of magnifying 
 the power, resources, and success of France in the eyes 
 of the Court of Hyderabad, and of depreciating the 
 character, force, and credit of Great Britain by every 
 possible means. 
 
 " The detachment of this corps stationed on our 
 frontier has been very assiduous with great success in
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 143 
 
 seducing from their duty our Sepoys quartered in the 
 neighbourhood a considerable desertion lately took 
 place in one of our native regiments on its march 
 from Masulipatam to the southward, and many of the 
 deserters on that occasion are to be found in Ray- 
 mond's corps. No positive proof has yet appeared of a 
 direct correspondence between the leaders of this corps 
 and the French Government, but it seems to be un- 
 questionably certain that they communicate with 
 Tippoo Sultaun, and with the French corps in his 
 service. Whatever may be the discipline or military 
 skill of this corps, it now forms by far the most consi- 
 derable part of the Nizam's military establishment. 
 In this corps consists the main strength of the army of 
 our ally ; and it possesses the influence which usually 
 belongs to an army in the councils of the native 
 princes of India. This influence seems to have 
 alarmed Azim ul Oinra, the first minister of the Ni- 
 zam ; neither the origin nor the subsequent augmenta- 
 tions of this corps appear to have been at all connected 
 with any hostile dispositions in the Court of Hyderabad 
 towards the British interests. The institution of the 
 corps proceeded from an admiration of the successful 
 policy of Mahdajee Scindiah, and the subsequent aug- 
 mentation was directed principally if not solely 
 against the Mahrattas. There is reason to believe that 
 the orders lately given for a further increase of the 
 corps to the number of 14,000 men, arose from a de- 
 sire in the mind of Azim ul Omra of drawing us into 
 a more intimate connection with the Nizam, by excit- 
 ing our jealousy of the growing influence of the French 
 party at Hyderabad.
 
 144 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " Such is the state of the leading facts communicated 
 by Major Kirkpatrick. The result in my mind is a 
 decided opinion that the continuance, and still more 
 the further growth of the corps of Raymond ought to 
 be prevented by every means within our power, con- 
 sistent with the respect due to the Court of Hyderabad, 
 and with the general principles of moderation and 
 justice, which ought to form the rule of our conduct in 
 India. The dangers to be apprehended from the exis- 
 tence of this corps, are not to be estimated by a 
 consideration of its actual state of discipline, or even 
 of its actual numbers, or degree of present influence 
 over the councils of the Nizam. I consider it as the 
 basis of a French party in India, on which, according 
 to the opportunities of fortune and the variation of 
 events, the activity of the enemy may found a strength 
 of the most formidable kind either in peace or war. 
 If we are to look to the settlement of peace ; can it be 
 possible to provide a more ready channel for the intri- 
 gues of France, than would be offered by the existence 
 of a body of 10,000 men, united by military discipline, 
 and stationed in the dominions of one of our principal 
 allies, and on the borders of our own ? If the war is to 
 continue in Europe without extending to the continent 
 of India in the first instance, the danger of French in- 
 trigue acting with such an instrument as I have de- 
 scribed, would be greatly aggravated. But if the war 
 should extend to the continent of India, and if we 
 should be under the necessity of calling forth the 
 strength of our allies to assist us in any contest with 
 Tippoo, what assistance could we expect from the 
 Nizam, the main body of whose army would be officered
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 145 
 
 by Frenchmen, or the agents of France, and the corre- 
 spondents of Tippoo himself. In such a situation it 
 would be difficult to determine whether our danger 
 would be greater from an entire desertion of our cause 
 by the Court of Hyderabad, or from our acceptance of 
 the only species of support which its military force 
 could offer us in the field. But I confess I carry my 
 opinion upon this subject still farther. I have no 
 doubt that the natural effect of the unchecked and 
 rapid growth of such a party at the Court of one of 
 our principal allies must be in a very short period to 
 detach that Court entirely from our interests, and 
 finally to fix it in those of our enemies, to subject its 
 councils to their control, and its military establish- 
 ments to their direction. However despicable the 
 corps of Raymond may now be in point of discipline 
 or effect in the field, would it be wise to leave such a 
 large body of men in readiness to receive whatever im- 
 provements the ability, assiduity and zeal of the 
 French officers, sent from Europe for that express pur- 
 pose, might introduce into the constitution of a corps, 
 so prepared by correspondent principles and objects 
 to meet the most sanguine expectations of their new 
 leaders ? Under these circumstances, the corps which 
 perhaps now has little more efficiency than that of a 
 political party, might soon become, in the hands of our 
 enemy, as efficient a military force, as it is now in that 
 view wholly useless, either to the Nizam or to us. I 
 desire to add one more consideration ; must not the 
 continuance of such a corps in the service of an ally 
 tend to raise the hopes of Tippoo, and in the same pro- 
 portion to disparage us in the eyes of all the native 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 princes of India ? That it has tended to encourage 
 Tippoo I have 110 doubt, and his correspondence with 
 the leaders of the corps will sufficiently show in what 
 light he views them. Perhaps I have dwelt too long 
 on this part of the subject, where the proof of the weak 
 policy of suffering such an evil as I have described to 
 increase without check or disturbance, seems to require 
 no labour of argument." 
 
 " The fourth proposition contained in Major Kirkpa- 
 trick's paper, is that to which I wish to call your most 
 particular attention. The desire of the Court of Hyder- 
 abad to obtain from us an increase of our detachment 
 now serving the Nizam, and also an extension of the 
 power of employing the force furnished by us, has ap- 
 peared on several occasions, and you will find allusions 
 to this disposition in the last secret dispatches from 
 Bengal. There seems to be no objection to the first 
 part of this proposition, provided our consent to it 
 shall secure to us equivalent concessions on the part 
 of the Nizam. In another letter, which I shall forward 
 to you, on the general subject of the political state of 
 India in the present moment, you will find my reasons 
 for entertaining an opinion that it would be a wise policy 
 for us to check by timely aid the rapid declension of 
 the Nizam's weight among the powers of Hindostan. 
 This could be done in no manner so effectual or unob- 
 jectionable as by furnishing him with a large increase 
 of our force now in his pay ; the pay of the aug- 
 mented force to be secured in the manner best calcu- 
 lated to prevent future discussion and embarrassment. 
 In granting this force to the Nizam, we ought not
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 147 
 
 only to stipulate for the disbanding of Raymond's 
 corps, but we ought to take care that the officers 
 should be immediately sent out of India. There are, 
 perhaps, other points which, on this occasion, might 
 be obtained from the Court of Hyderabad. The great 
 difficulty which would obstruct such an arrangement 
 would be, that the Nizam would probably be unwilling 
 to part with Raymond's corps, which he has the power 
 of employing against any enemy, unless he could ob- 
 tian powers equally extensive with respect to the em- 
 ployment of any force furnished by us. You are 
 aware that the British detachment now in the pay of 
 the Nizam is not only restricted from acting against 
 the Mahrattas in any possible case, but also from act- 
 ing against certain Polygars, tributary both to the 
 Mahrattas and to the Nizam, and even from passing, 
 without a formal permission, certain parts of the Mah- 
 ratta territory which are intermixed with the domin- 
 ions of the Nizam. The object of the Court of Hyder- 
 abad would of course be, to obtain our guarantee of 
 its possession generally against the Mahrattas, accom- 
 panied with the assistance of a large force, to be em- 
 ployed with the same extensive powers as now apply to 
 the corps of Raymond. For this object, I have little 
 doubt that the Nizam would sacrifice the whole French 
 party at his court, and even the peiscush * now paid 
 by us on account of the northern Circars.f But such 
 an alteration of our connection with the Nizam would 
 naturally raise the jealousy of the Mahratta powers, 
 and might involve us in discussions of a very disagree- 
 
 * Tribute, fine, quit-rent on the stipulated revenue. 
 t Ci rear here means government. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 able nature, if not in a war with them. The result, 
 therefore, of this view of the subject would lead us to 
 inquire whether some arrangement might not be 
 framed, founded on a modification of the views of 
 the Court of Hyderabad, and comprehending certain 
 favourite objects of the Mahratta States, which, while 
 it secured for us the destruction of the French party 
 at Hyderabad, should tend to restore to the Nizam his 
 due weight among the Indian powers, without excit- 
 ing the animosity of the Mahrattas against the British 
 Government. 
 
 " It appears to me that the only effectual mode of 
 eradicating the French party at Hyderabad, would be 
 to furnish to the Nizam such a force as should be just 
 equivalent to Raymond's corps ; considering the supe- 
 rior discipline of our sepoys, I believe that 3000 men 
 under British command, not only would be, but would 
 be deemed by the Court of Hyderabad, a force fully 
 equal to that of Raymond in its present state. The 
 instruction by which our detachment is prevented from 
 acting as the troops of the Mahrattas and of the Nizam 
 now act against the Polygars, who pay joint tribute to 
 the two powers, might probably be removed by a full 
 previous explanation with the Mahrattas ; as that re- 
 striction does not- appear to be founded on any solid 
 principle, nor could the removal of it open the way to 
 any real inconvenience or danger to the interests of 
 the Mahratta State. 
 
 " The power of mutually passing their intermixed 
 boundaries is now constantly exercised by the troops, 
 both of the Mahrattas and of the Nizam ; and there is no 
 reason to suppose that a formal permission would have
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 140 
 
 been refused to our detachment for the same purpose, 
 had it ever been demanded. But the Nizam never 
 would allow any application to be made for a permis- 
 sion to do that which he held to be his right, and 
 which was constantly done without question both by 
 his own army and by that of Poonah. It is very im- 
 probable that we should find great difficulty in engag- 
 ing the Mahrattas to place our detachment, in this re- 
 spect, on a footing with the other branches of the Ni- 
 zam's military force, and with their own ; nor can I 
 foresee any tenable ground of argument on which this 
 point could be maintained against us. 
 
 " The settlement of these two points only, would, I 
 understand, be considered as a great acquisition by the 
 Nizam, and would go a great way towards inducing 
 him to substitute a British force in the room of Ray- 
 mond's corps. 
 
 " The third point is of much more importance, and 
 of much greater delicacy and danger ; I speak of the 
 desire of the Court of Hyderabad to obtain our gua- 
 rantee of their possessions against the Mahrattas as 
 well as against Tippoo, together with a right of employ- 
 ing defensively the troops furnished by us against the 
 former, as well as against the latter of these powers. 
 This point, perhaps, might be reconciled with the in- 
 terests of the Mahrattas, if it were thought prudent to 
 enter into similar engagements with them, or, in other 
 words, to guarantee their possessions against any at- 
 tack from the Nizam. The effect of such an engage- 
 ment with both powers would be to place us in the 
 situation of arbitrators between them ; and perhaps 
 their mutual apprehensions of our interposition in the
 
 150 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 case of any aggression on either side, might tend to 
 restrain the resentment and ambition of both. In 
 this view, such a system of treaty with the Mahrattas 
 and with the Nizam, so far from being liable to the 
 objection of an undue interference in the disputes of 
 the native powers of India, or of that description of 
 officiousness and intriguing spirit which tends to fo- 
 ment divisions, and to occasion war, might be deemed 
 the best security for the maintenance of the peace of 
 India, as well as the strongest pledge of our disposition 
 to preserve it from disturbance. It would also tend 
 to preserve unimpaired the strength and resources of 
 the" two powers on whose co-operation we must de- 
 pend for assistance against any future attempt on the 
 part of Tippoo : it cannot be a wise policy to suffer the 
 Nizam and the Mahrattas to weaken themselves by 
 repeated contests, while Tippoo remains at rest ; and 
 any measure deserves attention, the tendency of which 
 is to restore to the Mahrattas and to the Nizam their 
 relative consideration and power as they stood at the 
 conclusion of the treaty of Seringapatam. 
 
 "You will find by the last secret dispatches from 
 India, that some opening has been given for our arbi- 
 tration in settling the disputes between the several 
 Mahratta chiefs, and that the Government of Bengal 
 has agreed to undertake the mediation proposed, under 
 the condition of a previous formal agreement, signed by 
 all the parties, binding themselves to accept our award 
 as final and conclusive upon their respective claims. If 
 any such proceeding should take place, it will give a 
 natural opening to such further engagements as may 
 appear advisable.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 151 
 
 " The same dispatches will inform you of the anxiety 
 of the Mahrattas to obtain our agreement to a general 
 defensive treaty against Zemaun Shah. The Govern' 
 ment of Bengal have postponed the consideration of 
 this proposition to a period of time which, I confess, I 
 should think the most unfavourable for the examin- 
 ation of this difficult question, and still more unsea- 
 sonable for the negotiation of a treaty with such a 
 power as the Mahratta States ; this period of time is 
 no other than the moment when Zemaun Shah shall 
 again approach the frontiers of Hindostan. Without 
 giving any decisive opinion on the wisdom of entering 
 into the treaty proposed, I shall certainly think it my 
 duty, upon my arrival in India, to proceed without the 
 delay of one moment to the examination and decision 
 of the proposal made by the Mahrattas : if it should 
 appear expedient to engage with them in a defensive 
 system against the threatened invasion of Zemaun 
 Shah, there is no doubt that such a measure would 
 tend greatly to reconcile to them any propositions 
 which we might wish to offer with respect to the 
 arrangements at the Court of Hyderabad. 
 
 " The inclination of my opinion at present rather 
 leads me to think that a general defensive alliance 
 between all the existing powers of Hindostan (Tippoo 
 perhaps alone excepted) against the expected invasion 
 of Zemaun Shah, would not only be the best security 
 against the success of such an invasion, if attempted, 
 but might have the effect of deterring that Prince from 
 an undertaking which must end in his own disappoint- 
 ment and ruin, if our Government in India and our 
 allies do not neglect to make seasonable preparations
 
 152 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of defence. If a treaty can be formed at an early pe- 
 riod, so as to unite the Mahratta powers with us in a 
 cordial and systematic plan of vigorous opposition to 
 the supposed projects of Zemaun Shah, without bind- 
 ing us to advance farther from our own frontiers than 
 the real exigency of the case may appear to demand 
 upon his approach, I should think such a treaty a 
 solid acquisition of strength in the present critical 
 situation of India. You will observe from this detail, 
 that I consider the fourth measure suggested by Major 
 Kirkpatrick to.be the only one from which it is rea- 
 sonable to hope that the effectual destruction of the 
 French army at Hyderabad can be accomplished ; but 
 that I view that measure as connected with consider- 
 ations of the most serious nature, and involving con- 
 sequences of the utmost delicacy and importance. I 
 have laid before you the whole train of my thoughts 
 on this subject, as I shall think it my duty to do on 
 every question affecting those interests which I know 
 to be not only highly valuable in your estimation, but 
 the most particular and anxious objects of your unre- 
 mitting solicitude and care. I will conclude this long 
 letter by stating the precise questions on which I wish 
 to receive your instructions, and by submitting to you 
 the plan of measures which I purpose to pursue with 
 relation to this subject in the interval which must 
 elapse before I can receive your opinion. 
 
 "In the first place, I wish to be informed whether 
 you think a closer connection than at present subsists 
 between us and the Nizam advisable for our interests 
 on general grounds, provided such a change of our
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 153 
 
 engagements with the Nizam can be rendered ac- 
 ceptable to the Mahrattas. 
 
 " Secondly : Whether you would approve of our en- 
 tering into treaties with both the Mahrattas and the 
 Nizam, guaranteeing the dominions of each power re- 
 spectively against the aggression of the other. 
 
 " Thirdly : Whether you would approve of our taking 
 measures for acting in concert with Azim ul Omra in 
 support of the succession of Secunder Jah, the eldest 
 son of the Nizam ? whether we should endeavour to 
 obtain the co-operation of the Mahrattas in securing 
 this succession ? and what should be our conduct, if 
 the Mahrattas should differ from us in the choice of 
 the successor to the Nizam \ 
 
 "Fourthly : Whether you would approve of a general 
 defensive treaty against any invasion from Zemaun 
 Shah, and what limitations would you propose to the 
 powers which the other allies might require of employ- 
 ing our troops beyond our own frontiers \ 
 
 " You will observe that the determination of all these 
 questions is necessary, in my view of the subject, in 
 order to enable me to carry into effect the only mea- 
 sure which I can rely upon as a sufficient check to the 
 growth of the French interest at the Court of Hyder- 
 abad, and as a permanent barrier against any future 
 revival of that interest in the same quarter. 
 
 " But I am aware that I cannot receive your opinions 
 for a long time. In that interval circumstances may 
 compel me to decide some of these important questions 
 upon my own judgment : my wish however is, to re- 
 serve them all for yours ; and with this view, I propose
 
 154 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to pursue a system of measures which, while it shall 
 leave all the most delicate parts of the situation of 
 affairs in India open to your decision, shall tend to 
 check, in some degree, the progress of the French party 
 at Hyderabad, and to furnish me with such materials 
 as shall enable me to form a competent opinion of the 
 effects to be expected from any decision of the point 
 reserved for your judgment. 
 
 " I propose to direct the Resident at Hyderabad to 
 suffer no augmentation of Raymond's corps to take 
 place, if it can be prevented by the strongest and most 
 pointed representations. This step may probably 
 check the increase of the corps, although from this 
 step alone I cannot hope for its final annihilation. 
 
 " I mean also to direct that any proposal from the 
 Nizam's ministers for an increase of our detachment 
 shall be favourably received, and I shall increase the 
 detachment accordingly, on the first practicable occa- 
 sion ; but I shall stipulate that for every man we 
 grant, there shall be a proportional reduction made in 
 Raymond's corps. This proportion shall be calcu- 
 lated upon the relative estimation of our sepoys (in 
 the opinion of the ministers of the Nizam them- 
 selves) when compared with Raymond's corps ; and I 
 believe, that on this ground, I shall not find it difficult 
 to contend that a reduction of 3000 men should be 
 made for every 1000 men granted by us. In reducing 
 the army of Raymond, I shall endeavour, in the first 
 instance, to disband the most obnoxious and dangerous 
 officers with their corps. I have reason to believe 
 that I may be able to effect this species of partial re- 
 duction of Raymond's corps without entering upon
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 155 
 
 any of the difficult points involved in the general 
 questions stated in the letter. In the meanwhile, 
 however, I shall direct the Resident at Poonah, and 
 with Scindiah, to ascertain as speedily as possible the 
 views and dispositions of those powers with respect to 
 the same points, and especially with respect to any 
 alteration of our connection with the Nizam, to his 
 eventual successor, and to the proposed defensive en- 
 gagements against Zemaun Shah. 
 
 "In submitting the whole of this extensive subject to 
 your consideration, I have been obliged to leave many 
 parts of it open to doubt, for want of the information 
 which may be expected from the Residents with Scin- 
 diah, and at Poonah ; I believe, however, that it will not 
 be difficult for you to answer the questions which I 
 have proposed, forming your answers in such a manner 
 as may admit of any variation of opinion, which the 
 information from those Courts may require. 
 
 " The state of the military establishments of the 
 Mahratta powers did not properly come under Major 
 Kirkpatrick's view ; and I propose to transmit to the 
 Residents at Poonah, and with Scindiah, a copy of my 
 questions to Major Kirkpatrick, with such alterations 
 as the several cases may require, in order to obtain for 
 you a full statement of the corps disciplined by Euro- 
 peans or Americans in the service of the Mahrattas. 
 I am at present able to give you no fuller information 
 on this part of the subject, than that Scindiah employs 
 about 20,000 sepoys, disciplined by Europeans or 
 Americans. The commander is named Perron, a 
 Frenchman ; most of the officers are British subjects. 
 The discipline of this corps is said to be superior to
 
 15C LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that of Raymond's, but the disposition of its officers to 
 be much more favourable to the British than to the 
 French interests. This was De Boigne's corps, whose 
 history you probably know. De Boigne was lately in 
 London ; if he should not have left it, he can give you 
 the fullest information of the state of Scindiah's 
 army. 
 
 " There was a small corps of about 2000 men, com- 
 manded by European officers, in the service of the 
 Peishwah,* and another of about the same number, in 
 that of Tuckagee Holkar ; they are both inconsider- 
 able, if they still exist, and the dissensions which have 
 broken out between Holkar's two sons since the death 
 of their father, have left that branch of the Mahratta 
 power in a situation from which little danger is to be 
 apprehended. There is a fourth corps, commanded by 
 a Frenchman, of the name of D'Agincourt, in the ser- 
 vice of Azim ul Dowlah, at Hyderabad. This corps is 
 paid by the state. It consists of 1500 men. The 
 commander is a determined Jacobin. 
 
 " The Rajah of Berarf is said to have a corps in his 
 service commanded by British officers ; it is said to 
 consist of above 2000 men." 
 
 Mr. Mill remarks that " Lord Mornington arrived at 
 Calcutta on the 17th of May, 1798, carrying out with 
 
 * Peishwah. Literally the first. The chief magistrate of the Mahratta 
 Empire, nominally under the Rajah of Sattarah, but usurping his autho- 
 rity. His capital and seat of government at Poonah. The names and 
 titles of the Peishwah in 1803 were Sreemunt Bajce Rao, Ragonaut Rao, 
 Pundit Purdhaun. (Gurwood.) 
 
 t Berar is a country of the Eastern Mahrattas. The chief town is 
 Ellichpoor.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 157 
 
 him a mind more than usually in/lamed with the min- 
 isterial passions then burning in England; and in a 
 state peculiarly apt to be seized both with dread and 
 with hatred of any power that was French" But 
 after a perusal of the facts so lucidly stated by Lord 
 Mornington's own pen, who will venture to assert that 
 his Lordship did else than fulfil his duty to his country 
 in the measures which he adopted after his arrival in 
 Bengal, or deny that those measures were demanded by 
 wisdom and prudence, for the preservation of our 
 very existence as a nation in India 1 
 
 Before quitting the Cape of Good Hope, Lord Morn- 
 ington placed on record""" his opinions relative to the 
 value of that important settlement, which it is to be 
 hoped will long continue to influence the sentiments of 
 British statesmen. Before his arrival at the Cape, he 
 had formed a very high estimate of the intrinsic value 
 of the place as a colony ; but he confessed that he had 
 not sufficiently appreciated its vast utility with refer- 
 ence to the defence of our trade to the East, and of our 
 territories in the East Indies. As a depot for the 
 maintenance of a military force in such a state of 
 health as to be able to encounter at once all the incon- 
 veniences of an Indian climate, he considered the Cape 
 to be invaluable ; as a naval station he looked upon it 
 as still more important. With the Cape in the hands 
 of an enemy, his Lordship considered it would be im- 
 possible to maintain our Indian trade or empire ; its 
 occupation by any other power than England would ren- 
 der it difficult, if not impossible, for us to retain the 
 island of Ceylon for any long period of time. Not with- 
 
 * See Wellesley Dispatches, vol. i. p. 31.
 
 158 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 standing the statesman-like views and arguments of the 
 Earl of Mornington, backed by the opinions of Lord 
 Macartney, and every person informed on the subject, 
 Englishmen, and responsible advisers of the Crown, 
 consented at the peace of Amiens, to surrender up this 
 noble bulwark of our Eastern trade and empire ! The 
 establishment of steam on the Red Sea, and the open- 
 ing of an overland route for the mail and for passen- 
 gers via Egypt, have of late, in some degree, tended to 
 cast our colony at the Cape of Good Hope into the 
 shade ; but it should never be forgotten that its in- 
 trinsic value to England is the same now that it ever 
 was, and that it is the duty of our rulers to sustain and 
 protect it by every legitimate means, for every con- 
 sideration urged by Lord Mornington respecting the 
 Cape still remains in full force.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 159 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Lord Morningtori, accompanied by Mr. Henry Wellesley (Lord Cowley), 
 arrives at Madras Received by General Harris. Letter of King 
 George III., introducing Lord Mornington to the Nabob of Arcot. 
 Letter of the Prince Regent. Interviews and Negotiation with the 
 Nabob. Lord Mornington's Habit of Observation. Estimate which 
 he formed of the various Servants of the Company at the Presidency. 
 Sails from Madras. Arrival at Calcutta. Reflections on that Event. 
 Magnitude of the Empire committed to his Charge. The Career of 
 the East India Company. Beautiful Scenery of Calcutta. Poetical 
 Description of an Evening in Bengal. Sir Alured Clarke received 
 Lord Mornington at Fort William. His Lordship at once enters upon 
 the Duties of his Office. 
 
 ON the 26th of April,* 1798, Lord Mornington first 
 beheld the " coral strand " of the coast of Coromandel. 
 On that day he anchored in the roads of Madras ; and 
 after the excitement of a passage through the surf 
 which perpetually rages on these romantic shores, placed 
 his foot upon the soil of India, and was saluted by the 
 guns of Fort St. George. His Lordship was accompanied 
 by his younger brother, the Hon. Henry Wellesley,f 
 in the capacity of confidential secretary, a gentleman 
 
 " x Mr. Lushington, in his interesting Memoir of Lord Harris, gives the 
 22nd of May as the date ; but though he was an eye-witness of Lord 
 Mornington's arrival at Madras, the dates of Lord Mornington's letters 
 evidently prove that the above was the time of his Lordship's arrival a 
 day, as Mr. Lushington observes, " ever to be remembered in the annals 
 of British India." 
 
 f The present Lord Cowley, now ambassador at the court of France.
 
 160 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 who had already exhibited his talents as secretary to 
 the British Embassy at Stockholm, and afterwards as 
 secretary to Lord Malmesbury during the delicate but 
 fruitless negotiations of that nobleman with the French 
 Directory for peace, in the year 1796. The Gover- 
 nor-General was welcomed by General Harris, the 
 Commander-in-chief of the Presidency, then provision- 
 ally charged with the Government of Madras. On the 
 very day after his arrival, Lord Mornington proceeded 
 to open communications with the wily Nabob of Arcot, 
 the sovereign of the Carnatic, a strip of fertile country 
 about seventy -five miles in width, east of the kingdom 
 of Mysore,* between the Ghauts and the sea ; whose 
 capital was situated seventy-three miles from Madras, 
 and in one of whose houses in the city of Madras, 
 General Harris had placed the Governor-General. On 
 the 28th of April, Lord Mornington had a personal 
 interview with the Nabob ; and then presented to him 
 the annexed letters from the King and the Prince of 
 Wales, which afford at once honourable testimony of 
 the high estimation in which Lord Mornington was 
 then held by his Sovereign, as well as of the anxious 
 desire of the English Government to avoid the extreme 
 step which the Nabob's own folly and treachery subse- 
 quently rendered necessary : 
 
 GEORGE III. TO THE NABOB OF ARCOT. 
 
 " George the Third, by the Grace of God King of 
 Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the 
 
 * This country lies to the south of the Deccan ; it was conquered 
 from the Hindoos by Hyder Ali.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 161 
 
 Christian Faith, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburgh, 
 Arch-Treasurer and Prince Elector of the Holy Roman 
 Empire, &c. To his Highness the Nawaub Orndal-ul 
 Omrah Majeen ul Mulk, Assad-ud Dowlah, Hussein 
 Ally Cawn Bahawdar Zulfatter Tung Sepah Surdan, 
 Sovereign of the Carnatic, Payenghaut, and Ballan- 
 ghaut. 
 
 " Your Highness's letter of the 19th of March, 1796, 
 has been safely delivered to us by our faithful servant 
 Admiral Sir George Keith Elphinstone, and we are con- 
 vinced your Highness will learn with pleasure that, in 
 order to give this excellent officer a proof of our entire 
 satisfaction with the services he had rendered to our 
 Crown, to your Highness, and to the East India Com- 
 pany, during his command in India, we have conferred 
 upon him a mark of our Royal favour by raising him to 
 the dignity of the peerage in our kingdom of Ireland. 
 
 " The happiness we at all times derive from your 
 Highnesses friendly correspondence, has been on this 
 occasion deeply affected on observing the differences 
 which appear to exist between your Highness and our 
 faithful servant Lord Hobart, who, whatever momen- 
 tary inconvenience your Highness may have experi- 
 enced from his conduct, we are confident could be 
 actuated by no other motive than an anxious desire 
 to ensure the permanent welfare and honour of your 
 Highness, and the happiness and prosperity of your 
 people. 
 
 " These important considerations we well know to 
 be also the grounds of your Highness's conduct, and we 
 earnestly recommend to you . to be assured, that the 
 counsels of our Ministers at home, and the wishes of 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the East India Company and its servants, are ever 
 directed to these objects. 
 
 " The East India Company has appointed our right 
 trusty and right well-beloved cousin and councillor, 
 Richard, Earl of Mornington, in our kingdom of Ire- 
 land, Baron Wellesley in our Kingdom of Great Bri- 
 tain, and Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of St. 
 Patrick, to be Governor-General in India. 
 
 " Our experience of his conciliatory temper, and 
 many eminent virtues and abilities in various offices 
 he has held for many years under our Crown, induced 
 us to recommend him to this high and important 
 station. These distinguished qualities are so many 
 pledges to us, that the exercise of the power vested 
 in him will be such as to conciliate your Highness's 
 entire confidence and esteem, and that your High- 
 ness will endeavour on all occasions to cultivate his 
 friendship and good will, by co-operating with him in 
 all his salutary views for the happiness of your High- 
 ness, and of your subjects, and for strengthening and 
 confirming the engagements of amity and union sub- 
 sisting between your Highness and the East India 
 Company. 
 
 " From our experience of the felicity derived from 
 our constant paternal love and care of all our subjects, 
 we are persuaded your Highness will best promote your 
 individual happiness and tranquillity, by showing your- 
 self on all occasions just, benevolent, and merciful to 
 all those whom the Almighty has placed under your 
 protection, by calling to His presence your august 
 father, His former servant. 
 
 " This line of conduct, an inviolable fidelity in all
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 163 
 
 your engagements, and an unreserved confidence in, 
 and support of, the measures the wisdom of the Earl of 
 Mornington may suggest, cannot fail to ensure to your 
 Highness the continuance of the most sincere friend- 
 ship on the part of the East India Company, and of 
 our alliance and protection. 
 
 " We embrace this opportunity of informing your 
 Highness that, on the llth of this month, one of our 
 fleets obtained a most brilliant and decisive victory 
 over the grand fleet of Holland, of which more than 
 half was taken and is brought into our ports. An 
 event so glorious to our arms, and of such importance 
 to the security of all our possessions, and of India in 
 particular, will, we are persuaded, afford your High- 
 ness great satisfaction. 
 
 " We have only further to assure you of the lively 
 interest we take in everything that concerns your 
 Highness, and the happiness we at all times feel when 
 your Highness's friendly letters are delivered into our 
 hands. " And so we bid you farewell. 
 
 "G. R." 
 
 A letter from his Royal Highness the Prince of 
 Wales to the same sovereign was entrusted to the Earl 
 of Mornington : 
 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES TO THE NABOB OF ARGOT. 
 
 " Carlton House, October 14, 1797. 
 
 " The Nobleman who will deliver this letter to your 
 Highness, it is with the greatest satisfaction I inform 
 you, is a particular friend of my own he is justly 
 
 M 2
 
 164 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 celebrated for his great talents ; and his private cha- 
 racter being that of honour, moderation, and mildness, 
 must necessarily recommend him to the confidence 
 and good opinion of your Highness. 
 
 " I could say much more upon this subject, but 
 when I acquaint you that his Majesty had previously 
 bestowed upon him the most eminent marks of royal 
 favour, I am sure it must be deemed useless to suggest 
 any other proof how acceptable such a nomination 
 must be to the interests of your Highness. 
 
 " I shall conclude with expressing a hope that your 
 Highness may long continue to enjoy that health and 
 prosperity to which your exalted rank and character 
 entitles you. " I am your affectionate friend, 
 
 " G. P. w." 
 
 The Court of Directors in a dispatch to the President 
 in Council at Fort St. George, dated the 18th of October, 
 1797, say, " We have requested Lord Mornington to 
 make a short stay at Madras previous to his proceeding 
 to take upon himself the Government-General in Ben- 
 gal, for the purpose of endeavouring to prevail on the 
 Nabob of Arcot to agree to a modification of the treaty 
 with his Highness in 1792. It were," add the Direct- 
 ors, " to be wished that the zealous endeavours of Lord 
 Hobart for that purpose, had proved successful ; and 
 as, in our opinion, nothing short of the modification 
 proposed is likely to answer any beneficial purpose, 
 Lord Mornington will render a most essential service 
 to the Company should he be ' able to accomplish that 
 object, or an arrangement similar thereto. But feeling 
 as we do the necessity of maintaining our credit with
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 165 
 
 the country powers, by an exact observance of treaties, 
 a principle so honourably established under Lord 
 Cornwallis's administration, we cannot authorise his 
 Lordship to exert other powers than those of persua- 
 sion to induce the Nabob to form a new arrangement." 
 The remarkable ability displayed by Lord Morning- 
 ton in his discussions and negotiations with the Nabob 
 of Arcot at Madras, inspired General Harris, and those 
 who witnessed the proceedings, with the highest respect 
 for the commanding talents of the Governor-General,* 
 and at once convinced them that the affairs of the East 
 were now placed under the ascendant control of a 
 master mind. His expostulations with the Nabob, 
 however, were in vain. The leaven of the old French 
 settlement of Pondicherry, on the sea-coast of his 
 dominions, was still at work in the Carnatic ; and the 
 Nabob had not yet been taught effectually to fear a 
 Government that he had seen humbled by Hyder Ali, 
 and threatened with destruction at the gates of the 
 capital of the Presidency, by his powerful neighbour 
 and confidential correspondent, Tippoo Sultaun. The 
 Governor-General communicates the result of his nego- 
 tiations with the Nabob, in a secret letter written from 
 Fort William to Lord Olive, soon after the arrival of 
 that nobleman at Madras to assume the government 
 of the Presidency. "Your Lordship will have learnt, 
 previously to your departure from Europe, that I was 
 charged by the Court of Directors to attempt, by means 
 of persuasion and advice, to induce his Highness, the 
 Nabob of the Carnatic, to agree to the same modifica- 
 tion of the treaty of 1792, which had been proposed 
 
 * Lushington.
 
 166 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to him by Lord Hobart. General Harris, and Mr. 
 Lushington, who acted as my interpreter, will state to 
 your Lordship the means which I employed to endea- 
 vour to accomplish the object of my commission in 
 which I entirely failed ; I was equally unsuccessful in 
 my endeavours to prevail upon his Highness to make 
 provision for the liquidation of any part of his debt to 
 the Company. I am persuaded that it will ever be 
 wholly impracticable to induce his Highness the 
 Nabob (by means of conciliation) to surrender the 
 management of any part of his country into the hands 
 of the Company ; and I am satisfied that any other 
 means would be as foreign to your Lordship's dispo- 
 sition as they are to mine. My fixed rule, during my 
 continuance at Madras, was, to treat the Nabob with 
 the respect due to his rank, with the kindness due to 
 the ancient friendship between his family and the 
 Company, and with the delicacy demanded by his de- 
 pendant situation. At the same time, I avoided all 
 familiarity with him ; and I animadverted very fully 
 upon the defects of his administration, and upon the 
 extreme impropriety of his late conduct with relation 
 to the interests of the Company." 
 
 How well Lord Mornington had improved his time 
 during his limited sojourn at Madras, and how deep an 
 insight into the character and capabilities of all the 
 public servants at that Presidency he had acquired 
 during this short time, is manifest from a letter written 
 from Fort William to Lord Clive, soon after that noble 
 Lord had entered upon the duties of the government, 
 in which the Governor-General states unreservedly, 
 under the seal of privacy, the result of his personal ob-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 167 
 
 servations. Many of the gentlemen recommended to 
 Lord Olive's notice in that document, afterwards at- 
 tained distinction, and demonstrated by their public 
 conduct the correctness of the estimate which Lord 
 Mornington had formed of their abilities : among these 
 may be mentioned Mr. Webbe, Mr. Lushington, Col. 
 Close, and Captain (afterwards Sir John) Malcolm. 
 
 On the 9th of May, 1798, the Earl of Mornington, 
 accompanied by the Hon. Henry Wellesley, set sail from 
 Madras ; and on the 1 7th of the same month arrived 
 at Fort William. 
 
 We may well imagine what mingled sentiments of 
 pride, admiration, and wonder, filled the mind of the 
 statesman as he approached the magnificent capi- 
 tal of the Indo-British Empire the city of the sun, 
 glittering with palaces, gardens, and groves, with 
 branching banian-trees, palm-trees of every variety, 
 bright green peepuls, tall bamboos, and flowers of 
 every hue ! He was about to enter Calcutta as the re- 
 presentative of the sovereign power of England, and of 
 the majesty of the Honourable East India Company 
 that magnificent incorporation of merchant princes, to 
 whom we may, without violation of truth, apply the 
 words addressed to the merchants of Tyre " The ships 
 of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy markets ; and thou 
 wast replenished and made very glorious in the midst 
 of the sea." Even before the administration of the 
 Earl of Mornington their dominions were vast : by what 
 mysterious influence were a body of traders in a little 
 island several thousand miles distant from the shores 
 of India, able to sway the destinies of hundreds of mil- 
 lions, and exercise sovereign power in Hindostan ? or
 
 168 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 how can we account for the circumstance that the 
 authority of this Company was submitted to by those 
 millions, and loyally supported by the arms of the vast 
 native army, or sepoy force ? By vigour, vigilance, 
 prudence, and integrity in the administration of govern- 
 ment ; contrasted with the venality, vacillation, im- 
 becility, and utter corruption of the native governments ; 
 by securing to every man toleration in the exercise 
 of his religion, and protection and safety to his pro- 
 perty, placing him under the aegis of British laws, 
 and exhibiting to him the extraordinary, but imposing, 
 spectacle of an upright, impartial administration of 
 justice by judges of learning, dignity, and incorrupti- 
 ble honour ; by fidelity to engagements ; by proved 
 good faith ; by the genius, public spirit, and general 
 capacity of the servants of the Honourable Company ; 
 and by the valour and daring of the British soldiers, 
 which filled the natives with awe and astonishment at 
 the enterprising heroism of the Anglo-Saxon race, and 
 breathed power and resolution even into the breasts of 
 the timid dwellers on the banks of the Ganges. Lord 
 Mornington fully appreciated the value of the splendid 
 jewel committed to his charge; inspired with the pa- 
 triotic ardour of the antique Roman, whose character 
 he had so ardently studied in his youth, and emulous of 
 the renown of the Proconsuls, who carried the fame of 
 the republic to the ends of the earth ! 
 
 Lord Mornington was greeted with every mark of 
 respect by his Excellency Sir Alured Clarke ; and had 
 the happiness of finding in Calcutta another of his 
 brothers, Colonel Arthur Wellesley whose great career 
 was then about to commence under his Lordship's 
 auspices.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 169 
 
 We cannot present the scenes among which Lord 
 Mornington now found himself more vividly to the 
 mind of the reader, than by quoting the following 
 beautiful lines of Bishop Heber, entitled " An Evening 
 Walk in Bengal :" 
 
 " Our task is done ! on Gunga's breast 
 The sun is sinking down to rest ; 
 And, moored beneath the tamarind bough, 
 Our bark has found its harbour now. 
 With furled sail and painted side, 
 Behold the tiny frigate ride : 
 Upon the deck, 'mid charcoal gleams, 
 The Moslem's savoury supper steams ; 
 While all apart, beneath the wood, 
 The Hindoo cooks his simpler food. 
 
 " Come, walk with me the jungle through 
 If yonder hunter told us true, 
 Far off, in desert dank and rude, 
 The tiger holds its solitude ; 
 Now (taught by recent harm to shun 
 The thunders of the English gun) 
 A dreadful guest but rarely seen, 
 Returns to scare the village green. 
 Come boldly on ; no venomed snake 
 Can shelter in so cool a brake 
 Child of the sun, he loves to lie 
 'Midst Nature's embers, parched and dry, 
 Where o'er some tower in ruin laid, 
 The peepul spreads its haunted shade ; 
 Or round a tomb his scales to wreathe, 
 Fit warder in the gate of Death. 
 Come on ; yet pause ! Behold us now 
 Beneath the bamboo's arched bough, 
 Where, gemming oft that sacred gloom, 
 Glows the geranium's scarlet bloom ; 
 And winds our path through many a bower 
 Of fragrant tree and giant flower 
 The ceiba's crimson pomp displayed 
 O'er the broad plantain's humbler shade, 
 And dusk anana's prickly glade ;
 
 170 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 While o'er the brake, so wild and fair, 
 The betel waves his crest in air ; 
 With pendant train and rushing wings, 
 Aloft the gorgeous peacock springs : 
 And he the bird of hundred dyes, 
 Whose plumes the dames of Ava prize. 
 So rich a shade, so green a sod, 
 Our English fairies never trod ! 
 Yet who in Indian bowers has stood, 
 But thought of England's good ' green wood ; 
 And blessed, beneath the palmy shade, 
 Her hazel and her hawthorn glade ; 
 And breathed a prayer (how oft in vain!) 
 To gaze upon her oaks again ? 
 A truce to thought the jackal's cry 
 Resounds like sylvan revelry; 
 And through the trees yon failing ray 
 Will scantly serve to guide our way. 
 Yet mark, as fade the upper skies, 
 Each thicket opes ten thousand eyes 
 Before, beside us, and above, 
 The fire-fly lights his lamp of love, 
 Retreating, chasing, sinking, soaring, 
 The darkness of the copse exploring ; 
 While to this cooler air confest, 
 The broad dhatura bares her breast, 
 Of fragrant scent and virgin white, 
 A pearl around the locks of night ! 
 Still as we pass, in softened hum 
 Along the breezy alleys come 
 The village song, the hom, the drum : 
 Still as we pass, from bush and brier 
 The shrill cigala strikes his lyre ; 
 And what is she, whose liquid strain 
 Thrills through yon copse of sugar-cane ? 
 I know the soul-enchanting swell, 
 It is it must be Philomel ! 
 Enough, enough, the rustling trees 
 Announce a shower upon the breeze, 
 The flashes of the summer sky 
 Assume a deeper, ruddier dye ; 
 Yon lamp that trembles on the stream, 
 From forth our cabin sheds its beam ;
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 171 
 
 And we must early sleep, to find 
 Betimes the morning's healthy wind. 
 But oh ! with thankful hearts confess 
 E'en here there may be happiness ; 
 And He, the bounteous Sire, has given 
 His peace on earth his hope of heaven." 
 
 As we shall soon see, the Governor-General forthwith 
 entered upon the duties of his office, and became en- 
 gaged in matters of the gravest importance pregnant 
 with the most momentous consequences to the interests 
 of the British empire.
 
 172 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Lord Mornington directs his attention to the Affairs of Tanjore. 
 Geographical position of Tanjore. Danish Settlement at Trariquebar. 
 The celebrated Missionary Schwarz. Misrepresentations of Mr. Mill. 
 Ameer Sing, the reigning Rajah. Serfojee, the Adopted Son of 
 Tuljajee. Unjust Aspersions on the East India Company and the Go- 
 vernor-General, in Hook's Life of Sir David Baird. Colonel Baird 
 at Tanjore in 1796. His Partizanship. Reprimanded by the Go- 
 vernor of Madras in Council. Examination of the Claims of the 
 Rival Princes. Mr. Mill erroneously describes Ameer Sing as the 
 Son of Tuljajee, the previous Rajah of Tanjore. Serfojee the Adopted 
 Son of Tuljajee. Law of Adoption in Eastern Countries. Adoption 
 among the Romans, &c Rights conferred by Adoption. Serfojee the 
 Pupil of Schwarz. His Education, Acquirements, Interview with 
 Bishop Heber. Erects a Marble Monument to the memory of 
 Schwarz. Justification of Lord Mornington's Proceedings. The 
 Governor-General receives a copy of Malartic's Proclamation at the 
 Isle of France respecting an Embassy from Tippoo Sultaun. Copy 
 of the Proclamation, and Translation. Lord Mornington's first Im- 
 pressions respecting it. Letter to General Harris at Madras, relating 
 to the possible assembling of the Army. Communication from Mr. 
 Duncan, Governor of Bombay. Dispatches from Lord Macartney 
 and Sir Hugh Christian. Genuineness of the Proclamation. Lord 
 Mornington examines upon oath Persons at the Isle of France when 
 the Embassy arrived there. Conclusions arrived at by his Lordship. 
 Dangers which menaced British India at this crisis. Probability of 
 a French Invasion. French Expedition to Bantry Bay. Lord Morn- 
 ington resolves to prepare for Hostilities. Final orders to General 
 Harris. 
 
 THE first public act of the Earl of Mornington after 
 his assumption of the powers of the supreme govern- 
 ment at Calcutta was directed to the settlement of the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 173 
 
 affairs of the country of Tan j ore, which had occupied 
 much of his attention in England prior to his embarka- 
 tion for India, as well as during his stay at the Cape 
 of Good Hope and at Madras. Tanjore, the capital of 
 the district of that name, is situated on the eastern 
 coast of India, not far from the south bank of the 
 Cavery, and about forty miles from Trichinopoli. It 
 is a place of great strength, containing 80,000 inhabi- 
 tants ; and is remarkable in the history of Christian 
 missions, as the burial-place of the celebrated Schwarz, 
 who originally commenced his valuable and disin- 
 terested labours at the Danish settlement of Tranque- 
 bar, on the sea-coast of Tanjore ; of which foreign 
 settlement we shall have occasion to say more at a 
 future stage of this work. 
 
 Mr. Mill exhibits upon the subject of Tanjore much 
 of that strong prejudice which he entertained against 
 the whole of the Marquess "Wellesley's administration, 
 and which led him to indulge in the most unjust 
 reflections upon various parts of the noble Lord's career. 
 He represents the arrangements made with reference to 
 Tanjore as an act of unjustifiable tyranny, supported 
 by fraud ; and studies to involve the whole transaction 
 in a mysterious shroud. "In the year 1798," he re- 
 marks, " a convenient discovery was made, that Ameer 
 Sing was not the legal heir to the musnud* of Tan- 
 jore ; but Serfojee, the adopted son of Tuljajee. The 
 question of the rights of these two Princes remains in 
 obscurity. The documents have not yet been made 
 accessible to the public ; and one knows not on what 
 grounds the decision was formed. This only we know, 
 
 * Throne.
 
 174 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that it was determined to dethrone Ameer Sing and to 
 set up Serfojee in his stead." Following in the same 
 track, the biographer of Sir David Baird accuses the 
 Honourable East India Company and the Governor- 
 General of having invented a pretext to give some 
 colour of justice to their arbitrary exertion of bare- 
 faced power in dethroning a lawful Sovereign, "the 
 undoubted heir," and seizing upon his territory. Sir 
 David Baird had been the Colonel of a regiment, quar- 
 tered at Tanjore in 1796 ; and in consequence of his 
 avowed partisanship with the ruling Prince Ameer 
 Sing, and his indiscreet interference with the political 
 resident at that Court, was reprimanded by the Go- 
 vernor of the Presidency in Council, and removed from 
 Tanjore to Pondicherry. His warm feelings led him 
 to take a deep interest in the welfare of the man with 
 whom he had lived on terms of intimacy, and even 
 friendship ; accordingly, he invariably maintained the 
 pretensions of Ameer Sing against those of his rival, 
 " an unknown foundling." 
 
 Let us now see what are the facts of this case : 
 Mr. Mill describes Ameer Sing as the son of the Rajah 
 of Tanjore, who died 1786. He was not the son of 
 the Rajah ; he was his brother. So much for the foun- 
 dation-stone of the charge against Lord Wellesley. So 
 far from being a lawful prince, originally he assumed 
 power simply as Regent and guardian to the Prince, 
 who was afterwards placed on the musnud by the Bri- 
 tish Government. When the Rajah of Tanjore, Tul- 
 jajee, was on the point of death, he sent for Schwarz 
 the missionary, who had for years been recognised as
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 175 
 
 the agent of the British Government, both at Seringa- 
 patam and Tanjore. He committed to the care of 
 the missionary the boy Serfojee, his adopted son,"* 
 whom he named and formally appointed as his succes- 
 sor. " He is not my son, but yours/' said the dying 
 Rajah ; " into your hands I deliver him." Schwarz 
 nobly fulfilled his task ; he took the greatest pains 
 with the education of his pupil, and exerted the whole 
 force of his influence with the East India Company to 
 protect him against the usurpation of his treacherous 
 " guardian." Bishop Heber, speaking in his journal 
 of Serfojee, describes him as an extraordinary man : 
 he states that he quoted Fourcroy, Lavoisier, Linnaeus, 
 and Buffon, fluently, that he had formed an accurate 
 judgment of the merits of Shakspeare, that he wrote 
 tolerable English poetry, and was " respected by the 
 English officers in the neighbourhood as a real good 
 judge of a horse, and a cool, bold, and deadly shot at a 
 tiger. "f Schwarz died on the 13th of February, 1798, 
 
 * Adoption, though unknown to the laws of England, is universally 
 recognised in Eastern countries, an adopted child becoming in all legal 
 respects the child of his adoptive father. Adoption (adoptio and adro- 
 gatio) was a common practice among the Romans ; instances of it 
 abound both in the history of the Republic and the Empire. It still 
 forms part of the Civil Law. See Halifax's Analysis of Civil Law, by 
 Geldart. It is discussed in the first book of the Institutes of Justinian, 
 Tit. xi. '* De Adoptionibus." Adoption also obtained among the Athe- 
 nians ; and, since the promulgation of the Roman code in Europe, has, 
 in a modified form, prevailed in Germany and France. The custom 
 is recognised by the Mohammedan and Gentoo laws ; and is practised as 
 well by the Turks as the natives of India. The fact, therefore, that 
 SERFOJEE was only the adopted child of the Rajah of Tanjore does not, 
 as seems to have been insinuated, affect his legitimate title to the 
 succession. 
 
 + Vol. iii. p. 456.
 
 176 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 too early to witness the arrival of the new Governor- 
 General and see the elevation of his favourite pupil to 
 the station to which he was very soon after that date 
 raised. Serfojee erected a marble monument, ex- 
 ecuted by Flaxman, to the memory of his instructor ; 
 and the Court of Directors placed another, by Bacon, 
 in honour of the heroic apostle of Christ in the church 
 of St Mary, Madras.* 
 
 The whole question of the disputed succession had 
 been submitted to the Court of Directors and the 
 Board of Control before Lord Mornington's nomina- 
 tion as Governor- General. After a full consideration 
 of the case, they decided that Serfojee was the rightful 
 heir to the throne ; and the Governor-General carried 
 with him, from London, distinct orders to invest that 
 Prince with the Government of the Tanjore country. 
 The whole of the complicated details of this interesting 
 discussion, as we have observed, immediately occupied 
 Lord Mornington's attention ; and on the 31st of 
 May, fourteen days after his arrival, he drew up a 
 minute in council, intimating that it was his intention 
 to direct the Government of Madras to place Serfojee 
 upon the musnud of Tanjore without delay; giving 
 orders for the protection of the person and property of 
 the deposed Regent, " together with a suitable provi- 
 sion for his maintenance, so long as he should conduct 
 himself in all respects to the satisfaction of the Go- 
 vernment of Madras ;" and directing the appointment 
 
 * The estimable Bishop Heber terminated his career of usefulness at 
 Trichinopoli, which is thirty-eight miles west from Tanjore. He died 
 suddenly in the year 1826, while taking a cold bath, and was buried in 
 the church of that place.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 177 
 
 of a commission to consist of the Company's servants 
 for the purpose of conducting a full inquiry into the 
 state and resources of Tanjore, the revenues of which 
 were in the most unsatisfactory condition. On the 
 25th of October, 1799, a treaty, mutually advantage- 
 ous to the subjects of the Rajah of Tanjore and the 
 East India Company, was concluded between Serfojee 
 and the Governor-General. 
 
 On the 8th of June twenty-two days after he had 
 arrived at Fort William a circumstance occurred 
 which at once aroused the Governor-General to action, 
 and led to consequences of the deepest importance to 
 the whole continent of India. 
 
 His Excellency's attention was attracted to an article 
 of intelligence which appeared in a Calcutta newspaper 
 of that day, purporting to be a copy of a proclamation 
 in the French language, published by the Governor of 
 the Isle of France, at Port North- West, on the 30th of 
 January, 1798 ; announcing that two ambassadors 
 had arrived from Tippoo Sultaun with letters addressed 
 to the authorities of that island, as well as dispatches 
 to be forwarded to the French Directory ; that the 
 object of the embassy was to propose an alliance, offen- 
 sive and defensive, with France ; and to demand a 
 subsidiary force for the purpose of commencing a war 
 to expel the English from India : the proclamation 
 concluded by inviting the citizens in the Isles of 
 France and Bourbon to volunteer their services to the 
 King of Mysore. The following is a copy of this 
 remarkable document ; 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 178 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Libert^. Egalite". 
 
 REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE, UNE ET INDIVISIBLE.* 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 ANNE JOSEPH HYPPOLiTE MALARTic, General en Chef, 
 Governeur General des Isles de France et de 
 la Reunion, et Commandant General des Eta- 
 blissements Frangais, a VEst du Cap de Bonne 
 Esperance. 
 
 Citoyens, 
 
 Connaissant depuis plusieurs annes votre z&le 
 et votre attachment pour les interets et la gloire de 
 notre Republique, nous sommes tres empresses et nous 
 nous faisons un devoir de vous donner connaissance de 
 toutes les propositions que nous fait Tippoo Sultaun, 
 par deux Ambassadeurs qull nous a depech6s. 
 
 Ce prince a 6crit des lettres particuli&res a 1' Assem- 
 ble Coloniale, & tous les Gn6raux qui sont employe's 
 dans ce gouvernement, et nous a adress6 un paquet 
 pour le Directoire Executif. 
 
 * [ Translation.] 
 Liberty. Equality. 
 
 The French Republic one and indivisible. 
 
 PROCLAMATION 
 
 ANNE JOSEPH HYPPOLITE MALARTIC, Commander-in-Chief and Governor- 
 General of the Isles of France and Reunion, and of all the French 
 Establishments to the Eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 " Citizens, 
 
 " Having for several years known your zeal and your attachment 
 to the interests and to the glory of our Republic, we are very anxious, 
 and we feel it a duty, to make you acquainted with all the propositions 
 which have been made to us by Tippoo Sultaun, through two ambassadors, 
 whom he has dispatched to us. 
 
 " This Prince has written particular letters to the Colonial Assembly ;
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 179 
 
 1. II demande a faire unc alliance offensive et d- 
 fensive avec les Franqais, en proposant d'entretenir a 
 ses frais, tant que la guerre durera dans 1'Inde, les 
 troupes qu'on pourra lui envoyer. 
 
 2. II promet de fournir toutes les choses n6ces- 
 saires pour faire cette guerre, except^ le Yin et 1'Eau 
 de vie, dont il se trouve absolument d6nue. 
 
 3. II assure que tous les pr6paratifs sont faits pour 
 recevoir les secours qu'on lui donnera, et qu'a Farrivee 
 des troupes, les Chefs et Officiers trouveront toutes les 
 choses necessaires pour faire une guerre & laquelle les 
 Europeens sont peu accoutum^s. 
 
 4. Enfin il n'attend plus que le moment ou les 
 Fran^ais viendront a son secours, pour declarer la 
 guerre aux Anglais, desirant avec ardeur pouvoir les 
 chasser de Flnde. 
 
 Comme il nous est impossible de diminuer le nombre 
 des soldats des 107 e . et 108 e . regimens, et de la garde 
 soldee du Port de la Fraternite, a cause des secours 
 que nous avons envoyes & nos allies les Hollandais, 
 
 to all the Generals employed under this Government ; and has ad- 
 dressed to us a packet for the Executive Directory. 
 
 " 1. He desires to form an offensive and defensive alliance with the 
 French, and proposes to maintain at his charge, as long as the war shall 
 last in India, the troops which may be sent to him. 
 
 " 2. He promises to furnish every necessary for carrying on the war, 
 wine and brandy excepted, with which he is wholly unprovided. 
 
 " 3. He declares that he has made every preparation to receive the 
 succours which may be sent to him, and that on the arrival of the 
 troops, the Commanders and officers will find everything necessary for 
 making a war to which Europeans are but little accustomed. 
 
 " 4. In a word, he only awaits the moment when the French shall 
 come to his assistance to declare war against the English, whom he ar- 
 dently desires to expel from India. 
 
 " As it is impossible for us to reduce the number of soldiers of the 
 107th and 108th regiments, and of the regular guard of Port Fraternite, 
 
 N 2
 
 180 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 nous invitons tous les Citoyens de bonne volont^ a se 
 faire inscrire dans leurs municipality respectives, pour 
 aller servir sous les drapeaux de Tippoo. 
 
 Ce prince desire aussi avoir des citojens de couleur, 
 libres, et nous invitons tous ceux qui voudront aller 
 servir sous ses drapeaux a se faire aussi inscrire. 
 
 Nous pouvons assurer tous les citoyens qui se seront 
 inscrire, que Tippoo leur fera des traitements advanta- 
 geux qui seront fixes avec ses Ambassadeurs qui s'enga- 
 geront en outre, au nom de leur souverain, a ce que 
 les Fran^ais qui auront pris parti dans ses armies ne 
 puissent jamais y etre retenus quand ils voudront ren- 
 trer dans leur patrie. 
 
 Fait au Port Nord-Ouest, le 10 Pluviose, 1'an six de 
 la R^publique Franchise, une et indivisible. 
 
 (Signe) MALARTIC. 
 
 The apparent impudence and rashness of divulg- 
 ing to the world the important matter which the pro- 
 clamation contained, induced Lord Mornington, at 
 
 on account of the succours which we have furnished to our allies the 
 Dutch, we invite the citizens who may he disposed to enter as volun- 
 teers to enrol themselves in their respective municipalities, and to serve 
 under the banners of Tippoo. 
 
 " This Prince desires also to be assisted by the free citizens of 
 colour ; we therefore invite all such who are willing to serve under his 
 flag to enrol themselves. 
 
 " We can assure all the citizens who shall enrol themselves, that 
 Tippoo will allow them an advantageous rate of pay, the terms of which 
 will be fixed with his ambassadors, who will further engage, in the 
 name of their sovereign, that all Frenchmen who shall enter into his 
 armies shall never be detained after they shall have expressed a wish to 
 return to their own country. 
 
 " Done at Port North- West, 10th Pluviose, sixth year of the Re- 
 public, one and indivisible (30th of January, 1798). 
 
 (Signed) MALARTIC "
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 181 
 
 first sight (his Lordship informs us), to doubt the 
 authenticity of the document. Reflection, however, 
 appeared to have convinced him of the strong proba- 
 bility that the proclamation was genuine, and that 
 Tippoo Sultaun had, by an overt act, afforded proof 
 of that hereditary enmity which it was known to all 
 India he cherished against the British power. On the 
 next day after the appearance of the above intelligence 
 in the Calcutta newspaper, the Governor-General trans- 
 mitted to General Harris, the Commander-in-Chief on 
 the coast of Coromandel and acting Governor of the 
 Madras Presidency, a copy of the proclamation, accom- 
 panied by a letter, in which he observes, " If Tippoo 
 should choose to avow the objects of his embassy to 
 have been such as are described in the proclamation, 
 the consequences may be very serious, and may ulti- 
 mately involve us in the calamity of war. / wish you 
 to be apprised of my apprehensions on this subject, 
 and to prepare your mind for the possible event. You 
 will therefore turn your attention to the means of col- 
 lecting a force, if necessity should unfortunately require 
 it ; but it is not my desire that you should proceed to 
 take any public steps towards the assembling of the 
 army before you receive some further intimation from 
 me" Lord Mornington has been censured for taking 
 so important a step upon such frivolous grounds ; but 
 it is evident that his Lordship's motive in writing to 
 General Harris the letter from which we have quoted, 
 was simply to adopt precautionary measures, and to 
 prepare the Madras Government against a danger which 
 might possibly menace it. The Governor-General was 
 not ignorant of the character and history of Tippoo
 
 182 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Sultaun, who had, on so many previous occasions, mea- 
 sured swords with British armies ; he had received 
 certain intelligence that this warlike and ambitious 
 prince had collected a large army ; there were the 
 strongest reasons to believe that Tippoo was in cor- 
 respondence with Zemaun Shah and General Raymond, 
 the commander of the French force in the service of 
 the Nizam ; and everything in the political situation 
 of India, as well as the virulent hostility menaced by 
 France against the power of Great Britain in the East, 
 tended to afford encouragement to the hostile designs 
 of the Court of Mysore. What seemed more likely than 
 that Tippoo should embrace the opportunity presented 
 by such a combination of favourable circumstances 1 
 It is rather a remarkable coincidence, that the pro- 
 clamation of General Malartic produced the very same 
 impression on the minds of the Governor of the Cape of 
 Good Hope, the Home Government, and the Court of 
 Directors, as, contemporaneously, it produced on the 
 mind of Lord Mornington. So far from acting with 
 precipitancy, it will be found that the Governor- 
 General obtained proof of the most decisive character 
 of the genuineness of the proclamation, and the truth 
 of the facts disclosed in it, before he took any decisive 
 measures against Tippoo. A letter from the Hon. J. 
 Duncan, Governor of Bombay, dated 23rd of May, 1798, 
 (sixteen days before Lord Mornington was aware of 
 the existence of the proclamation in question,) com- 
 municated the evidence of some English sailors, who 
 had been prisoners on board La Preneuse, French 
 frigate, stating that a copy of the proceedings at the 
 Isle of France, relative to the Embassy from Tippoo
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 183 
 
 Sultaun, had been hung up in the state cabin of La 
 Preneuse, and that the French officers had frequently 
 inquired whether Tippoo had not already declared war 
 against the English : " All which," observes Mr. Dun- 
 can, " seems but too corroborative of the other indica- 
 tions on the same subject, which were such as to have 
 induced us very earnestly to convey all the knowledge 
 we possessed on the subject to the Admiral, with the 
 hope of thereby frustrating the arrival of succours to 
 Tippoo by way of Mangalore ; as might no doubt have 
 been ensured, but for the early departure of the Suffolk 
 and Arrogant to the other coast, which was imme- 
 diately followed by the surprise and capture of our 
 Indiamen." 
 
 On the 18th of June, the Earl of Mornington re- 
 ceived dispatches from Lord Macartney and from Sir 
 Hugh Christian, under date of the 28th of March, 
 authenticating General Malartic's proclamation. It 
 was established beyond question, by the general tenour 
 of all the private letters from the Cape, as well as 
 every public account which had been given of the 
 transaction, that Tippoo Sultaun had dispatched two 
 ambassadors to the Isle of France, and that the Pro- 
 clamation of General Malartic was published subse- 
 quently to their arrival, and during their residence in 
 the island. In order, however, to obtain the most ac- 
 curate information with respect to the circumstances 
 attending the reception of the Embassy, the publica- 
 tion of the proclamation, and the conduct of the am- 
 bassadors, the Governor-General examined upon oath 
 some respectable persons in neutral vessels, who were 
 present in the Isle of France during the residence of
 
 184 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the ambassadors at Port North -West. From the 
 concurrent testimony of these persons, subsequently 
 corroborated by intelligence from various quarters, a 
 connected account of the whole transaction was ob- 
 tained ; establishing in his Excellency's opinion the 
 following conclusions : 
 
 First. That the ambassadors dispatched by Tippoo 
 Sultaun to the Government of the Isle of France, 
 proposed to that Government an alliance, offensive and 
 defensive, against the British possessions in India ; 
 which alliance was accepted by that Government, and 
 its acceptance formally notified by a public procla- 
 mation. 
 
 Secondly. That the ambassadors were charged 
 with letters from Tippoo Sultaun to the Executive 
 Directory of France, which letters were stated to con- 
 tain the same proposition, and that the ambassadors 
 delivered these letters to the Governor-General of the 
 Isle of France, for the purpose of transmission to 
 France. 
 
 Thirdly. That ambassadors, in the name of Tippoo 
 Sultaun, gave public assurances that he had actually 
 completed the necessary preparations for commencing 
 immediate hostilities, and that he only waited the 
 arrival of succours from the French to declare war 
 against the Company for the express purpose of ex- 
 pelling the British nation from India. 
 
 Fourthly. That the ambassadors demanded un- 
 limited military succour from the French, and levied a 
 military force in the Isle of France, with the declared 
 object of commencing immediate war against the 
 British nation in India.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 185 
 
 Fifthly. That this force has been actually landed 
 in Tippoo's country, and publicly admitted into his 
 service with signal marks of approbation ; and that 
 the ambassadors have been received with similar dis- 
 tinction. 
 
 Sixthly. That Tippoo Sultaun (by receiving with 
 public marks of approbation his ambassadors, who had 
 concluded, in his name, an offensive and defensive 
 alliance with the French, and by admitting into his 
 service the military force raised for effecting the objects 
 of that alliance) has personally ratified the engage- 
 ments contained in the proclamation of the Governor- 
 General of the Isle of France, and has proceeded to 
 act under those engagements conformably with the 
 tenour of that proclamation. 
 
 Seventhly. That, although the succour actually 
 received by Tippoo Sultaun under his offensive alliance 
 with the French is inconsiderable, yet the tenour of the 
 proclamation, the proposition made to the French 
 Government for unlimited military aid, &c. &c., and 
 the declarations of the ambassadors, prove that it was 
 the intention of Tippoo Sultaun to receive into his 
 service the largest force which he could obtain, for the 
 purpose of commencing a war of aggression against the 
 Company in India. 
 
 Lord Mornington at once resolved to frustrate the 
 designs of the enemies of England, before they should 
 attain a dangerous maturity. The cannon of French 
 privateers at the very Sand Heads in the Bay of 
 Bengal ; the fact of the landing on the coast of Ma- 
 labar of the French auxiliaries from the Mauritius ; 
 the organization of the French corps in the Deccan,
 
 186 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and in the service of the Mahrattas all seemed to 
 warn the Government of Fort William of the proba- 
 bility of the arrival in India of a French invading 
 army. Nobody knew better the activity and energy 
 of the French Directory and its victorious general, 
 than the Governor-General of India ; and the expe- 
 rience of the previous year, during which an arma- 
 ment of twenty thousand French troops reached Ban- 
 try Bay, on the southern coast of Ireland, demon- 
 strated the possibility of a large force putting to 
 sea from France, and eluding the vigilance of the 
 British fleet, and admonished Lord Mornington to 
 be prepared at a moment's notice to act upon the de- 
 fensive. At this time Lord Mornington had not re- 
 ceived intelligence of the French expedition to Egypt ; 
 and those who have been anxious to darken his fame 
 have accused him, on that account, of acting under 
 a violent impulse, with haste and precipitation, 
 instead of paying a tribute of admiration to the wis- 
 dom of the man whose prophetic sagacity had anti- 
 cipated the movements of the enemy, and beforehand 
 adopted the very measures which the Home Govern- 
 ment suggested, as soon as they beheld the dangers 
 which threatened the British empire in India developed 
 in their full magnitude. It has been said that Lord 
 Mornington had in June 1789 no reason to anticipate 
 that France meditated an attack on India. As early, 
 however, as 1785, it was generally known in England 
 that the French contemplated the expulsion of the 
 British from the East : " The present view of the 
 French," says Horace Walpole, writing at that date, 
 " is to divest us of India ; " the probability of an
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 187 
 
 attack upon our Indian empire had been clearly fore- 
 seen by Mr. Dundas. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir 
 A. Clarke, and other members of the Council at 
 Fort William, fully coincided in the views of the 
 Governor-General; and on the 20th of June, 1798, 
 two days after the evidence of the authenticity of 
 the proclamation was complete, Lord Mornington wrote 
 to General Harris : " I now take the earliest oppor- 
 tunity of acquainting you with my FINAL DETERMI- 
 NATION. I mean to call upon the allies without de- 
 lay, and to assemble the army upon the coast with 
 all possible expedition. You will receive my public 
 instructions in the course of a few days. Until you 
 have received them, it will not be proper to take any 
 public steps for the assembling of the army ; but what- 
 ever can be done without a disclosure of the ultimate 
 object, I authorize you to do immediately, intending 
 to apprise you by this letter THAT IT is MY POSITIVE 
 
 RESOLUTION TO ASSEMBLE THE ARMY UPON THE COAST. 
 
 I wish to receive from you, by express, a statement of 
 the force which you can put in motion immediately, 
 and within what time you can make any large ad- 
 ditions to it." 
 
 Before we enter into the development of Lord 
 Mornington's policy, and proceed to relate the manner 
 in which his orders were received by the Madras 
 Government, it will be proper to give the reader 
 some account of the ambitious and warlike sovereign 
 who had thus provoked the displeasure of the British 
 power.
 
 188 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Career of Hyder Ali, father of Tippoo Saib. Wars with the British. 
 Great Qualities. Marches to the Gates of Madras, and dictates Terms 
 of Peace. War with the Mahrattas. British refuse to assist him. 
 Invades the Carnatic. Spreads terror through the country. Tippoo 
 Saib commands a Division of Horse. Hyder Ali encounters the British 
 under Colonel Baillie. Utterly destroys Baillie's Force. Cowardice 
 of Sir Hector Munro in deserting Baillie. British Prisoners saved 
 from Massacre by the interposition of French Officers. Measures of 
 Warren Hastings. Sir Eyre Coote takes the Field. Fortune of the 
 War changed. Hyder Ali and Tippoo Saib defeated. They gain 
 Advantages over the British. A French Fleet arrives off the Coast of 
 Malabar. Cruel Treatment of the English Prisoners in the hands of 
 Hyder. Hypocrisy of Tippoo Saib. Death of Hyder Ali. Tippoo 
 cuts to pieces the British Force under General Mathews. Mathews 
 cruelly poisoned by the Tyrant. Seventeen British Officers poisoned 
 in Prison. Others die from the Effects of Imprisonment. Fall of 
 Bednore. Siege of Mangalore. Peace between Great Britain and 
 France. Termination of the War with Tippoo. Wealth and Re- 
 sources of Tippoo Sultaun. Tippoo, in defiance of the British, makes 
 War upon Travancore. Marquess Cornwallis takes the Field. Serin- 
 gapatam invested. Tippoo alarmed. The Capital spared. Gives his 
 Sons as Hostages. Deprived of a large Portion of his Territory. 
 Obliged to pay the Expenses of the War. Continued Enmity to the 
 British. The Political Balance created by Marquess Cornwallis dis- 
 arranged in 1798. The Allies weaker. Tippoo's Strength recovered 
 Corresponds with the French, &c. His Letter to Sir John Shore, 
 respecting Lord Mornington. Letters to Sir Alured Clarke and Lord 
 Mornington. 
 
 TIPPOO SAIB, Sultaun of Mysore, first attracted no- 
 tice in the protracted and bloody wars of his father, 
 the renowned Hyder Ali Khan, against the British.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 189 
 
 During the wars between the French and the English 
 in the Carnatic, Hyder, who had originally been a 
 private soldier in the service of the Rajah of Mysore, 
 raised himself first to be the captain of a band of 
 marauders, then to commander of the army of My- 
 sore ; and finally, like Nadir Shah, Napoleon and 
 other military dictators, assumed sovereign power. 
 Tippoo, the usurper's eldest son, was educated in all 
 the sciences which are cultivated by the Mohammedan 
 sect to which Hyder Ali was devoted with all the 
 enthusiastic ardour of a devout Mussulman. He dis- 
 covered but little taste for learning, however ; and 
 at an early age addicted himself to martial exercises. 
 During the first war Hyder carried the terrors of his 
 arms to the gates of Madras, and dictated terms of 
 peace to the British Government ; Tippoo, at this 
 time nineteen years of age, was entrusted with the 
 command of a corps of cavalry. Mutual restitution 
 of conquests and an alliance in defensive wars, were 
 the conditions of the treaty which terminated hos- 
 tilities. In 1770 the Mahrattas invaded Mysore; 
 and Hyder Ali applied to his British allies for as- 
 sistance against these formidable enemies ; but assist- 
 ance was not rendered to him, and he had to pur- 
 chase peace on disadvantageous terms. Filled with 
 rage and resentment against the British, who had 
 disappointed his hopes, the active chieftain of Mysore 
 opened communications with the French authorities 
 at Pondicherry, and succeeded in detaching the Nizam 
 from his alliance with the British Government. Hav- 
 ing collected an overwhelming force, he descended 
 into the Carnatic like a thunderbolt. His army con-
 
 190 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 sisted of twenty thousand regular infantry, and seventy 
 thousand horse ; nearly one half of which were disci- 
 plined in European tactics, and were directed by 
 French officers and engineers. Hyder's sudden ir- 
 ruption carried dismay into the council-chamber of 
 Madras. The villas in the neighbourhood of Madras 
 were deserted by the panic-stricken inhabitants, and 
 the British residents of the presidency, it is even said, 
 thought of taking refuge in their ships and abandoning 
 the city. A little army under the command of Colo- 
 nel Baillie, while endeavouring to form a junction with 
 the force of Sir Hector Munro, but six miles distant, 
 was attacked by the combined forces of Hyder Ali. Co- 
 lonel Baillie's little band consisted of only four hun- 
 dred Europeans and two thousand sepoys ; but ani- 
 mated by the heroic spirit of their undaunted leader, 
 they maintained their ground with firmness, in the 
 hope of being relieved by Sir Hector Munro. Form- 
 ing a square, they resisted no less than thirteen charges 
 of the Mysore cavalry ; and notwithstanding the fear- 
 ful havoc created by the fire of sixty pieces of cannon 
 and the fury of armed elephants, for some time the 
 fortunes of the day were doubtful. Sir Hector Munro 
 was near enough to hear the distant thunder of the 
 artillery ; but with a degree of poltroonery that neither 
 became his Trojan appellation, nor the character of 
 the nation to which he belonged, he retreated pre- 
 cipitately within the gates of Madras, and left the 
 whole of his brethren in arms, either to be cut to 
 pieces or to endure the horrors of a captivity worse 
 than death. Colonel Baillie and two hundred officers
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 191 
 
 and men were the only survivors at the close of the 
 day ; and but for the humane intervention of General 
 Lally and the French officers, they would have been 
 instantly massacred. Hyder was in the thick of the 
 battle during the fight ; while Tippoo, his lion whelp, 
 ravening in English blood, shared in the dangers and 
 glories of the day. The intelligence of these events 
 produced an extraordinary sensation throughout Bri- 
 tish India: the whole population of Madras put on 
 mourning. Warren Hastings instantly dispatched Sir 
 Eyre Coote with five hundred Europeans and five hun- 
 dred sepoys to the relief of Madras; and, quitting 
 Calcutta, proceeded in person to the seat of war ; 
 taking upon himself the direction of affairs in the 
 invaded presidency. Sir Eyre Coote at once took 
 the field, and soon changed the fortunes of the war. 
 He compelled Hyder Ali to raise the sieges of Wan- 
 dimash, Vellore, &c. ; and in a bloody engagement 
 with the Mysorean forces near Porto Novo, on the 
 sea coast, routed the enemy. Hyder, however, gained 
 an advantage over the British on the very ground 
 on which Colonel Baillie's troops were cut to pieces, 
 and Sir Eyre Coote was compelled to fall back upon 
 Madras. Lord Macartney, the new Governor of Ma- 
 dras, now made proposals of peace to Hyder Ali ; but 
 they were rejected with disdain ; and both parties 
 prepared for a protracted struggle. Colonel Baillie 
 and the officers and soldiers who fell into the hands 
 of their enemy, were treated with the greatest bar- 
 barity, and were imprisoned in irons in the dungeon 
 of Seringapatam, notwithstanding the hypocritical
 
 192 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 professions of Tippoo Saib that he felt a sympathy 
 for the sufferings of these brave men and would exert 
 himself to alleviate their condition. 
 
 In November, 1781, Lord Macartney had so far 
 augmented the British forces as to enable him to 
 undertake the enterprise of attacking Negabatam. The 
 attack was successful, and 7000 Mysores were made 
 prisoners. Sir Eyre Coote again took the field : he 
 relieved Yellore, which had endured the unspeakable 
 horrors of a sixteen months' close blockade : he took 
 Chittor from the enemy, and expelled Hyder from 
 Tanjore, which had suffered an accumulation of mise- 
 ries during the previous campaign. But fortune was 
 not always on the British side : Hyder occasionally 
 pressed hard on his antagonists ; and on the 17th of 
 February, 1782, his son Tippoo Saib, on the banks of 
 the Cole river in the Tanjore country, at the head of 
 ten thousand horse and twenty pieces of ordnance, 
 totally defeated an English force of two thousand men 
 commanded by Colonel Braithwaite. Again the huma- 
 nity of the French officers was displayed ; but for the 
 earnestness with which they interposed with Tippoo in 
 behalf of the British prisoners, those unfortunate men 
 would have been put to death in cold blood by their 
 sanguinary young conqueror. Hyder Ali's last battle 
 was fought with Sir Eyre Coote at Arnee ; he was re- 
 pulsed ; and in a few months afterwards died in the 
 eighty-second year of his age, in the midst of prepara- 
 tions for co-operating with a French fleet of twelve 
 sail of the line which had arrived off the coast of 
 Malabar. The unhappy Englishmen who were kept 
 close prisoners in Seringapatam were cruelly disap-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 193 
 
 pointed in the expectations which they had formed of 
 receiving some better treatment from Tippoo Sultaun 
 than they had experienced from his ferocious parent : 
 many of them envied the fate of their hapless commander 
 Colonel Baillie, who expired from the effects of grief 
 and ill usage in his dungeon, on the 13th of Novem- 
 ber, 1782. No sooner had the tyrant ascended the 
 musnud, (of which his father had never the hardihood 
 formally to take possession,) than he commanded that 
 all the handsomest and youngest of the European 
 soldiers should undergo the repulsive ceremonies of 
 Mohammedanism. They were drugged with a delirious 
 stuff called majum, which rendered them insensible, 
 and in this state they received the initiatory rite. 
 These wretched men were then compelled to act as 
 drill-serjeants to Tippoo's slave battalion of boys, who 
 had been kidnapped from the Carnatic. 
 
 The Bombay Government now detached a strong 
 force, under General Mathews and Colonel Humber- 
 stone, into Mysore. They captured all the batteries 
 and forts of the Great Pass of Hussaingurry Ghaut, 
 four thousand feet in height ; carried Onore, Ananpore, 
 and Bangalore by assault, and took possession of the 
 city of Bednore, with an immense quantity of treasure. 
 Tippoo was compelled precipitately to abandon and 
 blow up Arcot, and hasten to defend his own territory. 
 Fortunately for him the treasure captured in Bednore, 
 amounting to upwards of one million sterling, was 
 the cause of a serious division among the British forces, 
 which ultimately led to their utter ruin. Cupidity 
 blinded the officers and troops to a sense of their duty 
 and to the imminently hazardous nature of their position. 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 194 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 General Mathews refused to devote any portion of the 
 treasure to the pay of the troops, then eighteen months 
 in arrear ; in consequence of which, Colonel Humber- 
 stone and several of the leading officers resigned their 
 commands and quitted the camp for the purpose of 
 submitting their grievances to the Bombay Government. 
 While discontent reigned among the British, and 
 while the army was dispersed in small detachments, 
 Tippoo Sultaun approached Bednore at the head of 
 50,000 troops. He immediately bore down upon 
 General Mathews, who was then at the head of a 
 column of 2000 men. The British force was anni- 
 hilated, and their unfortunate commander was marched 
 in heavy irons to the dungeons of Mysore, where he 
 was eventually destroyed, by means of poisoned food, 
 at the order of Tippoo. The havildar who had charge 
 of General Mathews, told his hapless prisoner that the 
 food which was placed before him was baited with a 
 deadly poison. A horrible alternative was placed 
 before the unhappy General ; he must either perish by 
 poison or starvation. For several days he resisted the 
 pangs of hunger ; but at length maddened at the 
 sight of the food, he indulged the cravings of his 
 appetite, and soon afterwards was a corpse. General 
 Mathews's death took place on the 7th of September, 
 1 783 : in the following month, Messrs. Rumley, Fraser, 
 and Sampson were poisoned at Mysore : and the fol- 
 lowing officers were poisoned with the milk of the 
 cocoanut-tree at the hill fort of Asse-Droog : 
 
 Capt. Campbell, 98th regt. Capt. Fish, 100th regt. 
 Capt. Alston, 100th regt. Assist.-Surgeon Gifford, do.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 195 
 
 In the Company's Service. 
 
 Brigadier-Major Young Lieut. Olivier. 
 
 Major Fewtrill. Capt. Eames. 
 
 Capt. Clift. Capt. Lendrum. 
 
 Capt. Gottick. Capt. R. Cullock. 
 
 Lieut. Barnwell. Commissary Stewart. 
 
 Capt. Jackson. Dep. Commiss. Cheek. 
 
 Capt. Richardson. 
 
 Several of the English prisoners died in their dun- 
 geons, and some became insane from the horrors of 
 confinement. 
 
 After the fall of Bednore, Tippoo laid siege to the 
 fortress of Mangalore, on the coast of Malabar. In 
 order to withdraw him from that important position, 
 the British Government dispatched two different expe- 
 ditions from the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. The 
 southern army under Colonel Fullarton succeeded in 
 forcing a passage into Coimbatoor, and taking posses- 
 sion of the capital of that province. At this crisis 
 the news of peace between France and Great Britain 
 arrived ; a negotiation was set on foot, and after the 
 capture ef the important town of Mangalore, which had 
 endured a seven months' siege from Tippoo's army, 
 the war was brought to a conclusion on the llth of 
 March, 1784, a war which has been aptly described 
 as the most formidable the English ever sustained for 
 the empire of the East. 
 
 Notwithstanding this war, Tippoo's jewels and trea- 
 sure were, in 1786, estimated at eighty millions ster- 
 ling; beside 700 elephants, 6,000 camels, 11,000 
 horses, 400,000 bullocks and cows, 100,000 buffaloes, 
 600,000 sheep, 300,000 firelocks, 300,000 matchlocks, 
 
 o 2
 
 196 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 200,000 swords, and 2,000 pieces of cannon ; beside 
 an immense quantity of military stores ; while his re- 
 gular army consisted of 19,000 cavalry, 10,000 artil- 
 lery, and 70,000 infantry, 5,000 rocket-men, and 
 40,000 irregular infantry. In 1787 and 1788 he 
 exhibited his zeal for the Mohammedan religion, by 
 carrying away from Malabar nearly 70,000 native 
 Christians, and by converting 100,000 Hindoos into 
 Mussulmans, forcibly compelling them to receive cir- 
 cumcision and eat beef. He also published an edict 
 for the destruction of all Hindoo temples in his do- 
 minions. In 1787 Tippoo sent an embassy to Paris, 
 to induce the French to commence hostilities against 
 the British in India. 
 
 In April 1790, Tippoo, despite of the remonstrances 
 of the British Government, invaded the dominions of 
 the Rajah of Travancore. This was regarded as a 
 declaration of war ; and General Meadows and Colonel 
 Stuart entered the Sultauu's dominions. In the begin- 
 ning of the following year, however, so ably had 
 Tippoo conducted the war, that the British com- 
 manders were menaced by the enemy at the gates 
 of Madras. The Marquess Cornwallis now assumed 
 the command of the army, and conducted the war 
 with great vigour ; yet it was not till February, 1 792, 
 that he was enabled to undertake the siege of Seringa- 
 patam. Being joined by the Nizam, the Mahrattas, 
 and General Abercrombie, Lord Cornwallis made pre- 
 parations for storming Seringapatam. Operations were 
 commenced ; four out of the six redoubts were taken ; 
 the breaching batteries were ready, and orders for 
 the assault issued. Tippoo's spirit at length quailed ; 
 seeing his capital beleagured by eleven thousand
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 197 
 
 English, thirty thousand sepoys, with eighty-four pieces 
 of cannon, he accepted the conditions proposed to him 
 by Lord Cornwallis. By the treaty of peace he was 
 compelled to cede half his dominions to the British, 
 the Nizam, and the Mahrattas; to pay three million 
 five hundred thousand pounds sterling as the expenses 
 of the war; to deliver up all the prisoners which 
 he held in captivity, and to surrender his two sons as 
 hostages. Lord Cornwallis hoped that, by diminishing 
 the power of Tippoo Sultaun and augmenting the 
 power of the Nizam and the Mahrattas, a system of 
 balanced power would be established that would gua- 
 rantee a continuance of tranquillity. 
 
 Lord Wellesley has been blamed for not abiding 
 by the treaty of Seringapatam, and maintaining the 
 balance as adjusted by Lord Cornwallis ; but the fact 
 is, that this balance was destroyed during the admi- 
 nistration of Sir John Shore, when the Nizam was 
 attacked and his power nearly annihilated by the 
 Mahrattas. The weakness of the Nizam, and the 
 internal convulsions of the Mahratta states, prevented 
 those members of the triple alliance from affording 
 the expected support to the British, or from keeping 
 the restless Sultaun of Mysore in check. 
 
 In a letter written by Lord Wellesley to Lord Mel- 
 ville, from the Cape of Good Hope, his Lordship, re- 
 ferring to Tippoo Sultaun's communications with 
 Zemaun Shah observes, "If the facts be true which 
 I have stated on both sides of this enumeration of 
 the comparative circumstances of our situation in 
 India, and of those which affect the situation of 
 Tippoo, it must be admitted that he has rather gained 
 than lost weight in the period of time described, and
 
 198 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that the consistency, unity, and efficiency of our side 
 of the balance has suffered no inconsiderable degree 
 of diminution." He adds emphatically, " The balance 
 of power in India no longer exists upon the same 
 footing on which it was placed by the peace of Se- 
 ringapatam" 
 
 " The final result," remarks the Governor-General, 
 in a letter addressed to J. A. Kirkpatrick, Esq., at 
 Hyderabad, "is the entire loss of the benefit of the 
 triple alliance against Tippoo Sultaun, and the estab- 
 lishment of a French army of fourteen thousand men 
 in the dominions of one of our allies, in the vicinity of 
 the territories of Tippoo Sultaun, and on the confines 
 of the Carnatic and the Northern Circars." 
 
 Notwithstanding Tippoo's correspondence with the 
 French, with Zemaun Shah, and other powers, and the 
 military preparations which were in progress in Mysore, 
 the crafty Asiatic, with characteristic duplicity, conti- 
 nued to profess sentiments of the utmost amity towards 
 the British Government. The following letter was 
 received at Calcutta on the 26th of April, 1798 : 
 
 TIPPOO SULTAUN TO SIR JOHN SHORE. 
 
 "I have been favoured with your letter, notifying 
 your intention of returning to Europe, and the nomi- 
 nation of Lord Mornington, who is of rank, to the 
 office of Governor-General, in whom the same dispo- 
 sition would be manifested with yourself, to cultivate 
 and improve the friendship and good understanding 
 subsisting between the two states, and an inviolable 
 adherence to the engagements by which they are con-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 199 
 
 nected. It is very well. You must impress Lord 
 Morningtoii with a sense of the friendship and unan- 
 imity so firmly subsisting between us, and constantly 
 favour me with letters communicating your health and 
 welfare. 
 
 " (A true translation.) N. B. EDMINSTONE, 
 
 " Persian Translator to Government." 
 
 On the very day that this letter was received at 
 Fort William, Tippoo's ambassadors whom he had sent 
 to the Governor of the Isle of France, landed at Man- 
 galore, a sea-port on the coast of Malabar, accom- 
 panied by the French force levied under Malartic's 
 proclamation. 
 
 On the 17th of May, 1789, the following letter 
 reached the supreme Government : 
 
 TIPPOO SULTAUA T TO SIR ALURED CLARKE. 
 
 " I was much gratified by the receipt of your friendly 
 letter, communicating the departure of Sir John Shore, 
 and your having taken charge of the Government until 
 the arrival of the Earl of Mornington. As you are a 
 friend, I have no doubt of your constant disposition to 
 strengthen the bonds of sincere attachment to the two 
 states/' 
 
 The annexed letter was written immediately after 
 the intelligence of the Governor-General's arrival 
 reached Seringapatain : 
 
 FROM TIPPOO SULTAUN TO THE EARL OF MORXINGTO:X. 
 
 Your Lordship's friendly letter containing the agree- 
 able intelligence of your arrival at Calcutta, and your
 
 200 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 taking charge of the Company's affairs, reached me at 
 the happiest of times, and afforded me a degree of 
 pleasure and satisfaction that cannot be adequately ex- 
 pressed upon paper. May the Almighty prosper to 
 your Lordship this event ! By the Divine grace, the 
 exalted fabric of union and attachment, and the firm 
 foundation of friendship and harmony between the two 
 states, are in full strength. To adhere to the obliga- 
 tions of existing treaties, is a constant object with me. 
 Your Lordship is from your heart a friend and well- 
 wisher, and I am confident will hold in mind the 
 observance of union and concord. I hope you will 
 continue to gratify me by letters notifying your 
 welfare. 
 
 " (A true translation.) N. B. EDMINSTONE, 
 
 " Persian Translator to Government." 
 
 The Governor-General rightly judged that mere ex- 
 postulations with such an enemy would be productive 
 of no lasting benefit. The history of the past proved 
 that nothing short of depriving Tippoo Sultaun of the 
 power of doing mischief, could afford the British 
 Government security against his hostile designs. 
 
 While, therefore, he proceeded to open a negotiation 
 with Tippoo respecting Wynaad and other disputed ter- 
 ritories, his Excellency urged upon the Government of 
 Madras the duty of immediate preparations, on a scale 
 commensurate with the enterprise which he projected. 
 What effect Lord Mornington's letter to General Har- 
 ris produced in the Council of Fort St. George, and 
 what events occurred in consequence of it, shall be re- 
 lated in a succeeding chapter.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 201 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Dismay produced at Madras by Lord Mornington's orders. Mr. Webbe 
 predicts that the Governor-General will be defeated, and impeached 
 on his return to Europe. General Harris alarmed. Advises Lord 
 Mornington to temporise with Tippoo Sultaun. Memorandum of 
 Mr. Webbe. Weakness of the Madras Government. Mr. Webbe 
 trembles at the Prospect of an Invasion by Tippoo. Recounts the 
 Disasters, Dangers, Expenses, and Delays of the Wars with Hyder Ali 
 and Tippoo. Lord Mornington's Firmness. Repeats his Orders. Is 
 supported by the Commander-in-Chief and the Council of Bengal. 
 Prepares for the Contest. Negotiations with the Nizam and the 
 Mahrattas. Accomplishes the Destruction of the French Force of the 
 Nizam without shedding blood. The Nizam receives a British sub- 
 sidiary Force instead of the disbanded French Corps. Effects of this 
 stroke of policy all through British India. Exultation of the Ad- 
 herents of the British Government. General Craig congratulates 
 Lord Mornington on the Result. Correspondence between Tippoo 
 Sultaun and the Governor-General. 
 
 THE Governor-General's letters to General Harris, an- 
 nouncing that it was his positive resolution to assem- 
 ble the array upon the coast of Coromandel, were re- 
 ceived with anything but enthusiastic approbation at 
 Madras. The bare idea of the possible renewal of 
 hostilities with Tippoo Sultaun filled the members of 
 that Government with the most painful apprehensions. 
 When Lord Mornington's orders were communicated to 
 Mr. Webbe, the Secretary of the Government, by Mr. 
 Lushington, the Private Secretary of General Harris, 
 that gentleman gave expression to his disapprobation of
 
 202 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the projected operations in the strongest terms. " Our 
 unprepared state for war, in the absence of a large 
 portion of our troops in the Eastern Islands ; our 
 empty and bankrupt treasury at Madras ; all the 
 horrors of Hyder's merciless invasion of the Carnatic, 
 of Tippoo's sanguinary destruction of Colonel Baillie's 
 detachment, Sir Hector Munro's disgraceful retreat to 
 Madras, and the first failure of Lord Cornwallis against 
 Seringapatam rushed at once into Mr. Webbe's mind, 
 after reading Lord Mornington's letter, and he ex- 
 claimed with bitterness and grief, ' I can anticipate 
 nothing but shocking disasters from a premature attack 
 upon Tippoo in our present disabled condition, and 
 the impeachment of Lord Mornington for his teme- 
 rity.'" * Even the Commander-in-Chief of the army of 
 Coromandel shrunk at first sight from the enterprise 
 which Lord Mornington proposed to him. " For my 
 own part," observes General Harris, in a letter dated 
 23rd of June, 1798, " I have no doubt (as matters now 
 stand with the French) but Tippoo will explain away 
 our just grounds of complaint, although I am convinced 
 he has committed himself to the full extent of the 
 proclamation. His inveteracy to us will only end with 
 his life, and he will always seize any opportunity that 
 offers to annoy us ; but notwithstanding this, and that 
 the political circumstances of India are now much in 
 our favour, it perhaps still remains a matter of serious 
 consideration whether, in our very great want of cash, 
 and the effect our being engaged in war in this 
 country may have on the affairs in Europe, it would 
 not be better that he should be allowed to make the 
 
 * Lushington's Life of Lord Harris.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 203 
 
 amende honorable if he be so inclined, than that we 
 should avail ourselves of the error he has run into, and 
 endeavour to punish him for his insolence." Having 
 made this observation, General Harris, as an old soldier, 
 adds, " On my part, your Lordship may depend on my 
 following your instructions implicitly." In a subse- 
 quent letter, the General communicated to Lord 
 Mornington a memorandum drawn up by Mr. Webbe, 
 earnestly protesting against the orders of the supreme 
 Government. After reviewing the position of the 
 allies, Mr. Webbe observes, " In respect to ourselves, 
 a very large proportion of the coast army is detached, 
 our means of resource curtailed by the war in Europe, 
 and our credit in this country at least, upon this coast 
 bankrupt. If, therefore, with all the advantages we pos- 
 sessed in the year 1790, with the hearty and effectual 
 co-operation of the Mahrattas, and with the friendship 
 of the Nizam, our operations against Tippoo were not 
 made successful without the greatest difficulty, I am 
 fearful that under the general change of circumstances 
 which I have mentioned, and which I believe to be 
 correct, an attacTc upon him now is more likely to end 
 in discomfiture than victory." Mr. Webbe goes on 
 to recount the various reasons which induced him to 
 entertain these gloomy apprehensions : " With the 
 war well advanced, with our preparations and arrange- 
 ments on foot for twelve months before, and with such 
 a combined alliance as may be now despaired of, it 
 still cost Lord Cornwallis two campaigns before he 
 could besiege Seringapatam." " I doubt," he says, 
 " that it is practicable to obtain the assistance of the 
 Mahrattas. In respect to both the .Mahrattas and the
 
 204 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Nizam, I think there is no reasonable ground to expect 
 effectual assistance from either until we should strike 
 some signal blow. Neither of them were hearty in the 
 cause during the last war before the fall of Bangalore." 
 Having dwelt upon the issue of the campaign in 1790, 
 under General Meadows, and described the various 
 physical and political difficulties that presented them- 
 selves to thwart Lord Mornington's designs, Mr. Webbe 
 declares his belief that any hostile preparations on the 
 part of the British Government would produce an 
 immediate invasion by Tippoo Sultaun : "Mean- 
 while, the movement of our troops and military prepa- 
 rations could not escape the vigilance of Tippoo : his 
 resources are always more prompt than our own ; and 
 as great part of his army is said to be in a state of 
 field equipment, our attempt to strike a blow at him 
 is likely to produce an invasion of the Carnatic, before 
 we are in a situation to resist him." He sums up his 
 forebodings in the following words : " But, seeing 
 that our resources have, by the mere operation of the 
 war in Europe, been reduced to a state of the greatest 
 embarrassment, and having no hope of effectual relief 
 but in peace, I can anticipate none but the most bane- 
 ful consequences from a war with Tippoo. If war is 
 inevitable, and the present are judged the most advan- 
 tageous circumstances under which it can commence, I 
 fear our situation is bad beyond the hope of remedy." 
 Upon a man of less decision of character than Lord 
 Mornington, this array of obstacles and startling diffi- 
 culties would have produced some effect. To his ca- 
 pacious understanding and undaunted soul the argu- 
 ments of the members of the Madras Council only sug-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 205 
 
 gested new motives for energy, and additional resolu- 
 tion to encounter, or, if practicable, to prevent the 
 dangers which were exhibited in such magnitude in 
 the correspondence of the Madras Government. The 
 authorities at Fort St. George had yet to learn how 
 great an influence one commanding mind and resolute 
 spirit, invested with the unfettered direction of affairs, 
 can exercise upon the fortunes of war ; and how the 
 ardour, patriotic zeal, inflexible resolution, and resist- 
 less daring of a great man exercising the functions of 
 government, can be conveyed by a hidden chain of 
 electric communication to the hearts of every officer and 
 soldier in the army, and to every member of the civil 
 service under him. The Wellesley character was not 
 yet understood ; for, at the period of which we are 
 writing, the Governor-General had been but a few 
 weeks at the head of the Bengal Government. Mr. 
 Webbe's faithful expostulations supplied his Excel- 
 lency with fresh incentives to action ; they pointed out 
 more clearly than ever, the dangers that impended 
 over the British nation in India, by exhibiting cor- 
 rectly the actual position of the public enemy. With- 
 out entering into all the details of the discussions 
 between the Governor- General and the Government of 
 Madras, which are developed in a voluminous corre- 
 spondence,"* it will be sufficient to quote the following 
 passage in explanation of the line of conduct pur- 
 sued in this emergency by Lord Mornington : " If 
 we thought it proper to enter with you into any dis- 
 cussion of the policy of our late orders, we might refer 
 you to the records of your own Government, which 
 
 * MSS. Wellesley Collection.
 
 206 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 furnish more than one example of the fatal conse- 
 quences of neglecting to keep pace with the forward- 
 ness of the enemy's equipments, and of resting the 
 defence of the Carnatic, in such a crisis as the present, 
 on any other security than a state of early and active 
 preparation for war. But being resolved to exclude 
 all such discussions from the correspondence of the two 
 Governments, we shall only repeat our confidence in 
 your zealous and speedy execution of those parts of 
 the public service which fall within the direct line of 
 your peculiar duty" Lord Mornington, in a letter to 
 tho Court of Directors, reviewing the whole circum- 
 stances of the war, observes, " I have no hesitation in 
 declaring, that my original intention was if circum- 
 stances would have admitted to have attacked the 
 Sultaun instantly, and on both sides of his dominions, 
 for the purpose of defeating his hostile preparations, 
 and of anticipating their declared object. I was con- 
 cerned, however, to learn, from persons most conversant 
 in military details at Fort St. George, that the dis- 
 persed state of the army on the coast of Coromandel, 
 and certain radical defects in its establishments, would 
 render the assembling a force equal to offensive move- 
 ments against Tippoo, a much more tedious and difficult 
 operation than I had apprehended." 
 
 In the meanwhile Lord Mornington applied him- 
 self to the consideration of the means of counteracting 
 the French influence in the Deccan, and rendering 
 the Nizam useful as an ally in the approaching con- 
 test ; while he urged forward the military prepara- 
 tions in Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, and took means 
 for re-establishing the public credit ; at the same time
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 207 
 
 sounding the disposition of the Mahrattas, and car- 
 rying on a correspondence with Tippoo Sultaun, if 
 possible to secure the objects which he had in view 
 by negotiation backed by a demonstration of a power- 
 ful force, without having recourse to actual war. 
 
 During the administration of Sir John Shore, some 
 disturbances broke out between the Mahrattas and the 
 Nizam. The latter power applied to the British Go- 
 vernment for assistance ; but Sir John Shore left our 
 ally unsupported not only declining to interfere in 
 the quarrel, but refusing to permit the Nizam to 
 employ against the Mahrattas the British subsidiary 
 force which, under the treaty of Seringapatam, con- 
 cluded by the Marquess Cornwallis, was placed in his 
 territories for their protection. Sir John Shore was 
 anxious to maintain the pacific character of his ad- 
 ministration, and erroneously supposed that British 
 interests could be promoted by neutrality in such a 
 case. The unfortunate result of Sir John Shore's 
 policy soon became manifest. The Nizam placed him- 
 self in the hands of the French Resident, M. Raymond, 
 and exchanged his British auxiliaries for twenty-three 
 battalions, officered by Frenchmen, carrying the co- 
 lours of the French Republic, and displaying the cap of 
 liberty on their buttons. French influence was predo- 
 minant in the Court of the Nizam ; and yet his High- 
 ness was one of the allies on whom we were to trust 
 in case of hostilities with Tippoo Sultaun, or of a 
 French invasion ! Subsequent discoveries* fully justi- 
 fied Lord Mornington's suspicions that the French 
 officers in the Nizam's army were in correspondence 
 
 * Vide Appendix.
 
 208 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 with Tippoo Sultaun and the agents of the French 
 Republic. 
 
 The Governor-General, finding that the time had 
 now arrived for carrying his plans relative to this 
 force into execution, directed J. A. Kirkpatrick, Esq., 
 the Acting Resident at Hyderabad, the capital of the 
 Nizam's dominions, at once to place himself in com- 
 munication with the Soubahdar, to lay before him 
 the whole of the circumstances connected with Tippoo 
 Sultaun's embassy to the Isle of France ; to demand 
 his co-operation and assistance, under the 10th article 
 of the Treaty of Paungul ; and to urge upon him the 
 immediate disbanding of the French corps, and the 
 substitution, in their stead, of a British subsidiary 
 force, as the basis of a new treaty. With so much 
 skill, promptitude, and energy, were these measures 
 taken, that the Governor-General had the satisfaction 
 of receiving favourable answers upon every point. 
 On the 1st of September, 1798, the new treaty was 
 signed, by which the British subsidiary troops, for- 
 merly two thousand in number, were augmented to 
 six thousand, under the direction of Colonel Kirk- 
 patrick ; and the British Government was pledged for 
 the protection of the Nizam against any unjust de- 
 mands of the Mahrattas. The Nizam, on the other 
 hand, engaged to disband the French corps, whenever 
 the whole British force should arrive in his capital ; 
 and to raise the subsidy which he paid for the main- 
 tenance of the British troops from 57,713 to 210,425 
 rupees per month. The new British force reached 
 Hyderabad on the 10th of October, without exciting 
 the least suspicion as to the object it was destined to
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 209 
 
 accomplish. The Nizam now began to waver ; but the 
 British commander declared that he would at once at- 
 tack the French corps of the Nizam, if the Soubahdar 
 did not immediately fulfil his engagements. A pro- 
 clamation was then sent to the French camp, an- 
 nouncing the disbanding of the corps, and declaring 
 it to be treason for the native soldiers to obey their 
 officers. The British force, aided by a strong body 
 of the Nizam's horse, surrounded the camp ; eleven 
 thousand men laid down their arms, on promise of 
 pay and future employment ; and the French officers 
 were delivered up to the British commander, the 
 Governor-General ensuring to them all their property, 
 the arrears of pay due by the Nizam, and safe con- 
 duct to France, without delay, molestation, exchange, 
 or cartel, conditions which were observed by Lord 
 Mornington with the most scrupulous exactness. The 
 remaining three thousand of the French corps, who 
 had been removed to a distance, were without difficulty 
 disarmed. This bloodless victory produced a powerful 
 sensation throughout all India ; with so much address 
 and secresy were the proceedings conducted, that the 
 intelligence was as little expected by the British re- 
 sidents of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, as it was 
 by the Courts of Poonah and Seringapatam. It struck 
 dismay into the hearts of the disaffected, while it every- 
 where raised the hopes of the British. 
 
 Major-General Craig, in a note to Lord Mornington, 
 written from Cawnpore, expresses the feeling which 
 the disbanding of the French corps produced through- 
 out the army : " I cannot refrain from taking the 
 liberty of congratulating your Lordship, which I do 
 
 VOL. i. r
 
 210 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 with very great satisfaction, upon the successful issue 
 of your Lordship's measures to extirpate the French 
 influence at the Court of Hyderabad. Nothing struck 
 me more forcibly upon my arrival in this country 
 than the extent of the mischief which might be created 
 by that baneful and inimical ascendancy. It was re- 
 served for your Lordship's firmness and political wis- 
 dom to remove an evil of so dangerous a tendency. I 
 very sincerely hope that the decision and energy which 
 have so eminently characterised this the first step of 
 your Lordship's administration will produce the effect 
 of restoring our national character for vigour and spi- 
 rit, upon which points I fear it has suffered much of 
 late years in the opinion of the natives." 
 
 The correspondence between Tippoo Sultaun and the 
 supreme Government begins to assume a degree of 
 more lively interest as the period of the destined fall 
 of his empire approaches. In a letter dated the 18th 
 of July, and received by Lord Mornington at Fort 
 William on the 2<nd of August, the Sultaun writes as 
 follows : " Your Lordship has written that subordi- 
 nate officers are naturally inclined to make misrepre- 
 sentations to their respective Governments in such 
 trivial cases, and to foment jealousies and disturb- 
 ances. It is certain, then, that in plain and simple 
 cases, the representations of interested people will not 
 have any weight or credit whatever with your Lord- 
 ship. Nevertheless, as your Lordship is desirous of 
 obtaining an explanation and removing doubts, and as 
 orders have been issued to the officers of Koriaul to con- 
 fer with the persons who may be appointed from the 
 Malabar side ; and fairly to ascertain and remove all
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 211 
 
 doubts, a person of rank shall also be deputed by me 
 for this business. By the favour of God, the bonds of 
 friendship and union are firmly drawn between the 
 two States, and I am to the last degree disposed to 
 give additional strength to the beneficial system of 
 amity and peace. Believing me gratified by the agree- 
 able intelligence of your Lordship's welfare, I hope you 
 will always continue to rejoice me by your exhilarat- 
 ing letters." Nothing can possibly exhibit the utter 
 perfidy and hypocrisy of this crafty diplomatist more 
 strongly than the fact (proved by the correspondence 
 found in Seringapatam after Tippoo's death) that the 
 specific conditions of an offensive alliance against the 
 British, accompanied with solicitations to the French 
 Directory and to the Government at the Isle of France 
 to send an auxiliary force to aid in the conquest of 
 India, bear date two days subsequent to the date 
 of the letter to Lord Mornington just quoted. In a 
 letter written the 7th of August, 1798, the Governor- 
 General intimates to the Sultaun the final report of 
 the Commissioners in Malabar, and informs his High- 
 ness that he had directed them to make a formal 
 acknowledgment of the justice of Tippoo Sultaun's 
 claim to the district of Wynaad. This concession had 
 no other effect than to draw from the Mysorean two 
 letters advancing fresh claims. Lord Mornington now 
 commenced an attempt to work upon Tippoo's fears. 
 His Lordship, having gained intelligence of the glorious 
 victory achieved by Sir Horatio Nelson at the Nile, 
 and celebrated the event with public rejoicings in Cal- 
 cutta, in a letter dated the 4th of November, 1798, 
 communicated the news of the destruction of the
 
 212 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 French fleet to his Highness the Sultaun. Four days 
 afterwards Lord Mornington followed up the intelli- 
 gence of the calamity which had fallen upon Tippoo's 
 allies with the following grave expostulation : 
 
 THE EARL OF MORNINGTON TO TIPPOO SULTAUN. 
 
 Fort William, 8th November, 1798. 
 
 " It affords me sincere satisfaction to learn that you 
 have nominated two persons of integrity and honour to 
 meet and confer with the deputies appointed under my 
 orders by Mr. Duncan (the Governor of Bombay), for 
 the purposes of investigating the question regarding 
 the Talooks of Ameera and Souled. It is only by 
 means of regular inquiry and amicable discussion that 
 such questions can be adjusted among independent 
 powers. My determination in the case of Wynaad, 
 was dictated by those principles of justice and mode- 
 ration which always direct the Company's Government, 
 nor shall my scrupulous adherence to the same prin- 
 ciples be least manifest on your claims to the districts 
 at present in question, the possession of which shall 
 not be withholden from you for an instant, if, after a 
 full investigation, I shall be satisfied of the justice of 
 your title to them. 
 
 " It is a well-known truth, that they are always the 
 most ready to respect the just rights of others who are 
 the most vigilant and resolute to maintain their own. 
 
 " I have understood your sentiments concerning 
 ' the turbulent disposition of interested men who, by 
 nature, are ever seeking opportunities of sowing seeds 
 of dissension/ For the happiness of mankind, it is to
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 213 
 
 be lamented that these authors of confusion are too 
 numerous, assiduous, and successful, in all parts of the 
 world. In no age or country were the baneful and in- 
 sidious arts of intrigue cultivated with such success as 
 they are at present by the French nation. I sincerely 
 wish that no impression had been produced on your 
 discerning mind by that dangerous people ; but my 
 situation enables me to know that they have reached 
 your presence, and have endeavoured to pervert the 
 wisdom of your councils, and to instigate you to war 
 against those who have given you no provocation. 
 
 " It is impossible that you should suppose me to be 
 ignorant of the intercourse which subsists between you 
 and the French, whom you know to be the inveterate 
 enemies of the Company, and to be now engaged in a 
 war with the British nation. 
 
 You cannot imagine me to be indifferent to the 
 transactions which have passed between you and the 
 enemies of my country ; nor does it appear necessary 
 or proper that I should any longer conceal from you 
 the surprise and concern with which I perceived you 
 disposed to involve yourself in all the ruinous conse- 
 quences of a connection which threatens not only to 
 subvert the foundations of friendship between you and 
 the Company, but to introduce into the heart of your 
 kingdom the principles of anarchy and confusion, to 
 shake your own authority, to weaken the obedience of 
 your subjects, and to destroy the religion which you 
 revere. 
 
 Immediately after my arrival at Bengal, I read 
 your correspondence with the late Governor-General, 
 Sir John Shore, and with the acting Governor-General
 
 214 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Sir Alured Clarke ; and I perceived with great satis- 
 faction, that in all your letters you constantly pro- 
 fessed a disposition to strengthen the bonds of sin- 
 cere attachment and the foundations of harmony and 
 concord established between you and the Honourable 
 Company. I received peculiar pleasure from reading 
 your last letter to Sir John Shore, in which you 
 signified your amicable desire that he should impress 
 me with a sense of the friendship and unanimity so 
 long subsisting between the two states. Your sub- 
 sequent letters to me have abounded with professions 
 of the same friendly nature. 
 
 Combining these professions of amity, on your 
 part, with the proofs which the Company's Govern- 
 ment have constantly given of their sincere disposi- 
 tion to maintain the relations of friendship and peace 
 with you ; and adverting at the same time to your re- 
 putation for wisdom and discernment, it was natural 
 for me to be extremely slow to believe the various 
 accounts transmitted to me of your negotiations with 
 the French, and of your military preparations ; but 
 whatever my reluctance to credit such reports might 
 be, prudence required both of me and of the Com- 
 pany's allies that we should adopt certain measures 
 of precaution and self-defence, and these have accord- 
 ingly been taken, as you will no doubt have ob- 
 served. 
 
 " The British Government and the allies wishing, 
 nevertheless, to live in peace and friendship with all 
 their neighbours, entertaining no projects of ambition, 
 nor any views in the least incompatible with their re- 
 spective engagements, and looking to no other objects
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 215 
 
 than the permanent security and tranquillity of their 
 own dominions and subjects, will always be ready, as 
 they now are, to afford you every demonstration of 
 their pacific disposition. 
 
 " The Peishwah and his Highness the Nizam concur 
 with me in the observations which I have offered to 
 you in this letter, and which, in the name of the Com- 
 pany and of the Allies, I recommend to your most 
 earnest consideration ; but as I am desirous of commu- 
 nicating to you, on behalf of the Company and their 
 allies, a plan calculated to promote the mutual secu- 
 rity and welfare of all parties, I propose to depute to 
 you, for this purpose, Major Doveton, who is well 
 known to you, and who will explain to you more fully 
 and particularly the sole means which appear to 
 myself and to the allies of the Company to be 
 effectual for the salutary purpose of removing all 
 existing distrust and suspicion, and of establishing 
 peace and good understanding on the most durable 
 foundations. 
 
 " You will, I doubt not, let me know at what time 
 and place it will be convenient to you to receive 
 Major Doveton ; and as soon as your friendly letter 
 shall reach me, I will direct him to proceed to your 
 presence. 
 
 " I shall expect your answer to this letter, with an 
 earnest hope that it may correspond with the pacific 
 views and wishes of the allies ; and that you may be 
 convinced that you cannot in any manner better con- 
 sult your true interests than by meeting with cordi- 
 ality the present friendly and moderate advance to a 
 satisfactory and amicable settlement of all points on
 
 216 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 which any doubt or anxiety may have arisen in the 
 minds either of yourself or your allies. 
 
 (Signed) " MORNINGTON." 
 
 " (A true copy.) N. B. EDMINSTONE, 
 
 " Persian Translator to Government." 
 
 Before this expostulation could have reached Se- 
 ringapatam, Tippoo Sultaun addressed the following 
 letter to the Governor-General : 
 
 TIPPOO SULTAUN TO LORD MORNINGTON. 
 
 " Dated 20th November, 1798.* 
 
 " It has lately come to my, ears, from report, that 
 in consequence of the talk of interested persons, mi- 
 litary preparations are on foot. Report is equally 
 subject to the likelihood of being true or false. I 
 have the fullest confidence that the present is without 
 foundation. By the favour of God, the conditions (or 
 obligations) of peace established between us have ob- 
 tained the utmost degree of strength and firmness ; 
 under the circumstances of their having been firmly 
 observed and adhered to, of the daily increasing union 
 and friendship, and of the constant intercourse of 
 correspondence, it (the report) cannot possibly be 
 entitled to credit ; but the promulgation of such re- 
 port excites my surprise. My friendly pen writes 
 this ; I hope your Lordship will be pleased to gratify 
 me by writing of it. From a desire to maintain the 
 obligations of treaty and engagement, I have no other 
 intention (or thought) than to give increase to friend- 
 
 * Received 15th of December, 1798.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 217 
 
 ship, and my friendly heart is to the last degree bent 
 on endeavours to confirm and strengthen the founda- 
 tions of harmony and union. 
 
 " Let your Lordship always continue to gratify me 
 by gladdening letters notifying your welfare." 
 
 " (A true translation.) N. B. EDMINSTONE, 
 
 " Persian Translator to Government." 
 
 Intelligence of the invasion of Egypt by the French, 
 was conveyed to Tippoo by the following letter from 
 the Ottoman Porte : 
 
 THE SUBLIME PORTE TO THE INDIAN SOVEREIGN 
 TIPPOO SULTAUN. 
 
 Dated, Constantinople, 20th of September, 1798 ; delivered to Mr. Spencer 
 Smith, his Britannic Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary. 
 
 " We take this opportunity to acquaint your Ma- 
 jesty, when the French Republic was engaged in war 
 with most of the powers of Europe within this latter 
 period our Sublime Porte not only took no part 
 against them, but, regardful of the ancient amity exist- 
 ing with that nation, adopted a system of the strictest 
 neutrality, and shewed them even such acts of coun- 
 tenance as have given rise to complaints on the part 
 of other Courts. 
 
 " Thus friendly disposed towards them, and re- 
 posing a confidence in those sentiments of friendship 
 which they appeared to profess for us, we gave no 
 ear to many propositions and advantageous offers 
 which had been made to us to side with the belli- 
 gerent powers ; but, pursuant to our maxims of mo- 
 deration and justice, we abstained from breaking with 
 them without direct motive, and firmly observed the
 
 218 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 line of neutrality ; all which is notorious to the 
 world. 
 
 " In this posture of things, when the French, having 
 witnessed the greatest marks of attention from our 
 Sublime Porte, a perfect reciprocity was naturally 
 expected on their side, when no cause existed to in- 
 terrupt the continuance of the peace betwixt the two 
 nations, they all of a sudden have exhibited the un- 
 provoked and treacherous proceedings of which the 
 following is a sketch : 
 
 " They began to prepare a fleet in one of their 
 harbours called Toulon, with most extraordinary mys- 
 tery ; and when completely fitted out and ready for 
 sea, embarked a large body of troops, and they put 
 also on board several persons versed in the Arabic 
 language, and who had been in Egypt before. They 
 gave the command of that armament to one of their 
 generals named Buonaparte, who first went to the 
 Island of Malta, of which he took possession, and 
 thence proceeded direct for Alexandria, where being 
 arrived, the 1 7th of Muharem, all of a sudden landed 
 his troops and entered the town by open force, pub- 
 lishing soon after manifestoes in Arabic among the 
 different tribes, stating in substance that the object 
 of their enterprise was not to declare war against 
 the Ottoman Porte, but to attack the Beys of Egypt 
 for insults and injuries they had committed against 
 the French merchants in time past ; that peace with 
 the Ottoman empire was permanent ; that those of the 
 Arabs who should join, would meet with the best 
 treatment, but such as shewed opposition would suffer 
 death : with this further insinuation, made in different
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 219 
 
 quarters, but more particularly to certain Courts at 
 amity with us, that the expedition against the Beys 
 was with the privity and consent of our Sublime Porte, 
 which is a horrible falsity. After this, they took 
 possession of Rosetta, not hesitating to engage in a 
 pitched battle with the Ottoman troops who had been 
 detached from Cairo to assist the invaded. 
 
 " It is a standing law among all nations, not to en- 
 croach upon each other's territories whilst they are 
 supposed to be at peace. When any such events take 
 place as lead to a rupture, the motives so tending are 
 previously made known to the parties ; nor are any 
 open aggressions attempted against their respective 
 dominions until a formal declaration of war takes 
 place. 
 
 " Whilst therefore no interruption of the peace, nor 
 the smallest symptom of misunderstanding appeared 
 between our Sublime Porte and the French Republic, 
 a conduct so audacious, so unprovoked, and so deceit- 
 fully sudden on their part, is an undeniable trait of 
 the most extreme insult and treachery. 
 
 " The province of Egypt is considered as a region of 
 general veneration, from the immediate proximity of 
 the noble city of Mecca, the Keblesh of the Mussulmans 
 (the point of the compass to which all Turks turn 
 their face in performing their prayers) and the sacred 
 tomb of Medina, where the tomb of our blessed prophet 
 is fixed ; the inhabitants of both these sacred cities 
 deriving from thence their subsistence. 
 
 " Independent of this it has been actually discovered 
 from several letters which have been intercepted, that 
 the further project of the French is to divide Arabia
 
 220 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 into various republics, to attack the whole Moham- 
 medan sect in its religion and country ; and by a 
 gradual progression, to extirpate all Mussulmans from 
 the face of the earth. 
 
 " It is for these cogent motives and considerations 
 that we have determined to repel this enemy, and to 
 adopt every rigorous measure against these persecutors 
 of the faith ; we placing all confidence in the omni- 
 potent God, the source of all succour, and in the inter- 
 cession of him who is the glory of prophets. 
 
 " Now, it being certain that in addition to the gene- 
 ral ties of religion, the bonds of amity and good 
 understanding have ever been firm and permanent with 
 your Majesty, so justly famed for your zeal and attach- 
 ment to our faith ; and that more than once such 
 public acts of friendly attention have been practised 
 between us, as to have cemented the connection sub- 
 sisting between the two countries; we therefore sin- 
 cerely hope from your Majesty's dignified disposition, 
 that you will not refuse entering into concert with 
 us, and giving our Sublime Porte every possible assist- 
 ance by such an exertion of zeal as your firmness and 
 natural attachment to such a cause cannot fail to 
 excite. 
 
 " "We understand that in consequence of certain 
 intrigues carried on by the French in India (after their 
 accustomed system) in order to destroy the settlements 
 and to sow dissensions in the provinces of the English 
 there, a strict connection is expected to take place 
 between them and your Majesty, for whose service they 
 are to send over a corps of troops by the way of 
 Egypt.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 221 
 
 " We are persuaded that the tendency of the French 
 plans cannot in the present days escape your Majesty's 
 penetration and notice, and that no manner of regard 
 will be given to their deceitful insinuations on your 
 side : and whereas the Court of Great Britain is 
 actually at war with them, and our Sublime Porte 
 engaged on the other hand in repelling their aggres- 
 sions, consequently the French are enemies to both ; 
 and such a reciprocity of interests must exist between 
 those Courts as ought to make both parties eager to 
 afford every mutual succour which a common cause 
 requires. 
 
 " It is notorious that the French, bent upon the 
 overthrow of all sects and religions, have invented a 
 new doctrine under the name of liberty, they them- 
 selves professing no other belief but that of Debrees, 
 (Epicureans or Pythagoreans) ; that they have not even 
 spared the territories of the Pope of Rome, a country 
 since time immemorial held in reverence by all Euro- 
 pean nations ; that they have wrested and shared with 
 others the whole Venetian State, notwithstanding that 
 fellow-republic had not only abstained from taking part 
 against them, but had rendered them service during 
 the course of the war, thus effacing the name of the 
 republic of Venice from the annals of history. 
 
 " There is no doubt that in their present attempt 
 against the Ottomans, as well as their ulterior designs 
 (dictated by their avaricious views towards oriental 
 riches), tend to make a general conquest of that coun- 
 try (which may God never suffer to take effect!) and to 
 expel every Mussulman from it under the pretence of 
 annoying the English. Their end is to be once admit-
 
 222 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 ted into India, and then to develope what really lies in 
 their hearts, just as they have done in every place 
 where they have been able to acquire a footing. 
 
 " In a word, they are a nation whose deceitful in- 
 trigues and perfidious pursuits know no bounds. They 
 are intent on nothing but depriving people of their 
 lives and properties, and on persecuting religion wher- 
 ever their arms can reach. 
 
 " Upon all this, therefore, coming to your Majesty's 
 knowledge, it is sincerely hoped that you will not refuse 
 every needful exertion towards assisting your breth- 
 ren Mussulmans, according to the obligations of reli- 
 gion, and towards defending Hindostan itself against 
 the effect of French machinations. Should it be true, 
 as we hear, that an intimate connection has taken 
 place between your Court and that nation, we hope 
 that by weighing present circumstances, as well as 
 every future inconvenience, which would result from 
 such a measure, your Majesty will beware against it, 
 and in the event of your having harboured any idea of 
 joining with them, or of moving against Great Britain, 
 you will lay such resolution aside. We make it our 
 especial request that your Majesty will please to refrain 
 from entering into any measures against the English, 
 or lending any compliant ear to the French. Should 
 there exist any subject of complaint with the former, 
 please to communicate it, certain as you may be of 
 the employment of every good office on our side to 
 compromise the same ; we wish to see the connection 
 above alluded to exchanged in favour of Great Britain. 
 
 " We confidently expect, that upon consideration of 
 all that is stated in this communication, and of the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 223 
 
 necessity of assisting your brethren Mussulmans in this 
 general cause of religion as well as of co-operating 
 towards the above precious province being delivered 
 from the hands of your enemy, your Majesty will em- 
 ploy every means which your natural zeal will point 
 out to assist the common cause, and to corroborate by 
 that means, the ancient good understanding so happily 
 existing between our empires. 
 
 " (A true copy.) N. B. EDMINSTONE, 
 
 " Persian Translator to Government." 
 
 How Tippoo responded to this appeal we shall see 
 hereafter : the arrival of Buonaparte on the Egyptian 
 soil appears to have inspired him with the highest 
 hopes, and to have strengthened him in all his anti- 
 pathies to the British.
 
 224 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Landing of the French Army in Egypt. Designs of the Directory of 
 France on British India. Effect of the Intelligence in India. Buona- 
 parte's Projects for the Invasion of British India. Circumstances fa- 
 vourable to them. Proposes to cross the Euphrates and the Indus. 
 Alexander, Tamerlane, Nadir Shah. Friendly Disposition of Persia. 
 Zemaun Shah prepared to co-operate with Tippoo Sultaun and Buona- 
 parte. Buonaparte's Letters to the Sheriffe of Mecca and Tippoo 
 Sultaun. Bourrienne's Account of Buonaparte's Plans. Conversa- 
 tions in St. Helena. Battle of the Nile and Defeat of Acre. Buona- 
 parte's Proposals to the Emperor Paul. The Marches of Generals 
 Lord Keane, Nott, Sale, and Pollock through Affghanistan. Boland 
 and Kyber Passes. Tippoo's Correspondence with Zemaun Shah. 
 Account of Zemaun Shah. His Power and Hostility to the British. 
 Remarks of Lord Mornington and General Sir J. H. Craig, respecting 
 Zemaun Shah. Effects of the Victory of the Nile. Lord Morning- 
 ton's Plans for annoying the French in Egypt. Letter to Lord Nel- 
 son. Precautions in Scinde against Zemaun Shah. Memorandum 
 relating to Scinde. 
 
 ON the 18th of October the Governor-General re- 
 ceived intelligence of the landing of the French army 
 under Buonaparte in Egypt ; in less than a fortnight 
 from that time the particulars of Nelson's victory at 
 the Nile were brought to Fort William by one of the 
 Admiral's lieutenants. 
 
 Notwithstanding the destruction of the French fleet 
 in the Mediterranean, Lord Mornington did not relax 
 any part of the naval and military preparations which 
 had been commenced under his orders, being still 
 ignorant of the fate of the French army and uncertain
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 225 
 
 whether the Directory had smuggled out ships singly 
 and unobserved, with water and provisions from 
 France to Suez, whether they had sent orders to the 
 authorities at the Isle of France to forward the frigates 
 at that station, and the numerous privateers and 
 other armed vessels belonging to the island, to meet 
 Buonaparte's army on the shores of the Red Sea, or 
 whether any shipping or small craft might be found at 
 Suez, or Cosier, or any other of the ports, sufficient to 
 transport a few regiments to the coast of Malabar. 
 Lord Mornington, in this instance too, completely anti- 
 cipated the wishes of the Court of Directors, as we find 
 it expressed in a letter from the India House to his 
 Lordship, dated 26th of November, 1798: "Since 
 the date of our -letter of June last, above alluded to, 
 the landing of Buonaparte in Egypt has been fully 
 confirmed ; and although, by the glorious victory of 
 Admiral Nelson over the French fleet near Alexandria, 
 and the opposition made to their progress through 
 Egypt by the Arabs under the authority of the Porte, 
 the designs of the French have been considerably 
 impeded ; yet if, contrary to our hopes and expecta- 
 tions, he should be able to establish himself in Egypt, 
 we cannot but still be under apprehensions for the 
 safety of our Indian possessions. These apprehensions 
 are considerably increased in consequence of some 
 hints lately suggested by the Right Honourable Henry 
 Dundas, that if the French should be able to subdue 
 Egypt, and to establish their authority in that country, 
 it is likely their next progressive measure would be to 
 secure the communication of the Red Sea with the 
 Gulph of Cambay, at the narrow Straits of Babelmandel ; 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and, if in their power, to detach a sufficient force to 
 take possession of the Island of Perim, situate between 
 the two points which include those straits." 
 
 Buonaparte, in projecting the invasion of Egypt, 
 hoped to have been able to strike a blow at the heart 
 of the British empire in India, and to have emulated 
 the renown of the most mighty conquerors of Asia. 
 The Roman eagle had spread dismay on the banks of 
 the Euphrates ; Alexander the Great, Tamerlane, and, 
 nearer our own times, Nadir Shah, had swept over 
 Persia, overcome the obstacles presented by the snows, 
 crags, defiles, and deserts of the inhospitable region 
 now so celebrated under the name of Afghanistan, and 
 crossing the Indus had penetrated into Hindostan. 
 Such an enterprise seemed worthy of the gigantic 
 ambition and romantic courage of the conqueror of 
 Italy ; and it appeared to present the most feasible 
 means of humbling the proud antagonist of France. 
 The French Directory were accurately informed of the 
 precise state of every portion of British India : repub- 
 lican agents were scattered over all parts of the 
 peninsula : French officers and engineers were to be 
 found in the armies of all the native powers ; and by 
 Tippoo Sultaun, the Nizam, and the Mahrattas, as we 
 have seen, French corps of considerable strength were 
 maintained. Beside, the Government of France had 
 the opportunity of obtaining intelligence affecting the 
 territories of the East India Company and the native 
 powers, through the Portuguese settlement of Goa, 
 dangerous from its vicinity to the island and city of 
 Bombay, as well as from the Danish factories of Seram- 
 pore and Tranquebar, the one confronting the Gover-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 227 
 
 nor-General's house on the river Hoogley, the other 
 affording a convenient station for watching the pro- 
 ceedings of the Presidency of Madras. French ships 
 of the line, frigates, and privateers were in the Indian 
 Seas. The Isles of France and Bourbon, now the 
 Mauritius, not only enabled the Republican Govern- 
 ment to menace British supremacy in the East, but 
 afforded great facilities for the transmission of political 
 information to Europe. When Buonaparte, therefore, 
 steered his course for Alexandria, he was well aware 
 both of the strength and the weakness of the British : 
 and it must be admitted that circumstances ap- 
 peared highly favourable to a descent upon India. 
 The Government of Madras was in a state of absolute 
 feebleness ; and, notwithstanding the vigilance of the 
 British cruizers, French ships captured our merchant- 
 men off the mouths of the Ganges. Tippoo Sultaun, 
 to whom the historian of Lord Wellesley's policy is 
 obliged to devote so considerable a degree of attention, 
 was a brave, energetic, wealthy and powerful sovereign, 
 as has been sufficiently demonstrated, breathing forth 
 vengeance against the English name, and anxious to 
 hail the victorious leader of the eagles of France as the 
 deliverer of India ! The Nizam was an uncertain ally 
 of the British Government, incapable of rendering any 
 useful aid, and formidable to his friends in consequence 
 of the Gallic corps in his service. The Mahratta 
 empire was disaffected and turbulent, and was deeply 
 engaged in intrigues with powers hostile to Great 
 Britain ; the Burmese menaced the irruption which 
 afterwards took place during the progress of the war 
 in Mysore ; and Zemaun Shah, the bold Affghan
 
 228 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 leader, inheriting all the daring of his warlike pre- 
 decessors, who had so often devastated India, threatened 
 an invasion from the north-west, and had concerted 
 measures with that view (as subsequent events proved) 
 both with Tippoo Sultaun and the French. All these 
 circumstances were favourable to the schemes and mag- 
 nificent visions of Buonaparte, who already hoped to 
 mount the throne of Aurungzebe ! * And what still 
 further tended to raise his hopes and invest the British 
 cause with peril, was the fact that at the same moment 
 the shores of England were menaced by an army from 
 the opposite side of the channel, and Ireland was the 
 seat of civil war, created by the dreadful sufferings of 
 the oppressed class, sedulously fomented by the French 
 Jacobinism. 
 
 One of the first acts of Buonaparte was to endeavour 
 to open a communication with the Sultaun of Mysore, 
 as appears from the following intercepted letters : 
 
 LETTER OF GENERAL BUONAPARTE TO TIPPOO SULTAUN. 
 
 " French Republic. 
 " Liberty. Equality. 
 
 " BUONAPARTE, Member of the National Convention, 
 General-in-Chief, to the Most Magnificent Sultaun, 
 our greatest friend, Tippoo Saib. 
 
 " Head-quarters at Cairo, 7th Pluvoise, 7th Year of the 
 Republic, one and indivisible. 
 
 " You have been already informed of my arrival 
 on the borders of the Red Sea, with an innumerable 
 
 * The Mahratta Empire, observes Colonel Gurwood, was founded by 
 the celebrated Sevajee over a considerable race of people about the 
 middle of the seventeenth century, afterwards divided into several
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 229 
 
 and invincible army, full of the desire of delivering 
 you from the iron yoke of England. 
 
 " I eagerly embrace this opportunity of testifying 
 to you the desire I have of being informed by you, by 
 the way of Muscat and Mocha, as to your political 
 situation. 
 
 " I would even wish you could send some intelli- 
 gent person to Suez or Cairo, possessing your con- 
 fidence, with whom I may confer. 
 
 " May the Almighty increase your power, and de- 
 stroy your enemies. 
 
 " BUONAPARTE." 
 
 " (True translation from the French.) 
 
 " FRANCIS WAPPERS, Translator." 
 
 Translation of a letter from General Buonaparte to 
 the Sheriffe of Mecca, written in Arabic, without 
 date, and received at Juddah, 17th February, 1799. 
 
 "You will be fully informed by the Nocqueda of 
 this Dow, how tranquil and quiet everything is at 
 Cairo and Suez, and between those places, and of the 
 tranquillity which is established among the inhabit- 
 ants. Not a single Mamaluke oppressor remains in 
 the country ; and the inhabitants, without dread or 
 fear, employ themselves in weaving, cultivating the 
 ground, and in other trades, as formerly ; and, by the 
 
 independent governments : the Rajah of Sattarah, a descendant of 
 Sevajee, still being chief, although only nominally governing through 
 the Peishwah, the chief magistrate of the empire. The principal chiefs 
 of the Mahratta Empire, in 1803, were ; 
 
 The Rajah of Sattarah. Dowlut Rao Scindiah. 
 
 The Peishwah. Jeswunt Rao Holkar. 
 
 The Rajah of Berar. Anund Rao Guickwar.
 
 230 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 blessing of God, this will be daily increasing ; and the 
 duties on merchandise and the taxes will be lessened. 
 The duties on merchandise are now the same as they 
 were prior to their being raised by the Mamalukes ; 
 the merchants have every assistance granted them, 
 and the road between Suez and Cairo is open and safe ; 
 therefore, do you assure the merchants of your coun- 
 try, that they may bring their goods to Suez, and sell 
 them without dread or apprehension, and may purchase 
 in exchange for them such articles as they may wish. 
 
 "I now send you a letter for our friend Tippoo 
 Sultaun ; oblige me by forwarding it to his coun- 
 try. 
 
 " (A true translation.) 
 
 (Signed) " S. WILSON." 
 
 It now seems questionable, whether Buonaparte did 
 contemplate an attack upon India from the Red Sea, 
 notwithstanding his letters to Tippoo : though he 
 knew well the moral effect of a demonstration of his 
 power there, and he would no doubt have been ready 
 to avail himself of any favourable circumstances, if 
 the British Government had exhibited any remissness 
 or imbecility in that quarter. His grand scheme was 
 to march into India in the footsteps of Alexander ! 
 In his Memoirs, written by himself, * he mentions that 
 it was his design to have crossed the Desert ; and 
 Bourrienne, his secretary, records some conversations 
 with Napoleon on this favourite theme : " Before he 
 conceived the resolution of attacking the Turkish ad- 
 vanced guard in the valleys of Syria/' observes Bour- 
 rienne, " Buonaparte had formed a plan of invading 
 
 * Vide Montholon.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 231 
 
 British India from Persia. He had ascertained through 
 the medium of agents, that the Shah of Persia would, 
 for a sum of money paid in advance, consent to the 
 establishment of a military magazine on certain points 
 of his territory. Buonaparte frequently told me that if, 
 after the subjugation of Egypt, he could have left fifteen 
 thousand men in that country and have had thirty 
 thousand disposable troops, he would have marched on 
 the Euphrates." In his conversations in St. Helena 
 Buonaparte frequently adverted to his defeat by Sir 
 Sydney Smith at Acre as the cause of the failure of all 
 plans in reference to British India : " Possessed of 
 Acre, the array would have gone to Damascus and the 
 Euphrates ; the Christians of Syria, the Druses, the 
 Armenians would have joined us. The provinces of 
 the Ottoman Empire, which speak Arabic, were ready 
 for a change : they were only waiting for a man. 
 With one hundred thousand men on the banks of the 
 Euphrates I might have gone to Constantinople or to 
 India : I might have changed the face of the world. I 
 should have founded an empire in the East, and the des- 
 tinies of France would have run into a different course."* 
 That Buonaparte was deeply penetrated with the 
 idea of achieving the conquest of the British territories 
 in India which exceed in extent, population, wealth, 
 and commerce, all the provinces of Rome in the most 
 palmy days of the empire is evident from the plan 
 for the invasion of India concerted between the First 
 Consul and the Emperor Paul in February 1801. 
 The terms of this daring project were to the follow- 
 ing effect : " A French army, thirty-five thousand 
 
 * Buonaparte's Conversations in Las Cuaas. 
 VOL. I. Q 4
 
 232 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 strong, with light artillery, under the command of 
 Massena, shall be moved from France to Ulm, from 
 whence, with the consent of Austria, it shall descend 
 the Danube to the Black Sea. Arrived there, a Rus- 
 sian fleet will transport it to Taganrok, from whence 
 it shall move to Taritzin, on the Volga, where it 
 shall find boats to convey it to Astrakan. There 
 it will find a Russian army of 35,000 men, com- 
 posed of 15,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry, and 10,000 
 Cossacks, amply provided with artillery and the horses 
 necessary for its conveyance. The combined army 
 shall be transported by the Caspian Sea, from Astrakan 
 to Astrabat, where magazines of all sorts shall be esta- 
 blished for its use. This march from the frontiers of 
 France to Astrabat will" be made in eighty days ; fifty 
 more will be requisite to bring the army to the banks of 
 the Indus by the route of Herat, Ferah, and Candahar." 
 Everything leads us to suppose that if Buonaparte 
 had been able to have established his power in Egypt 
 and Syria (including the " thrice famous " fortress of 
 Acre,*) he would have at least essayed to meet the Wel- 
 lesleys face to face on the banks of the Indus ! The 
 extraordinary marches of our own gallant troops under 
 Generals Lord Keane, Nott, Sale, and Pollock in Cabul, 
 have demonstrated that it is within the verge of 
 possibility for a European force to march through 
 that region ; though, at the same time, we may be 
 permitted to suggest that both the first expedition 
 
 * Acre was taken by King Richard Caur de Lion ; defended by 
 Sir Sydney Smith ; and taken on the 3rd November 1840, by Admiral 
 Sir Robert Stopford, the Commander-in-chief on that occasion, not 
 Commodore Sir Charles Napier as was inaccurately stated in a note in 
 the first edition.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 233 
 
 to enthrone Shah Soojah, and the second to avenge 
 the massacre of our brave countrymen in arms, be- 
 trayed into the hands of a deceitful and cruel enemy, 
 also demonstrated the ease with which the British Go- 
 vernment of India could throw forward even into the 
 heart of Central Asia a powerful army either for de- 
 fensive or offensive purposes ; and that, if fortified by 
 British engineers and defended by British arms, no 
 human power could force a way through the Kyber 
 or Bolan Pass. Beside, the establishment of steam- 
 vessels on the river Indus " that ancient river" af- 
 fords a new and effectual barrier to an irruption from 
 the north-west. 
 
 One of the most formidable enemies of the British 
 power at this time, who would have been disposed to 
 second with enthusiasm the designs of Buonaparte, 
 and who, as was proved by a variety of documents* 
 found in the captured city of Seringapatam, had been 
 for some time anxiously endeavouring to concert mea- 
 sures with Tippoo Sultaun and others to expel the 
 English from India, was Zemaun Shah. The follow- 
 ing is an account of this chieftain, from a brief me- 
 moir drawn up for Lord Mornington's use : 
 
 " Zemaun Shah, is the grandson of Ahmed Khaun 
 Abdalla, an Affghan chief, who followed the standard 
 of Nadir Shah, on his invasion of India, in the year 
 1739. His dominions extend from the left bank of 
 the Indus, coming from the sea coast, as high up as 
 the parallel of Cashrneer. Eastward of the Attoch, 
 they skirt the Seick nation to some distance beyond 
 the territory of Jamboo. They extend westward, 
 
 * See Appendix.
 
 234 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to the vicinity of Tershish, comprehending Cabul, Caii- 
 dahar, Peishere, Ghizni, Gaur, Sigistan, and Korasun,* 
 a tract not less than six hundred and fifty British 
 miles in length, from east to west. A reference to 
 Major Rennell's incomparable map, will afford a clear 
 idea of the magnitude and importance of this empire. 
 This formidable kingdom was founded, between fifty 
 and sixty years since, by Ahmed Khan Abdalla. In 
 the confusion which followed the murder of Nadir Shah, 
 availing himself of the distracted state of Persia and 
 Hindostan, he assumed the chuttur, or ensign of 
 royalty, under the name of Ahmed Shah ; dismember- 
 ing both these empires of some of their fairest pro- 
 vinces. Ahmed Shah invaded India no less than 
 seven times ; his name will long be remembered there, 
 from the dreadful overthrow he gave the united 
 powers of the Mahratta Empire, in the year 1761, on 
 the plains of Paniput. 
 
 "He was succeeded, in the year 1773, by his son 
 Timmur Shah ; who assumed the title of Duranni. 
 Timniur Shah died about the middle of the year 1792, 
 and was succeeded by his son Zemaun Shah, the pre- 
 sent monarch. Zemaun Shah resides alternately at 
 Candahar and Cabul ; at the former during the heats, 
 and at the latter in the cold season. 
 
 " His military establishment consists chiefly of horse, 
 to the number, it is said, of one hundred and fifty 
 thousand. He does not hold his infantry in much 
 esteem, employing them only to garrison his fortresses ; 
 
 * So much confusion exists in Oriental orthography, that uniformity is 
 nearly impracticable ; the form of spelling employed in the original docu- 
 ments has been adhered to throughout these volumes.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 235 
 
 and, happily for us, his equipment of artillery is by 
 no means respectable. His cavalry are all excellently 
 mounted, incomparably superior to any native horse 
 that can be brought to oppose them from Hindostan. 
 The impression of terror on the minds of the Mah- 
 rattas, by the fatal carnage at Paniput, is so indelible, 
 that it is generally believed they will hardly, if ever, 
 be prevailed upon to sustain the charge of the Ab- 
 dallis.* Among many instances of the prevalence 
 of this dread, which the cavalry of Ahmed Shah has 
 impressed upon the Mahrattas, it is related that a 
 Mahratta is not ashamed, if his horse should happen 
 to start when drinking water, to exclaim, ' Dost thou 
 see the shadow of an Abdalli V 
 
 " The revenues of Zemaun Shah have not been 
 ascertained. Those he collects from the two provinces 
 of Cashmeer and Jamboor only, are said to amount to 
 two or three millions sterling. 
 
 " The inhabitants of Zemaun Shah's dominions are 
 principally Mohammedans, with some natives of Hin- 
 dostan, who have adopted the institution of Baba 
 JSTanuh, and are called Katri. 
 
 " They are remarkably intrepid and robust, living 
 in the finest climate, and the richest country in na- 
 tural productions in the world. 
 
 " When the power of Zemaun Shah is considered, 
 and that his irruption into Hindostan has not only 
 been invited by Tippoo Sultaun, but encouraged by 
 the facility with which his ancestor spread devas- 
 tation to the gates of Delhi ; and when it is recol- 
 
 * The subjects of Zemaun Shah are thus distinguished, from the name 
 of the founder of their empire, Abdallah.
 
 236 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 lected that he is allied by marriage to the house of 
 Timmur, and may give to his invasion, in the eyes of 
 the natives of that country, the plea of restoring the 
 line of their ancient sovereigns, we cannot too care- 
 fully attend to his movements. 
 
 " He has lately shown strong indications of an 
 intention to follow the paths of the conqueror of 
 Paniput, and kept the upper provinces in a state 
 of considerable apprehension." 
 
 In a minute of the Governor-General, recorded in the 
 Secret Department, Fort William, on the 12th of Au- 
 gust, 1798, Lord Mornington expresses an opinion that 
 there could be no doubt that Zemaun Shah really en- 
 tertained the romantic project which he had announced 
 to Sir John Shore in the month of May. After ad- 
 verting to the weakened condition of the Sheiks, and 
 the internal dissensions which had rendered the domi- 
 nions of Scindiah nearly defenceless, his Lordship adds : 
 " Zemaun Shah cannot be ignorant of these advan- 
 tages; and if they should tempt him to invade Hin- 
 dostan, the diversion of our force, which would be 
 occasioned by such an event, would offer the most 
 favourable opportunity to an attack from Tippoo upon 
 the Carnatic. It is not improbable that the object of 
 the intercourse between Tippoo and Zemaun Shah was, 
 on the part of the former, at least, some such plan of 
 joint operations."' 5 ' 5 ' On the 26th of September folio w- 
 
 * The following is a translation of the draft of one of the numerous 
 letters of Tippoo to Zemaun Shah, (30th of January, 1799,) found in 
 the Palace of Seringapatam. 
 
 [After the exordium] 
 
 " Your Majesty was pleased to write, that it was the object of your
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 237 
 
 ing, Major-General Sir J. H. Craig addressed from 
 Cawnpore a memoir, with observations on the probable 
 invasion of Zemaun Shah ; in which that gallant officer 
 
 mind to crush the infidels and to propagate the religion of Mohammed ; 
 please God, your Majesty would soon proceed with a conquering army to 
 prosecute a holy war against the infidels, polytheists, and heretics, and 
 free the religion of these regions from the contamination of those shame- 
 less tribes that the profanation of polytheism should be done away by 
 the exertions of the relentless sword, and repose and happiness he re- 
 stored to the inhabitants of this country, and desiring that I would set 
 my mind at ease upon every point. This has been fully understood, and 
 I have also been informed word by word of what your Majesty was 
 pleased to confide to the verbal communication of the ambassadors ; all 
 which afforded me boundless satisfaction. 
 
 " At this time, the English having received intimation of the arrival of 
 the ambassadors of the Sirkar at your Highness's court, and of the firm 
 connection established between the two States, have taken umbrage, and 
 in concert with the infidels and the turbulent, taken up arms against me ; 
 and they have written, that they entertain the design to subvert the reli- 
 gion of Islaum ' Many are the words that proceed from their lips, but 
 their words are nought but lies.' Please God, they shall become food 
 for the unrelenting sword of the pious warriors ' Evil designs return 
 upon the heads of the inventors.' We are labourers in the way of the 
 Lord, and obedient to the command of God. We have no support, but 
 the aid of the King of the world, who is great and powerful, and the true 
 Apostle, the head of the true religion, the destroyer of former abomina- 
 tions. Placing my dependence upon those tidings of joy, ' Often doth 
 God permit the inferior number to overpower the superior' I am pre- 
 pared to exert the energies of my mind and of my faculties, inwardly and 
 outwardly, to carry on a holy war. Agreeably to the command of God, 
 believing it a duty of religion, to communicate affairs of great import- 
 ance, when the interests of religion are one of the same, the Syuds be- 
 fore-mentioned are now a second time dispatched to your Majesty's 
 Court, for the purpose of representing all circumstances fully and per- 
 sonally ; and from them, your Majesty will be amply informed of every- 
 thing. Impelled by solicitude for the defence of religion, which is in- 
 cumbent upon all the Princes of Islaum to feel, let your Majesty display 
 your grateful endeavours, both by word and deed, to repel these aban- 
 doned infidels. ' God will aid the pure of heart, and pious ! ' 
 
 " (A true translation,) N. B. EDMJNSTONE, 
 
 " Persian Translator to the Government."
 
 238 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 mentions that the prominent feature in the politics of 
 that part of the country then was, the threatened hos- 
 tility of the Affghan king Zemaun Shah : " It cannot be 
 denied/' remarks General Craig, " that if the invasion, 
 with which he menaces these and the neighbouring 
 provinces, takes place, it will be an event productive of 
 much mischief at any rate, and pregnant with no small 
 degree of eventual danger ; for it may be held as cer- 
 tain, that if he succeeds in his attempts so far as to 
 penetrate to Delhi, he will become exceedingly formid- 
 able. The glare of victory, the influence of religion, 
 and the allurements of plunder, will draw to his 
 standard numbers probably greater than have appeared 
 united in one cause since the days of Aurengzebe !" 
 Such was one of the foes who menaced the British na- 
 tion in India. It may easily be imagined how eagerly 
 Buonaparte must have desired to take advantage of the 
 favourable disposition of this chief, either in facilitating 
 his march into India, across the Indus, or in co-ope- 
 rating with himself and Tippoo Sultaun in their views 
 respecting the Carnatic, by creating a diversion in the 
 north-western provinces : it will be seen at a glance how 
 important it had become to prevent, by the celerity 
 and decision of the British movements, Buonaparte, 
 Tippoo Sultaun, Zemaun Shah, and the Mahrattas from 
 acting in concert, and affording each other aid, or 
 co-operation, not to say forming a junction of their 
 forces. The vigour and promptitude evinced by the 
 Governor-General in penetrating the designs of his 
 numerous adversaries, anticipating their movements, 
 and effectually frustrating them, suppressing domestic 
 enemies with a strong hand, and crushing the plans of
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 239 
 
 the enemy before they had arrived at maturity, on a 
 consideration of these various combinations of circum- 
 stances, shine forth in conspicuous splendour. 
 
 The cannon of Nelson, which destroyed the French 
 fleet at Aboukir, it has been said, re-echoed from one 
 end of Europe to the other : its thunder reverberated 
 throughout Asia ; and though it failed to inspire Tip- 
 poo Sultaun with a salutary terror, or induce him to 
 abandon hopes of receiving French aid, it cannot be 
 doubted that the heroism of the British sailors, on that 
 memorable occasion, taken in connection with the dis- 
 astrous repulse of Buonaparte at Acre, and the ruin 
 of Tippoo Sultaun, put an end to any serious danger 
 of a French invasion of India ; though, but for the ac- 
 tive measures of Lord Mornington in galling the enemy 
 on the shores of the Red Sea, and afterwards pushing 
 forward a formidable force to aid in the expulsion of 
 the troops under the command of Kleber from Egypt, it 
 is probable that some desperate attempt upon Hindos- 
 tan might have been made. * 
 
 * The Governor-General exulted in the success of our gallant fleet ; 
 and upon several public occasions paid a merited tribute to the valour of 
 the great naval hero who had conferred such advantages on his country. 
 In the following note, which is the only one addressed to Nelson which 
 I have met with in the collection of Lord Wellesley's papers, his Lord- 
 ship takes occasion to communicate the success which had crowned the 
 British arms in the East : 
 
 " TO HTS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE VICE-ADMIRAL LORD 
 
 VISCOUNT NELSON, K. B., ETC. 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " Having judged it to be advisable to transmit to Europe dispatches 
 of great importance, addressed to the Honourable the Court of Directors, 
 and to the Honourable the Secret Committee, by the way of Egypt, I re- 
 quest your Excellency's assistance in accelerating the passage of the
 
 '240 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Among the precautionary measures adopted by Lord 
 Mornington, was the appointment of a Resident in 
 Scinde. The following memorandum, exhibiting the 
 political motives which induced the noble Lord to 
 make this movement toward the establishment of 
 British interests in Scinde, derives fresh interest from 
 the events which have recently occurred in that coun- 
 try under the direction of the Earl of Ellenborough : 
 
 MEMORANDUM RELATING TO SCINDE. 
 
 " A Resident having lately been appointed and a 
 factory established at Scinde, under private directions 
 from the Governor-General to the Governor of Bombay, 
 it may be useful to explain the circumstances which 
 have led to the adoption of those measures. 
 
 " It is well known that the Company heretofore had 
 a factory at Tattah, on the Indus, and that a variety of 
 considerations, which it is needless to review in this 
 place, made it expedient many years ago to withdraw 
 it. It was in the contemplation of the supreme Go- 
 vernment in the year 1797, to re-establish this factory; 
 no conclusive measures were, however, taken for this 
 purpose till the beginning of October, 1798, when the 
 rumours of Zemaun Shah's approach for the second 
 time, induced the Governor-General to suggest to the 
 
 officer charged with those dispatches from Egypt to England by an ex- 
 press armed vessel, or by any other safe and expeditious conveyance. 
 
 " I have the honour to transmit to your Excellency printed copies of 
 the Calcutta Gazettes, and of other documents, which will apprize you 
 of the nature and objects of the war in India, and of the rapid and glo- 
 rious and decisive success attending the British arms in every quarter of 
 Hindostan, or of the Deccan, to which they have been directed. I have 
 the honour to be, with the highest respect, my Lord, your Excellency's 
 most faithful and obedient servant, " WELLESLEY."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 241 
 
 Governor of Bombay the possibility of creating a diver- 
 sion of Zemaun Shah's force, by affording certain 
 encouragement to the nations occupying the Delta, 
 and lowest parts of the Indus. These suggestions 
 were repeated somewhat more in detail in a letter of 
 the 24th of October, from the Governor-General to the 
 Governor of Bombay. 
 
 " In pursuance of these directions, Mr. Duncan lost 
 no time in dispatching an agent to Scinde. He pre- 
 ferred employing, in the first instance, a native agent, 
 who was accordingly furnished with suitable presents 
 for the different chieftains in that quarter, and with 
 necessary instructions for the regulation of his 
 conduct. 
 
 " Abul Hassan, the native agent deputed by the Go- 
 vernor of Bombay to Futtah Ali Khan, the Prince of 
 Scinde, was favourably received by that chieftain ; in 
 consequence of which Mr. Duncan was instructed to 
 encourage and cultivate the amicable disposition 
 manifested by Futtah Ali Khan, and to endeavour to 
 settle a factory in Scinde not so much with a view to 
 commercial as to political advantages. He was desired 
 at the same time to pay attention (whenever such a 
 factory should be established) to the best means of 
 facilitating a communication with it ; and directed 
 to enter into no engagements with Futtah Ali Khan, 
 which might impose on the British Government an ob- 
 ligation of supporting Zemaun Shah to any greater 
 extent than by furnishing him with arms and am- 
 munition. 
 
 " The inclination of Futtah Ali Khan having, in con- 
 sequence of these general directions, been sounded by 
 
 VOL. i. R
 
 242 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the Governor of Bombay, and that prince having ap- 
 peared to be as well disposed to the re-establishment 
 of our factory and to the introduction of an European 
 agent as could be wished, Mr. Crow, a civil servant 
 belonging to the presidency of Bombay, was appointed 
 to that situation, and dispatched to Scinde in the 
 month of May last. 
 
 " It is satisfactory to perceive by the documents 
 received, that the establishment in Scinde, indepen- 
 dently of the commercial benefits which, with proper 
 management, are likely to be derived from it, promises 
 at least to open to us a far better channel of intelli- 
 gence relative to the motions and designs of Zemaun 
 Shah than any other which we have been hitherto able 
 to strike out, if it should not even place within our 
 reach the means of materially annoying Zemaun Shah, 
 in the event of his resuming at any future period his 
 hostile designs against the possessions of the Com- 
 pany and their allies in Ilindostan."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 243 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Lord Mornington leaves Fort William for Madras. Received by Lord 
 Clive the new Governor. Change in the Sentiments of the Madras 
 Government respecting the Governor-General's Plans. Intelligence 
 that Zemaun Shah had advanced to Lahore. Sir Alured Clarke de- 
 tained at Calcutta in consequence. Army of Observation under Gene- 
 ral Sir J. H. Craig on the Frontiers of Oude. Tippoo Sultaun's De- 
 lays to reply to the Governor-General's Expostulation. Letter from 
 his Highness to Lord Mornington. Tippoo's Account of the Embassy 
 to the Mauritius. He evades Lord Mornington's Propositions. The 
 Governor-General replies, and points out the dangerous Consequences 
 of Delay. Further Correspondence. Lord Mornington receives Intel- 
 ligence of a fresh Embassy from Tippoo to the French, embarked at 
 Tranquebar. Orders the Army to advance in Mysore. Military 
 Arrangements. Letter from Tippoo, saying that he was going on a 
 Hunting Expedition. Declaration of the Governor-General in the 
 Name of the British Government and the Allies. Various Private 
 Letters written by Sir Alured Clarke, from Fort William, to Lord 
 Mornington at Madras, during the Progress of the Military Operations. 
 
 LORD MORNINGTON now resolved to remove to Madras 
 to hasten the preparations in progress ; and in order 
 that he might have the means of more easy communi- 
 cation with Tippoo Sultaun. His Lordship was received 
 at Fort St. George by Lord Clive, who had recently 
 assumed the office of Governor at that presidency. 
 His admirable dispatches and skilful measures, to- 
 gether with the presence of Colonel Wellesley at 
 Madras, had, Mr. Lushington assures us, wrought so 
 great a change in the feelings of the leading men in 
 
 R2
 
 244 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the settlement, that when he arrived at Madras in 
 December, he had the satisfaction of seeing all hearts 
 and hands united for the furtherance of his wise and 
 vigorous counsels. 
 
 Before his departure from Fort William, intelligence 
 had reached his Lordship that Zemaun Shah had 
 crossed the Indus at Attock, and had reached Lahore 
 with a large army. This movement compelled the Go- 
 vernor-General to leave the Commander-in- Chief, Sir 
 Alured Clarke, in the charge of the government at 
 Calcutta, and to concentrate an army of observation on 
 the frontiers of Oude, under the command of General 
 Sir J. H. Craig. 
 
 Tippoo took no notice of the Governor-General's 
 letter of the 8th of November, till the 18th of Decem- 
 ber ; under which date he addressed a communication 
 in reply to Lord Mornington, which was not received 
 at Fort George till the 25th of December. In the 
 Sultaun's letter the following is the account given of 
 the embassy to the Isle of France : "In this Sircar 
 there is a mercantile tribe who employ themselves in 
 trading by sea and land. Their agents purchased a 
 two-masted vessel, and having loaded her with rice, 
 departed with a view to traffic. It happened that she 
 went to the Mauritius, from whence forty persons, 
 French and of a dark colour, of whom ten or twelve 
 were artificers and the rest servants, paying the hire of 
 the ship, came here in search of employment. Such as 
 chose to take service were entertained, and the remain- 
 der departed beyond the confines of this Sircar ; and 
 the French, who are full of vice and deceit, have per- 
 haps token advantage of the departure of the ship to
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 245 
 
 put about reports with the view to ruffle the minds of 
 both Sircars." With respect to Lord Mornington's 
 proposition to depute Major Doveton to discuss with 
 Tippoo a plan calculated to promote the mutual security 
 and welfare of all parties, the Sultaun replies " It has 
 been understood. By the blessing of the Almighty at 
 the conclusion of the peace, the treaties and engage- 
 ments entered into among the four Sircars were so 
 firmly established and confirmed as ever to remain 
 fixed and durable, and to be an example to the rulers 
 of the age ; nor are they, nor will they ever be, liable 
 to interruption. I cannot imagine that means more 
 effectual than these can be adopted for giving stability 
 to the foundations of friendship and harmony, promot- 
 ing the security of states, or the welfare and advantage 
 of all parties." 
 
 On the 9th of January, 1799, Lord Mornington ad- 
 dressed another expostulation to Tippoo Sultaun, reca- 
 pitulating tlje various circumstances connected with 
 his intrigues with France, and replying to the various 
 points in the Sultaun's letter of the 1 8th of December. 
 " I trust," remarks his Lordship, " that your Highness 
 will favour me with a friendly letter in reply to this ; 
 and I most earnestly request that your reply may not 
 be deferred for more than one day after this letter 
 shall reach your presence. Dangerous consequences 
 result from the delay of arduous afairs" On the 
 llth of January Lord Mornington received a brief 
 complimentary note from Tippoo, written on the 2nd ; 
 it, as usual, professed solicitude for peace and tranquil- 
 lity, but made no allusion to the proposed negotiation. 
 
 On the 16th Lord Mornington forwarded to Tippoo
 
 246 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 a copy of the letter from the Sublime Porte to the 
 Sultaun of My sore, * and accompanied that document 
 with an earnest appeal : " May the admonition of the 
 Head of your own faith dispose your mind to the paci- 
 fic propositions which I have repeatedly, but in vain, 
 submitted to your wisdom ! And may you at length 
 receive the ambassador who will be empowered to con- 
 clude the definite arrangement of all differences be- 
 tween you and the allies, and to secure the tranquillity 
 of India against the disturbers of the world ! " 
 
 Tippoo left the Governor-General's solemn and 
 urgent appeal of the 9th of January unanswered 
 during the whole of the month of January, though the 
 distance between Seringapatam and Madras is but 
 three hundred miles; and it became evident that it 
 was the Sultaun's object to delay the commencement 
 of hostilities till the setting in of the rains, which, on 
 the 14th of May, 1791, had defeated Lord Cornwallis's 
 plans for attacking Seringapatam. 
 
 At this juncture the Governor-General received in- 
 telligence that Tippoo had commissioned two native 
 Vakeels, f who, together with one of the French officers 
 lately arrived from the Isle of France, were at Tran- 
 quebar, about to embark on a mission to Buona- 
 parte or the French Directory. On the 3rd of 
 February, therefore, Lord Mornington dispatched his 
 commands to General Harris, the Commander-in-Chief, 
 to enter the territory of Mysore with the army as- 
 sembled at Yellore, and to General Stuart to co- 
 operate with the Bombay army from Malabar. The 
 
 * Vide supra, page 217. t Envoys.
 
 MARQUESS M&LLESLEY. 247 
 
 army at Vellore consisted of 20,000 men,* of whom 
 2635 were cavalry. The Nizam's contingent, com- 
 manded by his Highness's son, Meer Allum, and under 
 him by Colonel Wellesley, (relative to whose appoint- 
 ment to this command we shall have occasion to 
 make some observations hereafter,) consisted of the 
 whole of the British detachment serving in the Dec- 
 can, now 6500 strong, with an equal number of the 
 Nizam's infantry, and a lasge body f horse. The 
 army of Bombay under General Stuart, assembled at 
 Cananore, consisted of 6420 fighting men; while two 
 separate cooperating forces were assembled, under 
 Colonels Brown and Eead, in the southern districts of 
 Mysore and the Carnatic, while the Governor-General 
 called upon Vice-Admiral Rainier to be prepared to 
 cooperate with the forces, if necessary, by operations on 
 the coast of Malabar. " An army more completely ap- 
 pointed, more amply and liberally supplied in every 
 department, more perfect in discipline, and in the ac- 
 knowledged experience, ability, and zeal of its officers," 
 his Lordship remarks, with pardonable exultation, 
 " never took the field in India." The extraordinary 
 expedition with which this vast force was collected 
 and equipped, at once demonstrates the vastness of the 
 resources of the British empire in the East, and the 
 energy of the Governor-General, who found the de- 
 
 * The army consisted (exclusive of the army of Bombay and of the 
 Nizam's contingent) of Europeans, 5000; natives, 13,900; batter- 
 ing train, 40 ; field ordnance, 57 ; howitzers, 7 , rice for 40 days ; 
 arrack for 67 days : salt for 40 days ; sheep and slaughter-cattle for 
 28 days ; biscuit for 10 days ; grain for the cavalry for 20 days ; in 
 cash, 5,00,000 star pagodas ; in bank notes, 90,000 ditto (a pagoda 
 being a gold coin valued at about eight shillings).
 
 248 LIFE AND COBJLESPONDENCE OF 
 
 fences of India, but a few months previously, in a state 
 of the most dangerous decay and feebleness. 
 
 Ten days after Lord Mornington had issued his or- 
 ders to General Harris to advance into Mysore, the fol- 
 lowing characteristic note was received : 
 
 FROM TIPPOO SULTAUN TO LORD MORNINGTON. 
 
 " I have been much gratified by the agreeable re- 
 ceipt of your Lordship's two friendly letters ; the first 
 brought by a camel-man, the last by hircarrahs ;* and 
 understood their contents. The letter of the Prince, in 
 a station like Jumsheid, with angels as his guards, with 
 troops numerous as the stars, the sun illumining the 
 world of the heaven of empire and dominion, the lumi- 
 nary giving splendour to the universe of the firmament 
 of glory and power, the Sultaun of the sea and the 
 land, the King of Rome (i. e. the Grand Seignior) be 
 his empire and his power perpetual ! addressed to me, 
 which reached you thro' the British envoy, and which 
 you transmitted, has arrived. Being frequently dis- 
 posed to make excursions and hunt, I am accordingly 
 proceeding upon a hunting excursion. You will be 
 pleased to dispatch Major Doveton (about whose 
 coming your friendly pen has repeatedly written) 
 slightly attended (or unattended}. Always continue 
 to gratify me by friendly letters notifying your wel- 
 fare/' 
 
 "(A true translation.) N. B. EDMINSTONE, 
 
 " Persian Translator to the Government." 
 
 * Hircarrahs are messengers employed in the conveyance of letters, 
 and are sent sometimes as guides, or agents to procure intelligence.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 249 
 
 On the 22nd of February Lord Mornington ad- 
 dressed his last note to Tippoo, referring him to Ge- 
 neral Harris, who was now empowered to negotiate 
 with his Highness ; and on the same day promulgated 
 the following document : 
 
 "Declaration of the Right Honourable the Governor- 
 General in Council, for all the forces and affairs of 
 the British Nation in the East Indies, on behalf of 
 the Honourable the East India Company and the 
 allies of the said Company, their Highnesses the 
 Nizam and the Peishwa. 
 
 " A solemn treaty of peace and friendship was 
 concluded at Seringapatam between the Honourable 
 Company and the Nabob Asoph Jah and the Peishwa 
 on the one part, and the Nabob Tippoo Sultaun 
 on the other part ; and from that day all commotion 
 and hostility ceased. Since that day the three allied 
 states have invariably manifested a sacred regard for 
 the obligations contracted under that treaty with the 
 Nabob Tippoo Sultaun. Of this uniform disposition, 
 abundant proofs have been afforded by each of the 
 allies. Whatever differences have arisen with regard 
 to the limits of the territory of Mysore, have been 
 amicably adjusted without difficulty, and with the 
 most exact attention to the principles of equity, and 
 to the stipulations of treaty. Such has been the 
 solicitude of the allies for the preservation of tranquil- 
 lity, that they have viewed with forbearance, for some 
 years past, various embassies and military preparations 
 on the part of Tippoo Sultaun, of a tendency so evi-
 
 250 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 dently hostile to the interests of the allies, as would 
 have justified them, not only in the most serious re- 
 monstrances, but even an appeal to arms. On the 
 part of the British Government every endeavour has 
 been employed to conciliate the confidence of the Sul- 
 taun, and mitigate his vindictive spirit by the most 
 unequivocal acknowledgment and confirmation of his 
 just rights, and by the removal of every cause of jea- 
 lousy which might tend to interrupt the continuance 
 of peace. These pacific sentiments have been most 
 particularly manifested in the Governor-General's re- 
 cent decision on Tippoo Sultaun's claim to the district 
 of Wynaad, and in the negotiation opened by his Lord- 
 ship with regard to the districts of Amerah and Sou- 
 leah. In every instance the conduct of the British 
 Government in India towards Tippoo Sultaun has 
 been the natural result of those principles of modera- 
 tion, justice, and good faith, which the legislature of 
 Great Britain and the Honourable East India Company 
 have firmly established as the unalterable rule of their 
 intercourse with the native princes and states of India. 
 
 " The exemplary good faith, and the pacific disposi- 
 tion of the allies since the conclusion of the treaty of 
 Seringapatam, have never been disputed even by Tippoo 
 Sultaun. Far from having attempted to allege even 
 the pretext of a complaint against their conduct, he 
 has constantly acknowledged their justice, sincerity, 
 and good faith ; and has professed, in the most cordial 
 terms, his desire to maintain and strengthen the foun- 
 dations of harmony and concord with them. 
 
 " In the midst of these amicable professions on the 
 part of Tippoo Sultaun, and at the moment when the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 251 
 
 British Government had issued orders for the confirma- 
 tion of his claim to Wynaad, it was with astonishment 
 and indignation that the allies discovered the engage- 
 ments which he had contracted with the French nation, 
 in direct violation of the treaty of Seringapatam, as 
 well as of his own most solemn and recent protesta- 
 tions of friendship toward the allies. 
 
 " Under the mask of these specious professions and 
 of a pretended veneration for the obligations of treaty, 
 Tippoo Sultaun dispatched ambassadors to the Isle of 
 France, who, in a period of profound peace in India, 
 proposed and concluded in his name an offensive alli- 
 ance with the French, for the avowed purpose of com- 
 mencing a war of aggression against the Company, and 
 consequently against the Peishwa and the Nizam, the 
 allies of the Company. 
 
 " The ambassadors, in the name of Tippoo Sultaun, 
 demanded military succours from the French, and 
 actually levied a military force in the Isle of France, 
 with the declared view of prosecuting the intended 
 war. 
 
 " When the ambassadors returned in a French ship 
 of war from the Isle of France, Tippoo Sultaun suffered 
 the military force which they had levied for the avowed 
 purpose of making war upon the allies, to land in his 
 country, and finally he admitted it into his army ; by 
 these personal acts ratifying and confirming the pro- 
 ceedings of his ambassadors. 
 
 " This military force was not, however, suffici- 
 ently powerful to enable him immediately to attempt 
 his declared purpose of attacking the Company's 
 possessions ; but in the mean while he advanced
 
 252 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 his hostile preparations conformably to his engage- 
 ments with the French ; and he was ready to move his 
 army into the Company's territories whenever he might 
 obtain from France the effectual succours which he had 
 assiduously solicited from that nation. 
 
 " But the providence of God and the victorious 
 arms of the British nation frustrated his vain hopes, 
 and checked the presumptuous career of the French 
 in Egypt, at the moment when he anxiously expected 
 their arrival on the coast of Malabar. 
 
 " The British Government, the Nizam, and the 
 Peishwa, had not omitted the necessary precaution 
 of assembling their forces for the joint protection of 
 their respective dominions. The strict principles of 
 self-defence would have justified the allies, at that 
 period of time, in making an immediate attack upon 
 the territories of Tippoo Sultaun ; but even the happy 
 intelligence of the glorious success of the British fleet 
 at the mouth of the Nile did not abate the anxious 
 desire of the allies to maintain the relations of amity 
 and peace with Tippoo Sultaun. They attempted, 
 by a moderate representation, to recall him to a 
 sense of his obligations, and of the genuine principles 
 of prudence and policy ; and they employed every 
 effort to open the channels of negotiation and to fa- 
 cilitate the means of amicable accommodation. With 
 these salutary views the Governor-General, on the 
 8th of November, 1798, in the name of the allies, 
 proposed to dispatch an ambassador to Tippoo Sul- 
 taun, for the purpose of renewing the bonds of friend- 
 ship, and of concluding such an arrangement as might 
 afford effectual security against any future interruption
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 253 
 
 of the public tranquillity ; and his Lordship repeated 
 the same proposal on the 10th of December, 1798. 
 Tippoo Sultaun declined, by various evasions and sub- 
 terfuges, this friendly and moderate advance on the 
 part of the allies ; and he manifested an evident dis- 
 position to reject the means of pacific accommodation, 
 by suddenly breaking up, in the month of December, 
 the conferences which had commenced with respect 
 to the districts of Amerah and Souleah, and by in- 
 terrupting the intercourse between his subjects and 
 those of the Company on their respective frontiers. 
 
 " On the 9th of January, 1799, the Governor-General 
 being arrived at Fort St. George (notwithstanding 
 these discouraging circumstances in the conduct of 
 Tippoo Sultaun), renewed with increased earnestness 
 the expression of his Lordship's anxious desire to 
 dispatch an ambassador to the Sultaun. 
 
 " The Governor-General expressly solicited the Sul- 
 taun to return an answer within one day to this 
 letter; and as it involved no proposition either in- 
 jurious to the rights, dignity, or honour of the Sul- 
 taun, or in any degree novel or complicated, either in 
 form or substance, it could not require a long con- 
 sideration. The Governor-General waited with the 
 utmost solicitude for an answer to the reasonable 
 and distinct proposition contained in his letter of the 
 9th of January, 1799. Tippoo Sultaun, however, 
 who must have received this letter before the 17th 
 of January, remained silent, although the Governor- 
 General had plainly apprised that prince, that dan- 
 gerous consequences would result from delay. In the 
 meanwhile the season for military operations had
 
 254 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 already advanced to so late a period, as to render a 
 speedy decision indispensable to the security of the 
 allies. Under these circumstances, on the 3rd of 
 February (eight days having elapsed from the period 
 when an answer might have been received from Se- 
 ringapatam to the Governor-General's letter of the 
 9th of January), his Lordship declared to the allies, 
 that the necessary measures must now be adopted, 
 without delay, for securing such advantages as should 
 place the common safety of the allies beyond the reach 
 of the insincerity of Tippoo Sultaun, and of the vio- 
 lence of the French. With this view, the Governor- 
 General, on the 3rd of February, issued orders to 
 the British armies to march, and signified to the com- 
 mander of his Majesty's squadron, that the obstinate 
 silence of the Sultaun must be considered as a re- 
 jection of the proposed amicable negotiation. 
 
 " At length, on the 13th of February, a letter from 
 Tippoo Sultaun reached the Governor-General, in which 
 the Sultaun signifies to his Lordship, that ' being 
 frequently disposed to make excursions and hunt, he 
 was accordingly proceeding on a hunting excursion ;' 
 adding, that ' the Governor-General would be pleased 
 to dispatch Major Doveton to him unattended, or 
 slightly attended.' 
 
 " The allies will not dwell on the peculiar phrases 
 of this letter : but it must be evident to all the states 
 of India that the answer of the Sultaun has been 
 deferred to this late period of the season with no 
 other view than to preclude the allies, by insidious 
 delays, from the benefit of those advantages which
 
 MARQUESS WELLES LEY. 255 
 
 their combined military operations would enable them 
 to secure. On these advantages alone, (under the 
 recent experience of Tippoo Sultaun's violation of 
 the Treaty of Seringapatam, and under the pecu- 
 liar circumstances of that prince's offensive alliance 
 with the French,) can the allies now venture to rely 
 for the faithful execution of any treaty of peace con- 
 cluded with Tippoo Sultaun. 
 
 " The allies cannot suffer Tippoo Sultaun to profit 
 by his own studied and systematic delay, nor to im- 
 pede such a disposition of their military and naval 
 force as shall appear best calculated to give effect to 
 their just views. 
 
 " Bound by the sacred obligations of public faith, 
 professing the most amicable disposition, and un- 
 disturbed in the possession of those dominions secured 
 to him by treaty, Tippoo Sultaun wantonly violated 
 the relations of amity and peace, and compelled the 
 allies to arm in defence of their rights, their happi- 
 ness, and their honour. 
 
 " For a period of three mouths he obstinately re- 
 jected every pacific overture in the hourly expec- 
 tation of receiving that succour which he has eagerly 
 solicited for the prosecution of his favourite purposes 
 of ambition and revenge. Disappointed in his hopes 
 of immediate vengeance and conquest, he now resorts 
 to subterfuge and procrastination ; and by a tardy, 
 reluctant, and insidious acquiescence in a proposition 
 which he had so long and repeatedly declined, he 
 endeavours to frustrate the precautions of the allies, 
 and to protract every effectual operation, until some
 
 256 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 change of circumstances and of season shall revive 
 his expectations of disturbing the tranquillity of India 
 by favouring the irruption of a French army. 
 
 " The allies are equally prepared to repel his 
 violence and to counteract his artifices and delays. 
 
 " The allies are therefore resolved to place their 
 army in such a position as shall afford adequate pro- 
 tection against any artifice or insincerity, and shall 
 preclude the return of that danger which has so lately 
 menaced their possessions. The allies, however, re- 
 taining an anxious desire to effect an adjustment with 
 Tippoo Sultaun, Lieutenant-General Harris, Comman- 
 der-in-Chief of his Majesty's and the Honourable Com- 
 pany's forces on the coast of Coromandel and Malabar, 
 is authorized to receive any embassy which Tippoo 
 Sultaun may dispatch to the head-quarters of the 
 British army, and to concert a treaty on such con- 
 ditions as appear to the allies to be indispensably 
 necessary for the establishment of a secure and per- 
 manent peace. 
 
 " Dated, Fort St. George, 22nd of February, 179.9, 
 by order of the Right Honourable the Governor-Ge- 
 neral in Council. " Jos. WEBBE." * 
 
 " (A true copy.) N. B. EDMINSTONE, 
 
 " Persian Translator to Government." 
 
 The following interesting series of private letters, 
 written by Sir Alured Clarke, the Commander-in-Chief 
 
 * Notwithstanding the freedom with which Mr. Webbe had censured 
 the plans of the Governor-General (vide supra, page 202), his Excellency 
 reposed the utmost confidence in this upright public servant, whose in- 
 tegrity of character has also been highly praised by the Duke of Wel- 
 lington.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 257 
 
 of the forces, left in charge of the Government of Ben- 
 gal, will explain the progress of events during Lord 
 Mornington's absence in Madras, and afford a gratifying 
 testimony of the cordiality and zeal with which his 
 Lordship's plans were seconded by that able and ex- 
 perienced officer : 
 
 FROM LIEUT.-GEN. SIR ALURED CLARKE, K.B., TO THE 
 EARL OF MORNLTOTON, K.P. &C. 
 
 (Private) 
 
 " Fort William, March 5th, 1799. 
 "MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 "Your letter of the 19th last reached me on the 
 3rd instant, and relieved my mind extremely by the 
 manner in which you mentioned the progress of the 
 army and the extent of the provision that the supply 
 of treasure sent from hence afforded it ; as I was very 
 apprehensive lest the delay of its arrival at Madras 
 should have been attended with serious inconvenience. 
 Cooke* made a more expeditious voyage from the mouth 
 of the river than we expected, and he seems to have 
 moved with redoubled alacrity in pursuit of the enemy 
 you heard of, and that he afterwards learnt was block- 
 ing up this port and capturing our vessels at the Sand- 
 heads, where he met with the formidable ship La Forte 
 on the night of the 28th, and took her after an en- 
 gagement of an hour and forty minutes. The action 
 was highly honourable to him and the British navy, 
 and in these points of view must be gratifying to us 
 all ; but alas ! the melancholy cloud that is thrown 
 over the bright prospect by the severe if not mortal 
 
 * Commander of H. M. ship Sybitte. 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 wound that our truly gallant friend has received ; and 
 the loss of that worthy officer, Captain Davies, of your 
 Lordship's family, who accompanied him, has cast a 
 cruel gloom on the spirits of every one, and grieved me 
 to a degree that I cannot describe, but which I have 
 reason to think your own feelings will enable you to 
 estimate. All we have yet learnt you were informed 
 of on Sunday, and I wait with impatience further ac- 
 counts. In my last letter I by accident neglected to 
 notice that part of yours respecting the Body Guard, 
 which, as you wish it, I should be happy was with you ; 
 but the great expense that would attend their going 
 by sea, and the little use the horses would be for a 
 considerable time after such a voyage as they would 
 probably have at this season of the year, and the im- 
 possibility of their making the journey by land within 
 the time you would want them, are, I flatter myself, 
 reasons that will on reflection justify me with your 
 Lordship for not having ordered them to Madras. 
 Mons. Marchand was on the point of sailing for Europe 
 agreeable to your first suggestion, as his papers, though 
 of a nature to create strong suspicion, did not appear 
 to us such as would convict him as a spy to the extent 
 you seem to imagine. I shall, however, at your desire 
 detain him here, and have them examined in the way 
 you point out. Tippoo's man Rajh-Kawn was on 
 board the unfortunate Earl Fitz William, on his way 
 to Madras, and has been suspected of being the incen- 
 diary of that ship, from which he escaped with the rest 
 of the people that were saved : nothing, however, has 
 appeared against him on the enquiry which has taken 
 place to warrant it ; and he will now be forwarded to
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 259 
 
 Madras according to the directions you left for that 
 purpose. Your Lordship's last determination about 
 the 76th regiment has given me much pleasure, for I 
 really lamented the loss of it extremely before the cap- 
 ture of La Forte ; and the number of French prisoners 
 this event adds to those we had before, would have 
 alarmed me for the safety of Fort William without the 
 aid of this corps ; as we should only have had the 
 Company's second European regiment, which you know 
 is very weak and not well composed, to perform the 
 duties of the garrison. I heard your brother Henry 
 was much pleased on his visit to the army, and I hope 
 he returned in good health. I am, my dear Lord, 
 with great truth and esteem, your most obedient, and 
 most faithful humble servant, 
 
 " ALURED CLARKE." 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OF MORNINGTON. 
 (Private) 
 
 " Fort William, March 8th, 1799. 
 
 " MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " Notwithstanding the hope we reasonably enter- 
 tained from the spontaneous address of the Rajah of 
 Nepaul to you, that Yizier Ali * would be seized, or at 
 least driven from his territories, we have not yet heard 
 of his being even molested ; but, on the contrary, of his 
 being still countenanced and aided in raising men by 
 the Betowal Rajah, who is certainly under the control 
 of the former. A strong detachment is, however, gone 
 
 * The Nabob of Oude deposed by Sir J. Shore ; for an account of his 
 assassination of the British resident at Benares, see vol. ii. 
 
 s 2
 
 200 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to Goorackpoore, and a party from Burragong has ar- 
 rived at Boggah ; so I hope we shall have favourable 
 accounts from that quarter soon. All the papers re- 
 specting Ambagee's connection with the wretch Vizier 
 Ali being in Persian, I can only judge of them through 
 the medium of others ; but Barlow seems confident, and 
 I think Messrs. Speke and Cowper concur in opinion, 
 that they relate to a recent transaction, and not to any 
 period Mr. Lumsden supposes. The matter is, how- 
 ever, very mysterious ; but I think it probable that Mr. 
 Edminstone will be able to throw some light upon it. 
 I was much obliged to your Lordship for the copy of 
 Tippoo's last letter, which appears to me one of the 
 most extraordinary productions I ever saw. It is evi- 
 dent that he is desirous of avoiding war under present 
 circumstances; and I am still in hope that when he 
 feels it pressing close upon -him, he will, to avert the 
 present danger, avail himself of the excuse furnished 
 by the letter of the Grand Seignior, who for that pur- 
 pose he so highly extols, and open a negotiation which 
 may terminate in the immediate satisfaction and per- 
 manent security to us and our allies that you may re- 
 quire. 
 
 " I had written so much of this letter, when I was 
 obliged to quit it to attend the Council, where I was 
 highly gratified by the receipt of yours of the 24th ul- 
 timo ; and I should have been completely so had it not 
 contained a request for an additional native force, to 
 be sent from hence to the Northern Circars, which is 
 wholly out of my power to comply with, as a letter I 
 lately had the honour to write to you will have ex- 
 plained. Indeed, my dear Lord, both the matter and
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 261 
 
 manner of your letter inspires me with the most confi- 
 dent hope of success ; and I trust I need not take 
 much pains to assure you that I shall, no less on pri- 
 vate than public grounds, rejoice in your vigorous ex- 
 ertions being repaid by the consummation so devoutly 
 to be wished for, within the time that you have pre- 
 scribed. We have not heard from the Sybille since 
 the letter of the 2nd till this day, which has occasioned 
 much uneasiness to me and to all the rest of poor 
 Cooke's friends. I am, however, happy to inform you 
 that his wounds are less desperate than was at first 
 imagined the bone in his arm not being shattered, 
 and the wound in his body, though very bad, not quite 
 so alarming as was supposed. In short, there is reason 
 to hope his valuable life will be saved, as his spirits are 
 good, and his constitution equal to making a fair 
 struggle with his misfortunes. I must beg the favour 
 of your Lordship to give my compliments to your 
 brother, and to Colonel Kirkpatrick, who I hope are 
 well, and to do me the justice to believe that I am, 
 with true respect and esteem, my dear Lord, your most 
 obedient and most faithful humble servant, 
 
 " ALURED CLARKE/' 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OF MORNINGTON. 
 (Private) 
 
 " Fort William, March 19th, 1799. 
 
 " MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " The last private letter I had the honour to 
 write to you was dated the 8th instant, since which I 
 have received five from your Lordship, dated the 2nd,
 
 262 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 3d, 4th, 5th, and 8th, from which I was happy to learn 
 that affairs wore so favourable an aspect towards Se- 
 ringapatam. The equipment of the army from Mala- 
 bar, as well as that of the Carnatic, seems to be more 
 complete than could have been expected ; and I still 
 entertain sanguine hope that their steady and active 
 progress towards the capital will incline Tippoo to im- 
 plore your mercy before it is besieged ; and I shall be 
 heartily glad to have the opportunity of congratulating 
 you on so glorious an event. The grievances of Mr. 
 Perron and his associates had not operated on me so 
 forcibly as you seem to think, or to prevent iny putting 
 your desires respecting them into execution ; and they 
 would all have embarked in the ships allotted to them, 
 if you had not changed the destination of some. Mr. 
 Perron means, I believe, to avail himself of the indul- 
 gence granted to him ; but, as there are no others in 
 the same situation in regard to fortune, the same secu- 
 rity could not be taken from them, which would have 
 occasioned some dilemma ; but this was removed from 
 us, by their being actually on board the ships at San- 
 gur when your note arrived, and it would have been 
 extremely difficult to bring them back, as well as occa- 
 sion much delay. They therefore proceed to Madras, 
 subject to such directions as you may think fit to give 
 on their arrival there. 
 
 5'r -K # -5C- -55- 
 
 " The Burmahs * came, staid, and went off in a strange 
 way. The letters they left in their works contained 
 an extraordinary mixture of peace and war. The fa- 
 
 * The inhabitants of the Bui man empire, more usually termed the 
 Burmese.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 263 
 
 cility and expedition with which they can approach 
 our frontier in force is, however, manifested so clearly, 
 that while the cause of their late conduct remains, it is 
 more than possible that they may return, even this 
 season, and far from improbable that they will renew 
 their visit the next. I therefore think it right that 
 part of the troops, ordnance, and stores that were or- 
 dered to Chittagong, should proceed there with Major- 
 General Deare, who I have directed to enquire into the 
 state of, and examine, the frontier, with a view to his 
 pointing out the best posts for troops and stations for 
 gun-boats and armed vessels, in order to afford protec- 
 tion to the settlement in general. 
 
 " I am extremely anxious for late accounts from 
 Mysore, as matters there, if not settled by consent, are 
 becoming very critical. It is with much satisfaction I 
 acquaint your Lordship that our gallant friend Cooke's 
 wounds are in a progressive state of amendment, and 
 there is little doubt that he will soon be well. Pray 
 give my best wishes to Mr. Wellesley, and be assured I 
 am, with true respect and regard, my dear Lord, your 
 Lordship's most obedient and most faithful humble 
 servant, " ALURED CLARKE." 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OF MORNINGTON. 
 (Private) 
 
 Fort William, 24th April, 1799. 
 
 "My DEAR LORD, 
 
 ****** 
 
 " You will easily judge of our anxiety to hear further 
 from Harris. God send him success ! indeed I have
 
 264 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 no doubt of that in every conflict between the two 
 armies ; but time, that waits for no man, is of such im- 
 portance in our present undertaking, that it is impos- 
 sible to over-rate the value of every day. I trust, 
 however, that we shall have good news soon. Our last 
 accounts from Lucknow are, the Vizier Ali and his 
 adherents had been roughly handled by ours, and the 
 Candahar cavalry in two skirmishes ; but they had not 
 been fortunate enough to catch him, which I much 
 lament, as I greatly fear he will by some means or 
 other effect his escape. If he comes into our hands 
 alive, your wishes respecting him as stated in your last 
 letter shall be duly attanded to ; as shall those with 
 regard to Shums-oo-Doulah,* and the other delinquents 
 of that class. I was sorry to hear you had been an 
 invalid, and hope to find from your next letter that 
 both rheumatism and bile had passed away as com- 
 pletely as your thoughts. Pray do me the favour to 
 present my best wishes to your brother and the other 
 gentlemen of your family. Cooke has come to Mr. 
 Muir's house at Choringee, and is, I am happy to tell 
 you, much better. Many pieces of bone work through 
 the flesh and give him, poor fellow ! much pain ; but 
 he bears everything with the greatest fortitude, pa- 
 tience, and resignation. I am, my dear Lord, with 
 the utmost respect and esteem, your Lordship's most 
 obedient and most faithful humble servant, 
 
 "ALURED CLARKE." 
 
 "P. S. My eyes are still so weak that I can 
 scarcely see what I write, which must be my apology 
 for this scrawl." 
 
 * The brother-in-law of the Nabob of Bengal.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 265 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OF MORNINGTON. 
 (Private.) 
 
 " Fort William, May 13th, 1799. 
 
 "My DEAR LORD, 
 
 "I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your Lordship's several letters of the following 
 dates. April 7th, 17th, 18th, 26th, 28th, 30th, and 
 May the 4th ; and I shall have great pleasure in com- 
 plying with all your wishes expressed therein, to the 
 utmost of my power." 
 
 " Mr. Barlow will have informed you of our determi- 
 nation not to examine Shums-oo-Doulah under the 
 promises which you authorised, which I think you will 
 approve, as well as of the examination of some others 
 concerned in the conspiracy, who, though inferior 
 agents, were equally capable of giving every informa- 
 tion he possessed as will appear from some of the 
 papers that have been forwarded to you. I do not yet 
 find that Europeans of any description are much impli- 
 cated in these transactions ; but if any should be dis- 
 covered, you may rely on our taking proper notice of 
 them : and your hint respecting the delicate conduct 
 it may be necessary to observe towards the Nabob 
 until your return, which I must always add I most 
 anxiously wish may be soon, shall be duly attended to 
 in all its parts. The propriety of having sufficient 
 force in the vicinity of the principal cities had not 
 escaped my notice, and was attended to so far as the 
 various other objects that were necessarily kept in 
 view would permit ; but you must be aware that the 
 collected force which has been employed in the Vizier's
 
 266 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 dominions, and the numerous detachments that have 
 been called for in other places must have rendered our 
 state in this quarter such as my former letters have 
 described. 
 
 Your last account of the situation of affairs in 
 Mysore is so favourable as to give the best grounded 
 hope that the next we receive may announce the sur- 
 render of Seringapatam, which I most anxiously and 
 ardently wish as an event of the utmost importance to 
 our interests in India, particularly at the present 
 crisis ; and if we should be so fortunate as to secure 
 Tippoo with his capital, it would relieve us at once 
 from all the difficulties that are to be apprehended 
 from his continuing at the head of an army in the 
 field, and enable you to return as many of the troops 
 belonging to Bombay and Bengal as will secure the 
 former against the attack of Buonaparte if he should 
 be able to make one, and secure the latter against any 
 attempts of his, the Mahrattas, or the internal enemies 
 of either the Nabob- Yizier's or our own dominions ; 
 all which objects deserve serious attention, and make 
 me extremely desirous to get back such parts of the 
 troops belonging to this presidency as can possibly be 
 spared as soon as may be practicable : and another 
 European regiment is, in my mind, much wanted here. 
 I could therefore wish the 86th, or some other to be 
 sent, unless your Lordship should be satisfied its ser- 
 vices are more requisite on the Malabar coast, which 
 must depend on circumstances that are not within my 
 knowledge, but will be in yours the moment the busi- 
 ness now in hand is concluded, and will subsequently
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 267 
 
 determine your judgment. Lieutenant-Colonel Scott 
 will express the sense he entertains of your Lordship's 
 good opinion of, and kindness towards him in much 
 fitter terms than I can ; I shall therefore only say that 
 however I may lament the loss the army at large, and 
 myself in particular, will sustain by his removal from 
 the office of Adjutant-General, which required all the 
 talents, assiduity, and integrity that he so eminently 
 possesses, and are so rarely to be found, that I despair 
 of being able to unite them in another. I am neverthe- 
 less happy to see him placed in a situation where those 
 good qualities will be likely to render the most essen- 
 tial public service, as I consider that to be which you 
 have selected him to execute. I shall therefore do all 
 I can to promote the speedy accomplishment of your 
 wish, whatever inconvenience may result to myself 
 from it. Poor Cooke has been struggling on much in 
 the same way he was when I last wrote sometimes 
 better, sometimes worse again : he has lately suffered 
 much from matter formed in the lungs, which was dis- 
 charged by the mouth a day or two ago, and relieved 
 him a good deal. He is, however, in a very reduced 
 and weakly state, insomuch that it is impossible not 
 to feel very doubtful of his recovery, and proportion- 
 ably uneasy about him. Though he has not been at- 
 tended by either Dick or Hare, there is every reason 
 to be satisfied that he has experienced every degree of 
 professional skill, and the most kindly persevering care 
 that either he or his friends could wish. 
 
 " Pray do me the favour to present my best compli- 
 ments to your brother and Colonel Kirkpatrick, and
 
 2G8 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 be assured that I am with great respect and esteem, 
 my dear Lord, your Lordship's most obedient and 
 most faithful humble servant, 
 
 "ALURED CLARKE." 
 
 The following letters were written by Lord Morning- 
 ton during the progress of the military operations. 
 The first is addressed to Mr. Listen, the British minster 
 at Philadelphia. The second relates to the irruption of 
 the Burmese into the British territory : the third an- 
 nounces to Sir Alured Clarke the startling fact of 
 Buonaparte's establishment at Suez : 
 
 TO R. LISTON, ESQ. 
 
 HIS MAJESTY'S ENVOY EXTRAORDINARY AND MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY 
 TO THE UNITED STATES, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 " Fort St. George, April 1st, 1799. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your letters of the 22nd of June and 1 7th of July, 
 
 " I have issued the necessary orders to the Board of 
 Trade at Calcutta to forward by -every means in their 
 power the views of the captains of the American 
 vessels recommended by you ; and you may rely upon 
 my manifesting every disposition to favour American 
 ships as may find it expedient to touch at any port 
 within the limits of the Government-general of the 
 British possessions in India. 
 
 " M. Malartics's proclamation at the island of Mau- 
 ritius has, no doubt, come to your knowledge ; and 
 before this letter reaches you, you will probably have 
 heard that in consequence of that and many other
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 269 
 
 acts of aggression on the part of Tippoo Sultaun 
 against the Company, we are at this moment engaged 
 in war with that prince. I have every reason to hope 
 that, before the end of May, the war will be brought to 
 a successful issue, and that the Sultaun's power will 
 be so reduced as to leave us little to apprehend from 
 his future machinations, even though his allies the 
 French should be enabled to afford him that assistance 
 of which he now stands so much in need. 
 
 " No authentic accounts have reached me of Buona- 
 parte's army since the 26th of August. I am satisfied, 
 however, that our contest with Tippoo will be termi- 
 nated before he can derive any succour from the French 
 army in Egypt. 
 
 " My brother desires to be particularly remembered 
 to you. He has not forgotten your kindness to him 
 when he was secretary to your embassy at Stockholm. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, with the utmost re- 
 spect and regard, your faithful servant, 
 
 " MORNIKGTON." 
 
 TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR ALURED CLARKE, K. B. 
 
 (By Cypher. By Express.) 
 
 " Fort St. George, 28th April, 1799. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I HAVE delayed until this time any detailed 
 communication of my sentiments with regard to the 
 conduct to be observed toward the Burmahs, in the 
 daily expectation of receiving from Calcutta the letters 
 which they left in Chittagong at the time of their re- 
 treat ; apprehending, however, that embarrassments 
 may arise in Bengal from any further delay of my
 
 270 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 opinion, I shall endeavour to communicate it under dis- 
 advantage of the imperfect information now before me. 
 
 " If the letters in question are expressed in a tone 
 of menace and arrogance, I am induced to think, from 
 what I have learnt of the Burmah government, that 
 any attempt to send an ambassador with a pacific 
 proposition in reply to such letters, would be construed 
 as an indication of fear, and would only serve to pro- 
 voke further insolence and violence. I think, however, 
 that it is absolutely necessary, at all events, to trans- 
 mit without delay to the Burmah government, a de- 
 tailed statement of the real nature of the transaction 
 which they have made the unjust pretext of a violation 
 of our territory. 
 
 " This statement should be accompanied by the most 
 explicit declaration of our unaltered disposition to 
 maintain the relations of peace and amity with the 
 Burmah government, and at the same time it would be 
 proper to express an equally firm determination to 
 repel by force any attempt to invade our territories. 
 
 " If the letters left by the Burmahs at the time of 
 their retreat should not be of the hostile and arrogant 
 spirit supposed in the first case which I have stated, 
 it would be advisable to send Captain Cox immediately 
 over to Arracan or Rangoon, according as he may think 
 most expedient, for the purpose of making the neces- 
 sary explanations, and of bringing this disagreeable 
 affair to an amicable issue. 
 
 " It would be neither humane nor just to deliver up 
 any of the emigrants to the vengeance of the Burmah 
 government, excepting such as can be proved to be 
 delinquents of that description which, according to the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 271 
 
 law of nations, may be reciprocally and rightfully 
 claimed by independent powers in a state of peace. If 
 any such delinquents should be really found among the 
 emigrants, Captain Cox should be authorised to deliver 
 them up. 
 
 " I trust that these suggestions will enable you to 
 act immediately in this embarrassing business ; when I 
 shall receive the letters of the Burmahs from Calcutta, I 
 will forward any further observations which may arise 
 from an examination of their contents. 
 
 " Believe me, my dear Sir, &c. 
 
 " MORNINGTON." 
 
 TO HIS EXCELLENCY, SIR ALURED CLARKE, K. B. 
 (Private and Secret. Original by the Peggy. Duplicate by Express.) 
 
 " Fort St. George, 4th May, 1799. 
 " MY DEAR SlR, 
 
 " The enclosed intelligence from Bombay will 
 show you that my uniform expectation is now verified. 
 Buonaparte is established in Egypt, has fortified Suez, 
 and is collecting craft at the head of the Arabian 
 Gulf. No news of Blankett.* The season being now 
 open for coming down the Arabian Gulf, and a pos- 
 sibility existing that some part of the French force 
 may escape the vigilance of our cruisers, it is become 
 necessary to look to the protection of every point 
 which the enemy may attempt, and to take the best 
 precautions for our security. 
 
 " It is a considerable time since I recommended to 
 your attention the consideration of such measures as 
 might be adopted to defend Calcutta against the ef- 
 
 * The Admiral.
 
 272 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 fects of any sudden enterprise. I am persuaded that 
 you have taken the best practicable measures for that 
 purpose, and that you have turned your mind to the 
 means of frustrating any attack, either directly from 
 the river or from the side of Chittagong. I think it 
 would be advisable immediately to prepare gun-boats 
 and such armed vessels as you deem expedient to 
 cruise off the Sand Heads ; I trust Captain Cooke may 
 be well enough to assist in the preparations of such 
 naval defences as may appear necessary and practi- 
 cable. The French prisoners and French inhabitants 
 of Calcutta and of the provinces now demand the 
 most vigilant control. As some of the King's ships 
 will constantly be here during the ensuing monsoon, 
 I think it would be more advisable to send the 
 prisoners here than to Ceylon for convoy ; the Non- 
 such might convey them to this place with, perhaps, 
 some additional aid. 
 
 " The number of French established at Calcutta 
 and in the provinces, is now a most alarming evil : 
 I must request you will immediately institute a most 
 active inquiry into the state of their numbers and 
 conduct ; and that you will send to Europe, without 
 hesitation, every man who cannot give you a satis- 
 factory account of his principles and connections. 
 At Calcutta there are not less than one hundred and 
 fifty French, all, I believe, dangerous subjects. They 
 abound in Chittagong, where not a Frenchman should 
 be left on any account. It would also be desirable 
 to send to Europe as many as possible of the inha- 
 bitants of Chandernagore. In the name of the French, 
 I mean to include all foreign Europeans connected
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 273 
 
 with France. At Chinsurah there are many most 
 malevolent persons who ought to be sent to Europe. 
 In the interior of our provinces every Frenchman 
 indiscriminately ought to be taken up and sent to 
 Calcutta, and from thence, if a suspicious character, 
 to Europe. At Calcutta, M. Vialars is stated to be 
 of so turbulent a character that he ought not to be 
 suffered to remain in India. You should also send 
 away the two persons whose names I enclose. It ap- 
 pears to me that you cannot give too serious an at- 
 tention to this point ; for, if Buonaparte should ever 
 reach India, I need not say what the conduct of all 
 the French within our provinces would be. I recom- 
 mend Mr. Macklen as a person who can give you in- 
 formation relative to the French in Calcutta. The 
 magistrates of the cities and districts must assist you 
 in the provinces. 
 
 " Our last authentic accounts from the army were 
 dated the 18th of April; reports have reached me 
 from various quarters, by which it is certain that the 
 siege is proceeding rapidly ; I keep a vessel in readi- 
 ness to despatch express to you whenever I shall re- 
 ceive a decisive account. I believe nobody will now 
 contest the policy of my measures for the early re- 
 duction of Tippoo. 
 
 " I have concealed my knowledge of Buonaparte's 
 condition, and I request you to do the same ; per- 
 haps, however, the Bombay Courier may divulge the 
 whole. 
 
 " I think, under the present circumstances, the 
 8 6th ought to be sent to Bombay whenever it shall 
 arrive : let me have your opinion on the subject. 
 
 VOL. i. T
 
 274 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " I send this, letter by sea, and overland in du- 
 plicate (both by express), as I think not a moment 
 is to be lost in taking the precautions which I have 
 stated. 
 
 " I understand that there are now at Calcutta 
 several persons from Botany Bay ; they should all 
 be embarked for Europe without a single exception, 
 men, women, and children. 
 
 " Although our militia has manifested much zeal, 
 it is deficient in one material respect ; no place or 
 signal of rendezvous has yet been fixed for the mo- 
 ment of danger. This point demands immediate at- 
 tention. 
 
 " I have not in this letter given a positive in- 
 struction for the removal of the French indiscrimi- 
 nately, but I wish you to understand that the more 
 you remove the more relief I shall feel from a very 
 serious anxiety. Ever, my dear Sir, with the greatest 
 regard and esteem, yours most faithfully, 
 
 " MORNINGTON."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 275 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Lord Mornington writes to Sir Alured Clarke at Calcutta Conspiracy 
 
 of Shums-oo-Doulali. The Mainspring of Government only to be 
 touched by the Principal Mover. Apprehensions of an Attack on 
 Calcutta.. Buonaparte in Egypt. The Nabob of Bengal. General 
 Stewart's Operations against Vizier Ali. Success in Mysore. 
 Anxiety at Cooke's Illness. The Calcutta Newspapers. Lord Morn- 
 ington strongly censures their Conduct. Declares his intention of 
 adopting Harsh Measures towards the Editors. Orders, in the case of 
 the refractory, that their Papers should be suppressed by force, and 
 their Persons sent to Europe. The Discoveries in Bengal Success 
 of the Army against Tippoo. Disposition of the Forces. Vizier Ali. 
 Oude. The Indian Press. The Mirror, the Telegraph, and the 
 Post. Reprobates their Conduct. Orders Mr. Bruce to be embarked 
 for Europe. New Regulations for the Newspapers. Penalty of any 
 Infraction of them. Establishes a Censorship. Remarks on these 
 Proceedings. Their arbitrary Character condemned. Lord Welles- 
 ley's Authority cited by Sir J. Malcolm, in 1822, in favour of a Cen- 
 sorship on the Press. Evidence of Thomas Love Peacock, Esq., 1834. 
 Suppressed Passage in the Report of Major Kirkpatrick. Reference 
 to these Proceedings omitted in the published Dispatches of Lord 
 Wellesley. Inferences from these Facts. 
 
 THE following letters, which are principally interest- 
 ing in consequence of their development of the Earl 
 of Mornington's views and feelings with respect to the 
 freedom of the press in India, were written, as the 
 reader will observe from the date and place from 
 whence they are addressed, from Madras to the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief in BengaL 
 
 T2,
 
 270 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR ALURED CLARKE. 
 
 " Fort St. George, 17th April, 1799. 
 "MY DEAR SIR/' 
 
 " I have just received the communication which 
 you instructed Mr. Barlow to make to me on the sub- 
 ject of the message addressed to you by Shums-oo- 
 Doulah. 
 
 " I entirely approve of your judgment in referring 
 so delicate and important a question to my decision. 
 Whatever temporary inconveniences may occasionally 
 result from the delay incident to such references, the 
 principle on which they are founded ought to be 
 strictly observed in all cases of great moment. It is 
 equally certain that no disadvantages can arise from 
 such a system of precaution which will not ultimately 
 be over-balanced by its general benefits and permanent 
 efiects. The mainspring of such a machine as the 
 government of India can never be safely touched by 
 any other hand than the principal mover. 
 
 " I consider it to be of so much importance to bring 
 to light every part of the conspiracy which Shums-oo- 
 Doulah appears to have planned, that, conceiving him 
 to be the only person capable of disclosing the whole 
 train of the plot, I feel no hesitation in authorising 
 you to assure him that on condition of his making so 
 full and clear a discovery as shall satisfy me that he 
 has used no equivocation or reserve, his life shall be 
 spared. I shall expect from him in return for this act 
 of clemency, (the only atonement which it is in his 
 power to make to the British Government for his de-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 277 
 
 tected treason), the most ample disclosure, not only of 
 his projects, but of the names and designs of all the 
 instruments and agents already employed or intended 
 to be employed by him or any of his accomplices in 
 the execution of their design. It is not improbable 
 that some of these instruments may be Europeans, (I 
 allude to the French and other foreigners,) residing at 
 this time in Bengal. This is then a point to which, in 
 the examination of Shums-oo-Doulah it will be proper 
 to pay the most particular attention ; and it will, I 
 doubt not, be an object of your immediate care to 
 secure the persons of all such Europeans without 
 delay. 
 
 "I request that the result of every examination of 
 Shums-oo-Doulah may be communicated to me as 
 speedily as possible. 
 
 " I am persuaded that you have taken the proper 
 steps to secure Calcutta against the danger of a sudden 
 attack from the river. If the Imaum should assist 
 General Buonaparte, (whom I believe still to be in 
 Egypt with 17,000 or 18,000 men), their object would 
 be to sail directly up the Hoogly and to surprise 
 Calcutta. 
 
 "The conduct to be pursued with regard to the 
 Nabob of Bengal, until my return to Calcutta, will re- 
 quire the most delicate management. At present we 
 possess no direct proof of his being implicated in the 
 conspiracy of Shums-oo-Doulah. Reasonable ground, 
 however, exists for believing that he was at least ac- 
 quainted with the proceedings of Shums-oo-Doulah. 
 It will therefore be proper that a most vigilant eye 
 should be kept on all the motions of the Nabob, and
 
 278 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that as respectable a military force as possible should 
 be stationed at Berhampore, as well with a view to in- 
 timidate the confederates of Shums-oo-Doulah, as for 
 the purpose of suppressing with promptitude any dis- 
 turbances which they may endeavour to excite. But 
 I must request you, as far as may be practicable con- 
 sistently with these precautions, to avoid all direct 
 indications of a suspicion of the personal views of the 
 Nabob of Bengal. 
 
 " I am concerned to observe the slow progress made 
 by Major-General Stewart against Vizier Ali and his 
 banditti. I scarcely know a point of more importance 
 to our interests in India than the capture or death 
 of that young assassin, and the dispersion of his 
 followers. 
 
 " I congratulate you on the success which has 
 hitherto attended our operations in Mysore, of which I 
 transmit to you the details regularly as I receive them. 
 Nothing can more strongly confirm the policy of those 
 operations than the late train of events, and the nature 
 of the designs disclosed in Bengal. I hope in God 
 that Cooke will recover ; the last accounts are favour- 
 able, but I am still in a state of great anxiety on that 
 most affecting subject. 
 
 "Let me call your attention to the newspapers at 
 Calcutta. I enclose two paragraphs, for either of 
 which particularly for that relating to the batteries on 
 the river the editor ought to be sent to Europe. I 
 contrived to get them into some degree of order, but 
 they are now returning to their vocation, and if not 
 checked, will create serious mischief. I shall take an 
 early opportunity of transmitting rules for the conduct
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 279 
 
 of the whole tribe of editors ; in the mean time, if 
 you cannot tranquillize the editors of this and other 
 mischievous publications, be so good as to suppress 
 their papers by force, and send their persons to Europe. 
 I trust you will issue a proclamation against the publi- 
 cation of newspapers on Sunday. 
 
 " Although there may not exist the same grounds of 
 jealousy at Patna and Dacca as at Moorshedabad, yet 
 as these two former cities are like the last, extremely 
 populous, and abound in proper instruments for such 
 conspirators as Shums-oo-Doulah, it is highly expedient 
 that as strong a force as possible should for some time 
 to come be kept in their neighbourhoods. I am, &c. 
 
 " MORNINGTON." 
 
 TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR ALURED CLARKE, K.B., &C. 
 
 " Fort St. George, 26th April, 1799. 
 "MY DEAR SlR, 
 
 " I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt 
 of your letters of the 6th and 13th of April. I 
 entirely agree with you in your view of the proba- 
 ble result of the late discoveries in Bengal : they will 
 prove beneficial to our interests, provided they can be 
 made the foundations of a just and effectual system 
 of police a subject which now occupies much of my 
 attention. 
 
 "You have already received my private letter re- 
 specting Vizier Ali and Shums-oo-Doulah. If the 
 former should be apprehended, I shall forward to you 
 a letter from me in council, to the same effect as my 
 private letter.
 
 280 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " Colonel Kirkpatrick, by mj orders, has regularly 
 forwarded, by express, every account which we have 
 received from the army ; we have also taken advan- 
 tage of the departure of every ship bound to Calcutta. 
 Our last accounts of the 15th are highly favourable, 
 and leave no doubt that the success of the expedition 
 will be speedy and complete. 
 
 " I am pefectly satisfied of the impossibility of de- 
 taching any force from Bengal in the present moment ; 
 I feel, indeed, so much anxiety on the subject of our 
 situation in the provinces, that I doubt whether it 
 might not be advisable to send another King's regi- 
 ment to Calcutta as soon as the 86th shall arrive from 
 the Cape an event which may be expected every day. 
 The 29th light dragoons will embark in the course of 
 a few days for Calcutta. If you should not want the 
 86th immediately, I propose to send it to Masulipa- 
 tam, from whence it may be easily conveyed to Bengal, 
 if any necessity should arise. In the meanwhile, its 
 presence at Masulipatam will tend to keep the Circars 
 quiet, as well as to give confidence to the Nizam 
 against the dangers which now menace his dominions. 
 
 " I am very desirous that you should get rid of all 
 your French prisoners ; and my brother has stated to 
 Barlow by this post a plan for conveying them to the 
 Cape, if you can give them convoy to Trincomale. 
 
 "I am very happy, from your dispatches of the 
 13th instant, to find that there was so far a pro- 
 spect of securing Vizier Ali. I cannot agree in Sir 
 James Craig's reasons respecting Ambagee ; and even 
 if they were well founded, you know that the con- 
 duct of Ambagee is neither the sole nor the principal
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 281 
 
 cause of my anxiety to maintain a large force on the 
 frontier of Scindiah's dominions. But I request that 
 you will not suffer the tranquillity of the interior of 
 Oude to be endangered by even this object, however 
 important it appears to me. 
 
 " I cannot describe to you the uneasiness and anxiety 
 which has been excited in my mind by the perusal of 
 several paragraphs which have lately appeared in the 
 newspapers at Calcutta. I have already offered some 
 suggestions to you upon that subject in my letter 
 
 of the . I cannot but suspect the existence of 
 
 a systematic design of mischief among the editors of 
 several papers, particularly the Asiatic Mirror, the 
 Telegraph, and the Post. In these papers paragraphs 
 continually appear tending to magnify the character 
 and power of the French, and to expose every ex- 
 isting or possible weakness in our situation. I have 
 transmitted to you some articles of this tendency. 
 To-day I find in the Post of the 12th, under the form 
 of a letter from the Nizam's army, a plain suggestion 
 to Tippoo of the advantages which he might derive 
 by sending his Looties into the Carnatic ; and in the 
 Mirror of the 10th, column 2nd, sheet 1st, you will 
 find a dissertation on the causes, nature, and extent 
 of the conspiracy discovered in Bengal. The wicked- 
 ness of this dissertation is scarcely equalled even by 
 any of the publications which preceded the late Irish 
 Rebellion. I refer you to the paper itself, which 
 requires no comment. I request you will embark the 
 editor of that paper (whom I understand to be a 
 Mr. Bruce, a desperate Jacobin) for Europe, in the 
 first ship which shall sail from Calcutta, or you may
 
 282 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 send him to Madras, from whence he may proceed in 
 the Thetis or Worcester. 
 
 " On mj return to Calcutta, it is my intention to 
 adopt an entirely new system for the regulation of 
 the newspapers. In the mean while, for the purpose 
 of putting some restraint on this serious mischief, I 
 request you to adopt, without delay, the following 
 regulations : 
 
 " 1. To compel every printer of a paper to print 
 his name at the bottom of the paper. 
 
 " 2. Every editor and proprietor of a paper to de- 
 liver in his name and place of abode to the Secretary 
 of the Government. 
 
 " 3. No paper to be published on a Sunday. 
 
 " 4. No paper to be published (at all) until it shall 
 have been previously inspected by the Secretary to the 
 Government, or by a person authorised by him for 
 the purpose, in order that nothing may be published 
 tending to convey information to the enemy, or to ex- 
 cite alarm and commotion within our own dominions. 
 
 " 5. The penalty of offending against any part of 
 these regulations to be immediate embarkation for 
 Europe. 
 
 " I arn aware that these regulations will occasion 
 great trouble in the Secretary's Office, on account of 
 the extravagant number of newspapers now published 
 in Calcutta. On my return to Bengal, I am deter- 
 mined to limit that number within very narrow 
 bounds ; but in the interval some inconveniences must 
 be suffered, or the public security must be exposed 
 to constant hazard. 
 
 " Believe me, my dear Sir, &c., " MORNINGTON."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 283 
 
 This, it must be confessed, seems rather a summary 
 mode of proceeding ; somewhat more in consonance 
 with principles of Asiatic despotism than with those 
 enlightened views of public liberty advocated by the 
 noble Lord in his speech in College Green, on the free- 
 dom of the press. It was a stretch of absolutism so 
 repugnant to our conceptions of right and law at 
 home, that few will be disposed to admit, without great 
 reluctance, the justifying plea of irresistible necessity. 
 That the conduct of the editors of the Calcutta news- 
 papers, taking the Governor-General's description of it 
 to be accurate, was very reprehensible, there can be no 
 doubt : in a dependency of the Crown, beset with perils 
 at every hand insurrections, plots, conspiracies, inva- 
 sion, menacing, it was highly criminal to publish obser- 
 vations calculated to point out to a foreign or domestic 
 enemy the weak points in the British defences. Ac- 
 cording to our common law it amounts to high treason 
 for a subject to give intelligence to foreign powers at 
 open war with the sovereign : and though by this intel- 
 ligence is meant information secretly conveyed with a 
 treasonable design, it is not necessary to employ argu- 
 ment to prove that the offence with which the Earl of 
 Mornington charged the editors in question was a very 
 grave one, likely to be productive, under the exist- 
 ing circumstances of British India at that crisis, of mis- 
 chievous consequences ; but we still doubt whether it 
 justifies the peremptory decree " You will embark 
 
 Mr. for Europe !" Was it right to dispense 
 
 with all forms of law \ to condemn without trial ? to 
 punish an Englishman without affording him an oppor- 
 tunity of making a regular defence \ to strike without
 
 284 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 hearing a word of expostulation "? Necessity, we know, 
 is, in the hands of rulers, very stern in its require- 
 ments ; but we must still inquire, does it appear that 
 it was necessary to take the high-handed course 
 directed in the letters to the Commander-in-Chief, 
 and Vice-President of Council ? A public trial, it 
 will be said, would have been both inconvenient and 
 injurious to the public interest : things are justifiable 
 in times of war which are not justifiable under ordinary 
 circumstances : everything must bend to state neces- 
 sity when a foreign enemy is approaching ; so that in 
 a state of war men will patiently endure restraints 
 which in times of peace would be regarded as the most 
 odious tyranny. The truth of this may be admitted ; 
 and it is right that mankind should understand that 
 war, with all its glory, pomp, and circumstance, in- 
 volves a necessity of trampling, as well upon indivi- 
 dual liberty as on the majesty of the law and the safe- 
 guard of public freedom. 
 
 When the Earl of Mornington penned the above 
 letters from Madras to the authorities at Fort Wil- 
 liam, he felt himself to be the commander of a 
 beleaguered or menaced citadel, and no one will dis- 
 pute that he acted solely with reference to the ge- 
 neral safety and defence of the empire committed 
 to his charge. It would be uncandid not to make 
 allowance for the peculiar difficulties of his posi- 
 tion ; but viewed under the' most favourable circum- 
 stances, the order respecting the editor of the Calcutta 
 Mirror wears the appearance of a harsh and arbitrary 
 exercise of supreme authority. Lord Mornington had 
 himself so often received valuable information of the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 285 
 
 movements and designs of the enemy from newspapers, 
 that it is easy to appreciate the motives of the anxiety 
 manifested by his Lordship to prevent, as far as pos- 
 sible, the French in Egypt, the Indian Seas, or the 
 partisans of France in India from deriving a knowledge 
 of any facts detrimental to the British Government 
 through the same medium. 
 
 The proclamation of General Malartic, so eventful 
 in its consequences, first met his eye in one of the 
 public prints ; and when the important news that 
 Buonaparte had established himself in Egypt reached 
 him, in one of his private letters to Sir Alured 
 Clarke he manifests the greatest uneasiness lest the 
 fact should be prematurely divulged in the Bombay 
 papers."* On one occasion we find Lord Morning- 
 ton sending expresses to Ceylon, Goa, Mysore, and 
 Malabar, with copies of an article which he had 
 found in a Frankfort publication that had been trans- 
 mitted to him ;f and in both his private and official 
 letters to the British embassy at Constantinople, he 
 frequently mentions his anxiety to have the- news- 
 papers transmitted to him as speedily as practicable. 
 Indeed, in 1800 he officially directs the Resident at 
 Bussorah to dispatch by boat or cruiser, " once every 
 fortnight," all Continental journals and other public 
 newspapers, " so highly important and interesting at 
 the present conjuncture." It may be added as an 
 illustration of the utility of newspapers in time of war 
 to those who have the direction of armies, that Buona- 
 parte first formed the resolution of leaving Egypt for 
 
 * Vide letter to Sir A. Clarke, 4th May, 1799. 
 
 t Vide letter to Hon. F. North, 27th October, 1799.
 
 286 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Europe in consequence of a paragraph in a European 
 journal, presented to one of his generals by an officer 
 of the British squadron during a temporary truce.* 
 
 Such considerations would have justified a strong 
 cautionary circular to the printers, proprietors, and 
 editors of all publications in the presidencies, and 
 called for a clear and definite exposition of the laws in 
 India respecting the public press, or, if the press in 
 India was not privileged with the protection of the 
 laws, for an explicit warning beforehand of the will 
 and fixed intention of the Government : for no tyranny 
 is so oppressive or insupportable as an attempt to hold 
 men responsible for the infringement of rule of action 
 undefined, concealed, or precarious ; " misera est ser- 
 vitus ubi jus est vagum aut incognitum" Still, no 
 such considerations as have been adverted to, seem to 
 warrant, or indeed (trying the matter by the test of 
 " necessity'") to demand either the decree of the 1 7th 
 of April, 1799, or the regulations prescribed in Lord 
 Mornington's letter to Sir Alured Clarke, of the 
 26th of the same month, directing the permanent 
 establishment of a Censorship. These regulations 
 vary in no material particular from the ordinances 
 promulgated by the star-chamber, A. D. 1585. Those 
 ordinances commanded every printer to certify his 
 presses to the Stationers' Company, on pain of hav- 
 ing his types defaced, and suffering a year's impri- 
 sonment ; and ordered that no printer who had only 
 set up in his trade within six months should exer- 
 cise it any longer, nor any commence in future until 
 the excessive multitude of printers were diminished 
 that none should print any book, matter, or thing 
 
 J Bourrienne's Memoirs.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 287 
 
 whatsoever, until it had been first seen, perused, and 
 allowed ty the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of 
 London, except the Queen's printer that every one 
 selling books contrary to the intent of this ordinance 
 should suffer three months' imprisonment. The star- 
 chamber ordinances will suffer little from a contrast 
 with the paragraph in Lord Mornington's letter : " In 
 the mean time, if you cannot tranquillize the editors of 
 this and other mischievous publications, be so good as 
 to suppress their papers by force, and send their per- 
 sons to Europe ;" followed up by the expression of his 
 Lordship's determination " to limit" the number of 
 newspapers in Calcutta " within very narrow bounds," 
 and to place the number so arbitrarily limited, under 
 the surveillance of the Secretary of the Government. 
 
 The authority of Lord Wellesley was, in subsequent 
 times, frequently referred to by the advocates of re- 
 strictions on the Indian press. In a minute by Sir 
 John Malcolm, in 1822, arguing that, though, where 
 the knowledge of the people, their institutions, and 
 forms of government are such as to admit of the 
 freedom of the press, the good to the public arising 
 from its unrestricted liberty preponderates over the 
 accompanying evils of such freedom, yet that, from 
 the peculiar nature and constitution of the community 
 in India, a free press was unsuited to that country, 
 Sir John Malcolm observes : " The office of Censor 
 was, I believe, first instituted by Lord Wellesley, in 
 consequence of an article appearing in the Mirror 
 newspaper, which took a comparative view of the 
 European and Native population, with some specu- 
 lations on the subject that were not deemed less dan-
 
 288 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 gerous from there being no evil design on the part 
 of the writer/' In the evidence of Thomas Love 
 Peacock, Esq., Senior Assistant Examiner of India 
 Correspondence before the Select Parliamentary Com- 
 mittee, in 1834, the following history of the Censor- 
 ship on the Press in India is given :* 
 
 " The first case is that of Mr. William Duane, who 
 was sent home, by the power vested in the Govern- 
 ment, in the year 1794. Then there are two or 
 three other cases which may be passed over. The 
 next is the case of Captain Williamson, in 1798, who 
 had published a letter in one of the Calcutta papers 
 which was considered by the Government to be a 
 letter tending to excite military insubordination. He 
 was suspended from the Company's service, and came 
 home ; he was afterwards permitted to return to 
 India. The next is the case of Mr. Charles M'Lean, 
 who was sent home in the same year (1798) for an 
 offence against the Government. The next impor- 
 tant circumstance is the imposition of Censorship. 
 After several other instances of misconduct, the Cen- 
 sorship was imposed on the 13th of May, 1799. 
 After this there were several prohibitory orders issued 
 to the editors of newspapers not to insert anything 
 relating to military matters, and two or three times 
 rules were laid down for the conduct of the press 
 and the printing offices generally. The next occur- 
 rence to which I need advert, is the improper conduct 
 of the editor of the Asiatic Mirror, Dr. Bryce.f After 
 this, in 1818, on the 28th of August, the Censorship 
 
 * Vide Report of Select Committee on the Calcutta Journal. 
 t In Lord Wellesley's MS. Mr. Bruce.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 289 
 
 was removed, and rules were laid down for the con- 
 duct of the press, which they were expected to ob- 
 serve." 
 
 Lord Mornington appears, in some degree, to have 
 been influenced in this course of policy by the re- 
 presentations made to his Lordship when at the Cape 
 of Good Hope, by Major Kirkpatrick, an officer who 
 had recently been British Resident at Hyderabad. 
 
 The following passage in the answer to the second 
 question, occurs in Major Kirkpatrick's report : " There 
 cannot, perhaps, be a fitter occasion than the present 
 for remarking on the pernicious effects too often pro- 
 duced (I confine myself in what I say to the Court 
 of Hyderabad) by such of our Indian newspapers as 
 are conducted either by inconsiderate or by ill-prin- 
 cipled men ; but especially by the latter. The Re- 
 sidency has more than once, in its attempts to prove 
 the falsehood or exaggeration of certain reports re- 
 specting the French successes, been gravely referred 
 for the authenticity of them to English prints ; nor 
 has it unfrequently happened that such falsehoods or 
 exaggerations have appeared in papers professing to 
 to be published by authority, or at least enjoying 
 the favour of Government. The Bombay Courier 
 (which is in exclusive possession of all the public 
 business of that Presidency), and the Asiatic Mirror 
 (a Calcutta print) fall particularly under the descrip- 
 tion of papers managed by persons of politically evil 
 dispositions. The arguments in vindication of the 
 unrestrained freedom of the press in England cer- 
 tainly cannot be reasonably or fairly applied to the 
 state of British society in India. It is difficult, in- 
 
 VOL. i. IT
 
 290 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 deed, to conceive any political good or right it can 
 serve to promote or secure among the latter ; while, 
 on the other hand, the danger to the national in- 
 terests in such a country, with which it is pregnant, 
 is very considerable. I am not likely to be supposed 
 desirous of the abolition of the Indian press, were 
 such a thing practicable ; but certainly every reflect- 
 ing man and good subject must wish to see its com- 
 munication of, and comments on public events under 
 better regulations than they are at present." 
 
 Sincerely admiring the character of the great man 
 whose policy we are discussing, and compelled by the 
 weight of irresistible evidence to acknowledge the 
 general wisdom and utility of his proceedings, it is a 
 subject of regret to the writer to be obliged to exhibit 
 this part of Lord Wellesley's public conduct in an 
 unfavourable light : but fidelity, as well to historic truth 
 as to the principles of public freedom,* forbid sup- 
 pression of matter of fact and concealment of opinion 
 on so important a subject. 
 
 Beside, we are not without reasons for believing 
 
 * " The proposition I mean to maintain is this : that a man not in- 
 tending to mislead, but seeking to enlighten others with what his own 
 reason and conscience, however erroneously, have dictated to him as 
 truth, may address himself to the universal reason of a whole nation, 
 either upon the subject of governments in general, or upon that of our 
 own particular country ; that he may analyse the principles of its consti- 
 tution, point out its errors and defects, examine and publish its corrup- 
 tions, and warn his fellow-citizens against their ruinous consequences, 
 and exert his whole faculties in pointing out the most advantageous 
 changes in establishments which he considers to be radically defective, 
 or sliding from their objects by abuse. All this every subject of this 
 country has a right to do, if he contemplates only what he thinks would 
 be for its advantage, and but seeks to change the public mind by the 
 conviction that flows from reasonings dictated by conscience". Erskine.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 291 
 
 that the matured judgment of the Marquess Wel- 
 leslej coincided with his early sentiments of respect 
 for the institution of a free press expressed in the 
 Irish House of Lords, and condemned as indiscreet the 
 exercise of power that has called forth these remarks. 
 In the edition of the Dispatches published under his 
 Lordship's superintendence, though a part of Lord 
 Mornington's letter to Sir A lured Clarke, of the 17 'th 
 of April, 1799, has been printed, the passages re- 
 ferring to the Calcutta newspapers do not appear. 
 The letter of the 26th of April is entirely omitted: 
 and the passage from - Major Kirkpatrick's report, 
 quoted above, has been erased from the printed copy ; 
 having been crossed out in the original manuscript, 
 apparently by Lord Wellesley's pen. The fact that 
 the noble Lord bequeathed his collection of papers 
 to the nation, proves that he neither desired con- 
 cealment nor feared scrutiny : but the circumstances 
 just mentioned seem to warrant the inference that 
 he did not desire his policy towards the press of India 
 to be held up as a model for imitation. 
 
 u 2
 
 292 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Tippoo Sultaun, instead of proceeding on a Hunting Expedition, com- 
 mences a March to attack General Stuart at Seedapore, five days be- 
 fore the British entered Mysore. Defeated in his Attack on General 
 Stuart's Force. Retreats. Re-crosses Mysore, and falls upon the Di- 
 visions of Colonel Wellesley and General Floyd at Mallavelly. Tippoo 
 suffers a severe Defeat. Retreats toSeringapatam. General Harris ad- 
 vances. Operations of the Army before Seringapatam. Tippoo 
 Sultaun's Letter to General Harris. The General's Reply. Operations 
 continued. Second Letter from Tippoo. General Harris transmits 
 the Terms of the only Peace that would be granted. Tippoo declines 
 to accept them. Writes again. Preparations for storming Seringa- 
 patam. Tippoo's Fortitude and Valour. General Baird leads the 
 Assault. Capture of the Fortress and City. Death of Tippoo Sul- 
 taun. Forbearance of the British Troops. The Sultaun's Family and 
 Zenana respected. Consequences of the Fall of Seringapatam. Letter 
 of General Harris in a Sealed Quill to Lord Mornington. Letter of 
 Major Beatson to his Lordship. 
 
 IN Tippoo's letter to Lord Mornington, received on 
 the 13th of February, he announced his intention of 
 proceeding on a hunting expedition. The only game, 
 however, which his Highness really contemplated pur- 
 suing was a British General, which in former times had 
 not unfrequently been the object of his chase. Having 
 succeeded in raising an expectation that it was his in- 
 tention to move in the direction of Mangalore, he 
 secretly left his camp on the 28th of February, at the 
 head of twelve thousand men, and rapidly marching 
 across the country, passed the frontier, and quitting his
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 293 
 
 own territories, suddenly fell upon the Bombay army, 
 under General Stuart, the total strength of which was 
 6420. It is important to remark, as a commentary 
 upon all Tippoo's pacific professions, that he began this 
 movement five days before General Harris entered 
 Mysore, and that he was engaged in an attempt to 
 cut to pieces by surprise this British force at Seedapore, 
 in the dominions of one of the allies of Great Britain, 
 at the very moment that, at the opposite side of 
 the kingdom, General Harris was entering Mysore. 
 Tippoo succeeded in throwing a body of his troops be- 
 tween the detachments of Generals Stuart and Hartley, 
 and for a time threatened the annihilation of the 
 British force. Eventually, however, Tippoo was re- 
 pulsed at all points ; and without awaiting to strike a 
 second blow, hurried back to Seringapatam. In this 
 affair the British lost 143 men ; Tippoo's loss was, 
 doubtless, considerable. 
 
 Tippoo now concentrated his whole force' 55 ' against the 
 army of Madras under General Harris ; and endea- 
 voured to make an impression upon it, before a 
 junction was formed between the forces of Generals 
 Harris and Stuart. Tippoo Sultaun in person led on 
 a furious onset on the British lines at Mallavelly, re- 
 
 * From an abstract of the state of Tippoo Sultaun's affairs, drawn up 
 by Captain, afterwards Sir John Malcolm, it appears that the strength of 
 Tippoo's army was as follows : Regular horse, 6000 ; irregular horse, 
 7000 ; regular infantry, 30,000 ; guards, &c., 4000 ; Carnatic paeons, 
 8000 ; pioneers, 6000 ; exclusive of 144 field-pieces, 36 battering-guns, 
 a rocket brigade, elephants, camels, mules, &c. Tippoo's French force 
 comprised : Four officers, 40 private Europeans, 350 half-cast and 
 Caffries, Lally's party ; six officers, 50 private Europeans, 100 half-cast 
 and Caffries, lately arrived from the Mauritius. Total, 10 officers, 90 
 private Europeans, and 450 half-cast and Caffries.
 
 294 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 markable as the place where the illustrious hero of a 
 hundred fights, then Colonel Wellesley, fought his first 
 battle in India. A formidable body of Mysore horse 
 bore down upon Colonel Wellesley 's division, con- 
 sisting of the 33rd regiment and the Nizam's forces. 
 The 33rd were ordered to reserve their fire till the 
 enemy were within pistol shot ; they then poured in a 
 dreadful fire, and, quickening step, attacked Tippoo's 
 troops with the bayonet. General Floyd's dragoons, 
 from the centre, charged at this crisis, and a total route 
 of the Mysoreans took place. They fled, having suf- 
 fered a loss of two thousand, who fell on the field or in 
 flight. 
 
 On the 7th of April, General Harris sat down 
 before Seringapatam. It will be observed that up 
 to this time Tippoo had not attempted to open 
 communications with the General, or reply to Lord 
 Mornington's last letter. On the 9th of April disheart- 
 ened, but not subdued, by the result of the battles at 
 Seedapore and Mallavelly, Tippoo sent the following 
 note to the English camp : 
 
 FROM TIPPOO SULTAUN TO GENERAL HARRIS. 
 
 " The Governor-General Lord Mornington, Behauder,* 
 sent me a letter, a copy of which is enclosed. You 
 will understand it. I have adhered firmly to treaties ; 
 what then is the meaning of the advance of the English 
 armies and the occurrence of hostilities. Inform me. 
 What need I say more 1" 
 
 He was referred by the General to the letters of 
 
 * Literally the Invincible, employed as a title of courtesy.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 295 
 
 Lord Mornington, and the declaration of war on the 
 part of the allies : 
 
 FROM GENERAL HARRIS TO TIPPOO SULTAUN. 
 
 " 10th April, 1799. 
 
 " Your letter enclosing copies of the Governor- 
 General's letter has been received. For the advance of 
 the English and allied armies, and for actual hostilities, 
 I refer you to the several letters of the Governor- 
 General, which are sufficiently explanatory on the 
 subject." 
 
 Tippoo made no farther attempt at negotiation till 
 the 20th of April. The junction between the Bombay 
 and Madras armies had been safely effected on the 
 14th, and after crossing the dangerous river Cavery, by 
 which Seringapatam is protected, an enfilading battery 
 was established, and the enemy were dislodged from an 
 important position four hundred yards in advance of 
 their entrenchments. Tippoo therefore proposed a 
 conference for peace. 
 
 TIPPOO SULTAUN TO GENERAL HARRIS. 
 
 " IN the letter of Lord Mornington it is written, that 
 the clearing up of matters at issue is proper ; and 
 therefore you, having been empowered for the purpose, 
 will appoint such persons as you judge proper for con- 
 ducting a conference and renewing the business of a 
 treaty. You are a well-wisher of both states. In this 
 matter what is your pleasure ? Inform me, that a con- 
 ference may take place."
 
 296 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 General Harris, in reply to this overture, transmitted 
 to Tippoo the preliminary articles of the only peace 
 that would now be granted to him. The Governor- 
 General had furnished General Harris with the drafts 
 of two treaties, but left it to the General's discretion 
 which set of propositions he should adopt. General 
 Harris selected the most stringent propositions, and 
 modified them in some particulars. He required 
 Tippoo to cede half his territories in perpetuity to the 
 allies, to pay two crore* of rupees to indemnify the 
 British Government for the expenses of the war, to 
 renounce the alliance of the French for ever, to dismiss 
 every native of France from his service, to receive 
 ambassadors from each of the allies, to give up the 
 four sons of the Sultaun, and four of his generals to 
 be named by the English commander as hostages : the 
 acceptance of these severe conditions to be transmitted 
 under his hand and seal within twenty-four hours, and 
 the hostages and one crore of rupees to be delivered in 
 forty-eight. General Harris and the military com- 
 mission appointed by Lord Mornington to assist his 
 political deliberations in imposing these terms on the 
 Sultaun, were influenced by a consideration of the two 
 battles in which Tippoo had been defeated, and the 
 other reverses he had sustained before he condescended 
 to propose a negotiation. The operations of the siege 
 went forward till the 28th of April, eighty days hav- 
 ing elapsed without a favourable reply. On that day 
 Tippoo made another and a last attempt to avert the 
 stormi g of his citadel. 
 
 * Crore, one hundred lacs. A crore of pagodas is about 4,000,000/. 
 sterling. A crore of rupees about 1,000,0001. sterling.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 297 
 
 FROM TIPPOO SULTAUN TO GENERAL HARRIS. 
 
 " The points in question are weighty and cannot be 
 brought to a conclusion without the intervention of 
 ambassadors. I am therefore about to send two gen- 
 tlemen, who will perfectly explain themselves." 
 
 On the 30th of April the breaching-battery opened 
 against the walls of Seringapatam. On the first day 
 part of the outward wall at the west angle of the fort 
 was levelled, and one of the bastions within it was con- 
 siderably shaken. On the morning of the 2nd of May 
 a great magazine of rockets blew up in the town with 
 a fearful explosion, spreading death and consterna- 
 tion among the inhabitants. On this day an addi- 
 tional battery was brought to bear against the walls ; 
 and at the conclusion of the 3rd the breach was 
 deemed practicable for the advance of a storming 
 party. Notwithstanding this tempest of shot and shell, 
 Tippoo Sultaun conducted himself with unflinching 
 resolution. It is reported that when he witnessed the 
 advance of the British army across the Cavery, he 
 addressed his officers with these words, " We have 
 arrived at the last stage; what is your determination 1 ?" 
 " To die along with you," it is said was the unanimous 
 reply. Tippoo evidently relied upon the strength 
 of his fortress, which had twice before defied the 
 strength of the British armies, and was swayed by a 
 superstitious feeling that he was under the protection 
 of the Deity. He had accumulated a large store of 
 provisions in Seringapatam, and the place was defended
 
 298 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 by two and twenty thousand veteran troops who had 
 been accustomed to victory, and the rainy season was 
 fast approaching. On the night of the 3rd of May 
 preparations were made for an assault on the following 
 morning ; this perilous service was entrusted to Major 
 General Baird, who had for so long a time been a cap- 
 tive in the hands of Hyder Ali and Tippoo Sultaun, 
 within those very walls. General Baird, with the 
 fearless gallantry that characterised his whole military 
 career, both in Asia, Africa, and Europe, determined to 
 conquer or never return. " Either," said he, to Colonel 
 Agnew, " we succeed to-morrow or you never see me 
 more."" Before daybreak on the morning of the 4th of 
 May a day memorable in the history of India the 
 storming party consisting of 2500 Europeans, and 
 1800 sepoys, were in the trenches. The General bade 
 some of his old comrades of the 71st, who had on a 
 former occasion been overwhelmed by Tippoo, re- 
 member that they had now an opportunity of " paying 
 off old scores." At one o'clock the signal was given 
 Baird stepped out of the trenches, and drawing his 
 sword, exclaimed, " Now, my brave fellows, follow me, 
 and prove yourselves British soldiers !" It is scarcely 
 possible adequately to conceive the anxious suspense 
 with which the progress of the intrepid and devoted 
 band as they dashed forward upon the " forlorn hope " 
 was viewed from the lines. 
 
 " The boldest held his breath 
 For a time " 
 
 Baird was rapidly followed by his men as he crossed 
 the rocky bed of the river Cavery, which it was neces- 
 sary to pass before the foot of the breach could be
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 299 
 
 gained The General is in the breach ! the assaulting 
 column presses forward in close array volumes of fire 
 and smoke envelop the assailants the hurras of the 
 British are heard amid the thunder of the artillery 
 they rush forward undaunted by the deadly storm 
 a chosen body of Tippoo's guards make a sally on the 
 flank of the assailants the Mysoreans are repulsed with 
 fearful slaughter, and the next moment the English 
 colours wave from the walls ! These were the events 
 of less than ten minutes. General Baird, and Colonels 
 Sherbrooke and Dunlop, swept the ramparts to the 
 right and to the left ; but encountered a desperate 
 resistance from Tippoo's troops, who evinced great 
 gallantry and devotion to the Sultaun. 
 
 The attack was made during the heat of the day, 
 when Asiatics usually take their mid-day repast, and 
 resign themselves to a season of repose. When the 
 alarm of the assault reached Tippoo, he was sitting at 
 dinner under a covered shed. He instantly washed 
 his hands, seized his arms, and mounted his horse. 
 On his way to the ramparts he was told that his ge- 
 neral, Syed Gofiar, was killed. " Syed Goflar," he said, 
 " never feared death : let Mahommed Cassim take 
 charge of his division." Tippoo opposed himself in 
 person to the left column of the British; and for a 
 time checked their advance ; he continued on foot and 
 animated his soldiers by firing with his own hands 
 against his adversaries ; he was the last man to quit the 
 traverses, and did not leave his post till the impetu- 
 osity of the British soldiers drove everything before 
 them. Two columns of the 1 2th regiment one within, 
 the other outside the gate now poured in a destructive
 
 300 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 cross fire. The Sultaun, who had before received a 
 musket-ball in the right side, received another wound ; 
 his horse was shot under him, and his turban fell to 
 the ground. His faithful servants placed him in his 
 palanqueen, but being unable to proceed over the 
 heaps of slain, he again sprang upon his feet and en- 
 deavoured to escape. Some British soldiers now enter- 
 ing the gate encountered Tippoo. One of them, 
 ignorant of his person, but attracted by his jewels, 
 attempted to pull off his sword belt ; Tippoo disdain- 
 ing to surrender himself a prisoner, or announce his 
 rank, wounded the soldier in the knee with his sabre. 
 The enraged Englishman pointed his musket at his as- 
 sailant's head, and Tippoo fell a corpse. The moment 
 that the British obtained possession of Seringapatam a 
 search was instituted for the Sultaun : his body was 
 found under a heap of slain ; his eyes were open, and 
 the body, which was stripped of every ornament but 
 his cherished amulet, was still warm when Colonel 
 Wellesley, who commanded the reserve, which was not 
 employed in the assault, came up. Thus perished 
 this formidable enemy of the British power in India ; 
 and thus perished likewise, the hopes of those who 
 aimed at the re-establishment of French influence in 
 Hindostan ! We shall not dwell upon the military de- 
 tails of this memorable siege. It is enough to say that 
 every member of the palace* was treated with the 
 
 * " We feel great satisfaction," say the Mysore Commissioners, in a 
 letter to Lord Mornington, dated Seringapatam, June the 8th, 1799, " in 
 being able to assure your Lordship that before the Zenana was searched 
 for treasure, separate apartments were prepared for the ladies, and no 
 precaution omitted to secure them from the possibility of being exposed 
 to any inconvenience. No treasure was found in the Zenana, nor was 
 any article whatever removed from thence."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 301 
 
 utmost kindness and consideration by General Baird, 
 although before he entered it, his soldiers were excited 
 by the information that Tippoo had ordered twelve gre- 
 nadiers of Colonel Wellesley's regiment who fell into 
 his hands on the 5th of April, to be murdered in cold 
 blood. The arsenal of Seringapatam contained four 
 hundred and fifty-one brass guns, and four hundred 
 and seventy-eight iron guns, exclusive of two hundred 
 and eighty-seven mounted on the works. A vast 
 quantity of stores, ammunition, and a large amount of 
 treasure also fell into the hands of the captors. Ge- 
 neral Harris immediately dispatched the following com- 
 munication in a sealed quill, by a secret messenger, to 
 the Governor-General : 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL HARRIS TO THE EARL OF 
 
 MORNINQTON. 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " I have the pleasure to inform you that this day, 
 at one o'clock, a division of the army under my com- 
 mand assaulted Seringapatam ; and that at half-past 
 two o'clock the place was completely in our possession. 
 Tippoo Sultaun fell in the assault. Two of his sons, 
 the Sultaun Padsha and Mayen-ud Deen are prisoners, 
 with many of the principal Sirdars. Our success has 
 been complete ; I will forward to your Lordship de- 
 tails hereafter. I have the honour to be, 
 
 "G. HARRIS." 
 
 This dispatch was not received by Lord Mornington 
 till the llth of May, in consequence of delays occa- 
 sioned by the disturbed state of the country through
 
 302 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 which the messenger had to pass. The intelligence 
 was conveyed to his Lordship in the following private 
 letter from Major Beatson : 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF MORNINQTON. 
 
 " Seringapatam, 6th May, 1799. 
 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " It is with the greatest pleasure I inform your Lord- 
 ship that on Saturday the 4th instant, about half -past 
 one in the afternoon, the breach was assaulted, and in 
 less than an hour our troops were in possession of the 
 whole of the rampart of Seringapatam. On this most 
 happy event I beg leave sincerely to congratulate your 
 Lordship particularly, as it has been attended with 
 every circumstance that could have been desired to 
 render it the most important event that perhaps ever 
 happened. 
 
 " The death of the Sultaun, who was shot through 
 the head and bayoneted in three parts of his body, as 
 he attempted to make his escape ; the possession of the 
 whole of his family, treasure, and jewels, which were 
 secured from ravage and plunder by the accidental cir- 
 cumstance of the palace not having been taken pos- 
 session of until the fury of the storm was over ; and 
 the families of the principal chiefs of the Sultaun's 
 army having been detained prisoners in the fort, and 
 now fallen into our hands, are altogether a chain of 
 such fortunate events, and so highly advantageous that 
 nothing seems to be wanting to ensure an immediate 
 peace throughout the peninsula. 
 
 " No account has yet been taken of the treasure, but 
 from what has been seen it must be immense : and as 
 many of the apartments of the palace which are sealed,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 303 
 
 have not yet been opened, it is impossible to form any 
 idea of the amount ; nor in this instance can we be 
 guided by information ; for the Sultaun, it is said, was 
 of late so suspicious that he trusted nobody, and locked 
 up and sealed those apartments with his own hands." 
 
 " There is also an immense quantity of grain and 
 military stores of every kind." 
 
 " I have said nothing of the operations of the siege of 
 which your Lordship shall have a minute detail in my 
 journal : I will only observe that it affords me the 
 highest satisfaction to find that the forlorn hope was 
 only six minutes crossing the rocky bed of the river, 
 the ditch, and ascending to the top of the breach, which 
 was to me a sufficient proof that I was not mistaken in 
 the judgment I had formed of the river and the ditch 
 after reconnoitering them, and which I had the honour 
 of communicating to your Lordship in my letter of 
 the 18 ultimo. 
 
 " As I have nothing now to detain me here, it is my 
 intention with General Harris's permission, to proceed 
 to the Carnatic as soon as the communication is open, 
 in order to have the honour of attending your Lord- 
 ship, and receiving your commands in whatever way 
 you may be pleased to employ me. 
 
 (Signed) "A. BEATSON." 
 
 Thus in the short space of two months was this war 
 brought to a close, and the power of this formidable 
 enemy broken : a kingdom yielding an annual revenue 
 of more than a million sterling was transferred in full 
 sovereignty to the East India Company and their allies, 
 without injury to the inhabitants or devastation to the 
 country.
 
 304 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Anecdote of the Uma, or Bird of Prosperous Empire. Builds its Nest in 
 the Avenue of Banyan Trees in the Garden of Lord Mornington's Resi- 
 dence at Madras. Superstitious Inference of the Natives. Descrip- 
 tion of the Uma. Figure of the Uma of Gold and Pearl, taken from 
 Tippoo Sultaun's Throne, at Windsor Castle. Other Trophies there. 
 General Baird superseded in Seringapatam by Colonel Wellesley. 
 Lord Wellesley accused of having, on this occasion, unfairly pushed 
 forward his Brother. Observations of Alison and Hook. The Ques- 
 tion examined. Letters of General Harris, Lord Wellesley, General 
 Baird, and Lord Clive. 
 
 WHILE the Governor-General was at Madras, super- 
 intending the operations of the army of Mysore, a bird, 
 called by the natives the Uma, and which bore the 
 appearance of a small eagle or vulture, built its nest 
 in an avenue of banyan or pipal trees, in the garden 
 of Mr. Petrie, in whose house his Excellency resided. 
 It was Lord Mornington's habit to dictate all his 
 papers, either to the secretary of the department, or 
 to some of the young writers. Under the shade of 
 these trees he walked before the sun's power was 
 intense, and generally at that hour discharged the 
 business of the day. The natives, when the news 
 of Tippoo Sultaun's downfall reached Madras, super- 
 stitiously ascribed much of the success of the war to 
 the influence of the Uma, and universally believed 
 that its presence was an augury of victory.' 55 ' 
 
 * The following interesting note on the Uma, or Indian Eagle, was
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 305 
 
 The day after the storming of Seringapatam Colonel 
 Wellesley was appointed to the command of the for- 
 tress, and subsequently was invested with the civil 
 government of Mysore. General Baird conceived that 
 he was slighted by Colonel Wellesley's appointment, 
 and is said to have given expression to his feelings 
 in these words "Before the sweat was dry on my 
 brow, I was superseded by an inferior officer \" The 
 biographer of Sir David Baird has dwelt with much 
 emphasis upon the circumstance, insisting that the 
 Governor -General had unfairly pushed forward his 
 brother to the disadvantage of the hero of Seringa- 
 written by the Marquess Wellesley in 1840 : " The Bird of Prosperous 
 Empire. The ancient Persians, as well as the Romans, presaged by the 
 flight of birds. Of those some were of good omen, while others foreboded 
 evil. Amongst the former, the most auspicious was the Uma, which is 
 believed to be a species of eagle. It belonged to kings ; and its appear- 
 ance and flights, under various circumstances, were the augury for the 
 settlement of the crown, or the affairs of royalty. Some of the charac- 
 teristics of this bird have given rise to many strange mixtures of fable 
 and facts, in some of which the leading features of the latter may still be 
 plainly traced. It is a carniverous bird ; and its high soaring habit is the 
 origin of the belief that it never rests upon the ground. The account of 
 this bird in the standard Persian Lexicon (among other significations of 
 the word under different accusations) gives the following : ' A standard, 
 or flag, on the top of which the bird is placed ; or on which the repre- 
 sentation of it is depicted.' The throne of the Sultan of Mysore was of 
 an octangular form, the canopy being in the form of an umbrella ; it was 
 surmounted by a representation of the Uma, which is now deposited in 
 Windsor Castle ; the figure of the bird is composed of pure plates of 
 gold, closely inlaid with precious stones, with a collar of pearl and pearl 
 at the eyes, and suspended from the beak, and the tail spread and orna- 
 mented with pearl and precious stones ; the edges of the canopy were 
 fringed with the richest pearl ; it was supported by eight pillars, the ca- 
 pitals of which were in the form of the head of a royal tiger, enriched 
 with precious stones ; the whole was covered with plates of pure gold ; 
 the octangular pavilion rested on the back of a royal tiger couchant; this 
 figure also was covered with plates of pure gold ; and the eyes, tusks, 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 patam ; and Alison,* a writer of the highest authority, 
 records it as " one of the few blots on Lord Wellesley's 
 administration" a "blot," it deserves to be noted, 
 which escaped the microscopic criticism of Mill. 
 
 Justice to the living and the dead demands a fair 
 inquiry into these important transactions, which have 
 been somewhat misrepresented. 
 
 Upon the junction of the Nizam's contingent with 
 the army of Madras at Carimungalum, on the 18th 
 of February, 1799, the 33rd European regiment was 
 added to the Nizam's force. The son of his Highness 
 the Soubahdar, Meer Allum, was invested with the 
 nominal command of this army, and Colonel the Kon. 
 Arthur Wellesley, brother to the Governor -General, 
 was appointed second in command. When the pe- 
 culiar circumstances of this army are considered the 
 recent disbanding of the Nizam's French force, the 
 wavering friendship of the sovereign of the Deccan, 
 
 and claws were of rock crystal ; the head and paws of this figure are in 
 Windsor Castle : the head is covered with inscriptions in the Persian 
 character. These splendid trophies of Oriental royalty were sent, in 
 1799, by the Marquess Wellesley to the Court of Directors, to he pre- 
 sented to his Majesty George the Third ; the Uma was presented ac- 
 cordingly, but the tiger's head remained in the Museum at the India 
 House, until, at the suggestion of Lord Wellesley (then Lord-Steward of 
 his Majesty's Household), it was presented to his late Majesty William 
 the Fourth ; on which occasion his Majesty was pleased to give, at St. 
 James's, a great entertainment to the East India authorities, and the 
 principal ministers of state, and others of the nobility, when these 
 trophies were displayed. In the year 1840, after the fruits of the fall of 
 Seringapatam had been enjoyed by Britain for forty years, his Grace the 
 Earl Marshal granted the Uma as an additional crest to the arms granted 
 to the Marquess Wellesley, in 1799, by George the Third, with this 
 motto (taken from Virgil, JSneid vi. 794-5) 
 
 ' Super Indos protulit Imperium.' " 
 * Vide History of Europe, vol. vii. p. 132.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 307 
 
 the fact that many of the men serving in the ranks 
 of this army had served under M. Piron, who had 
 been in confidential communication with the enemy 
 against whom they were about to be marched it is 
 evident that it was of the highest importance to place 
 next the king's son in command an officer of the 
 soundest discretion, greatest caution, experience, and 
 activity. Meer Allum applied to General Harris for 
 the appointment of Colonel Wellesley as his colleague, 
 desirous, no doubt, of obtaining the friendship of one 
 who so completely possessed the confidence of Lord 
 Mornington. General Harris complied with the re- 
 quest, because he knew that Colonel Wellesley was 
 preeminently fitted for the arduous duties of the post. 
 From some of the observations which have been made 
 on the alleged partiality of Lord Mornington towards 
 his brother Arthur in this matter, it would almost 
 seem as if the Colonel's talents were unknown before 
 the battle of Mallavelly. But Colonel Wellesley's con- 
 duct in Flanders had not escaped notice : in conse- 
 quence of the ability which he displayed in the hazard- 
 ous retreat from Flanders, in 1794, he was promoted to 
 the command of a brigade of three regiments in the 
 movement from the Leek to the Issel. On going out 
 to India in 1796, he carried with him a letter of 
 introduction to Sir John Shore from the late Governor- 
 General of India, Marquess Cornwallis/" His merits 
 were soon appreciated, as the following anecdote, re- 
 lated in the Life of Lord Teignmouth, will show : 
 
 " On his first interview with Colonel Wellesley at 
 his levee, Sir John Shore evinced his characteristic 
 
 * Vidf. p. 15.
 
 308 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 prompt discernment of character. Turning quickly 
 round to his aides-de-camp, as the young soldier 
 retired, he remarked with prophetic sagacity, 'If 
 Colonel Wellesley should ever have the opportunity of 
 distinguishing himself, he will do it, and greatly/ 
 One of those to whom these expressions were addressed 
 did not return to England till the Duke of Wellington 
 had reached the zenith of his peninsular reputation, 
 when he reminded Lord Teignmouth of the com- 
 plete verification of his prediction. During the latter 
 part of Sir John Shore's administration, Colonel 
 Wellesley was a frequent guest at his table. The 
 peculiar characteristic of his great mind, which the 
 Goveror-General especially remarked, and often in 
 after-life adverted to with admiration and astonish- 
 ment, was a union of strong sense and boyish playful- 
 ness which he had never seen exemplified in any other 
 individual. 1 ' 
 
 An expedition was fitted out by Sir John Shore 
 against the Spanish Islands, and the Honourable Colonel 
 Wellesley was the officer selected for conducting the 
 enterprise. But, in addition to all this, General Harris 
 had witnessed Colonel Wellesley's zeal and untiring 
 energy in urging forward the military preparations at 
 Madras : no one laboured more diligently than he did 
 to repair the shattered army of that presidency ; and 
 to Colonel Wellesley's personal exertions the fact is in 
 a great measure owing, that, in the course of but a few 
 months, in the presidency which Mr. Webbe had pro- 
 nounced to be so utterly helpless as to be at the mercy 
 of the Sultaun of Mysore, one of the most formi- 
 dable armies ever collected in India was completely
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 300 
 
 organised. All these circumstances fully justified the 
 appointment made by General Harris : the result proved 
 the propriety of the selection. 
 
 But of what did General Baird complain 1 " It 
 must appear extraordinary," writes that officer, " that 
 a Major-General sent out expressly by his Majesty to 
 serve on the staff in India, should remain in command 
 of three battalions, while a Lieutenant-Colonel serving 
 in the same army, is placed at the head of seven, or 
 rather thirteen, corps. Meer Allum's request to have 
 the brother of the Governor-General in command of 
 the troops under him, is certainly a reason ; but this 
 is only known to me privately : while, as the order now 
 stands, I am apparently degraded in the eyes of the 
 army and of my friends at home." General Baird was 
 a man of ardent temperament and high sensibility, and 
 was easily wrought upon by others to take steps which 
 his cooler judgment condemned. Mr. Hook remarks, 
 " This appeal was most natural, but it produced no 
 result." This, however, is not quite correct : General 
 Harris acknowledged it in the following note, in which 
 he enters into an explanation of his motives in appoint- 
 ing Colonel Wellesley : 
 
 TO MAJOR-GENERAL BAIRD. 
 
 " I have received your letter of the 4th instant, 
 and am sorry you should have thought it necessary 
 to renew the subject of Colonel Wellesley's appoint- 
 ment. It appears to me, after what has passed be- 
 tween us, that you should have treated it, as it really 
 is, as a political arrangement likely to be highly be-
 
 310 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 neficial to the public service, and not as having any 
 reference to command in the line, with which it has 
 nothing to do. My personal regard for you induces 
 me to give you this explanation, and makes me wish 
 thus to relieve your mind from every idea that there 
 could be any inattention to your situation, and which 
 I trust will be clear when you are acquainted that 
 the contingent of the Nizam can only be commanded 
 by a colonel." * 
 
 But this was not General Baird's only grievance : 
 in another expostulation to the Commander-in-Chief 
 of the invading army, he complains " of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Browne commanding a separate army, with 
 the prospect of having two of his Majesty's corps 
 under him." Well might the poet demand 
 
 " Whence does it spring, that none contented lives 
 With the fair lot which prudent reason gives, 
 Or chance presents ; yet all with envy view 
 The schemes that others variously pursue ?" 
 
 Had General Harris acceded to General Baird's mis- 
 directed desires and appointed him under Meer Al- 
 lum, Baird would have lost the honour of leading the 
 assault, an honour infinitely preferable to a brave 
 soldier than the barren distinction of commanding a 
 numerous yet inactive reserve. Had the Commander- 
 in-Chief given to him the direction of the " separate 
 army" in the south of Mysore instead of to Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Browne, Baird would have shared in 
 neither the honours nor the prizes of Seringapatain. 
 
 * " The agreement with the Nizam provided for the pay and allowances, 
 of all ranks, of which the highest was a Colonel commanding." Lus/i- 
 ington.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 311 
 
 But Major-General Baird is described by the au- 
 thorities quoted as unhandsomely treated in being, 
 so soon after the assault, superseded by Colonel Wel- 
 lesley. Now, what are the facts ? 1st. Baird had ap- 
 plied, through Colonel Beatson and by letter to the 
 Commander-in-Chief, to be temporarily relieved from 
 duty in Seringapatam. 2nd. The selection of Colonel 
 Wellesley to succeed him in that duty was quite 
 casual ; as the following anecdote, which we have 
 both on the authority of General Harris and of Mr. 
 Lushington, avouches. 
 
 Upon receiving General Baird's application to be 
 relieved, General Harris communicated to Major Tur- 
 ing, and asked who was the next officer for duty. 
 " Colonel Roberts," said Major Turing. " Then put 
 him in orders to go," replied the General. Presently 
 afterwards, Major Turing looking over the order more 
 attentively, said, " No, Sir, I have made a mistake ; 
 Colonel Wellesley is the next for duty, not Colonel 
 Roberts." " Then let Colonel Wellesley be put in orders 
 for relief," said General Harris. 
 
 Further, it has been hinted that the Governor- 
 General, from some unworthy motive, failed to repre- 
 sent to the Home Government the conduct of General 
 Baird in its proper light : " It so happens," remarks 
 Mr. Hook, " that in all his Excellency's dispatches to 
 England, after the capture of Seringapatam, the name 
 of General Baird does not once appear ; a fact ren- 
 dered more striking, because General Harris has ob- 
 served a similar silence in all dispatches which he 
 addressed to the Governor-General :" and, again, in 
 reference to an intimation made by Lord Wellesley
 
 312 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to General Baird of his intention to recommend him 
 for the Order of the Bath, "nor even," we are told, 
 " did he ever get so far into the history or mystery of 
 the affair as to ascertain whether his Lordship actually 
 ever did make the application in his favour to the British 
 Government." Let the reader now turn to the 619th 
 page of the published dispatches of Lord Wellesley. 
 In a letter from the Governor-General to the Right 
 Honourable Henry Dundas, written in June, 1799, 
 the folio wining passage occurs : 
 
 " It is impossible to bestow too much commen- 
 dation on the conduct of Major-General Baird in the 
 assault of Seringapatam. A more judicious operation, 
 conducted with more heroic gallantry and spirit, never 
 was achieved ; and when you recollect the decisive 
 consequences of the success of that day, effecting 
 within the course of two hours the entire destruction 
 of our most formidable enemy in India, I am per- 
 suaded that you will concur with me in an anxious 
 solicitude to see the gallant leader of the assailants 
 of Tippoo Sultaun's capital rewarded in a manner 
 suitable to his exertions and their beneficial effect." 
 
 The Governor-General then mentions that he had 
 ascertained that General Baird's circumstances were 
 not affluent, recounts in touching language Baird's 
 cruel imprisonment in the fortress he had stormed, 
 and recommends him strongly to the liberality of the 
 East India Company ! " I should also" adds his Lord- 
 ship, " hope that his extraordinary merits on the 4th 
 of May would induce his Majesty to consider him a 
 proper object for the Order of the Bath !" 
 
 The following private letter, not hitherto published,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 313 
 
 will show that the Governor-General entertained a 
 most friendly feeling towards General Baird : 
 
 TO MAJOR GENERAL BAIRD. 
 (Private.) 
 
 " Fort William, August 5th, 1800. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I have been prevented by illness from returning 
 
 an earlier acknowledgment of your letter of the . 
 
 You may be assured of my sincere and grateful good 
 wishes, and of my inclination to avail myself, at all 
 times, of your services in the manner the most advan- 
 tageous to yourself and to the public. At present no 
 opportunity offers of calling upon you with a view to 
 either of these considerations. If any occasion should 
 occur, you may rely on my attention to your wishes. 
 I have received letters from England of the month of 
 March, and I am in hourly expectation of a dispatch of 
 a later date ; no prospect of peace, but all appearances 
 are favourable at home. Believe me, dear Sir, with real 
 respect and esteem, your faithful servant, 
 
 (Signed) " WELLESLEY." 
 
 Under the influence, however, of excited feelings and 
 evident misapprehension, General Baird addressed two 
 intemperate letters to the Commander-in-Chief in My- 
 sore, protesting against the appointment of Colonel 
 Arthur Wellesley as Governor of Seringapatam. It is 
 much to be regretted that these have been published ;* 
 having been judiciously withdrawn at the time by 
 General Baird, and never having been reported either 
 
 * Vide Appendix.
 
 314 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to the Govern or- General, or the Duke of York, then at 
 the head of the array. Since this discussion has been 
 opened, it is necessary to say that General Baird was a 
 better soldier than a diplomatist. He was employed in 
 exactly the service that suited his abilities. His inter- 
 ference in the politics of Tanjore had not been for- 
 tunate ; as we have seen, it had called forth the censure 
 of the Governor in council of Madras. On the other 
 hand, the cool sagacity and diplomatic talents of " Wel- 
 lington" (that was to be) were exactly calculated to 
 tranquillize a country shaken by so great a revolution. 
 " He (Colonel Wellesley), was permanently appointed 
 by me," says General Harris, "from my thinking him 
 more equal to the particular kind of duty than any other 
 officer in the army." 
 
 Lord Mornington, in a letter dated July 7th, com- 
 menting upon this communication remarks : " With 
 respect to the language which you say people have held 
 of my brother's appointment to Seringapatam, you know 
 that I never recommended my brother to you, and of 
 course never suggested how or where he should be 
 employed ; and, I believe, you know also that you 
 would not have pleased me by placing him in any situa- 
 tion in which his appointment could be injurious to the 
 public service. My opinion, or rather knowledge and 
 experience, of his discretion, judgment, temper and in- 
 tegrity are such, that if you had not placed him in 
 Seringapatam, I would have done so of my own autho- 
 rity, because I think him, in every respect, the most 
 proper for the service" The principle on which Lord 
 Wellesley acted all through his administration towards 
 his illustrious brother is expressed in the following 
 paragraph :
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 315 
 
 " Great jealousy will arise among the officers in con- 
 sequence of my employing you ; but I employ you be- 
 cause I rely on your good sense, discretion, activity, 
 and spirit ; and I cannot find all those qualities united 
 in any other officer in India who could take such a 
 command." Lord Wellesley to Colonel A. Wellesley, 
 1st of December, 1800, respecting the Isle of France 
 Expedition.* 
 
 The following note f bears testimony to the success 
 which attended Colonel Wellesley's administration of 
 affairs in Mysore : 
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY TO COL. THE HON. A. WELLESLEY. 
 
 " Fort William, 6th June, 1800. 
 
 " MY DEAR ARTHUR, 
 
 " Lord Clive has pressed for your continuance in 
 Mysore with an earnestness so honourable to you, that 
 I think you cannot accept the command of the forces 
 destined for Batavia ; indeed, I suspect that you could 
 not quit Mysore at present. Your conduct there has 
 secured your character and advancement for the re- 
 mainder of your life, and you may trust me for making 
 the best use of your merits in your future promotion. 
 " Ever, my dear Arthur, yours most affectionately, 
 
 " WELLESLEY." 
 
 The annexed letter to which allusion is made in the 
 foregoing note, has not hitherto been printed : it 
 affords additional proof (if proof were needed) of the 
 
 * Vide vol. II. chap. iii. p. 20, &c. 
 t Vide Wellington Dispatches.
 
 316 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 high character which the great Duke had achieved at 
 that early period in India : 
 
 LORD OLIVE TO MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 " Fort St. George, 29th May, 1800. 
 
 " MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " I have been honoured with your letter of the 
 13th instant, and am truly concerned to learn you have 
 been so seriously indisposed with boils ; for although 
 they are deemed to be the prognostics of future health, 
 I know them to be a most painful means of acquiring 
 that advantage. 
 
 " Immediately upon receiving your commands, and 
 after communicating with Vice-Admiral Rainier, who 
 has informed me that the detachment of his Majesty's 
 ships destined by him for the Eastern expedition, will 
 be in readiness to put to sea in three weeks at the fur- 
 thest from Tuesday next, the 27th instant, I wrote to 
 Colonel Wellesley, apprising him of this circumstance, 
 and tendering to him, according to your Lordship's 
 wish, the option of the command of the military force 
 preparing to embark with the Vice-Admiral. 
 
 " Having in my official dispatch of the 24th instant, 
 so strongly expressed my opinion of the absolute 
 detriment which must result to the affairs of Mysore 
 from even the temporary absence of Colonel Wellesley, 
 your Lordship will not be surprised that in my com- 
 munication with him I have not only recommended, 
 but requested in the strongest terms, that he will con- 
 tinue in his present situation, in which it would be
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 317 
 
 not only difficult but impossible to replace him to my 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " Although I entirely agree with your Lordship 
 that Colonel Wellesley is the fittest person to com- 
 mand the land forces on the proposed expedition, and 
 though your Lordship's zeal induces you to suggest his 
 being employed wherever his talents may be useful to 
 the public, yet as I am decidedly of opinion, upon public 
 grounds, that Colonel Wellesley } s services are beyond 
 all comparison of greater importance in Mysore than 
 they can be to the eastward ; and as from his honour- 
 able and judicious conduct, as well as from that of 
 Colonel Close in their respective spheres, we are now 
 deriving more advantages beyond the calculation of all 
 those who did not intimately know the two characters, 
 I cannot help mingling a sentiment of private feeling 
 with public views, and deprecating the exposure, with- 
 out absolute necessity, of a life so valuable to us all, and 
 so justly dear to your Lordship, to the baneful climate 
 of Batavia. I am always, my dear Lord, most faithfully 
 yours, " CLIVE." 
 
 " The Earl of Mornington." 
 
 This digression has caused us to lose sight of the 
 events which followed the fall of Seringapatam. The 
 consideration of these circumstances must, therefore, be 
 deferred to the next chapter.
 
 318 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Division of Mysore. Political Arrangements. Importance of the Con- 
 quered Territory to Great Britain. The News received in England 
 with universal Satisfaction and Delight. The Thanks of both Houses 
 of Parliament and of the East India Company voted to Lord Morning- 
 ton, Lord Clive, and Mr. Duncan, and to General Harris, &c., and the 
 Army .-^-Buonaparte quits Egypt. Series of Private Letters, written 
 from Fort William by Sir Alured Clarke to Lord Mornington at 
 Madras. Letters of Lord Mornington to Sir Alured Clarke and Hon. 
 F. North (afterwards Earl Guilford). Note respecting Mr. North. 
 
 LORD MORNINGTON'S arrangements in reconstructing 
 the kingdom of Mysore, and partitioning the conquered 
 provinces, it is universally admitted, exhibited the ut- 
 most address and the soundest judgment. The wife of 
 the Hindoo sovereign of Mysore, who had been thrust 
 from his throne by Hyder Ally's usurpation, was alive ; 
 for it had been Hyder's policy not to assume the style 
 of a monarch, though he exercised with undisputed 
 authority the sovereign power ; and it was his custom 
 annually to exhibit to the people some member of the 
 ancient royal family. The surviving representative of 
 the royal line of Mysore was found to be a boy five 
 years old ; and Lord Mornington resolved to invest 
 him, under certain limitations, with the Rajahship, or 
 kingly authority. By the partition treaty, the king- 
 dom of Mysore was reduced to the extent, and nearly 
 to the exact condition, in which it was before Hyder
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 319 
 
 All commenced his career of aggression on surrounding 
 states. On the principle of indemnification, for the 
 expense of past operations, and as a security against 
 aggression from the sea, it was determined that the 
 English should assume the sovereignty of, and perma- 
 nently occupy, the territory possessed by the Sultaun 
 on the coast of Malabar ; together with the fortress, 
 city, and island of Seringapatam and other valuable 
 and important districts. An equal portion of territory 
 was assigned to the Nizam, as a reward for his fidelity. 
 A portion of the territory was also allotted to the 
 Mahrattas. According to the partition treaty, the new 
 Rajah of Mysore was to maintain a British force, and 
 annually pay for its support seven lacs of pagodas, and 
 to place himself, in political affairs, under the direc- 
 tion of the English Government. Lord Mornington by 
 these measures added to the annual revenues of the 
 Company in the peninsula of India a sum of not less 
 than twelve lacs of pagodas, and secured the advan- 
 tage of strengthening the British frontier, by establish- 
 ing a continuity of territory from sea to sea from 
 the coast of Coromandel to that of Malabar. 
 
 The news of the fall of Seringapatam and its Sul- 
 taun was received in every part of the British empire 
 with unbounded delight and exultation. Addresses 
 from the presidencies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras 
 were presented to the Governor-General. The thanks 
 of both Houses of Parliament were unanimously voted 
 to Lord Mornington, Lord Clive, Mr. Duncan, and the 
 army engaged in the war ; and the East India Com- 
 pany passed resolutions expressive of their admiration 
 of the important services rendered to them by their
 
 320 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 servants in the East ; while his Majesty testified his 
 approbation of the Earl of Mornington's conduct by 
 raising him to the dignity of Marquess in the peerage 
 of Ireland, and granting him an honourable augmen- 
 tation to his family arms. The effect of the intelli- 
 gence upon Buonaparte in Egypt, can easily be 
 imagined. Seringapatam was stormed on the 4th 
 of May ; Napoleon quitted Egypt on the 23rd of 
 August. 
 
 The following private letters were written after the 
 intelligence reached Calcutta : they will contribute to 
 throw a light upon the posture of affairs in India at 
 that crisis, and convey an idea of the innumerable sub- 
 jects which pressed upon the attention of the Governor- 
 General at this period. 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL MORNINGTON. 
 (Private.) 
 
 " Fort William, May 26th, 1799. 
 
 " MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " On the 1 7th I, with heart-felt satisfaction, wrote 
 you a congratulatory letter on the glorious and most 
 important news from Seringapatam :* and on the 23rd, 
 I, with equal concern, acquainted your Lordship of 
 the death of our valuable and ever-to-be-lamented 
 friend Cooke, whose remains were attended to the 
 grave by a very numerous and respectable part of 
 this community on the evening of that day. The 
 
 * The Commander-in-Chief, writing to Lord Mornington, May 17th, 
 1799, remarks, " I remember your observation of humbling Tippoo be- 
 fore the anniversary of your entering upon the duties of this government, 
 which took place precisely this day twelve months."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 321 
 
 vessel you dispatched express with the happy tidings 
 from Harris got on shore in some place in the northern 
 Circars, and is not yet arrived ; and the land express 
 reached us only yesterday : so that we should have 
 been deprived of some days' happiness had not Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Kirkpatrick's letter to Scott, and the 
 gazette extraordinary that you published on the llth, 
 come in another vessel that fortunately had a quick 
 passage, and enabled us to publish our signal success 
 to the world immediately, which was done, and ex- 
 presses sent to every part of the country. Mr. Barlow 
 has this day received a letter from Mr. Lumsden, sig- 
 nifying his readiness to comply with your wishes, and 
 enclosing a formal resignation of his office, which he 
 says he shall be prepared to deliver over to his suc- 
 cessor on his arrival at Lucknow, whither Colonel 
 Scott will proceed as soon as possible. The incon- 
 venience and difficulties, both public and personal, 
 that I shall be subjected to from this arrangement, 
 your Lordship has foreseen, and I have mentioned in 
 a former letter : it therefore only remains for me to get 
 over them as well as I can ; and with this view, 
 after considering the matter in every possible shape, 
 I have directed a letter to be written to Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Black of the cavalry, intimating my intention to 
 recommend him to be Adjutant-General of the army, 
 if he is disposed to undertake the duties of that 
 office. My earnest wish is, to have a post of so much 
 importance to the military establishment of this pre- 
 sidency at large filled by the fittest man that can be 
 found, and no other consideration has operated in my 
 intended nomination of Colonel Black, with whom I 
 VOL. i. Y
 
 322 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 have very little personal acquaintance ; but as he is a 
 man of respectable character, who stands high in rank, 
 and has established the reputation of possessing much 
 zeal and professional ability, and has, in addition, the 
 general good opinion of the army, I trust he may 
 fulfil the expectation I have formed from the com- 
 bination of those favourable qualities, and prove a 
 useful public officer to the Company. My recom- 
 mendation of him in preference to the present Deputy 
 Adjutant-General, Major Darby, does not proceed from 
 any want of good opinion of this officer, who I also 
 named to the office he holds, and I have had much 
 reason to be satisfied with his conduct in it ; but as 
 the period since his appointment has been too short 
 to admit of his having procured much more knowledge 
 of the detail of the department than Colonel Black * 
 may immediately possess, and other circumstances 
 were favourable to the latter, I have thought it in- 
 cumbent on me to select him, and if he should under- 
 take the charge, and transact the business of the de- 
 partment, which is heavy and important, in nearly as 
 satisfactory a manner to Government and myself as 
 his predecessor has done, I shall be quite happy in the 
 choice I have made, which, I must repeat to your 
 Lordship, has been solely influenced by a sense of 
 public duty. I have the honour to be, with great 
 respect and esteem, your Lordship's most obedient 
 and most faithful humble servant, 
 
 " A LURED CLARKE." 
 
 * This meritorious officer did not long live to enjoy the honours con- 
 ferred on him. His premature death is alluded to in a letter from 
 the Governor-General to Sir Alured Clarke, in the August following. 
 Vide page 329.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 323 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OF MORNINGTON. 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 " Fort William, June 6th, 1799. 
 
 "My DEAR LORD, 
 
 " I did myself the honour of writing to you on the 
 28th ult, since which I have "been in anxious expecta- 
 tion of receiving further accounts of the army and our 
 affairs in general at Seringapatam ; for it is impossible 
 not to take a deep interest in the prosperity of the 
 latter : and the various rumours of losses sustained by 
 the former in the course of the siege has caused so 
 much individual uneasiness here as makes an authenti- 
 cated detail particularly desirable, and I hope it will 
 soon arrive. In the pleasing expectation that your 
 return to Calcutta would long ere now have afforded 
 the opportunity of a personal communication, I de- 
 ferred troubling you with a public letter respecting 
 the alteration in the establishments in the King's regi- 
 ments till the last moment ; but, as it is now quite 
 necessary that the army should be apprised of it, and 
 I fear the period of your coming is more distant than 
 I wish, I have thought it my duty to announce the 
 alteration in the usual manner, in the general order to 
 the King's troops, and to address your Lordship in 
 council upon the subject by this opportunity. I have 
 received a letter from Lieutenant -Colonel Black, who, 
 with much gratitude and becoming diffidence, is dis- 
 posed to undertake the duties of Adjutant-General. 
 He is now on his way from Cawnpore, and Colonel Scott 
 will leave this for Lucknow, as soon after his arrival 
 as possible. Barlow will have informed you that
 
 324 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 his appointment to succeed Mr. Lumsden, and Mr. 
 Harrington's to the Revenue-Board, have been pub- 
 lished ; but they both act in their former offices till 
 their successors shall arrive. The heat of the weather 
 has been insupportable with us, and I understand still 
 more so with you ; I am therefore not surprised that 
 you should complain, and reflect with much pleasure 
 on your prudent determination to give up the idea 
 of going to Seringapatam at present, as I am persuaded 
 the intense heat and manner of travellling would not 
 only have deprived you of every exertion at the end of 
 your journey, but probably have given your constitu- 
 tion such a severe shock, also, as you might not have 
 recovered the effects of whilst in India. I have the 
 honour to be, my dear Lord, your Lordship's most obe- 
 dient, and most faithful, humble servant, 
 
 "ALURED CLARKE." 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OF MORNINGTON. 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 " Fort William, 20th June, 1799. 
 "MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " Major-General Floyd, after the most close attend- 
 ance on, and faithful discharge of, his military duties 
 in India, for more than seventeen years, has solicited 
 my permission to return to England by one of the 
 earliest conveyances he can procure, on account of his 
 private affairs, which, he says, require his immediate 
 presence there ; and, much as I regret the loss of so 
 valuable an officer, his request, under existing circum- 
 stances, appears too reasonable to admit of my with-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 325 
 
 holding my consent : I shall therefore give it, satisfied 
 from my knowledge of General Floyd's disposition, 
 that if any particular service occurs, with which I am 
 at present unacquainted, to make his remaining a little 
 longer necessary, he will do so with pleasure, on your 
 Lordship's mentioning it to him. I have the honour 
 to be, with true respect and esteem, my dear Lord, 
 your most obedient and most faithful, humble servant. 
 
 "ALURED CLARKE." 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OF MORNINGTON. 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 " Fort William, July 19th, 1799. 
 
 " MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " The only part of the communication you ho- 
 noured me with on the 4th inst. that reached me yes- 
 terday, which did not quite accord with my wishes, was 
 the little hope it gave of our seeing you here before 
 the end of the month ; whereas, I had flattered myself 
 that your business in the Carnatic, after placing the 
 young Rajah of Mysore on the musnud of his ances- 
 tors, would have been brought to such maturity as 
 might admit of your returning to Bengal while the 
 season is so favourable for the voyage, and carrying on 
 the rest of your negotiation from hence. 
 
 " Several letters and papers which Captain Kirkpa- 
 trick had forwarded from Hyderabad gave us sufficient 
 intimation of the discontent of that Durbar, which I 
 was very sorry for, as I thought it would give you 
 uneasiness, and saw it was an evil that could only be 
 remedied by making a sacrifice of gold and jewels at
 
 326 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the shrine of Mammon, which must be attended with 
 some inconvenience and considerable expense : I am, 
 however, glad to find you have determined on that, as 
 ill-temper always generates mischief, aiid should be 
 deprecated by all proper means under present circum- 
 stances with the parties in question. They I mean 
 prince, ministers, and all are the most puerile beings 
 on earth, and nothing short of the two articles^ you so 
 justly style ' the food of native statesmen/ could be 
 effectual to allay their childish propensities, and gratify 
 their inordinate avarice. 
 
 " By this conveyance your Lordship will receive a pub- 
 lic letter, with enclosures from me respecting the^Swiss 
 regiment of Meuron : the liberality of our country, 
 doubtless much aided by the peculiar situation of the 
 courts, has granted very favourable terms indeed to the 
 proprietary Colonel and his corps. 
 
 " From what I have heard of Seringapatam,* it does 
 not seem probable that your brother and Colonel Kirk- 
 patrick will have much reluctance in quitting it. I 
 shall therefore expect to hear of their having rejoined 
 you at Madras very soon, and I hope in perfect health. 
 I am, dear Lord, &c., " ALUKED CLARKE/' 
 
 * " It is also said that Seringapatam is unwholesome, and that art can- 
 not remedy the defect. I apprehend, however, that Seringapatam is not 
 more unwholesome than Bangalore. Since the buildings have been im- 
 proved, the health of the troops has improved." Mem. by General 
 Wellesley,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 327 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OE MORNINGTON. 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 " Fort William, July 10th, 1799. 
 
 " Mr DEAR LORD, 
 
 " Since I had the honour of writing to you on 
 the 3rd instant, we have been much alarmed for the 
 safety of poor Sir John Anstruther,* who Messrs. Laird 
 and Hare thought at death's door for some time ; but 
 they both pronounced him out of danger two days 
 ago, and I am now happy to tell you he is in the 
 fairest way of recovery. 
 
 " Mr. Miller, the mint-master, died suddenly on 
 Sunday, which made it necessary to place another 
 person directly in the office ; and I have given the 
 temporary appointment to Mr. Muir as the fittest per- 
 son we could immediately employ in that trust, which 
 he undertook with cheerfulness as a public duty, but 
 not without privately expressing his hope that this 
 circumstance might not operate disadvantageously to 
 his interest by excluding him from the benefit of any 
 permanent arrangement which your kind disposition 
 might have induced you to make more favourable to him. 
 
 " It seems quite certain that the Yizier was at Jeyne- 
 ghur, but I am much in doubt whether that Rajah or 
 Ambagee will take the necessary steps for placing him 
 in our hands. 
 
 " I am anxious to hear that all is settled to your 
 Lordship's satisfaction in Mysore, and with our allies. 
 " And I remain, my dear Lord, &c. 
 
 " ALURED CLARKE." 
 
 * The Chief Justice of Bengal, a sound lawyer, and a learned and up 
 right judge.
 
 328 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 SIR ALURED CLARKE TO THE EARL OP MORNINGTON. 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 u Fort William, August 7th, 1799. 
 
 " MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " It is with sincere concern that I inform you of 
 the death of Major- General St. Leger. All the circum- 
 stances attending this melancholy event that have yet 
 come to my knowledge, are related in a letter from 
 Major of Brigade Bradshaw, and of which I send you a 
 copy.* I do not know if you were much acquainted 
 with him ; but I am sure you will agree with me in 
 lamenting the untimely fate of an officer who seemed 
 to be equally able and well disposed to be useful to his 
 country. 
 
 " I shall hope to see you here soon and in good 
 health, being with true respect and esteem, 
 " My dear Lord, &c. 
 
 " ALURED CLARKE." 
 
 EARL OF MORNINGTON TO SIR ALURED CLARKE, &C. 
 
 (Private.) 
 (Original by Express. Duplicate by the William Pitt.) 
 
 " Fort George, 16th August, 1799. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I am indebted to you for several very kind pri- 
 vate letters, and I must trust to the same kindness 
 which dictated them to excuse me for the long delay of 
 my answer. You will not be surprised at my silence 
 
 * General St. Leger died at Dinapoor, after one day's illness : he was 
 well and on horseback the day previously to his death.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 329 
 
 when I inform you that I have been employed in dis- 
 patching to Europe a detailed review of the late settle- 
 ment of Mysore, together with the two treaties arid all 
 the important subjects connected with the war and the 
 pacification ; and so intricate and various are the con- 
 siderations involved in these questions, that I have 
 found myself compelled to make the painful sacrifice 
 of separating my brother' 55 ' from me, and of sending 
 him to Europe as the person next to myself most com- 
 pletely informed upon all the topics which relate to the 
 late events. He embarked on board the ship Corn- 
 wallis yesterday evening, and sailed in company with 
 the Thetis, Worcester, and Walpole, under convoy of 
 the Sceptre this morning. He will return from 
 Europe as speedily as possible, but I cannot hope to 
 have the happiness of seeing him again (even under 
 the most favourable circumstances) in less than ten 
 months. 
 
 " I was extremely sorry to hear of the unfortunate 
 death of Lieutenant-Colonel Black, whose appointment 
 reflected so much honour on your judgment. 
 
 " It was a great satisfaction to me to learn that 
 Shums-oo-Doulah's machinations had produced so lit- 
 tle mischief. On my return to Bengal I shall hope 
 to be able to enter into a full investigation of this 
 matter. I trust that the 10th regiment will have 
 arrived at Calcutta before this letter can reach you. 
 
 " With regard to the marine battalion and the 
 volunteers, it is not yet possible for me to fix the 
 period for their return to Bengal. Although Mysore 
 in general is in a state of perfect tranquillity, some 
 
 * Hon. H. Wellesley.
 
 330 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 disturbances broke out in Bednore, which required the 
 presence of the army ; they are now, I trust, effectually 
 quelled, and I expect General Harris at the pre- 
 sidency in a few days, when I hope I shall be enabled 
 to form some idea of the future distribution of our 
 force. If the negotiation depending at Poonah should 
 terminate favourably, we shall immediately require 
 troops to compose this new subsidiary force. This 
 circumstance again may delay the return of the vo- 
 lunteers. 
 
 " With regard to Ceylon, the departure of the 10th 
 for Bengal will, I fear, render it impracticable to 
 part with the 51st until some part of the European 
 troops shall return into the Carnatic from Mysore. 
 
 " I am concerned to inform you that very few of 
 Tippoo's horses have proved serviceable, not more 
 than are absolutely requisite for the remount of the 
 cavalry here. 
 
 " I return you many thanks for your letter respect- 
 ing the alteration in the establishments of the King's 
 regiments. 
 
 " I entirely concur in the motives which induced 
 you to accede to General Floyd's application for leave 
 to return to Europe. 
 
 " Your letter of the 3rd of July, enclosing the 
 address* from Major-General Stuart and the officers 
 
 * TO THE RIGHT HON. RICHARD EARL OF MORNINGTON, K. P., ETC. 
 
 " MY LORD, 
 
 " We, the officers of the Futty Ghur station, beg leave to approach 
 
 your Lordship with our sincere congratulations on the brilliant success 
 
 achieved by our brother officers and soldiers in Mysore, acting under the 
 
 singular good fortune of your Lordship's wisdom and decisive energy. 
 
 " While thus publicly testifying our gratitude and respect to your
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 331 
 
 at Futty-Ghur, affords me great pleasure. I should 
 have been extremely sorry if you had permitted any 
 feeling of delicacy towards me to interfere with an 
 important point of military discipline. I should look 
 even upon the conquest of Mysore as a calamity if 
 it were made the instrument of sanctioning any irre- 
 gularity in the army ; and I think a better occasion 
 could not have been selected than that which you 
 have so judiciously chosen, for discountenancing the 
 practice of military addresses. With these sentiments, 
 I wish it to be understood that I highly applaud the 
 motives which dictated the address in question, and 
 
 Lordship, and our admiration of the conduct and gallantry which so ably 
 followed up and ultimately crowned your Lordship's plans with success 
 unparalleledly splendid ; though unenvious of the lustre of others' merits 
 so nohly displayed, we cannot help regretting that fortune has not placed 
 us in a situation to pay our tribute of filial gratitude to our country by a 
 willing and faithful exertion of our endeavours to contribute to her 
 matchless glory, under the auspices of the same distinguished protection. 
 " We have the honour to remain, with most perfect respect and attach- 
 ment, your Lordship's most faithfully devoted humble servants, 
 
 " JAMES DICKSON, Lieut.-Col. GEO. RUSSELL, Lieut.-Col. 
 
 " ROBERT FRITH, Lieut-Col. J. COLLINS, Lieut.-Col. 
 
 " R, STUART, Major-Gen. R. COTTS, Deputy-Commanding,' 
 
 " C. WARE, Major-Gen. &c. &c. &c." 
 
 FROM THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF TO MAJOR-GENERAL R. STUART. 
 
 " Calcutta, 25th June, 1799. 
 
 "SIR, 
 
 " I have been honoured with your letter of the 12th inst., covering 
 a congratulatory address from near eighty officers of the Futty Ghur sta- 
 tion, under your immediate command, to the Governor-General, on the 
 late glorious success of the British arms at Seringapatam, which you re- 
 quest may be forwarded to him, and it is not without great regret that I 
 find myself restrained from complying with your wish. But much as I 
 must, in common with yourselves and every other well-wisher of our 
 country, feel and approve the sentiments it contains, I see so much objec- 
 tion, in a military point of view, to associating large numbers of officers
 
 332 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that I was particularly gratified by the expressions 
 which it contains of personal esteem for me. 
 
 " I cannot express to you the anxiety and alarm 
 which I felt for Sir John Anstruther during his ill- 
 ness. He would have been a great public loss, and 
 I should have lamented in him a very valuable and 
 affectionate friend. 
 
 " I entirely approve your appointment of Mr. Muir, 
 and I shall not fail to attend to the considerations 
 by which it was accompanied. 
 
 " Mr. Edminstone's letters to Mr. Barlow will have 
 communicated to you my ideas respecting the Rajah 
 Teynagur. 
 
 " You will observe from the late letters of the 
 Resident that the temper of the Court of Hyderabad 
 is much improved, even without the application of the 
 remedy which occurred to me. 
 
 " I have desired General Harris to carry into exe- 
 
 together for the purpose of drawing up and signing papers on almost any 
 subject, that I cannot help thinking it my duty, as Commander-in-Chiefj 
 instead of becoming the channel for conveyance of such, where no pre- 
 vious consent has been asked or obtained, to discountenance it ; and in 
 the present instance, under the existing arrangement of the army in the 
 field, there is a material additional obstacle to my interference, from the 
 want of the usual form of its passing to me through the hands of Major- 
 General Sir James Craig, who commands all the troops in Oude. I 
 therefore return the letter as you sent it, and in doing so I must beg 
 leave to add, that the public reasons assigned are those alone which have 
 actuated my conduct upon this occasion, as I have every reason to believe 
 that nothing was intended but what was thought perfectly right and pro- 
 per on your parts ; and I feel a degree of repugnance at being compelled, 
 by considerations of duty, to obstruct that in its passage to Lord Morn- 
 ington which could not, abstractedly considered, but have been gratifying 
 to him. I have the honour to be, with great regard, Sir, your most 
 obedient humble servant, 
 
 (Signed) " ALURED CLARKE."
 
 MARQUESS WKLLESLEY. 333 
 
 cution, as speedily as possible, the capitulation for 
 De Meuron's regiment. Believe me, my dear Sir, &c. 
 
 " MORNINGTON." 
 
 THE EARL OF MORNINGTON TO THE HON. T. NORTH, &C. 
 
 (Private.) 
 " Fort William, January 20th, 1800. 
 
 " MY DEAR NORTH, 
 
 "When you are apprised that since my arrival 
 here I have framed the entire foundation of a code of 
 Lord Olive's subjects and, indeed, of an entirely new 
 constitution for his government, and that I have also 
 immersed myself up to the neck in a question of radi- 
 cal reform for Oude, you will excuse my long silence ; 
 and you will further pardon me if I now merely assure 
 you that I most cordially approve all your proceed- 
 ings, and will strenuously support you and them, 
 though I expect no opposition, particularly from Fort 
 St. George, where I really believe Lord Olive's admin- 
 istration to be most able and honest. I must reserve 
 the question of General M'Dowall's allowance, with 
 all others, for a few days ; only premising that I have 
 the highest opinion of General M'Dowall, and that I 
 entertain the most just sense of his late conduct in 
 Ceylon. Your engineer and artillerymen shall be 
 sent to you soon, but I do not know whether we can 
 give you him whom you name. The alarm * of the 
 
 * The following letter explains the rumour here referred to : 
 
 " TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE HON. FREDERICK NORTH. 
 
 " Fort William, Oct. 26, 1799. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " I have the honour to enclose, for your Excellency's information, 
 the copy of the report made by the commander of an American ship just
 
 334 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 French fleet was false, but it has served to manifest 
 your activity as well as the security of the island, and 
 you may rely on receiving a public testimony of my 
 applause on that subject. 
 
 " The news of our Easter triumphs reached England 
 on the 13th of September. The sensation far exceeded 
 my expectation ; it was universal and high to a degree 
 of exultation : all is glorious in Europe ; and if we live 
 two or three years, we shall see Great Britain arbitress 
 of the world. Ever yours most affectionately, 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 " To the Hon. Frederick North,* 
 " Governor of Ceylon." 
 
 arrived at this port, relative to a large fleet which he fell in with on the 
 7th of July last, in latitude 5 28' north, and 16 west of London. 
 
 " I judge it proper to annex to this report the copy of an article of 
 news which appears in the Frankfort Journal of the 22nd June last. 
 
 " Having personally examined the American commander, I have 
 every reason to rely on the fidelity of his communication. I have the 
 honour to he, &c. " MORNINGTON." 
 
 The above letter was forwarded, on the 27th of October, to Mr. 
 Uhthoff, to the Commissioners in Malabar, to the Commanding Officer in 
 Mysore, and to the Commanding Officer in Malabar. " 
 
 * Mr. North, afterwards Earl of Guilford, was the third son of the 
 celebrated Lord North, the minister so familiar to the readers of Junius. 
 He was born in 1764, and was, at an early age, one of the chamberlains 
 in the Tally Court of the Exchequer. After the capture of Ceylon from 
 the Dutch, Mr. North was appointed Governor, greatly to the satisfaction 
 of Lord Mornington, by whom he was highly esteemed. In 1829, Mr. 
 North, then Earl Guilford, died without leaving issue, and was suc- 
 ceeded by the Rev. Francis North, whose father had been Bishop of 
 Winchester. The Hon. Frederick North is frequently referred to in the 
 course of Lord Wellesley's private letters and official communications.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The State Sword of Tippoo Sultaun presented to General Baird. The 
 Army forward for Presentation to Lord Mornington a Star and Badge 
 of the Order of St. Patrick, composed of Tippoo's Jewels. Lord 
 Mornington declines to accept them. Private Letter of Hon. Henry 
 Wellesley (Lord Cowley) to Mr. Canning, respecting these Jewels. 
 They are presented to Lord Wellesley hy the East India Company. 
 Lord Wellesley declines to accept One Hundred Thousand Pounds 
 from the Booty offered to him by his Majesty's Government and the 
 Court of Directors. Division of the Spoil of Seringapatam. Unfair 
 Distribution. Conduct of General, afterwards Lord Harris, open to 
 Censure. Letter of Lord Castlereagh to Lord Wellesley. Statement 
 of the East India Company as to the Over-Payment. Written Opi- 
 nion of the Attorney-General (Mr. Spencer Perceval), the Solicitor- 
 General (SirT. Manners Sutton), and Mr. Wm. Adam, on this Question. 
 Opinion of the King's Advocate (J. Nicholl). Memorandum on the 
 Amount of Booty in Seringapatam. Memorandum on the French 
 Corps in the Deccan. 
 
 AT the suggestion of Colonel Wellesley, and by the 
 directions of the Prize Committee, the state sword of 
 Tippoo Sultaun, which had been found in his bed- 
 chamber, was presented to General Baird in the name 
 of the army, as a testimonial of their high admiration 
 of his courage and conduct in the assault. 
 
 The army also expressed their desire to present to 
 the Governor-General a star and badge of the order of 
 St. Patrick, composed of Tippoo's jewels :* but Lord 
 Wellesley, from motives of delicacy, declined to accept 
 
 * The star and badge had been prepared, and was forwarded by the 
 Prize Committee to the Commander-in-chief in a gold box.
 
 33G LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 them. The annexed private note from Mr. Henry Wel- 
 lesley (the present Lord Cowley) to Mr. Canning on 
 this subject, will be read with interest : 
 
 TO GEORGE CANNING, ESQ., SPRING GARDENS, LONDON. 
 (Original and Duplicate. Overland via Aleppo and Bagdad.) 
 
 " Fort George, 6th August, 1799. 
 
 "My DEAR CANNING, 
 
 " From a general opinion entertained in the army 
 that the successful termination of the war in Mysore is 
 principally to be attributed to my brother's measures, 
 they have come to a resolution to present him with 
 a diamond star in testimony of their esteem and 
 gratitude. 
 
 "Although he cannot but feel gratified at the 
 favourable opinion which the army entertains of his 
 conduct, he has, upon full consideration, determined to 
 decline accepting this mark of their approbation ; and 
 it is his intention to signify to the army the grounds 
 on which he declines accepting this distinction when- 
 ever it shall be publicly offered to him. At present, 
 the intention has appeared in the resolutions of the 
 Prize Committee, but the star has not yet been offered 
 to my brother in the name of the army. Believe me, 
 &c., " H. WELLESLEY." 
 
 The Court of Directors duly appreciating the Gover- 
 nor-General's sense of propriety and delicacy, themselves 
 requested his Excellency to accept the star and badge 
 " as a testimony of the very high sense which they enter- 
 tained of the distinguished services to the Company of
 
 . 
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 337 
 
 the most noble the Marquess Welleslej, by the superior 
 wisdom and energy of whose counsels the late war in 
 Mysore was brought to so speedy and glorious a termi- 
 nation/' Thus enhanced by the approbation of the 
 East India Company, Lord Wellesley gratefully ac- 
 cepted the splendid trophy. It was proposed by the 
 president of the Board of Control, and the chairman 
 and deputy chairman of the East India Company, to 
 grant 100,000/. out of the spoils taken at Seringapa- 
 tam to the Marquess Wellesley ; but the noble Lord, 
 with his characteristic high-mindedness and generosity, 
 at once refused to accept it. In a letter to Mr. Dundas 
 his Lordship remarks on this subject : " I understand 
 that if the reserved part of the prize taken at Serin - 
 gapatam, consisting of prize-money and ordnance, 
 should come into the possession of the Company, it is 
 their intention to grant the whole to the army, reserv- 
 ing 100,000/., to be afterwards granted to me. I am 
 satisfied upon reflection you will perceive that the ac- 
 cepting such a grant would place me in a very 
 humiliating situation with respect to the army : and, 
 independent of any question of character, or of the 
 dignity and vigour of government, I should be miser- 
 able if I could ever feel that I had been enriched at 
 the expense of those who must ever be the objects of 
 my affection, admiration, and gratitude, and who are 
 justly entitled to the exclusive possession of all that a 
 munificent King and an admiring country can bestow. 
 Even if the independence of my family were at stake, 
 which I thank God it is not, I never could consent to 
 establish it on an arrangement injurious to the con- 
 querors of Mysore." 
 
 VOL. i. z
 
 338 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 The Court of Directors, in the handsomest manner, 
 voted an annuity of 5000/. to the Marquess Wel- 
 lesley for a period of twenty years, at a Court held 
 in January, 1801 ; but this pension is not to be con- 
 sidered an equivalent for the share of the booty which 
 he had so generously and disinterestedly refused to 
 accept. In 1801, when the pension was granted, the 
 Marquess was forty-one years old, and for half the 
 sum of 100,000/. might then have purchased an 
 annuity of 500 O/. Besides, money was at that period 
 greatly enhanced in value, and bore an enormous 
 rate of interest at Calcutta. He would have been at 
 least 50,000/. richer had he accepted the gift tendered 
 to him ; but love of money was not one of Lord 
 Wellesley's passions. 
 
 For the sake of the fame of General Harris, and 
 others concerned, it is to be regretted that Lord 
 Wellesley's generosity was not imitated in the distribu- 
 tion of the prize money. That an improper share of 
 the booty was appropriated to his own use by General 
 Harris, and to the use of the other generals, to the 
 disadvantage of the army, must be evident on an 
 examination of the circumstances of the case, although 
 it is probable that they believed they were entitled to 
 the share which they took to themselves. The bio- 
 grapher of Lord Harris, influenced by feelings of private 
 friendship towards that noble Lord, dismisses this sub- 
 ject in a few cursory remarks, describing the proceedings 
 which were commenced against that officer in the Court 
 of Chancery as a species of " persecution," instituted 
 by the "Indian authorities." The subjoined documents, 
 however, will set this transaction in its true light ;
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 339 
 
 they reveal the concurrent opinions of his Majesty's 
 Government, the law officers of the Crown, and the 
 East India Company, and set forth the reasons which 
 compelled them to arrive at the decision that the distri- 
 bution of the booty was not an equitable distribution. 
 
 TO THE MOST NOBLE MARQUESS WELLESLEY, &C. 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 " London, 22nd May, 1804. 
 
 "My DEAR LORD, 
 
 " There is now a dispatch under the consideration 
 of our Board from the Court of Directors, relative to the 
 distribution of the booty taken in the year 1799 at 
 Seringapatam. Owing to some delay in the production 
 of certain documents which the Board have called for, 
 no final decision has yet been taken upon it ; but the 
 merits of the question are sufficiently before us to 
 enable me to express in confidence to your Lordship 
 my dissatisfaction, not only with the principle of the 
 distribution itself, but with the whole course of General 
 Harris's conduct throughout the transaction. 
 
 " The interest we both feel in upholding the character 
 of an officer of great personal merit and private respec- 
 tability, whose name must remain recorded with one 
 of the brightest events in the military annals of the 
 country, makes it extremely painful to revise a trans- 
 action which passed under his superintendance, and 
 the principal objection to which is the undue share of 
 advantage which the General personally derived from 
 it. But the injustice of that distribution was so dearly 
 established at the time to your Lordship's conviction, 
 and, indeed, to every person who has since examined 
 the question, as to make it impossible to do otherwise 
 
 7. 2
 
 340 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 than let the proceeding, as advised by the law officers 
 of the Crown and the Company, take its course. 
 
 " As the plan of distribution then acted upon, and 
 now to be disapproved, may have had some influence 
 as a precedent, I think it material that no time should, 
 be lost in conveying to your Lordship, even before the 
 dispatch, is officially transmitted, copies of the law- 
 opinions which have been given on this subject for 
 your private information, as it may enable your Lord- 
 ship to present the distinguished officers, to whom 
 ultimately his Majesty may be disposed to grant the 
 booty captured in the late campaign from involving 
 themselves, by any premature or irregular proceedings 
 in difficulties which a previous, or even an early know- 
 ledge of what is held to be the usage proper to be 
 observed in such cases would enable them under your 
 Lordship's direction to avoid. Indeed, the whole mis- 
 chief in the former case appears to have grown, if not 
 out of a want of due subordination to the authority of 
 the Governor-General in council, at least, out of a 
 very improper inattention to his understood and 
 declared judgment upon the subject. I have the 
 honour to be, my dear Lord, with great regard, yours 
 most faithfully, "CASTLEREAGH." 
 
 " A little more eagerness than I could have wished," 
 writes Lord Wellesley in a letter to Mr. Dundas, June, 
 1799, " has appeared in the army on the subject of 
 the property captured in Seringapatam ; the question 
 would have been very awkward, if the amount of 
 the property had approached the first statements 
 which had been made by common rumour, and which
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 341 
 
 extended to the enormous amount of eight or ten 
 crores of rupees. The army conceive that, as the 
 place was taken by storm, they are of right entitled 
 to what was found in it ; this is certainly an erro- 
 neous opinion, and if the principle had been estab- 
 lished, and so large a sum as that which I have stated 
 had been seized by the army and distributed, it is 
 impossible to calculate the mischievous effects which 
 would have resulted to our military power in India. 
 The official return has been withholden, from an idea 
 that the right is absolute in the captors, and that 
 they are not bound to render any account under the 
 peculiar circumstances of the assault." 
 
 According to the calculations of the East India Com- 
 pany, General Harris and the general officers were over- 
 paid in the following proportion : 
 
 " General Harris, as Commander -in-Chief, received one 
 
 eighth part of the whole, amounting, according to the Pagodas.* 
 account furnished by the Prize Committee to . . 324,907 
 
 " As there were six general officers in the army, exclusive 
 of the Commander-in-Chief, viz. 
 
 General Floyd, 
 
 General Baird, 
 
 General Popham, 
 
 General Bridges, 
 
 General Stuart, 
 
 General Hartley, 
 
 the Commander-in-Chief was entitled, according to 
 the authorities relied upon by the East India Com- 
 pany, TO ONLY ONE HALF OF THE ABOVE SUM, Or . 162,453^ 
 
 " Over-paid to General Harris ..... 162,4533 
 
 " The other generals were entitled to half an eighth, or . 162,453^ 
 " Generals Floyd and Stuart received 36,000 
 
 pagodas each, or ..... 72,000 
 
 * The reader will bear in mind that a pagoda is a gold coin of about 
 eight shillings in value.
 
 342 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " Each of the other generals received 27,000 pa- Pagodas. 
 
 godas, or for four 108,000 180,000 
 
 " Overpaid to the six generals under the Commander-in- 
 
 Chief 17,546J 
 
 " Total overpaid, being so much deducted from the shares to 
 
 the rest of the army 180,000 
 
 Or 72,000 
 
 " It is the desire of the East India Company, which 
 meets with the approbation of his Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, if it can be done, that the appropriation which 
 has taken place should be corrected, so as to make it 
 conformable to usage, and that what has been received 
 by the generals, beyond what they were entitled to, 
 should be refunded for the benefit of the rest of the 
 army? 
 
 The following is the joint opinion of Mr. Attorney- 
 General, Mr. Solicitor-General and Mr. William 
 Adam, on this delicate subject : 
 
 OPINION. 
 
 " The appropriation made by the officers of this prize- 
 money was undoubtedly (to say the least of it) very 
 irregular, and without any colour of legal authority ; 
 for under the circumstances in which this booty was 
 taken, namely, in an expedition carried on by the 
 united forces of his Majesty and the East India Com- 
 pany, there can be no doubt but, in law, the whole 
 booty belonged to the King, subject to such distribution 
 as he might be pleased to make of it ; but as his 
 Majesty has by his grant confirmed the appropriation
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 343 
 
 which was made to his forces and those of the East 
 India Company and the Nizam, the irregularity of the 
 unauthorized appropriation is removed ; but the distri- 
 bution which was made upon a principle inconsistent 
 with all former usage, is certainly by no means con- 
 firmed by the grant, which grant was made, and as to 
 distribution declared to be, in conformity with the 
 usage in like cases, and must therefore have proceeded 
 upon some misconception on the part of the East India 
 Company as to what had been done by the committee 
 of officers ; and we therefore think it very desirable 
 that this unwarrantable distribution which has given to 
 the commanding officers, &c. so much greater a propor- 
 tion of the booty than they can possibly be entitled to 
 retain, should be corrected by themselves rather than 
 by any legal proceeding; and for that purpose we 
 recommend that some notice or representation should 
 be made to them, accompanied with our opinion, if it 
 should be thought to give any weight to such represen- 
 tation, which may give them an opportunity of review- 
 ing the former distribution, and of restoring, by their 
 own act, to the rest of the army what they have been 
 deprived of by this unequal and uncustomary distri- 
 bution. If, however, their opinion and view of this 
 proceeding should differ from ours, we think it is then 
 due, in justice to the army, that this distribution should 
 be set aside in a court of justice ; and although under 
 all the circumstances of the case, we do not think that 
 the East India Company can, in their own name, insti- 
 tute any proceeding which will compel the Commander- 
 in-Chief and the two Generals next in command to 
 refund what they have received beyond their just and 
 VOL. i. z 4
 
 344 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 customary share, yet we are of opinion that a bill in 
 equity may be filed against those officers by any of the 
 individuals injured, on behalf of themselves and the 
 rest of the army, stating the facts, and praying that 
 those officers may account for what they have received 
 beyond their proper shares, and that the same may be 
 divided and distributed according to the usage of the 
 service. To this bill it may be right that an injunc- 
 tion by the Attorney-General should be added on 
 account of the interest which the King has, that his 
 army should have secured to them the interest intended 
 and granted to them ; but this may be determined upon 
 afterwards. If, however, we are right in the impres- 
 sion we have taken of the clear irregularity and in- 
 equality of the distribution which has taken place, we 
 have little doubt that the commanding officers them- 
 selves will feel the propriety of settling this business 
 without the disagreeable discussion which it would 
 occasion in a court of justice. 
 
 (Signed) " SPENCER PERCEVAL,* 
 
 " THOMAS MANNERS SUTTON,| 
 " WILLIAM ADAM." J 
 
 The East India Company also submitted a case to 
 the King's advocate. They required his opinion 
 " Whether the distribution which has taken place is 
 
 * The Hon. Spencer Perceval, Attorney-General, 1804 ; Prime Min- 
 nister, 1809 assassinated 1812. 
 
 t Sir Thomas Manners Sutton, Solicitor-General, afterwards created 
 Lord Manners and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. 
 
 t One of the most eminent lawyers of the day. Mr. Adam was one 
 of the counsel engaged in the defence of Lord Melville, on the occasion 
 of that noble Lord's impeachment in 1805.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 345 
 
 conformable to usage with respect to the shares al- 
 lotted to the Commander-in-Chief and general officers ; 
 and if it is not, whether it can be corrected, and how 
 redress can be obtained V 
 
 OPINION. 
 
 " The distributions with which I am principally 
 acquainted are those relating to conjunct expeditions 
 of army and navy, where the division of the booty is 
 reserved by the Prize Act to his Majesty. The Act 
 also allows the Commander-in-Chief to make agree- 
 ments for the division, subject to the approbation 
 and confirmation of his Majesty. I rather understand 
 that in one or two instances at the commencement of 
 the late war, and probably from oversight, agreements 
 were confirmed and plans of distribution sanctioned 
 by which the commanders-in-chief and the flag and 
 general officers took amongst them more than one- 
 eighth. But it was discovered that this was contrary 
 to the act of Parliament, the fourth section of which 
 directs " the share allotted to the fleet shall be distri- 
 buted according to the proclamation ; and the share 
 assigned to the army shall be distributed amongst the 
 officers and soldiers in proportions correspondent 
 thereto." The Act, therefore, though it does not decide 
 what part each service shall take, is imperative as to 
 the shares in which the distribution shall be made 
 amongst the several classes of each service. In all 
 cases which have come under my immediate consider- 
 ation since I have been in office, the distribution has 
 invariably been to the commanders-in-chief, and the 
 flag and general officers amongst them one-eighth and
 
 346 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 no more. And I have known agreements between 
 commanders-in-chief, by which it was proposed that 
 the superior officers should take a larger share, refused 
 to be confirmed. Few captures made solely by a 
 military force at land have come within my observa- 
 tion. The Cochin capture was one, and in that his 
 Majesty's grant was in the proportions already stated. 
 I am therefore of opinion that the distribution stated 
 to have taken place in this case is not conformable to 
 usage. If it should be necessary to seek a remedy by 
 process of law, I should apprehend that a bill in equity 
 would be the best mode of pursuing it. 
 
 (Signed) " J. NICHOLL." 
 
 " 15th July, 1804." 
 
 The failure of the proceedings in the court of chan- 
 cery to compel General Harris and the other Generals 
 to refund the surplus which they had appropriated to 
 themselves, does not at all affect the merits of the 
 question as stated by the law-officers of the crown. 
 There were, confessedly, many legal difficulties in the 
 way of those proceedings, after his Majesty (under the 
 influence of misconception of the facts of the case) had 
 confirmed by his grant the general appropriation.* 
 This inglorious sequel to the triumphs of the war in 
 Mysore might have been avoided, if the Generals had 
 paid attention to the following hint of Mr. Spencer 
 Perceval, Sir T. Manners Sutton, and Mr. W. Adam. 
 
 * All the acts relating to Army prize-money have been repeated by 
 the 2 and 3 Will. IV. c. 53, which enacts that all captures made by the 
 army shall be divided according to such general rule of distribution as 
 the King shall direct.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 347 
 
 " We recommend that some notice or representation 
 should be made to them, accompanied with our opin- 
 ion, if it should be thought to give any weight to 
 such representation, which may give them an oppor- 
 tunity of reviewing the former distribution and of 
 restoring, by their own act, to the rest of the army, 
 what they have been deprived of by this unequal and 
 uncustomary distribution." 
 
 " Memorandum respecting the Prize Property captured 
 at Seringapatam. 
 
 " Although it is not possible to ascertain with any 
 degree of accuracy what the prize property in Serin- 
 gapatam will amount to, yet from the various informa- 
 tion obtained through the Mutseddies and others, em- 
 ployed in different departments under the late Sultaun, 
 I am enabled to form the following estimation : 
 
 1st specie, 16,74,350 star pagodas ; 2nd -jewels, 
 gold and silver bullion, 25,00,000 ; 3rd paddy, pep- 
 per, salt, and other articles, in the different granaries, 
 1,10,000 ; 4th copper and brass pots, glasses, carpets, 
 &c., 20,000; 5th elephants, camels, horses, bullocks, 
 would amount to 54,000 ; 6th cloths of various sorts, 
 &c. in the Tosha Khana, 2,00,000. Total, 45,58,350 
 star pagodas. Military stores not included. 
 
 "No remark is necessary on the 1st article. The 
 estimation on the jewels is very uncertain ; there are 
 still twenty and more boxes, the contents of which 
 have not been valued. Very little is known upon the 
 subject of jewels, for no one among Tippoo's people 
 has any idea of the contents of his treasury ; so that
 
 348 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 information is very little to be depended upon relative 
 to this 2nd article. With regard to the 3rd, I have 
 every reason to think that the estimation is correct. 
 The 4th article consists of a variety of things, which, 
 most probably, will produce the estimated sum. The 
 5th is composed of property of which I cannot procure 
 an exact account. The 6th includes all the gold and 
 silver cloths, and every article of that description, as 
 well as sundry other commodities too particular to enu- 
 merate ; the estimation is within bounds. 
 
 " As the greater part of the captured property is com- 
 posed of jewels, &c., articles which either Tippoo or his 
 father Hyder had plundered, the Mutseddies and other 
 persons of whom I have inquired declare that they 
 cannot give any exact statement of the late Sultaun's 
 riches. W. M. GORDON." 
 
 " Seringapatam, June 9, 1799." 
 
 " Memorandum relative to the late French corps in the 
 Deccan, by Captain Malcolm. 
 
 " The French corps in the Deccan have for several 
 years past hoisted the national flag, and most of the 
 lapelles and epaulettes of their new clothing had the 
 words liberty and constitution embroidered on them. 
 
 " The general conversation of the French officers after 
 they were dismissed, proved that they had entertained 
 ambitious designs, and considered themselves as for- 
 warding the interests of their mother country. Captain 
 Christoff, an officer of the party who had been formerly 
 a sergeant of sepoys in the English service, affirmed 
 that the late Monsieur Raymond had formed the most
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 349 
 
 ambitious projects, and that the same were adopted by 
 his successor and that the landing of any French in 
 India, would probably have been the signal to com- 
 mence their intrigues.* 
 
 " It was generally reported and believed that Ray- 
 mond had a General's commission from the Directory, 
 but it has not been discovered. 
 
 "In a letter which passed through the Resident at 
 Hyderabad, recommending a person to Monsieur Piron, 
 it was stated that the person recommended would, 
 from having respectable connexions at Paris, be useful 
 in transacting Monsieur Piron's affairs with the 
 Directory. 
 
 " In a letter from Monsieur Baptiste, the second of- 
 ficer in the corps, to Captain Kirkpatrick, relative to his 
 claims on the party and property at Hyderabad, Mon- 
 sieur Baptiste expresses an apprehension that he will 
 be unable to return to France, as Monsieur Piron will 
 represent his conduct (to the Directory) in odious 
 colours. 
 
 " There was found in store, when our troops took 
 possession of the French lines, small arms and clothing 
 for 12,000 men beyond the force then serving under 
 Monsieur Piron, besides a number of pistols for cavalry. 
 
 " The French corps had three arsenals and two foun- 
 deries. I only saw these at their lines, near Hyder- 
 abad. The arsenal there was full of military stores, 
 and in the foundery, there were a number of brass 
 cannon newly cast, which our artillery officers judged 
 as good and as well finished as any they had ever seen. 
 
 * " This information I had from a gentleman to whom Christoff had 
 communicated it." Note by Captain Malcolm.
 
 350 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 They also made swords, muskets, and pistols. The 
 specimens I sent to Lord Mornington will show the 
 great progress they had made in these manufactures. 
 
 " The French party were always well paid their 
 clothing was neat and their discipline superior to any 
 troops I ever saw in a native service. The men were 
 the best of the country and from the regularity of 
 their pay, they could recruit at pleasure." 
 
 Monsieur Piron, the commander of the French corps 
 in the Deccan (usually called Raymond's corps), must 
 not be confounded with General Perron, the French 
 officer in the service of Scindiah, who held the Em- 
 peror of Delhi in his power, and who surrendered to 
 General Lake in 1803 ; of whose exploits we shall 
 have occasion to speak hereafter.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 351 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Public Profession of Attachment to the Christian Faith by the Govern- 
 ment of India. Suppression of Sunday Newspapers in India. Im- 
 portant Influence of the Institution of the Sabbath in Heathen Coun- 
 tries. Observations on the State of Religion in British India. Lord 
 Wellesley ordains a Day for a Public Thanksgiving. Account of 
 the Solemnities observed on the Occasion. Sermon of the Rev. Clau- 
 dius Buchanan, &c. 
 
 WE have already seen that Lord Wellesley had pro- 
 hibited the publication of newspapers on Sunday. His 
 Lordship's motive in taking this step, in connexion 
 with other regulations, was, that the due observance 
 of the Christian sabbath, without interfering with the 
 rights, duties, obligations, or prejudices of the native 
 population, should act morally on the mind of India, 
 in utter unacquaintance with the nature and character 
 of the true God. Apart from all cant or pharisaical 
 formality, the sabbath is a blessed institution in any 
 land, and has justly been assigned* as one of the great 
 springs of European civilization ; 
 
 " Sweet Sabbath morn ! 
 
 Soft steal thy bells upon the tranced mind, 
 In fairy cadence floating on the wind, 
 Telling of friends and times long flown away, 
 And pensive hopes, harmonious with the day. 
 On thy still dawn, while holy music peals, 
 And far around the ling'ring echo steals, 
 What heart communes not with the day's repose, 
 And, lull'd by angel dreams, forgets its woes ! " 
 
 But great as the influence of the institution of the 
 
 * Guizot's Lectures, &c.
 
 352 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 sabbath on a community like our own unquestionably 
 is, if we reflect, we shall see that it is designed to have 
 a ten-fold greater influence in a land peopled by a race 
 in ignorance of revealed religion. 
 
 The observance of the sabbath is essentially a public 
 acknowledgment of belief in the God who made the 
 heavens and the earth ; and the institution of the 
 Christian sabbath necessarily implies a profession of 
 faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Every seventh day, 
 therefore, an unostentatious proclamation of the true 
 God was made in India ; the recurrence of a day of rest 
 and refreshment for man and beast, after the labour of 
 the week, necessarily awakened curiosity and inquiry 
 among the heathen dwellers in the British territory. 
 However questionable, therefore, what is called sabbath 
 legislation may be in this kingdom, we are inclined to 
 think that Lord Wellesley performed his duty as a 
 Christian governor in the regulation which he directed 
 in his letter to Sir Alured Clarke, which has formed 
 the subject of a separate chapter. 
 
 Lord Wellesley knew the character of the native 
 population too well to attempt, or sanction, any indis- 
 creet intermeddling with the deep-rooted prejudices of 
 the Hindoo and Mahommedan races ; he wisely refrain- 
 ed from unnecessary interference with their religious 
 feelings ;* but trusted to the slow and silent operation 
 
 * To such a length was this fear of hurting the prejudices of the na- 
 tives, or interfering with their religious feelings carried, that up to the 
 year 1845 the British Government in India were bound to punish with 
 deprivation of goods, &c.., according to the provisions of the Hindoo and 
 Mohammedan laws, a native who became a convert to the Christian reli- 
 gion. The lex loci of Sir Henry Hardinge, Bart, has happily put an 
 end to this unjust and anomalous practice.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 353 
 
 of the truth ; feeling that the surest way to impress 
 the natives of India with a persuasion of the Divine 
 origin of the gospel of Christ, was for the Christian 
 population to exhibit a regular observance of public 
 worship, and, what is of far greater importance, an 
 habitual performance of the moral duties enjoined by 
 their more pure and elevated religion. Lord Wellesley 
 conceived that it was the duty of the British Government 
 in India to make a public official profession of alle- 
 giance to the author of Christianity ; and while it 
 observed the most cautious reserve in respect to the 
 religious prejudices of the natives, and acted upon 
 principles of the most comprehensive and generous 
 toleration, not to conceal the fact from the subjects of 
 the British Crown in Hindostan, that the British Na- 
 tion were worshippers of the God of heaven. Guided 
 by these motives, shortly after his Lordship's return to 
 Calcutta, Lord Wellesley ordained that a day should 
 be set apart for a public and general thanksgiving for 
 the various successes which had attended the British 
 arms in the tremendous struggle for national existence 
 in which the crown and people of this empire were 
 then engaged. The following is an official account of 
 the observance of the solemnity. 
 
 " Fort William, February 13th, 1 800. 
 
 " ON Thursday last, the 6th of February, being 
 the day appointed by the proclamation of the Right 
 Honourable the Governor-General, in Council, to be 
 observed as a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty 
 God, for the late signal and important success obtained 
 by the naval and military forces of his Majesty and of 
 VOL. i. A A
 
 354 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 his allies, and for the ultimate and happy establishment 
 of the tranquillity and security of the British posses- 
 sions in India, the Right Honourable the Governor- 
 General, accompanied by the Chief Justice, the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, the members of council, and the 
 Judges of the supreme Court of Judicature, and by the 
 public officers, civil and military, proceeded to the New 
 Church, to return thanks to God for these great mercies 
 and blessings. 
 
 His Lordship proceeded on foot from the Govern- 
 ment-House to the church, at about half an hour past 
 six o'clock in the morning, through the Council-house- 
 street, which was lined by the body-guard, the native 
 troops in garrison at Fort William, and Calcutta Native 
 Militia, and the avenues into the streets through which 
 his Lordship passed were guarded by parties detached 
 from the above corps. 
 
 The Right Honourable the Governor-General was 
 preceded by all the public officers, civil and military, 
 and at the entrance of the church was met by the 
 Chaplains attached to the Presidency. 
 
 The prayers which were selected for the occasion 
 were read by the Rev. David Brown, the senior chap- 
 lain, and the sermon was preached by the Rev. Clau- 
 dius Buchanan. The Te Deum and appropriate 
 anthems were sung. 
 
 Divine Service being ended, the Right Honourable 
 the Governor-General, the Chief Justice, the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, &c. &c. returned in their carriages. 
 
 Three royal salutes were fired from the ramparts of 
 Fort William ; the first, on the Governor-General's 
 setting out ; the second, during the celebration of the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 355 
 
 Te Deum ; and the third, on his Lordship's return. 
 The guns from the ramparts of Fort William were 
 answered by several ships in the port. 
 
 A great concourse of the native inhabitants of 
 Calcutta were assembled in the streets during the pro- 
 gress of the Right Honourable the Governor- General, 
 from the Government-House, and on his return. 
 
 At three o'clock in the evening, divine service was 
 performed in Fort William, for the European troops in 
 garrison. 
 
 The European and native troops in garrison fired 
 three volleys from the ramparts of Fort William at 
 sun-set. 
 
 At the same hour the Calcutta European militia, 
 cavalry, and infantry paraded on their usual ground 
 of exercise, and the last mentioned corps fired three 
 volleys. 
 
 On this solemn occasion, all the persons (amounting 
 to upwards of sixty in number), confined for debt in 
 the prison of the Court of Requests, were liberated in 
 the name of the Honourable Company, the respective 
 sums for which they were imprisoned having been 
 discharged by order of the Governor-General in council. 
 Orders were also issued by his Lordship in council, for 
 the discharge of the debts of several persons confined 
 in the Calcutta gaol." 
 
 " MINUTE OF COUNCIL, FEB. 11. 
 
 " Ordered that the thanks of the Right Honourable 
 the Governor-General in Council, be given to the Rev. 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Claudius Buchanan,* for the excellent sermon preached 
 before his Lordship at the New Church of Calcutta, on 
 the 6th day of February, the day of general thanks- 
 giving, appointed by the Governor-General in council, 
 and that Mr. Buchanan be desired to print the said 
 sermon." 
 
 " The oblivion of the Sabbath in India," remarks the 
 Rev. C. Buchanan, in his review of the state of religion 
 in India, " is that which properly constitutes banish- 
 ment from our country. The chief evil of our exile 
 is found here ; for this extinction of the sacred day 
 tends, more than anything else, to eradicate from our 
 minds all respect for religion, and affection for the 
 manners and institutions, and even for the local scenes, 
 of early life." 
 
 * It can scarcely be necessary to remind the reader that this is the 
 same Rev. Claudius Buchanan who subsequently attracted so much at- 
 tention by his writings in relation to the evangelization of India. We 
 shall have occasion to speak of the reverend gentleman in a different cha- 
 racter in another part of these volumes.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 357 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Commission of Captain-General conferred for the first time on the Go- 
 vernor-General. Copy of the Writ of Privy Seal. General Orders in 
 the Calcutta Gazette. The Porte confers the Orders of the Crescent 
 on the Marquess Wellesley. Copy of the Letter from the Grand 
 Seignior. Congratulations in Letters from England from the Duchess 
 of Gordon, Lord Dunstanville, Marquess Downshire, Earl of West- 
 ineath, Earl of Inchiquin, Lord Howden, Right Hon. N. Vansittart, 
 Sir John Newport, &c. Letters of Sir Alured Clarke from St. Helena 
 and from London. 
 
 As a mark of royal favour, his Majesty the King 
 conferred upon the most noble the Governor-General, 
 the rank of Captain-General, and Commander-in-chief 
 of all the forces, in the East Indies, vesting in 
 his hands powers for the first time confided to the 
 Indian Government. The following is a copy of the 
 commission, which, it will be observed, gave to the 
 Marquess Wellesley, as full authority over all military 
 operations, as he had hitherto enjoyed over civil affairs 
 in the East ; it was received at Fort William on the 
 26th of February, 1801 : 
 
 " George the Third, by the grace of God of Great 
 Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the 
 Faith, and so forth, to all to whom these presents shall 
 come, greeting ; 
 
 " Whereas, the United Company of Merchants of 
 England trading to the East Indies, by their commis- 
 sion under the seal of the said Company, bearing date
 
 358 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the 6th day of October, one thousand seven hundred 
 and ninety-seven, have appointed our right trusty and 
 entirely beloved cousin and counsellor, Richard Wellesley, 
 Marquess Wellesley, (then Earl of Mornington,) of our 
 kingdom of Ireland, and Baron Wellesley, of Wellesley, 
 in our county of Somerset, in our kingdom of Great 
 Britain, and Knight of the most illustrious order of 
 Saint Patrick, to be, during the pleasure of the said 
 Company, Governor-General of the said presidency of 
 Fort William, in the Bay of Bengal, and of all the towns 
 and territories thereunto belonging, and of all and 
 singular the forts, factories, settlements, lands, territo- 
 ries, countries, and jurisdictions within the soubahship 
 of Bengal, and of and for all the affairs whatsoever of 
 the said Company, in the Bay of Bengal, and other, the 
 places and provinces thereto belonging in the East 
 Indies, together with all and every the powers and 
 authorities committed and given to the Governor- 
 General of Bengal, for the time being, by any act or 
 acts of Parliament then in force ; and by another 
 commission under the seal of the said Company, bear- 
 ing date the same sixth day of October, one thousand 
 seven hundred and ninety-seven, having appointed the 
 said Richard Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General 
 and Commander-in-chief of the fort and garrison of 
 Fort William in Bengal, of the town of Calcutta, and 
 of all the forces which then were, or thereafter should 
 be, employed in the service of the said united Company, 
 within the said fort, garrison, and town; and the said 
 Company have also from time to time appointed 
 officers to be commanders-in-chief of their forces at the 
 said presidency of Fort William in Bengal, and their
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 359 
 
 presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay respec- 
 tively, and also have occasionally appointed persons to 
 be commanders-in-chief of all the said Company's 
 forces in the East Indies. And whereas we have 
 from time to time caused detachments of our land 
 forces to be employed in the East Indies for the pro- 
 tection of the British territories there, and the annoy- 
 ance of our enemies in those parts : And whereas dif- 
 ficulties have arisen and may arise in the direction and 
 employment of our said forces, inasmuch as the same 
 are under the immediate command of officers commis- 
 sioned by us, and not by the said Company ; and we 
 are desirous of preventing such difficulties by giving 
 authority to the said Richard Marquess Wellesley to 
 act as Captain- General and Commander-in-Chief of all 
 forces in the East Indies, and thereby to put under 
 his orders and directions all our land forces, as well as 
 the military force in the service of the said united 
 Company which may be employed in those parts : Now 
 know ye that we, reposing especial trust and con- 
 fidence in the prudence, courage, and loyalty of the 
 said Richard Marquess Wellesley, have made, consti- 
 tuted, and appointed, and do by these presents make, 
 constitute, and appoint the said Richard Wellesley our 
 Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief of all and 
 singular our land forces employed or to be employed in 
 our service within any of the British territories in India, 
 and in all parts within the limits of the exclusive trade 
 of the said united Company during our pleasure, to 
 order, do, and perform all things whatsoever, which do 
 or ought to belong to the office of our Captain-General 
 and Commander-in-Chief of our land forces, within the
 
 360 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 parts aforesaid ; and generally to order, do, and per- 
 form all and whatsoever for us, and in our name, 
 ought to be done in the command, order and direction 
 of our said forces, and also of all military forces what- 
 soever, in the parts aforesaid, which the said Richard 
 Marquess Wellesley is not authorised and empowered 
 to order, do, and perform, by virtue of the said com- 
 missions from the said united Company, it being our 
 gracious will and intention by this our commission, to 
 give to the said Richard Marquess Wellesley full power 
 and authority to order, direct, and control all military 
 forces employed or to be employed in the territories 
 and parts aforesaid, in all cases to which the com- 
 missions so granted by the said united Company to the 
 said Richard Marquess Wellesley, cannot extend for 
 want of powers in the said Company for that purpose : 
 and we do hereby command all our officers and soldiers 
 who are or shall be employed in our land service 
 within any of the territories and parts aforesaid, to 
 acknowledge and obey the said Richard Marquess Wel- 
 lesley as their Captain-General and Commander-in- 
 Chief ; but nevertheless we do strictly enjoin and com- 
 mand the said Richard Marquess Wellesley, in the 
 exercise of the powers and authorities given to him by 
 these presents, to observe and obey all such instruc- 
 tions, orders, and directions from time to time, as the 
 said Richard Marquess Wellesley shall receive from the 
 First Commissioner for the affairs of India, or from any 
 of our principal secretaries of state : Provided always, 
 and our will and pleasure is, that if the said Richard 
 Marquess Wellesley shall cease to be Governor-General 
 of the Presidency of the British territories in Bengal,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 361 
 
 as aforesaid, then and from thenceforth all and every 
 the powers and authorities hereby given to the said 
 Richard Marquess "Wellesley shall cease, determine, and 
 become void, anything herein contained to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. In witness whereof we have caused 
 these our letters to be made patent. Witness our- 
 selves at Westminster, the seventh day of August, in 
 the fortieth year of our reign. By writ of privy seal, 
 
 " YORKE." 
 
 On the receipt of this commission general orders 
 were published in the Calcutta Gazette to the eifect 
 that all appointments and commissions would, as here- 
 tofore, be filled up by the general officer holding the 
 commission of Commander-in-Chief of his Majesty's 
 forces, and that all applications and correspondence 
 respecting the said forces should be addressed to that 
 officer as usual. 
 
 Respecting Lord Wellesley's elevation to the post of 
 Captain-General, Lord Olive writes : " I congratulate 
 your Lordship most cordially upon your appointment 
 to be Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief in 
 India ; not merely as an accession of dignity and 
 honour to your Lordship which is highly pleasing to 
 me, but as placing a necessary control in the hands of 
 the Governor-General, and increasing the energy and 
 efficiency of his government/' 
 
 The Sublime Porte in April, 1802, rewarded the 
 Marquess Wellesley's zeal in behalf of the interests 
 of the Ottoman Empire, by conferring on his Lordship 
 the order of the Crescent :
 
 362 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (Translation of a Letter from the Kaymakan to the Right Honourable 
 Lord Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal, delivered by the Reys 
 Effendi to forward the 30th of April, 1802.) 
 
 " To the noblest among the Princes believing in the 
 Messiah, support of the Grandees of the Christian 
 nation, the Governor-General of the British dominions 
 in the East Indies, his Excellency the most esteemed 
 and beloved Lord Wellesley, our friend ; may his end 
 be attended with happiness. 
 
 "After our sincere assurances of perfect friendship 
 and regard, we have hereby the pleasure of acquaint- 
 ing your Excellency that the exertion and zeal which 
 have been evinced by your Lordship in sending so op- 
 portunely the corps of troops belonging to your estab- 
 lishment, who have been destined by the Court of 
 Great Britain to cooperate in the late expedition, 
 together with the forces of the Sublime Ottoman Porte, 
 not only have served to strengthen the bonds of union 
 and friendship so firmly subsisting between the two 
 Courts, but also to secure to you the friendly esteem of 
 the Emperor, whose favourable opinion of your Excel- 
 lency is equal to the satisfaction he has reaped from 
 your zealous conduct. 
 
 "Indeed the measures in defence of the common 
 cause in question, were but the natural result of the 
 candid friendship, since time immemorial, subsisting 
 between the Sublime Porte and the Court of Great 
 Britain, but more particularly of the concert and union 
 which have prevailed, with such reciprocal good faith, 
 since the contracted alliance. 
 
 "As a mark of approbation of that exertion and
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 363 
 
 zeal, therefore, which have been so manifestly wit- 
 nessed on your part, and a token of distinction and 
 compliment, the Sublime Porte have prepared and 
 destined for your Lordship the Order of the Crescent, 
 of the first rank, consisting of a half moon, fixed in the 
 middle of a star set with brilliants, together with a 
 ribbon, the two ends whereof joined by a medal bear- 
 ing the Grand Signer's cypher in gold. 
 
 "We have, therefore, the pleasure of writing this 
 official letter, to inquire after your health, and to ac- 
 quaint your Excellency with the transmission of the 
 above imperial mark of attention expressive of his 
 Highness's satisfaction, herewith annexed. 
 
 " On its reception, (please God,) and on your Lord- 
 ship becoming acquainted with its tenor and motive, 
 we hope your Excellency will not refuse to act up to 
 the dictates of friendship, and to fulfil the rules of the 
 sincere intimacy between the two countries. Your 
 friend, 
 
 (L. S.) MUSTAFFA KAYMAKAN." 
 
 Congratulations on the result of the war with 
 Tippoo Sultaun, and the brilliant events connected 
 with it, poured in uponJJord Wellesley from home : 
 " At this moment, my dear Lord," writes the Duchess 
 of Gordon, with some enthusiasm, "you are the ad- 
 miration of all Europe ! May you long enjoy the 
 glorious laurels you have gained, in health, happi- 
 ness, and every domestic blessing !" Her Ladyship 
 adds: "I have to congratulate you upon your dear 
 sister Lady Anne's marriage ; she has made a choice 
 all her friends approved of; I don't know a more
 
 3C4 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 amiable man.* Lady Mornington was so good as to 
 let your lovely boys come and see me when in town. 
 I left your friend and mine, Le Premier,! in better 
 health and spirits than I have seen him for some years. 
 I spent some days at Wimbledon with the gang,\ and 
 left with regret. I hear Lord Cornwallis talks with 
 rapture and surprise of your noble administration in 
 India, and he is a good judge." Lord Dunstanville 
 observes, in a private letter : "The general joy has 
 been mixed with no little astonishment, that you have 
 been able, in so short a time, to destroy so formidable 
 an opponent as Tippoo." The Marquess Downshire 
 says : " I hope you have received my former letter, 
 which very faintly expressed what I felt upon the 
 news of your victorious success, which I attribute as 
 much to your excellent government and management 
 as to the bravery of our troops. Lady Downshire 
 joins me in all congratulations, and hourly wishes for 
 your happiness. Give my affectionate compliments to 
 General Wellesley and Henry, and believe me to be 
 your affectionate friend/' The Earl of Westmeath 
 writes : " I am happy, my dear Lord, in this oppor- 
 tunity of offering you my most hearty congratulations 
 on the brilliant success which, has attended your spi- 
 rited efforts in India/' " I thank you, my dear Lord/' 
 remarks the Earl of Inchiquin, "for the papers you 
 were so good as to order for me. Your kind remem- 
 brance has given additional satisfaction and heartfelt 
 gratification in reading the never-to-be-forgotten ac- 
 counts of your most glorious, great, and manly exer- 
 
 * Vide?. 21. t Pitt. 
 
 Mr. Dundas and friends.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 365 
 
 tions in your conquests in India, executed in a manner 
 to make all your predecessors hide their diminished 
 heads : your achievements have silenced the blackest 
 and most determined oppositions." General Cradock,* 
 writing from Malta, says : " I cannot avoid any op- 
 portunity of adding my voice to the acclamation that 
 has followed all your Lordship's career in the East 
 Indies." " I am happy," says the Eight Hon. K Van- 
 sittart, " to have this opportunity of congratulating 
 your Lordship on the splendid triumphs of the British 
 counsels and British arms in India." Sir John New- 
 port writes in a still warmer strain of admiring friend- 
 ship : "My dear Lord: Many years have elapsed 
 since we have met, still more since we have corre- 
 sponded ; yet, believe me, no man has more warmly 
 participated in your triumphs, or done more ample 
 homage to the ability which effected them. I often 
 gloried in the exertions of the friend of my youth 
 in defence of our common country." 
 
 During the whole period of the Marquess Wellesley's 
 administration in India, he was cheered by similar 
 testimonies of the approval of the most eminent 
 among his contemporaries, whose good opinion, in 
 some measure, alleviated the bitterness of the resent- 
 ment and opposition of mistaken and prejudiced op- 
 ponents. 
 
 The following letters of Sir Alured Clarke, which are 
 the last in the collection, are here added : 
 
 * Lord Howden.
 
 366 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 FROM SIR A. CLARKE TO THE MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 
 
 " St. Helena, May 31, 1801. 
 "MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " I ought to apologise for troubling your Lord- 
 ship with a letter, merely to acquaint you that we 
 arrived at this island on the 21st instant, when we 
 had the mortification to learn that the allied fleet had 
 sailed with convoy a month before, and that we were 
 consequently to proceed without any, as we shall do 
 to-morrow, and of course run the gauntlet of whatever 
 may be in the way, which, under present circum- 
 stances, is not very pleasant. 
 
 " I have been much amused in exploring the beau- 
 ties of this uncommonly mountainous, yet delightful 
 island, which I have nearly traversed all over, under 
 the guidance of Major Cocks, the chief engineer, and a 
 member of the government, an intelligent officer, who 
 came from England a few months ago, and seems much 
 interested about, and anxious to correct any errors 
 in, its defences. 
 
 " Governor Brooks's bad state of health had obliged 
 him to go home, and we found Colonel Robinson in 
 charge of the government, who has treated us with 
 the utmost kindness and hospitality. One of his 
 daughters is lately married to Captain Scott, of the 
 Bengal establishment, who takes this letter to your 
 Lordship ; and the Governor and his lady, who have 
 manifested an equal desire to make our situation here 
 pleasant, are so much interested in her welfare, that 
 I cannot avoid gratifying them by introducing the
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 367 
 
 young lady and her husband to your Lordship's fa- 
 vourable notice. 
 
 "An American ship, that left Bengal three weeks 
 after us, arrived here a few days since, from which 
 I learn with much satisfaction, that the Commander- 
 in-Chief and his family arrived at Fort William on 
 the 13th of March ; and I have written a few lines of 
 congratulation to him upon the occasion by this op- 
 portunity. 
 
 " Your intelligence from Europe must be much later 
 than any we have received ; it is therefore unnecessary 
 for me to trouble your Lordship on that subject. 
 
 "Pray do me the favour to make an offer of my 
 compliments and best wishes to your brother the 
 Cavalry Major, whose health I hope is quite restored ; 
 and do me the honour to believe that I am, with true 
 respect and regard and earnest good wishes that health 
 and happiness may constantly attend you, my dear 
 Lord, your Lordship's most obedient and most faithful 
 humble servant, ALURED CLARKE. 
 
 " P. S. Lieutenant-Colonels Cliffe and Gordon beg 
 me to solicit your Lordship's acceptance of their most 
 respectful compliments." 
 
 " Mansfield Street, Cavendish Square, 
 March 4th, 1802. 
 
 "My DEAR LORD, 
 
 " Having experienced the most marked attention 
 and kindness from Captain Adam Cumine in his pri- 
 vate capacity, as well as the most vigilant and judicious 
 conduct in the care and management of his ship during 
 the five months that we were making our passage from
 
 368 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Bengal, I feel myself called upon, no less by public 
 duty than personal regard for that excellent officer, to 
 mention him in the most favourable terms to your 
 Lordship, which I beg leave to do ; and at the same 
 time to assure you that I shall feel much obliged by 
 any civility, or kind indulgence if he should have oc- 
 casion to need it, that you may be good enoughHo 
 show him. 
 
 *' I have the pleasure of seeing Lady Wellesley fre- 
 quently, and the satisfaction to inform you that she is 
 in high health, and, hoping you will not deem it im- 
 pertinent, I may and must add, great beauty ; her 
 charming children promise to be everything you can 
 wish. I am, my Lord, with true respect and regard, 
 your Lordship's most obedient and very faithful humble 
 servant, ALURED CLARKE."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 369 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Treaties negotiated by the Marquess Wellesley with various Native 
 States. Treaties of Hyderabad. Jealousy of the Mahrattas. Closer 
 Alliance between the Nizam and the English. Surat. Historical 
 Sketch. Death of the Nawab. Negotiations with his Successor. 
 Governor Duncan proceeds from Bombay to Surat. Treaty concluded. 
 The Rajah of Nepaul seeks Refuge at Benares. Negotiations and 
 Treaty with his Highness. Negotiations with the Court of Ava. 
 Marquess Wellesley's Measures. Flight of several Thousands of 
 Agriculturists from the Burmese Territory. They take Refuge in the 
 British Dominions. Invasions of the Burmese. Negotiations. 
 Peace firmly reestablished. Letter from Col. Symes. Dr. F. Bu- 
 chanan's Mission to Mysore. Growth of Cotton in India. 
 
 IN addition to the subsidiary treaties with the Sou- 
 bahdar of the Deccan, the Rajah of Tanjore, and the 
 Rajah of Mysore, already negotiated and ratified by 
 the Marquess Wellesley, we are now called on to no- 
 tice negotiations of great permanent importance to the 
 stability of the East India Company's dominions with 
 reference to Ava, the frontier kingdom of Nepaul, and 
 Surat by the Mohammedans styled " the gate of the 
 Holy City," but frequented by many of the worshippers 
 of Zoroaster, who conducted from thence a lucrative 
 trade with the Gulfs of Persia and Arabia ; nor must 
 the additional treaty of Hyderabad escape our atten- 
 tion. The jealous, and almost hostile, spirit with 
 which the Mahrattas regarded our operations against 
 Tippoo, and the conflicts with which the southern 
 part of the peninsula was threatened from the weak 
 
 VOL. i. B B
 
 370 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and distracted condition of the Peishwah's Govern- 
 ment, pointed out the urgent necessity of adding, by 
 every practicable means, to the efficiency of the alli- 
 ance with the Nizam ; as that became the chief, and, 
 after the defection of the Peishwah, the only means of 
 protecting the British possessions, and those of its 
 allies, in a state of peace and tranquillity. 
 
 For the attainment of this object, it was necessary 
 to add to the strength of the subsidiary force with the 
 Nizam ; and to adopt measures that would secure the 
 English Government against those risks, to which it 
 was probable this connexion would be early exposed, 
 from the weak and fluctuating councils of that Prince. 
 
 To effect this important point, nothing seemed so 
 desirable, as to commute the monthly pecuniary pay- 
 ment of subsidy for a cession of territory. The advan- 
 tages of such an arrangement were manifold, and 
 obvious. An end would undoubtedly be put, by its 
 adoption, to that constant recurrence of irritation, 
 which must always be expected to attend large pecu- 
 niary payments from sordid or extravagant Courts. 
 The resources upon which the support of a large Eng- 
 lish force must depend, would be placed in the hands 
 of the British Government, instead of being in those of 
 another state, whose imprudence, distress, or treachery, 
 might, at any critical moment, endanger the general 
 safety. And the wish which, it was possible, a future 
 weak or fickle administration at Hyderabad might en- 
 tertain, of freeing that state from a connexion, from 
 which it might think it had derived all the benefit 
 that it could expect, and the expense of which conti- 
 nued a burden upon its finances, would cease to ope-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 371 
 
 rate ; when it had, by a cession of territory, paid in 
 perpetuity, and by advance, for the services of the 
 corps by which its dominions were protected. These 
 were among the leading considerations which induced 
 Lord Wellesley to enter into the negotiation with the 
 Nizam ; which terminated in the conclusion of a new 
 treaty with that Prince, bearing date the 12th of Octo- 
 ber, 1800. 
 
 By this treaty, the British Government engaged to 
 permit no power nor state whatever to commit with 
 impunity any act of unprovoked aggression or hostility 
 upon the territories of the Nizam : and to enable the 
 Company to fulfil this engagement in an efficient man- 
 ner, two battalions of sepoys, and a regiment of native 
 cavalry, were permanently added to the subsidiary 
 force to be maintained by the state of Hyderabad. To 
 secure the constant and regular payment of this aug- 
 mented force, the Nizam ceded in perpetuity to the 
 Company all the territories which he had acquired by 
 the treaty of Seringapatam in 1792, and the treaty of 
 Mysore in 1799. With a view of preserving a well- 
 defined boundary, some changes were made in this 
 cession ; the Nizam retaining Kupoor, Gujunder, Ghur, 
 &c., and giving Adone, &c., in their lieu, countries 
 situated to the south of the river Toombuddrah, which, 
 by this settlement, formed the boundary between the 
 two states. 
 
 In the event of war taking place between the con- 
 tracting parties and a third state, the Nizam agreed, 
 that the whole of the subsidiary force, except two bat- 
 talions, which were to be kept near his person, were to 
 be employed against the enemy ; and that the force 
 
 B B 2
 
 372 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 was, on such event, to be immediately joined by six 
 thousand infantry, and nine thousand horse of his own 
 troops. 
 
 The Nizam also agreed to enter into no negotiation 
 with other states, without informing and consulting 
 the Company's Government : and the latter agreed, 
 that it would in no instance interfere with the Nizam's 
 children, relations, or subjects ; with respect to whom 
 it would always consider him absolute. 
 
 The Mzam engaged not to commit hostilities against 
 any other state ; and, in the event of differences aris- 
 ing between him and another power, it was stipulated, 
 that they were to be adjusted by the Company's Go- 
 vernment, and that the Nizam was to acquiesce in the 
 justice of its decision. 
 
 It was stipulated, that in the event of either the 
 Peishwah, Ragojee, Bhonslah, or Doulut Row Scindiah, 
 desiring to be a party in this treaty, they should be 
 admitted to all its advantages. 
 
 The revenue of the territories ceded to the Company 
 by this treaty was about 1,758,000 of pagodas : but 
 their importance, in a political and military point of 
 view, was still greater than their pecuniary value : for 
 this cession, while it terminated, as has been shown, 
 those constant recurring causes of irritation, to which 
 we were subject as long as this payment was made in 
 monthly instalments, added, from the local situation of 
 the districts, to the security of the former possessions 
 of the Company on the coast of Coromandel, and to 
 those of the new state of Mysore ; to both of which 
 they formed a defined and good military barrier. 
 
 It has been before stated, that the British Govern-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 373 
 
 ment had reserved a considerable portion of the con- 
 quered territories of Tippoo Sultaun, to be given to 
 the Peishwah, on the condition of that Prince acceding 
 to an alliance calculated to preserve the general tran- 
 quillity. Badjerow, however, acting under the control 
 of Doulut Row Scindiah, who continued with a large 
 army, and almost the whole of his French brigades, at 
 Poonah, rejected this equitable proposal ; and the re- 
 served territory was shared agreeably to the stipula- 
 tions of the partition treaty between the English 
 Government and that of Hyderabad.* 
 
 In a dispatch to the Court of Directors, dated June, 
 1800, the Marquess Wellesley mentions his intention of 
 directing his attention to the circumstances of Nepaul : 
 " I have the honour to inform your Honourable Com- 
 mittee that the Rajah Nepaul arrived at Benares on the 
 18th ultimo, having judged it necessary to seek refuge 
 in the Company's territories from the designs which he 
 supposed to be entertained by his disaffected subjects 
 against his person. This Rajah had formally abdicated 
 the government (about eighteen months before his 
 flight) in favour of an infant son ; but had continued 
 to interfere occasionally in the direction of aifairs. It 
 appears that he had ultimately resumed the whole 
 administration of the government, and had exercised 
 it with a degree of rigour which had excited a general 
 spirit of revolt. I have directed my agent at Benares, 
 to manifest to the Rajah every possible mark of respect 
 and attention, and I entertain considerable expecta- 
 tions that I shall be enabled to improve this occurrence 
 to the attainment of such a degree of influence in the 
 
 * Malcolm.
 
 374 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 government of Nepaul, as may open the prospect of 
 establishing a commercial intercourse with that country 
 mutually beneficial to both states." On the 30th of Oc- 
 tober, the following treaty was negotiated by the Gover- 
 nor-General with the Rajah of Nepaul : 
 
 " Whereas it is as evident as the noon-day sun to the 
 enlightened understanding of exalted nobles and of 
 powerful chiefs and rulers, that Almighty God has 
 entrusted the protection and government of the uni- 
 verse to the authority of princes, who make justice 
 their principle, and that by the establishment of a 
 friendly connexion between them universal happiness 
 and prosperity is secured, and that the more intimate 
 the relation of amity and union, the greater is the 
 general tranquillity ; in consideration of these circum- 
 stances, his Excellency the most noble the Governor- 
 General Marquess Wellesley, &c. &c. and the Maha 
 Rajah have established a system of friendship between 
 the respective Governments of the Company and the 
 Rajah of Nepaul, and have agreed to the following 
 articles. 
 
 " Art. 1 . It is necessary and incumbent upon the 
 principals and oificers of the two governments con- 
 stantly to exert themselves to improve the friendship 
 subsisting between the two states, and to be zealously 
 and sincerely desirous of the prosperity and success of 
 the government and subjects of both. 
 
 "Art. 2. The incendiary and turbulent represen- 
 tations of the disaflected, who are the disturbers of our 
 mutual friendship, shall not be attended to, without 
 investigation and proof. 
 
 " Art. 3. The principals and officers of both govern-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 375 
 
 nients will cordially consider the friends and enemies 
 of either state to be the friends and enemies of the 
 other ; and this consideration must ever remain per- 
 manent and in force, from generation to generation. 
 
 " Art. 4. If any one of the neighbouring powers of 
 either state should commence any altercation or dispute, 
 and design, without provocation, unjustly to possess 
 himself of the territories of either country, and should 
 entertain hostile intentions with the view of taking that 
 country, the Vakeels on the part of our respective 
 government at either court will fully report all par- 
 ticulars to the head of the state, who, according to the 
 obligations of friendship subsisting between the two 
 states, after having heard the said particulars, will give 
 whatever answer and advice may be proper. 
 
 " Art. 5. Whenever any dispute of boundary and 
 territory between the two countries may arise, such 
 dispute shall be decided, through our respective Vakeels 
 or our officers, according to the principles of justice 
 and right ; and a land-mark shall be placed upon the 
 said boundary, and which shall constantly remain, that 
 the officers, both now and hereafter, may consider it as 
 a guide, and not make any encroachment. 
 
 " Art. 6. Such places as are upon the frontiers of 
 the dominions of the Nabob Vizier and of Nepaul, and 
 respecting which any dispute may arise, such dispute 
 shall be settled by the mediation of the Vakeel on the 
 part of the Company, in the presence of one from the 
 Nepaul Government, and one from his Excellency the 
 Vizier. 
 
 " Art. 7. So many elephants, on account of Ma- 
 nickpoor, are annually sent to the Company by the
 
 376 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Rajah of Nepaul, and therefore the Governor-General, 
 with a view of promoting the satisfaction of the Rajah 
 of Nepaul, and in consideration of the improved friendly 
 connexion and of this new treaty, relinquishes and fore- 
 goes the tribute above mentioned, and directs that the 
 officers of the Company, both now and hereafter, from 
 generation to generation, shall never, during the con- 
 tinuance of the engagement contracted by this treaty 
 (so long as the conditions of this treaty shall be in 
 force), exact the elephants from the Rajah. 
 
 " Art. 8. If any of the dependants or inhabitants 
 of either country should fly and take refuge in the 
 
 / / 
 
 other, and a requisition should be made for such per- 
 sons, on the part of the Nepaul Government, by its 
 constituted Yakeel in attendance on the Governor- 
 General, or on the part of the Company's Government, 
 by its representative residing at Nepaul, it is, in this 
 case, mutually agreed, that if such person should have 
 fled after transgressing the laws of his government, it is 
 incumbent upon the principals of both governments 
 immediately to deliver him up to the Yakeel at their 
 respective courts, that he may be sent in perfect secu- 
 rity to the frontiers of their respective territories. 
 
 " Art. 9. The Maha Rajah of Nepaul agrees, that a 
 Pergunnah, with all the lands attached to it, excepting 
 privileged lands and those appropriated to religious 
 purposes and to Jaggeers, &c. which are specified sepa- 
 rately in the account of collections, shall be given up to 
 Samee Jeo, for his expenses, as a present. The con- 
 ditions, with respect to Samee Jeo,* are, that if he 
 should remain at Benares, or at any other place within 
 
 * The Ex-Rajah of Nepaul.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 377 
 
 the Company's provinces, and should spontaneously 
 farm his Jaggeer to the officers of Nepaul, in that 
 event the amount of collections shall be punctually 
 paid to him, agreeably to certain kists which may be 
 hereafter settled ; that he may appropriate the same to 
 his necessary expenses, and that he may continue in 
 religious abstraction, according to his agreement, which 
 he had engraved on brass, at the time of his abdication 
 of the Raj,* and of his resigning it in my favour. 
 Again, in the event of his establishing his residence 
 in his Jaggeer, and of his realizing the collections 
 through his own officers, it is proper that he should 
 not keep such a one and other disaffected persons in 
 his service ; and besides one hundred men and maid 
 servants, &c. he must not entertain any persons as 
 soldiers, with a view to the collection of the revenue of 
 the Pergunnah ; and to the protection of his person he 
 may take two hundred soldiers of the forces of the 
 Nepaul Government, the allowances of whom shall be 
 paid by the Rajah of Nepaul. He must be cautious, 
 also, of commencing altercation, either by speech or 
 writing ; neither must he give protection to the rebel- 
 lious and fugitives of the Nepaul country, nor must he 
 commit plunder and devastation upon the subjects of 
 Nepaul. In the event of such delinquency being proved, 
 to the satisfaction of the two governments, the aid and 
 protection of the Company shall be withdrawn from 
 him ; and in that event, also, it shall be at the option 
 of the Rajah of Nepaul, whether or not he will con- 
 fiscate his Jaggeer. 
 
 " The Maha Rajah also agrees on his part, that if 
 
 * Government.
 
 378 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Samee Jeo should take up his residence within the 
 Company's provinces, and should farm out his land to 
 the officers of Nepaul, and that the kists should not be 
 paid according to agreement, or that he should fix his 
 residence on his Jaggeer, and any of the inhabitants of 
 Nepaul should give him or the Ryots of his Pergunnah 
 any molestation, a requisition shall be made by the 
 Governor-General and the Company, on this subject, to 
 the Rajah. The Governor-General is security for the 
 Rajah's performance of this condition, and the Maha 
 Raja will immediately acquit himself of the requisition 
 of the Governor-General, agreeably to what is above 
 written. If any profits should arise in the collection 
 of the said Pergunnah, in consequence of the activity 
 of the officers, or any defalcation occurs from their in- 
 attention, in either case, the Rajah of Nepaul will be 
 totally unconcerned. 
 
 "Art. 10. With a view of carrying into effect the 
 different objects contained in this treaty, and of pro- 
 moting other verbal negotiation, the Governor-General 
 and the Rajah of Nepaul, under the impulse of their 
 will and pleasure, depute a confidential person to each 
 other as Yakeel, that remaining in attendance upon 
 their respective governments, they may effect the objects 
 above specified, and promote whatever may tend to the 
 daily improvement of the friendship subsisting between 
 the two states. 
 
 "Art. 11. It is incumbent upon the principals and 
 officers of the two states, that they should manifest the 
 regard and respect to the Yakeel of each other's govern- 
 ment, which is due to their rank, and is prescribed by 
 the laws of nations ; and that they should endeavour,
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 379 
 
 to the utmost of their power, to advance any object 
 which they may propose, and to promote their ease, 
 comfort, and satisfaction, by extending protection to 
 them; which circumstances are calculated to improve 
 the friendship subsisting between the two governments, 
 and to illustrate the good name of both states through- 
 out the universe. 
 
 "Art. 12. It is incumbent upon the Vakeels of 
 both states, that they should hold no intercourse what- 
 ever with any of the subjects or inhabitants of the 
 country, excepting with the officers of government, 
 without the permission of those officers ; neither should 
 they carry on any correspondence with any of them : 
 and if they should receive any letter or writing from 
 any such people, they should not answer it without 
 the knowledge of the head of the state, and acquaint- 
 ing him "of the particulars which will dispel all appre- 
 hension or doubt between us, and manifest the sincerity 
 of our friendship. 
 
 " Art. 13. It is incumbent upon the principals and 
 officers mutually to abide by the spirit of this treaty, 
 which is now drawn out according to their faith and 
 religion, and deeming it in force from generation to 
 generation, that they should not deviate from it : and 
 any person who may transgress against it, will be 
 punished by Almighty God, both in this world and in a 
 future state. 
 
 (A true translation.) " C. RUSSELL, 
 
 " Assistant Persian Translator." 
 " Ratified by the Governor-General and Council, 
 " 30th October, 1801."
 
 380 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 In 1798, while engaged in preparations against 
 Tippoo Sultaun, and endeavouring to disarm the French 
 corps of 14,000 men in the service of the Nizam, the 
 Governor-General opened communications with the 
 Peishwah in the hope of bringing that Mahratta 
 prince into closer relations with the Government of 
 Fort William. The Court of Poonah, however, de- 
 clined the overtures of the British resident ; cau- 
 tiously waiting the result of the attack on Seringa- 
 patam, and probably resolved to side with the Sul- 
 taun in the event of his being victorious, or on the 
 arrival of the French succours. Into the memorable 
 proceedings respecting the Mahratta empire, which led 
 to the splendid military achievements of " Lake,"* 
 and "General Wellesley," we shall have occasion to 
 enter at length in another part of these volumes. 
 
 The treaty with the Nabob of Surat was con- 
 cluded on the 13th of May, 1801. After the con- 
 quest of Hindostan by the Mohammedans, Surat was 
 the chief port at which they embarked on their 
 pilgrimage to Mecca. When the Europeans first dis- 
 covered the passage by the Cape of Good Hope, it 
 was the greatest, place of maritime commerce on the 
 continent of India ; being in immediate communication 
 with the richest provinces in the Mogul empire, and 
 conveniently situated for trading, not only with the 
 western coast of that continent, but with the Gulfs of 
 Persia and Arabia. The Portuguese were the first Eu- 
 ropeans that reached the western coast of India by sea : 
 after establishing themselves at Calicut, Goa, and 
 Damaun, they began to trade with Surat, about 1561. 
 
 * General, afterwards Lord Lake.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 381 
 
 In 1603 Mr. Middenhall, a London merchant, reached 
 Agra, and, in 1606, obtained an ample grant of com- 
 mercial privileges by a firmaun from the Emperor 
 Jehanghir. In 1610 Sir Henry Middleton, on pro- 
 ceeding to Surat, found some Portuguese ships ready to 
 oppose him, and was therefore obliged to fight for our 
 first trifling trade with the inhabitants of Hindostan ; 
 and this was the commencement of a series of actions 
 fought with the Portuguese by Captain Best in 1612 
 and 1613, and by Captain Downton in 1614, in all of 
 which the English were successful. The consequence 
 of these successes was, that a factory was established 
 at Surat, by treaty with the Governor of Ahmedabad, 
 in December, 1612, and confirmed by an imperial fir- 
 maun in 1613. The Dutch also came to Surat about 
 this time, and became powerful rivals to the English, 
 as well as to the Portuguese : they carried on a thriv- 
 ing trade for about a century. The French were long 
 after the Dutch and English in trading to Surat ; and 
 though they had a factory there, they never prospered, 
 and at last abandoned it without paying their debts. 
 In 1615 Sir Thomas Roe landed at Surat, whence he 
 proceeded to the Emperor at Agra, and obtained grants 
 for the establishment of factories at Surat, Cambay, 
 and elsewhere. Surat now became the chief station of 
 the East India Company on the west coast of India. 
 In 1635, however, a rival association was formed in 
 England, at the head of which was Sir William Courten, 
 one of whose ships seized and plundered two native 
 junks belonging to Surat and Diu. In reprisal, the 
 president and council were imprisoned by the Moham- 
 medan Governor of Surat (the Nawab), and the pro-
 
 382 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 perty of the factory was confiscated. Though the fac- 
 tory was soon afterwards reestablished, the English 
 trade continued in a declining state. In January, 
 1664, Sevajee, the founder of the Mahratta power, 
 made a predatory attack on Surat. The inhabitants 
 fled into the country, and the Nawab shut himself up 
 in his castle. Sevajee proceeded to plunder the city, 
 and at the same time invested the castle, and de- 
 manded the surrender of the factory. Sir George 
 Oxenden was then the chief of the English factory. 
 Sir George's answer to Sevajee's demand was : " We 
 are here on purpose to maintain the house to the 
 death of the last man, and therefore delay not your 
 coining upon us." Sir George called in the aid of the 
 ships' crews : they made sorties with such gallantry as 
 to prevent Sevajee from plundering the part of the 
 town in which the English factory was situated, and he 
 soon after retired. The Nawab presented Sir George 
 with a Kelaut, and recommended the interests of 
 the Company to Aurungzebe with such effect, that 
 the Emperor, by a firmaun, remitted the customs at 
 Surat to all merchants for one year, and granted a 
 perpetual remission of a part of the duties to the Eng- 
 lish in particular. Surat continued to be the chief 
 seat of government, under the East India Company, 
 till 1686, when it was removed to Bombay. In 1787, 
 the conduct of Sir John Child having exasperated 
 Aurungzebe, the factories at Surat, Bombay, and other 
 places were seized ; but after making submission, they 
 were restored. Surat was fined 150,000 rupees. The 
 city was afterwards partially pillaged by the Mahrat- 
 tas more than once, and the Nawab was obliged to
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 383 
 
 pay them an annual tribute, or chout. The expense 
 which the British incurred by maintaining the defences 
 of the castle of Surat exceeded the allowance made by 
 the JSTawab for its support ; and the English authorities 
 were desirous of having part of the Nawab's disorderly 
 troops disbanded and the revenue increased so as to 
 maintain three local battalions. In 1799 while the 
 negotiation was pending the Nawab died, leaving an 
 infant son and a brother, who claimed the throne. 
 The dispute in the succession afforded the Government 
 a plea for interference, and by the active exertions of 
 Mr. Governor Duncan, who proceeded from Bombay to 
 Surat, the following treaty, drawn up by the Marquess 
 Wellesley was finally agreed upon : 
 
 Articles of Agreement between the Honourable East 
 India Company and their successors, and the Nabob 
 Nasur-ud-Deen-Khan, &c., &c., and his heirs and 
 successors, for the better administration of the Go- 
 vernment of the city of Surat and its dependencies. 
 
 " Whereas the Honourable English East India Com- 
 pany have been subjected to a heavy expense for the 
 protection of the city of Surat, and whereas the exist- 
 ing system of internal government in the said city has 
 been found inadequate to the protection of the persons 
 and property of the inhabitants ; and whereas the 
 Right Honourable the Earl of Mornington, Governor- 
 General of the British Possessions in India, and the 
 Nabob Nasur-ud-Deen, &c. are mutually desirous of 
 providing more effectually for the external defence of 
 the city of Surat, and for the security, ease, and hap- 
 piness of the inhabitants ; the following articles of
 
 384 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 agreement are concluded on behalf of the Honourable 
 English East India Company and their successors, by 
 the Honourable Jonathan Duncan, Governor of Bombay, 
 vested with full powers, for that purpose, by the said 
 Governor-General on the one part, and by the Nabob 
 Nasur-ul-Deen, and his heirs and successors, on the 
 other part. 
 
 "Art. 1. The friendship subsisting between the 
 Honourable English Company and the Nabob Nasur- 
 ul-Deen Khan, &c. &c. is hereby strengthened and con- 
 firmed, and the friends and the enemies of one shall be 
 considered to be the friends and enemies of the other. 
 
 "Art. 2. The Nabob Nasur-ul-Deen agrees, that the 
 management and collection of the revenues of the city 
 of Surat, and of the territories, places, and other depen- 
 dencies thereof, the administration of civil and criminal 
 justice, and generally the whole civil and military 
 government of the said city and its dependencies, shall 
 be vested for ever, entirely and exclusively, in the 
 honourable English Company. 
 
 "Art. 3. It is agreed that the Nabob shall be treated 
 on all occasions with the same respect and distinction 
 as his predecessors. 
 
 "Art. 4. The English Company agree to pay to the 
 Nabob Nasur-ul-Deen and his heirs, out of the revenues 
 of Surat and its dependencies, in four equal quarterly 
 payments, one lac of rupees annually, which shall be 
 considered to be the first charge payable from the said 
 revenues. The Company also engage to pay to the 
 said Nabob and his heirs, in addition to the above- 
 mentioned lac of rupees, a proportion of one fifth part 
 of the annual revenues now arising, or which may here-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 385 
 
 after arise, from the said city and its dependencies, 
 after deducting the said lac of rupees, the sum payable 
 to the Mahrattas and the charges of collection. The 
 residue of the revenues, after the foregoing deductions, 
 shall be at the disposal of the said Company. 
 
 "Art. 5. In order that the Nabob may at all times 
 have full satisfaction, in respect to the revenues of 
 Surat and its dependencies, he, the said Nabob, shall 
 be at liberty to inspect all the accounts thereof, from 
 time to time, or to station a vakeel, or accountant, at 
 his own expense, in all or any of the offices of collec- 
 tion, for the purpose of taking and transmitting to his 
 Excellency copies of all or any of the accounts of the 
 said revenues. 
 
 "Art. 6. Courts shall be established for the due ad- 
 ministration of civil and criminal justice ; which courts, 
 agreeably to the stipulations in the second article, shall 
 be under the sole authority of the English East India 
 Company. The said court shall be composed of 
 officers to be appointed by the Governor in council of 
 Bombay for the time oeing, and shall be conducted 
 according to such ordinances and regulations (framed 
 with a due regard to the existing laws and usages of 
 the country) as shall, from time to time, be published 
 by the said Governor in council. 
 
 "Art. 7. In complaints brought before the courts of 
 justice, in which it shall appear, either by the applica- 
 tion of the Nabob, or the representation of the defen- 
 dant, at or before the time of giving in his or her 
 answer, or by the petition of the complainant, that 
 both parties are relations or servants of the Nabob, it 
 is agreed, that such parties shall, in the first instance, 
 
 VOL. i. c c
 
 386 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 be referred for justice to the Nabob, or to any person 
 he may appoint to dispense it. Any complaint against 
 the relations or immediate servants of the Nabob, by 
 persons of a different description, shall, in the first in- 
 stance, be made to the chief civil servant of Surat, who 
 shall refer it to the Nabob, who hereby engages to 
 order an immediate investigation to be made, or in 
 case the parties should desire it, to order the disputes 
 to be referred to a proper arbitration, the Nabob en- 
 gaging to bring it to a direct issue, and to carry the 
 sentence or award, if unfavourable to his relation or 
 servant, into immediate execution. 
 
 "By order of the Right Honourable the Governor-Ge- 
 neral in council. 
 
 (Signed). "G. H. BARLOW," 
 
 " Chief Secretary to the Government." 
 
 In the Marquess Wellesle/s correspondence with 
 Sir Alured Clarke, the hostile demonstrations of the 
 Burmese are more than once referred to. In a 
 dispatch, June 1800, his Lordship mentioned to the 
 Court of Directors the steps he had taken in con- 
 sequence. " Captain Hill returned from his mission 
 to Arracan in the month of May last. He was soon 
 followed by an ambassador from thence in pursuance 
 of orders from the King of Ava. I have lately 
 dismissed this ambassador with such explanations 
 and assurances with regard to the emigrants from 
 Arracan as I trust will satisfy the Court of Ava, and 
 contribute to maintain the harmony subsisting between 
 the two Governments." The Mughs, an agricultural 
 race settled in Arracan, being subjected to the most
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 387 
 
 cruel oppression and bondage by the Burmese, emi- 
 grated in thousands, in the years 1797 and 1798, to 
 the district of Chittagong, where many of their brethren 
 had found refuge, and experienced the tranquil blessings 
 of British rule. The Burmese, animated with the 
 spirit of the Pharaoh who pursued the children of Israel 
 under pretty similar circumstances, invaded the British 
 territory for the purpose of bringing back the emi- 
 grants : this invasion produced the hostilities and 
 negotiations alluded to. In 1798 nearly 30,000 of 
 these wretched beings sought safety in the English ter- 
 ritory. The fugitives were to be seen flying through 
 the wilds and deserts without any preconcerted plan, 
 numbers dying from want, famine, and fatigue. The 
 road to the Naaf river the boundary between the 
 English and Burman territories was strewed with the 
 bodies of the aged, and of women and infants who 
 perished on the journey. 
 
 " I anticipate," says Captain Cox, " the sensations of 
 the Honourable Board on perusing this statement, so 
 afflicting to humanity ; and I dismiss all fear of being 
 deemed improperly importunate in earnestly entreating 
 their early decision on the means of terminating the 
 sufferings of the emigrants. The good of the state de- 
 mands the encouragement of cultivation in this fair, 
 fertile, and hitherto neglected district. I am decidedly 
 of opinion that the whole of the emigrants should be 
 settled together : collected, they will materially assist 
 and comfort each other ; they may more easily be pro- 
 tected from the injuries to which their ignorance ex- 
 poses them. Governed by their own laws and customs, 
 they will soon be naturalized to the soil, increase 
 
 c c 2
 
 388 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 rapidly in strength and numbers, and become a useful 
 and flourishing colony ; while, if dispersed, individuals, 
 indeed, might derive temporary benefit, but the ma- 
 jority would probably drag out a wretched, vagabond 
 life, and, at no distant period, become extinct. 
 
 " The situation which I should recommend for their 
 settlement is the district between the Mars Callis or 
 Ramoo river, and the Naaf. My reasons for this choice 
 are as follows : 
 
 " 1st. The emigrants themselves prefer it. 
 
 " 2nd. The lands are almost entirely unoccupied, 
 and nearly free of legal claims, so that their settlement 
 on them will be less difficult or expensive. 
 
 " 3rd. They are, for the most part, under forest, 
 and being so remote a frontier, hitherto subject to in- 
 cursions of an active and audacious enemy, no other 
 description of persons would choose to undertake the 
 arduous task of clearing them. 
 
 " 4th. The former refugees, being already settled 
 on the borders of this district, will render material as- 
 sistance to this infant colony. 
 
 " 5th. The vicinity of the sea, and three navigable 
 rivers, will prove an abundant resource in the article 
 of provisions, as the natives of Arracan are very expert 
 fishermen. 
 
 " 6th. The great, and indeed the only, objection 
 that I know of to the settling of the emigrants in this 
 district is, that it will be an eternal cause of jealousy 
 to their former masters, and that their predatory incur- 
 sions into Arracan may provoke an inextinguishable 
 rupture with the Burmah Government. 
 
 " In respect to the first branch of this objection, I
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 389 
 
 have to reply that the rupture was not of our seeking, 
 and humanity has already decided the choice of our 
 alternative. In respect to the second, assuredly every 
 irregularity may be prevented by the establishment of 
 a proper post on the Naaf, and the vigilant administra- 
 tion of the person who may be appointed to govern 
 this district." 
 
 In 1802 Marquess Wellesley sent Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Symes as ambassador to the Court of Ava ; a strong 
 force being at the same time posted on the frontier of 
 Chittagong. Confidence was restored ; the Burmese 
 became satisfied of the friendly disposition of the 
 British Government, and peace was permanently re- 
 stored. 
 
 FROM COLONEL SYMES TO CAPTAIN MERRICK SHAWE, 
 PRIVATE SECRETARY TO MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 19th April, 1803. 
 
 "DEAR SHAWE, 
 
 "I request you will present the accompanying 
 papers and letters to Lord Wellesley, and signify his 
 Lordship's pleasure to me. 
 
 " I by no means think it of material consequence to 
 send any thing to these people ;* they have cost us 
 a great deal too much already ; but it may be worth 
 while by a trifle to keep them in good humour for a 
 short time longer. 
 
 " I am desirous of sending the Viceroy of Pegu a 
 present of some fine otto of roses and cloth, black or 
 red on one side and white on the other, for which he 
 
 * The royal family of Ava.
 
 390 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 expressed a wish ; he will desire to pay for what I may 
 send, which I would not admit of under any circum- 
 stances. The royal family never pay for anything. 
 
 " I have been confined to the house since the day I 
 last dined with Lord Wellesley, I am better, but much 
 reduced by medicine. 
 
 " Take care of the picture and the Burmese list. I 
 send a drawing of a hairy -faced Burmese boy, executed 
 by a Burmese ; the head is an exact resemblance. 
 Show it to Lord Wellesley, but do not lose it. Yours 
 sincerely. " M. SYMES." 
 
 Scarcely had the conquest of Mysore been achieved 
 and a subsidiary treaty adjusted with the new govern- 
 ment, than Lord Wellesley with that decision and 
 promptitude which characterised his administration, 
 and so remarkably influenced the conduct of the war, 
 determined on exploring the resources and the general 
 condition of the allied and ceded countries with a view 
 to the improvement of both. Dr. Francis Buchanan, 
 M. D., F. R. S., was the person selected for this im- 
 portant mission. In the Governor-General's instruc- 
 tions, dated 24th of February, 1800, the attention 
 of Dr. Buchanan was directed to the agriculture of 
 the country, as the first and great essential object 
 of his journey. The different kinds of esculent 
 vegetables, the modes of cultivation, and machinery 
 adopted for watering the grounds ; the different breeds 
 of cattle, the extent and tenures of the farms, and the 
 usual price of labour ; the cultivation and the prepa- 
 ration of cotton, pepper, sandal-wood, cardamums, and 
 the means by which these may be extended, the state
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 391 
 
 of manufactures and manufacturers, the climate and 
 seasons of Mysore ; and lastly, the general condition of 
 the inhabitants with respect to food, clothing and habi- 
 tations, as well as the subdivision of castes and tribes 
 prevalent among them. It was stated by his Lordship 
 that the information expected to result from this inves- 
 tigation, might not only prove advantageous to Mysore 
 itself, but that a comparison with the situation of other 
 parts of the Company's territories in those particulars 
 might eventually lead to improvements in agriculture 
 there also, and open channels of commerce hitherto 
 unexplored. 
 
 The result of the Rev. Dr. Buchanan's researches 
 were published in 1807, in a work of which the follow- 
 ing is the title, which indicates the whole scope of the 
 publication : " A journey from Madras, through the 
 countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar, performed 
 under the orders of the Most Noble the Marquess of 
 Wellesley, Governor-General of India, for the express 
 purpose of investigating the state of agriculture, arts, 
 and commerce ; the religion, manners and customs ; 
 the history, natural and civil ; and the antiquities in 
 the dominions of the Rajah of Mysore, and the coun- 
 tries acquired by the Honourable East India Company 
 in the late and former wars from Tippoo Sultaun." 
 
 The importance to Great Britain of promoting the 
 growth of cotton in British India had not escaped 
 the sagacious mind of the Marquess Wellesley. He 
 was anxious to obtain the fullest information respect- 
 ing the capabilities of the soil, the extent to which 
 the cultivation of the cotton plant was carried in My- 
 sore and other parts of the Indian peninsula, the mode
 
 392 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of culture, preparation, &c. ; in the hope that England 
 would ultimately derive a large supply of cotton from 
 her Asiatic dominions. Nearly half a century has 
 elapsed since the Marquess Wellesley directed Dr. 
 Francis Buchanan's attention to this subject, and still 
 little has been done to extend the growth of cotton in 
 British India. England, it has been stated, pays to 
 the United States of America, for cotton, the enormous 
 sum of fifteen millions sterling every year. Every 
 man who wishes well to his country and to the 
 human kind, must desire to see friendly and frater- 
 nal intercourse 
 
 " Free as the winds and chainless as the sea" 
 
 maintained between Great Britain and the Anglo-Saxon 
 Republic in the New World ; but it cannot be sound 
 policy to allow ourselves to be utterly dependant upon 
 a foreign state for an essential article, which our own 
 territories are unquestionably capable of producing. 
 Beside, the neglect of the cotton plant in India indi- 
 rectly compels the English nation to prop up the in- 
 stitution of slavery in America, " the vilest that ever 
 saw the sun."* 
 
 * Rev. John Wesley's words on his death-bed."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 393 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 Free Trade. Observations on the General Question. Lord Wellesley's 
 Measures respecting the Trade of India. Hostility excited against 
 him. Soundness of his View. Adam Smith's Theories. The Con- 
 troversies ended in 1832. Statement of the Question of the Private 
 Trade of India, by Mr. Udny, in a Minute to Marquess Wellesley. 
 His Lordship's Anxiety on the Subject. Letter to Lord Castlereagh 
 respecting Mr. Udny and the Question of Private Trade. 
 
 FREEDOM is the life of trade ; monopoly its bane. 
 These propositions, if viewed as abstract questions by 
 men unswayed by party prepossessions, or the bias of 
 self-interest, guided solely by the light of reason and 
 the principles of justice, would be regarded as econo- 
 mical axioms, the truth of which was self-evident. It 
 was intended by the Great Author of our being, that 
 nations should freely exchange their commodities with 
 each other ; the liberty of commerce is based upon 
 the law of nature. England does not produce cotton, 
 sugar, tea, oranges, &c. ; but it is peculiarly adapted 
 by its geographical position, its mineral wealth, its 
 geological formation, and the habits of its population, 
 to produce manufactured articles better and cheaper 
 than the countries where those commodities grow ; we 
 supply our wants by means of exchange, traffic, com- 
 merce ; nature itself suggests intercourse between king- 
 doms ; it has prepared the great deep as a highway for
 
 394 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 trade ; for though the sea* seems to keep different 
 countries separate, it in reality facilitates the inter- 
 course of man and man, and enables us to transfer the 
 most bulky articles from one hemisphere to another ! 
 Any interference with the liberty of trading either by 
 restrictions in peace' or blockades in time of hostilities, 
 are abnegations of the common rights of mankind, and 
 the onus probandi must always rest on those who place 
 fetters upon the freedom of action to justify such an 
 infraction of inherent rights, and such restraints on 
 natural liberty. However prepossessed a man may be 
 in favour of existing systems, it is probable that he 
 would not withhold his assent from a broad proposition 
 for the establishment of one uniform, comprehensive, and 
 general system of unfettered trade among all the nations 
 of the earth. He sees a restrictive system in the adjoin- 
 ing kingdom; he does not think it fair to give that 
 country an advantage it will not reciprocate ; he there- 
 fore retaliates by a restrictive tariff. But if it were 
 possible to begin de novo, and arrange in a convention 
 of all the maritime and commercial nations under 
 heaven one grand system of trade, which should be con- 
 structed on the most rational principles, if he had no 
 fears for existing interests, that grew up under a 
 gigantic blockade that encircled the globe, would he 
 ask for prohibitions, monopolies, or protections ? 
 
 
 
 * " If there were only land between this and America, we should have 
 no cotton ; for the carriage of it by land would cost more than it is 
 worth. Think how many horses would be wanted to draw such a load as 
 comes in one ship ; and they must eat and rest on their journey. But 
 the winds are the horses which carry the ship along ; and they cost us 
 nothing but to spread a sail." Archbishop Whately.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 395 
 
 " No ! let all lands exchange with all 
 The good which freights this foodful ball ! 
 Then will the strife of millions cease ; 
 For Free Exchange is Peace ! is Peace ! " 
 
 The controversies in which the Marquess Wellesley 
 found himself involved by his measures respecting the 
 trade of India, have lost much of their interest since 
 the abolition of the East India Company's monopolies, 
 and the general recognition, in our own day, of the 
 principles of commercial liberty ; but it cannot be un- 
 instructive to mark the career of the cause of free 
 trade which then commenced a struggle with monopoly, 
 which issued in the victory of 1832, and prepared the 
 public mind for subsequent economical changes of the 
 same liberal character. The great work of Adam Smith'"" 
 was attracting attention about the time when Lord 
 Wellesley entered upon public life ; and there can be 
 no doubt that his Lordship's views were influenced by 
 the lucid reasonings and demonstrations of that ad- 
 mirable writer. Lord Wellesley proposed a very mode- 
 rate reform of the restrictive system of the East India 
 Company ; but he was at once assailed with every 
 species of obloquy, and accused of designs against the 
 very existence of the Company ; designs which it may 
 here be stated, once for all, his Lordship never had 
 harboured. The nature of the Governor- General's 
 plans will be understood by the following minute drawn 
 up by the Honourable G. Udny, a member of the coun- 
 cil, at the request of his Excellency, on the 15th of 
 September, 1800 : 
 
 * " Wealth of Nations ;" 1784.
 
 396 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " I beg leave to ofler, with, diffidence, some obser- 
 vations upon the letter from Mr. Dundas to the chair- 
 man of the Court of Directors, which your Lordship put 
 into my hands. 
 
 " That the trade to be carried on by the East India 
 Company must be limited by the extent of their capi- 
 tal ; that this capital cannot embrace the whole trade 
 of India, that of the remainder foreigners should parti- 
 cipate in no greater degree than to the extent of their 
 own capitals ; and that the fortunes of the Company's 
 servants resident in India should, by means of this 
 trade, be carried to England, in the manner most bene- 
 ficial to their interests and to that of the mother 
 country, where it is desirable that all that capital 
 should ultimately settle, are positions established in this 
 letter. 
 
 " In arguing on the fittest mode of conducting this 
 trade, Mr. Dundas appears to consider it merely as a 
 vehicle for conveying to England the fortunes of the 
 Company's servants in India. But it may be shown 
 that this is not strictly the case. The largest portion 
 of the community of British India, viz. the servants of 
 the Company in the military, judicial, and revenue 
 lines (in Bengal at least), are prohibited from trade : of 
 their servants who engage in it, trade is for a series of 
 years carried on with a view first to acquire a fortune, 
 and only ultimately does it serve, and that perhaps but 
 in part, for the remittance of it. 
 
 " The great channels of remittance for fortunes ac- 
 quired in India are of late years, 
 
 " 1. By bills of exchange granted by the different 
 governments of India on the Court of Directors, or by
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 397 
 
 loan to the Company in India, payable at the expiration 
 of their term, in England. 
 
 " 2. By bills drawn by the mercantile houses at the 
 different presidencies upon consignments of goods made 
 by them to England, on their own proper account, or 
 by the bills of their constituents, whether servants of 
 the Company, traders, or free merchants or others out 
 of the Company's employ, upon similar consignments of 
 goods made on their behalf. 
 
 " A great part of the capital of British subjects resi- 
 dent in India thus employed in the provision of goods 
 for the purpose of consignment to England, is not that 
 the produce of them may remain there, but that it may 
 again be brought back to this country to be reinvested 
 in the trade of it. 
 
 " Mercantile houses also employ not only their own 
 capital in this trade, but the capitals of the houses of 
 agency with whom they are connected in England, and 
 some capital borrowed from thence. 
 
 " With respect to the mode in which the provision of 
 goods in India for this trade should be made, Mr. Dun- 
 das lays it down as his settled opinion, ' that no agent 
 should be employed in India or permitted to reside 
 there, except with the licence of the East India Com- 
 pany, subject to the control of such regulations as the 
 habits, prejudices, and trade of -the country may render 
 expedient, from this decisive circumstance, in addition 
 to every other consideration, that the tolerance of un- 
 licensed adventurers would lead to colonization of the 
 worst kind, tending to undermine the permanence of 
 the British power and preeminence in India.' This un- 
 questionably is the prime object to be kept in view,
 
 398 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and to which all others must be made subservient. 
 The restrictions now in force, both with respect to per- 
 sons coming to and residing in India, appear in the 
 highest degree salutary and proper. Merchants procure 
 all the goods they want from the places of their manu- 
 facture in the interior of the country, either through 
 the Company's servants, or by licensed traders residing 
 there, or through the medium of native agents. 
 
 " In this regulated way all British subjects (under no 
 prohibition) may participate in the trade ; and whatever 
 may be the speculative fancies of some men upon a 
 more unrestrained order of things, dissatisfaction is 
 rarely expressed with that which now prevails. No 
 change therefore, in this respect, seems to be either 
 desired or required. 
 
 "We never hear of difficulty in procuring goods, 
 but complaints are frequent of the want of proper con- 
 veyance for them to England after they are provided. 
 This is certainly a grievance of no small moment to the 
 merchant who wishes to act an honest part, and to con- 
 form to established regulations. With money in his 
 hands, and with a desire to speculate in the purchase of 
 goods for the English market, he is afraid to lay his 
 money out, because either he may be disappointed in 
 getting tonnage for the conveyance of it at all, or he 
 may in the customary distribution of law tonnage 
 amongst the several claimants, obtain only part of what 
 he wants ; or supposing him to be successful as to 
 quantity, the rate of freight required by the Company 
 may be so high as to preclude all expectation of profit 
 (the only incentive to speculation), by the consignment 
 of the description of goods he may wish to send. If
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 399 
 
 he trades at all, therefore, he must do it to evident dis- 
 advantage, with this additional mortification, to see 
 foreigners dealing in the same articles, and able, from 
 the advantages they possess, to overbid him in the 
 market here, and undersell him in that of Europe. 
 
 " Of the 3,000 tons allotted by law for the annual 
 conveyance of the goods of individuals from all parts 
 of India to England, the other presidencies have rarely 
 applied for their proportions; and the whole tonnage has, 
 with the exception of one year, been inadequate to the 
 supply of Bengal alone. 
 
 " The tonnage which has been occupied with Bengal 
 private goods since the Act of Parliament of 1793 has 
 had effect here, is as follows : 
 
 "In 1794-52,473 tons; 1795-65,346 do.; 
 1796-74,659 do.; 1797-83,787 do.; 1798-9 
 6,223 do. ; 1799-1800 7,748 do. 
 
 " Through the liberality of your Lordship in grant- 
 ing a facility to the trade in 1798-9 by permitting 
 ships to be hired by the Company, and afterwards relet 
 to their owners, they settling with the shippers of 
 goods for cargo and freight, the accommodation and the 
 satisfaction to both parties were very great. Though 
 this indulgence was discontinued last season, yet the 
 amount of tonnage applied for by individuals was 
 granted to the extent of the shipping which could be 
 hired for the purpose. The tonnage occupied in 
 1798-9 exceeds that of the four preceding years, and 
 1799-1800 exhibits a further considerable increase. 
 I have understood that the merchants adventured more 
 largely last year in the purchase of goods for Europe, 
 under the idea that the facilities of 1798 would have
 
 400 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 been continued to them. By being permitted to make 
 their own terms with the shippers of goods, the ship- 
 owners are enabled perfectly to assort their cargoes, to 
 fill their ships in the most advantageous manner and at 
 the most convenient times. They are freed from the 
 loss which they are subject to under the present system 
 from the delay which occurs in the payment of their 
 freight and the settlement of their accounts in England 
 by the Company (of which they complain heavily), and 
 thus they can afford to provide tonnage on terms more 
 reasonable than at present. By this mode the merchant 
 also, besides the advantage of a lower rate of freight, 
 derives another substantial benefit in the employment 
 of his capital. He has it in his power to make his 
 engagement with the ship-owner before he begins the 
 purchase of his goods ; he can buy those only which it 
 will answer for him to speculate in, at the ascertained 
 rates of freight, and he suits the amount of his provi- 
 sion exactly to the carriage he has secured for it. 
 
 " Whatever be the expediency of keeping up the 
 Company's regular shipping on their present respectable 
 and expensive footing, it can answer only for the con- 
 veyance of the Company's own valuable goods, of the 
 finer sorts of indigo, and of some other valuable com- 
 modities of individuals ; the rates of freight chargeable 
 thereon are too extravagant to be borne by sugar of 
 the Company's investment, or by the gruff goods com- 
 monly provided by individuals. The extra shipping 
 hired in England and sent out by the Company for the 
 purpose of supplying the two last-mentioned demands, 
 is at a rate beyond what the most extensive exports 
 from Bengal, viz. sugar and saltpetre, will reasonably 
 bear.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 401 
 
 " It is in vain to expect that Great Britain should 
 become the emporium of the trade of Asia until a very 
 considerable reduction be effected in the price of freight 
 between India and the mother-country, and a blow 
 be given by this means to the trade of foreigners. 
 
 " It is by the employment of Indian- built shipping 
 that this desirable reduction can be effected. The pro- 
 position of Mr. Dundas, therefore, that this description 
 of shipping shall be employed exclusively for carrying 
 the goods of individuals from India to England, is a 
 most wise, and, connected with the consideration of the 
 trade of foreigners, a necessary measure. 
 
 " It would open a prospect every way exhilarating ; 
 of increased prosperity to the country by the extension 
 of its powers of produce and manufacture, and by 
 opening new and unexplored sources of commerce; of 
 increased benefit to the merchant by unloosing his 
 hands and giving a scope for the fullest exertion of his 
 capacities ; and of increased wealth to the nation, by 
 promoting a more valuable importation into it, and 
 reducing the foreign trade with India within its natural 
 and proper bounds. 
 
 " That the shipping of India would be adequate to 
 the demand for it, there can be no doubt. At this 
 moment there are above 10,000 tons of shipping ten- 
 dered and at command in Bengal, after two ships have 
 been recently provided with cargoes to the amount of 
 1,500 tons ; timber proper for ship-building here and 
 in the vicinity abounds ; the art has arrived in Bengal 
 at a high pitch, a great number of artificers are con- 
 stantly employed, and no sooner is a ship launched than 
 the foundation of another is laid in her room. Spacious 
 
 VOL. I. D D
 
 402 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and convenient docks for repairing ships are also erected- 
 Almost every article necessary for ship-building, except 
 the timber, would come from England, namely, iron, 
 copper, nails, bolts, &c., or with canvas, guns, &c. for 
 equipment, the value of which here is said to constitute 
 full two-fifths of the cost of a ship when fitted for sea. 
 This particular branch of the manufactures of England 
 would consequently be more largely encouraged by the 
 extension of ship-building in India ; and that the manu- 
 factures of Great Britain in general would obtain a 
 greater vent, when, by a reduction of freight, they 
 could be exported to India, and sold there on cheaper 
 terms, there is just reason to suppose. 
 
 " There appears to be only one class of men who can, 
 with any propriety, express dissatisfaction at such an 
 employment as that under consideration, of India-built 
 shipping, and they are the ship-builders of Great Bri- 
 tain. It seems, however, very doubtful, whether even 
 they would suffer in the end, as, from the far greater num- 
 ber of such ships which would resort to England than 
 that now furnished by it for this trade, the expense for 
 repairs which they would require to be laid out upon 
 them there, might be expected, if not to equal, to fall 
 little short of the original outlay of construction of the 
 British shipping. 
 
 " It is understood that the employment of Indian- 
 built shipping should be confined strictly between Great 
 Britain and India. One instance has occurred lately 
 of a ship of this description, the Anna, having made a 
 voyage from England to the West Indies and back again ; 
 other similar instances, which have not come to my 
 knowledge, may have occurred.
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 403 
 
 " Mr. Dundas does not, he says, clearly perceive the 
 benefit to arise from the interference of Government, 
 in taking up the ships of India, though he sees no 
 objection to it. By means of such interference a con- 
 trol is established which provides for the employment 
 of ships duly qualified by law, and for the security of 
 the property of individuals embarked in them, the same 
 as if the property were the Company's ; by the survey 
 of the ships, their proper condition and equipment, 
 their loading in due degree, besides other important 
 and necessary regulations, amongst which are those for 
 the proper care and treatment of the seamen, whether 
 natives of Asia or of Africa, by which such ships are 
 navigated. 
 
 " But, it may be asked, will not the trade of the 
 Company suffer by such an unlimited importation of 
 Indian produce into England as this system may induce, 
 and on terms of freight more reasonable than what 
 they are obliged to pay, whereby the demand for their 
 goods will be reduced and the value of them lessened. 
 To this it may be answered, that the London sales of 
 East India goods will be affected by the aggregate im- 
 portation thereof into Europe at large, and the general 
 state of the markets there, nearly in the same degree, 
 whether the proportion imported into England itself be 
 greater or less ; and that the Company have, from the 
 long establishment of their factories, from the skill of 
 their servants, trained up and employed at them, and 
 the confidence which the manufacturers repose in them, 
 from long habit of dealing with the Company, handed 
 down to them from their forefathers, obtained so decided 
 a superiority in the provision of the most valuable 
 
 D D 2
 
 404 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 articles, piece-goods and raw silk, that individual mer- 
 chants cannot pretend, by any practicable reduction of 
 freight, to cope with them. In the article of sugar and 
 other gruff goods, the private trade is more upon a 
 par with the Company in the first purchase ; and I do 
 not see how the Company can maintain their ground in 
 the market, unless they also resort to India-built ship- 
 ping for the conveyance of such-like articles, sending 
 out only regular Indiamen to carry home their valuable 
 investments, which experience will show to be a neces- 
 sary and profitable arrangement. 
 
 " It remains to speak of the trade of foreigners to 
 this port, a subject which calls for the most serious 
 attention. 
 
 " The value of the cargoes imported into Bengal, in 
 the year 1799-1800, by Americans and Portuguese, ex- 
 ceeds one million of pounds sterling, of which 9 4 4, 8 3 4/. 
 have been imported in treasure ; whereas the value of 
 imports from England by British individuals, does not 
 amount to 600,000/. 
 
 " With such powerful means, these two foreign 
 nations have been enabled to increase their exports 
 very considerably beyond those of British subjects. 
 
 " The export trade of the Americans, in the last year, 
 is nearly double what it was on an average of the three 
 preceding years. The export trade of the Portuguese 
 has quadrupled within the same period, and but for 
 want of cargo for one of their largest ships, would have 
 borne a higher proportion. 
 
 " Even supposing that the capital with which these 
 nations trade was all their own, the proportion of the 
 trade to Bengal, which they enjoy, seems unnaturally
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 405 
 
 great, compared with that of British subjects ; but con- 
 sidering a portion of that capital, as it must be con- 
 sidered, as being the capital of British subjects, it 
 becomes a cause of alarm. 
 
 " What may be the proportion of British capital em- 
 ployed in the Portugal trade is not so clear ; but the 
 case respecting America is less doubtful. The documents 
 of the Custom House, collected by the reporter of Ex- 
 ternal Commerce, and before cited, show that not quite 
 one-fourth of the funds with which the Americans pur- 
 chased their investments the last year, came from 
 America ; 200, OOO/. in specie was imported direct 
 from London, the remainder from the other ports in 
 Europe and from the Island of Madeira, partly in ex- 
 change for the sugars of Bengal carried thither, and in 
 exchange for their own corn, sold at Madeira, and part 
 thence, it is supposed, on credit. 
 
 " Under the present system of things the Americans 
 bid fair to exclude us from the market for sugar in 
 Europe ; their ships are pouring into Bengal this sea- 
 son, and they are carrying very large cargoes of it from 
 Batavia. 
 
 " The celerity with which they conduct their commer- 
 cial operations is surprising. Instances occurred last 
 season of several of their ships disposing of their im- 
 ports, purchasing their export cargoes, and leaving the 
 port in twenty and twenty-five days from the date of 
 their arrival. 
 
 " It is impossible that British merchants can, under 
 the present order of things, cope successfully with such 
 alert rivals ; every consideration of benefit to British 
 individuals, and of advantage to the British nation, calls
 
 406 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 for speedy measures of reform respecting the trade of 
 India, to which the scarcity of English shipping avail- 
 able here this season, seems now more particularly to 
 invite. 
 
 " In addition to the immense advantages derived from 
 your Lordship's government to the British nation, by 
 securing and consolidating its dominion in India, it 
 remains, by unfettering the trade of it to British sub- 
 jects and affording to them the enjoyment of their 
 natural privileges, so far as may be consistent with the 
 rights of the Company, and thereby reducing foreigners 
 within their just and natural bounds, to draw forth all 
 the resources of these valuable possessions, and to ac- 
 complish the grand object, so long desired, of rendering 
 Great Britain the emporium of the East. I have the 
 honour to be, with great respect, my Lord, your Lord- 
 ship's most obedient and humble servant, 
 
 " G. UDNY." 
 
 The subjoined private letter to Lord Castlereagh 
 will indicate the intensity of the opposition which 
 Lord Wellesley's measures respecting the trade of 
 India encountered in Leadenhall-street, and at the 
 same time show how strongly the Governor-General 
 felt upon this question : 
 
 TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH, &C. &C. 
 (Private and Confidential.) 
 
 " Barackpore, December 31st, 1803. 
 
 " MY DEAR LORD, 
 
 " The object of this letter is to solicit your Lord- 
 ship's protection for Mr. Udny, a member of the Coun-
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 407 
 
 cil at Fort William, and a gentleman of the most 
 unblemished honour, integrity and public spirit, of 
 respectable talents, great diligence and industry, and 
 considerable knowledge in the commercial department. 
 
 "These qualifications recommended Mr. Udny to 
 my attention, and accordingly I promoted him to a 
 seat at the Board of Trade, and afterwards mentioned 
 his name as a proper person for the Council. 
 
 " Since Mr. Udny has been a member of the Council, 
 he has conducted himself with the most honourable and 
 zealous spirit of cooperation, and has afforded very 
 useful assistance in the conduct of commercial affairs. 
 His attachment to me and the services which he has 
 rendered to the public under my administration have 
 attracted the animosity of my numerous enemies in the 
 India House, and his liberal sentiments upon the ques- 
 tion of the Private Trade have injured him in the 
 opinion of the Court of Directors. 
 
 " An intimation has reached me of a design formed 
 at the India House for the supercession of Mr. Udny in 
 the Council at Fort William, either by the nomination 
 of Mr. Duncan, of Bombay, or by some other manage- 
 ment which shall sacrifice Mr. Udny to the vindictive 
 hatred of my enemies. 
 
 " It is my earnest request that your Lordship will 
 will not suffer this worthy and faithful public servant 
 to be made the victim of passions excited by his public 
 services. Mr. Udny is a very respectable and useful 
 member of this Council, and I am convinced that he 
 will cooperate with Sir George Barlow after my depar- 
 ture with the same cordiality and honour which he has 
 manifested towards me. In this confidence I most
 
 408 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 anxiously hope that your Lordship will maintain Mr. 
 Udny in his seat in Council ; and that at the expiration 
 of the prescribed period of five years, your Lordship 
 will cause his appointment to be renewed. 
 
 " This solicitation is principally founded on a just 
 sense of Mr. Udny's merits ; but it is also inseparably 
 connected with the principles of justice, and with 
 those of honourable attachment to faithful and vir- 
 tuous friendship. 
 
 " I consider my personal character and the cause of 
 my administration to be deeply involved in the pro- 
 tection of Mr. Udny against the enemies of both ; and 
 I shall feel any wound inflicted upon that meritorious 
 public officer as sensibly as if it were directly pointed 
 at my reputation. I have the honour to be, with great 
 regard and esteem, my dear Lord, your Lordship's most 
 faithful servant, WELLESLEY."
 
 MARQUESS WELLESLEY. 409 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 (1.) 
 
 Translation of the Latin Verses written by Lord Wellesley at Walmer 
 Castle, September, 1797 (vide p. 131, vol. i.) by Viscount Morpeth, 
 now Earl of Carlisle.* 
 
 " Parent of countless crimes, in headlong rage, 
 War with herself see frantic Gallia wage, 
 'Till worn and wasted by intestine strife, 
 She falls her languid pulse scarce quick with life. 
 But soon she feels, through every trembling vein, 
 New strength collected from convulsive pain : 
 Onward she moves, and sounds the dire alarm, 
 And bids insulted nations haste to arm ; 
 Spreads wide the waste of War, and hurls the brand 
 Of Civil Discord o'er each troubled land ; 
 While Desolation marks her furious course, 
 And thrones, subverted, bow beneath her force. 
 Behold ! she pours her Monarch's guiltless blood, 
 And quaffs, with savage joy, the crimson flood ; 
 Then, proud the deadly trophies to display 
 Of her foul crime, resistless bursts away, 
 Unaw'd by justice, unappall'd by fear, 
 And runs with giant strength her mad career. 
 
 " Where'er her banners float in barbarous pride, 
 Where'er her conquest rolls in sanguine tide, 
 There, the fair fabric of establish'd law, 
 There, social order, and religious awe, 
 Sink in the general wreck ; indignant there 
 Honour and Virtue fly the tainted air ; 
 Fly the mild duties of domestic life 
 That cheer the parent, that endear the wife, 
 
 * From the Anti-Jacobin, No. VII., December 25th, 1797.
 
 410 APPENDIX. 
 
 The lingering pangs of kindred grief assuage, 
 Or soothe the sorrows of declining age. 
 
 " Nor yet can Hope presage the auspicious hour, 
 When Peace shall check the rage of lawless Power ; 
 Nor yet the insatiate thirst of hlood is o'er, 
 Nor yet has Rapine ravaged every shore. 
 Exhaustless Passion feeds the augmented flame, 
 And wild Ambition mocks the voice of Shame : 
 Revenge, with haggard look and scowling eyes, 
 Surveys with horrid joy the expected prize ; 
 Prowls round each remnant of monarchic sway, 
 And dooms to certain death his fancied prey. 
 
 " For midst the ruins of each falling state, 
 One Favour'd Nation braves the general fate : 
 One favour'd nation, whose impartial laws 
 Of sober Freedom vindicate the cause ; 
 Her simple manners, midst surrounding crimes, 
 Proclaim the genuine worth of ancient times : 
 True to herself, unconquerably bold, 
 The Rights her valour gain'd she dares uphold, 
 Still with pure faith her promise dares fulfil, 
 Still bows submission to the Almighty Will. 
 
 " Just Heav'n ! how Envy kindles at the sight ! 
 How mad Ambition plans the desperate fight ! 
 With what new fury Vengeance hastes to pour 
 Her tribes of rapine from yon crowded shore ! 
 Just Heav'n ! how fair a victim at the shrine 
 Of injured Freedom shall her life resign, 
 If e'er, propitious to the vows of hate, 
 Unsteady Conquest stamp our mournful fate, 
 If e'er proud France usurp our ancient reign, 
 And ride triumphant o'er the insulted main ! 
 ***** 
 
 Far hence the unmanly thought ! The voice of Fame 
 Wafts o'er the applauding deep her Duncan's name. 
 What though the Conqueror of the Italian plains 
 Deem nothing gain'd, while this fair Isle remains, 
 Though his young breast with rash presumption glow, 
 He braves the vengeance of no vulgar foe : 
 Conqueror no more, full soon his laurel'd pride 
 Shall perish ; whelm'd in Ocean's angry tide 
 His broken bands shall rue the fatal day, 
 And scatter'd navies own Britannia's sway ! "
 
 APPENDIX. 41 1 
 
 The Army of Seringapatam under the command of 
 
 General Harris. 
 
 (Vide p. 246.) 
 
 CAVALRY. 
 
 FIRST BRIGADE. Colonel Stevenson, his Majesty's 19th 
 dragoons, and the 1st and 4th regiments of native cavalry. 
 
 SECOND BRIGADE. Colonel Pater, his Majesty's 25th 
 dragoons, and the 2nd and 3rd regiments of native 
 cavalry. 
 
 INFANTRY. 
 
 FIRST BRIGADE. Major-General Baird, his Majesty's 
 12th and 74th regiments, and the Scotch brigade. 
 
 SECOND BRIGADE. The Honourable Colonel Wellesley, 
 his Majesty's 33rd and 73rd regiments, and the regiment 
 de Meuron. 
 
 THIRD BRIGADE. Colonel Cowdie, 1st regiment, 1st bat- 
 talion, 6th regiment, and 1st battalion, 12th regiment of 
 sepoys. 
 
 FOURTH BRIGADE. Lieutenant-Colonel Gardner, 1st, 
 2nd, and 3rd battalion of Bengal volunteer sepoys. 
 
 FIFTH BRIGADE. Colonel Sherbrooke, 2nd battalion, 
 3rd regiment, 1st battalion, 8th regiment, and 2nd batta- 
 lion, 12th regiment sepoys. 
 
 SIXTH BRIGADE. Lieutenant-Colonel Suff, 2nd batta- 
 lion, 5th regiment ; 2nd battalion, 9th regiment. 
 
 GENERAL STAFF APPOINTED TO THE ARMY. 
 
 Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant-General Harris. 
 Military Secretary to ditto, Captain Macauley. 
 Private Secretary to ditto, Lieutenant-Colonel Agnew.
 
 412 APPENDIX. 
 
 Persian Interpreter to ditto, Lieutenant-Colonel Close. 
 
 Aides-de-camp to ditto, Lieutenants Marrott, Scott, and 
 Harris. 
 
 Adjutant- General to the Army, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Close. 
 
 Deputy Adjutant-General, Lieutenant-Colonel Agnew. 
 
 Acting Deputy Adjutant- General, Captain Turing. 
 
 Assistant Acting Deputy Adjutant-General Captain 
 Pearce. 
 
 Quartermaster-General to the army, Lieutenant-Co- 
 lonel Richardson. 
 
 Deputy ditto, Captain Allen. 
 
 Assistant Deputy ditto, Lieutenant B. Sydenham. 
 
 Chief Engineer, Colonel Gent. 
 
 Adjutant of Engineers, Lieutenant Frazer. 
 
 Captain of the Guides, Captain Orr. 
 
 Commissary of Stores, Lieutenant-Colonel Carlisle- 
 Deputy ditto, Captain J. Prescott. 
 
 Agent for Bullocks, Major Dallas. 
 
 Commissary of Grain, Major Hart. 
 
 Commissary of Provisions, Major Corner. 
 
 Superintendent of Bazers, Captain Macleodf. 
 
 Judge Advocate-General, Captain Leith. 
 
 Mustermaster of the Army, Captain A. Grant. 
 
 Paymaster of the Army, W. H. Gordon, Esq. 
 
 Surgeon to ditto, A. Anderson, Esq. 
 
 Commander of Pioneers, Captain Drun. 
 
 Postmaster, Captain Bond. 
 
 Subordinate Agent for the Carriage of Camp-equipage of 
 the Army, Lieutenant Berkley. 
 
 Acting Deputy Adjutant-General of his Majesty's troops, 
 Captain K. Young. 
 
 Major of Brigade, ditto, Deputy Paymaster of his Ma- 
 jesty's Troops, Colonel C. V. Hart.
 
 APPENDIX. 413 
 
 MADRAS AND BENGAL FORCES. 
 
 19th and 25th regiments of light dragoons. 
 
 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th regiments of native cavalry. 
 
 Two companies of Bengal artillery. 
 
 1st battalion of artillery. 
 
 2nd ditto. 
 
 12th, 33rd, 73rd, and 74th regiments of foot. 
 
 Scotch brigade. 
 
 Swiss regiment. 
 
 1st battalion, 1st regiment of native infantry. 
 
 2nd 
 
 55 
 
 3rd 
 
 2nd 
 
 55 
 
 5th 
 
 1st 
 
 55 
 
 6th 
 
 1st 
 
 5J 
 
 8th 
 
 2nd 
 
 M 
 
 9th 
 
 1st 
 
 55 
 
 12th 
 
 2nd 
 
 55 
 
 12th 
 
 Three battalions of Bengal volunteers. 
 
 Colonel Roberts's detachment. 
 
 1 Company of Bengal artillery. 
 
 1 coast 
 
 1st battalion 10th regiment of Bengal native infantry. 
 
 2nd 10th 
 
 2nd 2nd coast native infantry. 
 
 2nd 4th 
 
 1st llth 
 
 2nd llth 
 
 BOMBAY ARMY. 
 
 His Majesty's 75th and 77th regiments of foot. 
 
 Company's E. regiment of foot. 
 
 1st battalion, 2nd regiment of native sepoys. 
 
 2nd 2nd 55 
 
 1st 3rd 55
 
 414 APPENDIX. 
 
 2nd battalion, 3rd regiment, with detachment of the 1st 
 
 or 9th battalion. 
 
 1st 4th of native sepoys. 
 
 1st ,, 5th 
 
 Detachment of artillery and Lascars attached. 
 Detachment of engineers. 
 Pioneer corps. 
 
 (3.) 
 
 Extract of a letter from Captain Macauley to Lieute- 
 nant-Colonel Kirkpatrick, dated llth of May, 1799. 
 
 " This day the most important discoveries have been 
 made in Tippoo's palace. Papers containing the corre- 
 spondence between the Sultaun, Malartic, Sercey, Menga- 
 lon, and others, with originals and authenticated copies of 
 Tippoo^s proposals to the Islands and to the Directory of 
 France, are now copying and will be forwarded as soon as 
 possible to Lord Mornington." 
 
 Extracts from Tippoo Sultaun's Secret Correspondence 
 with Zemaun Shah and the French, translated from the 
 Original Authenticated Papers in the French and Per- 
 sian Languages, found in Seringapatam after the storm- 
 ing of the fortress and death of the Sultaun. 
 
 These documents were in the Persian and the French 
 languages : were we to print the whole series they would 
 occupy a large volume ; a few extracts, however, will serve 
 to explain the nature of their contents : 
 
 The original of these memorandums, and others which 
 are omitted, were in Tippoo Sultaun's hand-writing, in the 
 Persian language. 
 
 " Names of the three islands belonging to the English : 
 I reland Guernsey Jersey.
 
 APPENDIX. 415 
 
 " On the English island there was once the Rajah of a 
 tribe called Cosseea, a hundred years ago : the English 
 Rajah put the Rajah of the Cosseeas to death and took 
 possession of his country.* 
 
 QUESTION TO THE OFFICER OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 " What negotiations and engagements shall be entered 
 into with the French nation ? 
 
 ANSWER. 
 
 " 1st. The French troops and French commander to be 
 under the orders of Khoodadatid-f- Sircar, in military mat- 
 ters. 2ndly. After taking Cheenaputtun (Madras), it should 
 be destroyed, and let the sea overwhelm it. From Pon- 
 dicherry to Madras, territory yielding five lacs of rupees, 
 to be given to the French ; the remainder of the Cudda- 
 lore district to belong to the Khoodadaud Sircar. The 
 fort of Ginjee also to be ceded to the French. The fort of 
 Goa to belong to the Khoodadaud Sircar ; Bombay to belong 
 to the French. Srdly. The army of the Khoodadaud Sircar 
 to unite with that of the French in the conquest of Bengal. 
 
 " Such part of the territory of Bengal as may be con- 
 quered, to be equally divided between the Khoodadaud 
 Sircar and the French. 4thly, The question of war and 
 peace with the English, to be decided only by the mutual 
 advice of the parties, that is to say, the Khoodadaud Sir- 
 car and the French." 
 
 " (On the back of the original,} 
 
 " O Protector ! 
 " Belonging to the Presence." 
 
 * The reader will smile at this version of English history : the word 
 Cosseeas seems to have heen intended for Ecossais, Scotch ; and the Rajah 
 for one of the kings of Scotland. 
 
 t Literally, " God Given ;" a title assumed by Tippoo.
 
 416 APPENDIX. 
 
 The following letter, addressed to the French Directory, 
 was in the French language : 
 
 " Seringapatam, the 2nd of April, 1797, 
 
 " the 5th Year of the French Republic. 
 
 Tippoo Sultaun the Victorious to the citizens composing the 
 Executive Power of the French Republic. 
 
 * CITIZENS, 
 
 " I salute you, and wish every happiness to you and 
 your nation. Citizen Ripaud arrived in my country. After 
 having sustained an engagement, his small vessel had nearly 
 foundered at sea : as I have for a long time been desirous 
 of receiving intelligence from your nation, I brought him to 
 my usual place of residence. I questioned him with re- 
 gard to the operations of the war and to your condition, 
 and I inquired whether you thought of your ancient ally. 
 He informed me of all your plans, and of your good inten- 
 tions towards me and my country. His communications 
 gave me cordial satisfaction, and encouraged me to make 
 the present advances towards a revival of intercourse, by 
 sending to you three of my confidential chiefs to testify to 
 you my friendship, and to renew our ancient alliance. In 
 the writing which I send to you, you will perceive my 
 attachment, my disposition, and the sentiments of my heart 
 for your nation, which I have always loved. Study the 
 welfare of my country as I study that of yours. 
 " Your Ally, 
 
 (Signed) 
 Signature, or Byze, of Tippoo Sultaun. 
 
 In the annexed letter to General Mengalon, Tippoo 
 invites the French to invade India for the purpose of 
 driving out the English :
 
 APPENDIX. 417 
 
 (Original in the French language.) 
 
 " Seringapatam, the 21st of April, 1797, 
 
 " the 5th Year of the French Republic. 
 
 " CITIZEN GENERAL MENGALON, 
 
 " Since I manifested my friendship in writing to you, my 
 messengers have arrived with the following intelligence, 
 which will not be displeasing to you. 
 
 " The Nizam, an ally of the English, and the chief of the 
 Mogols, is very ill, and his great age leaves no prospect of 
 his recovery. He has four children, who are disputing the 
 right of succession; one of them who is much attached to 
 me, is the favourite of the chiefs and of the people, and is 
 expected to succeed. 
 
 "Whilst a civil war exists in the Mahratta, and Nizam's 
 dominions, the English are not better situated ; for the Na- 
 bob Mirza Amanis (Asoph ud Doula) chief of Bengal, 
 having heard of the arrival of Zemaun Shah at Delhi, com- 
 menced hostilities against them, and with some advantage. 
 At Calicut they have been attacked by the Cotiote Rajah, 
 Conjes Ram Ram, who has killed in three sallies one thou- 
 sand Europeans and three thousand sepoys. On the coast 
 of Malabar they are attacked on every side ; and the revolt 
 is general, owing to their vexatious government, and to the 
 taxes which they have imposed. 
 
 " On the coast of Coromandel, from Masulipatam to Ma- 
 dras and Arcot, their tyranny has excited revolt amongst 
 all the princes, powerful and weak, who all assert their 
 rights ; and a nephew of the Nabob of Madras, who held a 
 command under the English, has lately been killed by his 
 own chiefs, who were become desperate. 
 
 " / inform you of these events in order to prove to you that 
 it is now the moment for you to invade India. With little 
 trouble we shall drive them out of India. Rely on my friend* 
 
 ship. (Signed) 
 
 Signature or Byze of Tippoo Sultaun. 
 (A true translation.) G. G. KEBLE, 
 
 French Translator. 
 
 VOL. I, E E
 
 418 APPENDIX. 
 
 FROM TIPPOO SULTAUN TO THE FRENCH DIRECTORY. 
 
 " The Circar Coudadad to the Executive Directory, repre- 
 senting the French Republic, one and indivisible, at Paris. 
 
 " In my Palace at Seringapatam, 20th July, 1798. 
 " In the name of that friendship which the Sircar Couda- 
 dad, and the subjects of the Sircar, vow to the French 
 Republic, which friendship and alliance shall endure as 
 long as the sun and moon shine in the heavens, and which 
 shall be so solid that the most extraordinary events shall 
 neither break nor disunite them. 
 
 "The English, jealous of the connection and friendship 
 which for so long a time has subsisted between my Sircar 
 and France, some years ago united against me with the 
 Mahrattas, the Nizam Ally Khan, and my other enemies, 
 and declared a war, as odious as unjust, which lasted seve- 
 ral years, and of which the result was so fatal, that it cost 
 me three crores, and thirty lacs of rupees in money, and 
 my finest provinces. 
 
 "The Republic is certainly not ignorant of any of these 
 unfortunate circumstances, nor of the many efforts I made 
 to dispute, inch by inch, the possession of that country, 
 which at last I was obliged to relinquish to our common 
 enemy. I should not have been driven to such cruel sacri- 
 fices had I been aided by my ancient allies the French, who 
 were deceived by the perfidious machinations of Conway ? 
 the Governor-General of Pondicherry, who was then plot- 
 ting with Campbell, the Governor of Madras, for the 
 evacuation of the place commanded by the former. No 
 doubt the Republic will now repair the fault of their former 
 government by driving the English from their rich posses- 
 sions in India. 
 
 " These sentiments, with which I have long been ani- 
 mated, I have made known to the Government of the Isle of 
 France, through the organ of two ambassadors, from whom
 
 APPENDIX. 419 
 
 I had the great satisfaction of receiving such an answer as 
 I desired together with the republican flag, by the hands 
 of Chapuis, chief of a brigade, and Duboc, a captain of a 
 ship, who also brought with them the inconsiderable suc- 
 cour of officers and men, with which circumstances per- 
 mitted General Malartic and Rear-Admiral Sercey to 
 supply me. 
 
 " I retain with me the first of these officers, and send the 
 second to you as my ambassador, who, in requesting your 
 alliance offensive and defensive, will, I trust, obtain such a 
 reinforcement of troops as, joined to mine, may enable me 
 to attack and annihilate for ever our common enemies in 
 Asia. 
 
 "I send you my standard, (which, united with that of the 
 Republic, will serve as a basis for the alliance into which 
 our respective nations are about to contract,) and with it 
 the particular articles which I have charged Captain Duboc 
 to communicate to you. 
 
 " I join with him my subjects, Sheik Abdoubraim and 
 Mahomet Bismilla, who are equally authorised to represent 
 me with your government. 
 
 " Whatever may be the future state of our two nations, 
 whether blended or separate, into whatever engagements 
 they may respectively enter, may the prosperity, the glory, 
 and the success of both be still the common object of each ; 
 may the sentiments which they feel for each other be gua- 
 ranteed by mutual assurances of fidelity, and by oaths of 
 reciprocal obligation ; and may the heavens and earth meet 
 and unite, ere the alliance of the two nations shall suffer 
 tbe smallest alteration. 
 
 (A true translation.) G. G. KEBLE, 
 
 French Translator. 
 
 Tippoo Sultaun communicates to the French Directory 
 his appointment of Captain Duboc as his ambassador: 
 
 E E 2
 
 420 APPENDIX. 
 
 " TO THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, ONE AND INDIVISIBLE. 
 
 " Placing entire confidence in the patriotic zeal and 
 fidelity manifested by citizen Duboc, captain in the navy of 
 the French Republic, one and indivisible, and Commander- 
 in-Chief of my marine, I have appointed, and do hereby 
 appoint him, one of my ambassadors to the Executive Direc- 
 tory at Paris, there to fulfil with punctuality the orders 
 which I have given him. For that purpose, I give him all 
 the most extensive powers necessary to the success of the 
 mission which I have entrusted to him, promising and bind- 
 ing myself to the French Republic, one and indivisible, to 
 ratify the engagements which citizen Duboc may enter into 
 in my name with the National Convention, and the Execu- 
 tive Directory at Paris ; as well as with the artists and 
 workmen, whom I have directed him to engage for my 
 service Given in my palace of Seringapatam, under my 
 signature, and that of my Prime Minister, with the Seal of 
 State affixed, the 20th July, 1798." 
 
 (A true translation.) G. G. KEBLE, 
 
 French Translator. 
 
 Tippoo, it appears from the following paragraph, medi- 
 tated the seizure of the Portuguese settlement of Goa : 
 
 " ARTICLE 14. We will commence hostilities against 
 the English and Portuguese ; when, in case the Nizam and 
 the Mahrattas should join them, we will make war against 
 them also, for it will then be necessary to subjugate them 
 also, and to render them tributaries to us." Propositions of 
 Tippoo to the French Directory. 
 
 Among the papers found in the palace of Seringapatam, 
 was a particular account of the French force from the Isle 
 of France, which arrived in India previously to the com- 
 mencement of the Governor-General's preparations against 
 Tippoo :
 
 APPENDIX. 421 
 
 " Abstract Statement of the force sent by Generals Malar- 
 tic, Sercey, and Mengalon, from Mauritius, to be employed 
 in the service of Tippoo : 
 
 Chapuy, General of the Land Forces, . . 1 
 
 Duboc, General of the Marine . . 1 
 
 Desmoulins, Commandant of the Europeans, . 1 
 
 Officers of the Artillery, ... 2 
 
 Marine Officers, . . . .6 
 
 Ship Builders and others, ... 4 
 
 Officers, Captains, Serjeants, and Linguist. . 26 
 
 European Soldiers, . . . .36 
 
 Soldiers of the second description or half-cast, 22 
 
 Total of the persons arrived from Mauritius, 99 
 Exclusive of Monsieur De Bay, the watch-maker, making 
 together one hundred persons. 
 
 " Return of the naval officers of the French Republic sent 
 by Generals Malartic and Sercey, for the service of the So- 
 vereign Prince Tippoo : 
 
 SAVOIR. 
 
 M. Duboc, Capitaine des Vaisseaux de Guerre de la 
 Republique Fran9aise une et indivisible, commandant les 
 Forces Navales. 
 
 MM. St. Genes, Barth, La Rabinais. Lieuts. des 
 Vaisseaux de la Republique. 
 
 M. Filletas. Faisant fonctions de Major de la Marine. 
 
 MM. Petit, Dudemain. Enseignes des Vaisseaux de 
 la Republique. 
 
 M. Lelee, Maitre Directeur des travaux du Port. 
 
 M. Merlet, Constructeur des Vaisseaux Charpentier. 
 
 M. Bessiere, Aspirant de la marine, Jeune Officier. 
 
 Francois Robert, Charpentier. 
 
 Onze Personnes, attaches a la Marine. 
 
 " A Mangalore, le 28 Avril, 1798. 
 
 (Signe) " FILLIETAZ, 
 
 " Major de la Marine."
 
 422 APPENDIX. 
 
 In a letter addressed to Tippoo from Rear- Admiral Sercey 
 commanding the naval forces of France in the Indian Seas, 
 dated 4th March, 1798, the following passages occur : 
 
 " I am extremely concerned that the naval force under 
 my command, is not at present sufficiently considerable to 
 admit of my proceeding to India, to make such a diversion 
 as might forward your interests; but if I should be rein- 
 forced as I expect, I shall be very eager to seek our com- 
 mon enemies, and to assist you in their reduction. Previous 
 to the arrival of your ambassadors, I had addressed the 
 government of my country in Europe, on the necessity of 
 expediting this measure, and the day subsequent to their 
 arrival, I dispatched two frigates to France with the new 
 proposals which you offer. It is to be regretted that you 
 did not sooner apprise us of your favourable disposition/' 
 
 In a letter from M. Descomber to Tippoo, dated 5th 
 March, 1798, the Sultaun is urged to form alliances with 
 the several Native Powers : 
 
 " There is still time, however, to crush this ambitious 
 nation; but it is necessary that the Court of Poonah, 
 the Soobah of the Deccan, the Tartars, the Rajah of Tra- 
 vancore, all the Rajahs, Nabobs, and Soobahs, that all the 
 Chiefs of Asia, in short, should unite to attack, to over- 
 throw, and finally to expel those haughty English : but it is 
 absolutely necessary that the alliance should be founded on 
 good faith, and that it should be skilfully formed ; in order 
 that the princes, whose forces are inconsiderable, may not 
 find themselves overpowered, in consequence of a want of 
 concert between the parties : but when the plan shall have 
 been properly arranged, and when the English shall find 
 themselves assailed from every quarter of Asia, their 
 destruction will be inevitable." 
 
 Tippoo was not slow to respond to these invitations: 
 " Happy moment ! the time is come when I can deposit
 
 APPENDIX. 423 
 
 in the bosom of my friends, the hatred which I bear against 
 these oppressors of the human race. If you will assist me, 
 in a short time not an Englishman shall remain in India ; 
 you have the power and the means of effecting it, by your 
 free negroes ; with these new citizens (much dreaded by the 
 English) joined to your troops of the line, we will purge 
 India of these villains. The springs which I have touched 
 have put all India in motion, my friends are ready to fall 
 upon the English ; for everything here relies on my discre- 
 tion. Your enemies, as I have apprised you, shall be 
 mine." Tippoo to the Representatives of the People residing 
 in the Isles of France, fyc. 
 
 A letter from M. Ripeaud to " Citizen Sultaun Tippoo" 
 establishes the fact, that General Raymond the commander 
 of the French auxiliary force in the service of the Nizam, 
 had opened a correspondence with the king of Mysore : 
 
 " I repeat to you, that your interests are as dear to me 
 as those of my own nation ; and you may rely on the frank- 
 ness of my heart; but Raymond appears to make advances 
 to you: do you appear to accept and return this confi- 
 dence, and allow me to act a part with him. Be assured 
 that he will submit himself to your pleasure : subtle as he 
 is, I will outwit him, and you shall be satisfied." 
 
 Among the papers found at Seringapatam were the drafts 
 of several letters in the Persian language, addressed by 
 Tippoo to Zemaun Shah. The following short extract 
 will serve as a specimen : 
 
 " These circumstances, which are as well known from 
 east to west, as the sun in the centre of the heavens, sug- 
 gested to my mind that, agreeably to the command of God 
 and his apostle, declared in these words, " Slay the divisors 
 of the Godhead," we should unite in carrying on a holy war 
 against the infidel^ and free the region of Hindustan from the 
 contamination of the enemies of our religion. The followers
 
 424 APPENDIX. 
 
 of the faith in these territories always assembling at a 
 select time on Fridays, offer up their prayers in the words 
 Oh God, slay the infidels who have closed thy way ! 
 Let their sins return upon their own heads, with the 
 punishment that is due to them ! ' I trust that Almighty 
 God, for the sake of his beloved, will accept their prayers, 
 and through the merit of a holy cause, prosper our mutual 
 exertions to that end. And through the influence of the 
 words, ' Thine armies shall conquer,' will render us victo- 
 rious and successful." 
 
 The following is an extract of a letter from Zemaun 
 Shah to Tippoo Sultaun : 
 
 " As the object of your well-directed mind is the destruc- 
 tion of the infidels and the extension of the faith of the 
 prophet, please God, we shall soon march with our con- 
 quering army to wage war with the infidels and polytheists, 
 and to free those regions from the contamination of these 
 shameless tribes with the edge of the sword ; so that the 
 inhabitants of those regions be restored to comfort and 
 repose : be therefore perfectly satisfied in this respect. 
 With regard to your request for deputing two persons to 
 reside at our court, with a view to strengthen the ties of 
 friendship, we have to express our acquiescence. 
 
 " We have sent a few articles hereunder mentioned, as a 
 memorial of our regard, by your ambassadors, who have 
 explained to us the message with which you had commis- 
 sioned them." 
 
 We have quoted enough to demonstrate the magnitude 
 .of the dangers which threatened the British power at the 
 crisis when Lord Wellesley arrived in India, and at the 
 same time to afford an irrefutable confirmation (if further 
 confirmation be necessary) of the correctness of the views 
 of the Governor-General and the wisdom of his proceed- 
 ings, with reference to the intriguing and enterprising Sul- 
 taun of Seringapatam.
 
 APPENDIX. 425 
 
 (4.) 
 
 Correspondence between Major-General Baird and General 
 Harris respecting Colonel the Honourable Arthur Wel- 
 lesley's Appointment in Seringapatam. 
 
 TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL HARRIS, COMMANDER- 
 IN-CHIEF, &c. &c. 
 
 " Camp, Seringapatam, 6th of May, 1799." 
 " SIR, 
 
 " Having, in a letter which I had this morning the 
 honour to address you, given a detailed account of the 
 assault of the fort of Seringapatam, the conduct of which 
 you did me the honour to intrust to me, permit me now, 
 Sir, to address you on the subject of the events which have 
 taken place since that time. 
 
 " Having been honoured with the conduct of the assault, 
 and having executed that duty to your satisfaction, I 
 naturally concluded that I should have been permitted to 
 retain the command of Seringapatam, or, at least, that I 
 should not be superseded in it by a junior officer. Judge, 
 then, my surprise, when expecting to have the honour of 
 delivering to you the keys of Seringapatam, in the palace 
 of the late Tippoo Sultaun, and of congratulating you on 
 the most brilliant victory that ever graced the British arms 
 in India, to have an order put into my hands by Colonel 
 Wellesley, by which I found myself instantly superseded in 
 the command by that officer. I am really ignorant what 
 part of my conduct could merit such treatment, 
 
 " When, on a former occasion, Colonel Wellesley was 
 appointed to the command of the detachment serving with 
 his Highness the Nizam, while I remained in charge of a 
 brigade, you informed rne that matters of a political nature 
 made it necessary to have that officer with the Nizam's
 
 426 APPENDIX. 
 
 army. Although I severely felt the appointment of a 
 junior officer to so distinguished a command, while I re- 
 mained in an inferior station, I submitted to the necessity 
 which you informed me dictated the measure ; but this 
 second supercession I feel most sensibly, as it must have 
 the effect of leading his Majesty and the Commander-in 
 Chief in England to believe that I am not fit for any com- 
 mand of importance, when it has been thought proper to 
 give the command of Seringapatam to Colonel Wellesley, 
 while he, at the same time, continues to hold the command 
 of the Nizam's detachment. 
 
 "In camp it is rumoured to have been at my own request 
 that another officer was appointed to the command of 
 Seringapatam ; you, Sir, must know that this is not the 
 case. The request, if made, must have been made by me 
 to you; and, so far from its ever being my intention to 
 make such a request, if (after the assurances I have re- 
 peatedly received from you, that you would take the first 
 opportunity of placing me in a situation more adequate to 
 the rank I hold than that of the command of a brigade,) I 
 had deemed it necessary to make any request to you, it 
 would have been to be placed in the command of Seringa- 
 patam ; and when I -reflected that my two seniors, belong- 
 ing to the coast army, continued to stand appointed to the 
 northern and southern divisions of the Carnatic, and that 
 the Hon. Col. Wellesley, the next junior to me, stood ap- 
 pointed to the command of an army, while I remained in 
 charge of a brigade, I should have felt that I was hinting a 
 doubt, which I never entertained, of the sincerity of those 
 assurances, if I had made a particular application for the 
 command of Seringapatam indeed I could not think it 
 necessary. 
 
 " Some mistake may have arisen from my having, through 
 Major Beatson, expressed a desire that the whole storming 
 party might be relieved from camp ; so that order might be 
 established, and troops more equal to take the fatigue of
 
 APPENDIX. 427 
 
 guard-mounting during the night, be placed in the fort; 
 and I wished to be relieved for a short time, that I might 
 myself have had the honour of reporting our success, 
 and informing you in person of every particular re- 
 lative to the storm. This not having been found conve- 
 nient, 1 desired Captain Young, Deputy Ajutant-General of 
 His Majesty's troops, who was proceeding to camp at day- 
 light next morning, to inform you that, as I was much 
 recovered from the fatigues of the preceding day, I wished 
 not to be relieved till I had examined the state of the works 
 and ascertained the number of cannon captured. I re- 
 ceived a letter from Captain Young, long before Colonel 
 Wellesley superseded me, informing me that he had made 
 my request known to you. 
 
 " I cannot but feel obliged by your having enabled me to 
 act so distinguished a part in the storm, though I find so 
 little attention has, in every other instance, been paid to 
 my requests, that I am almost led to believe my being 
 employed on that occasion, was owing to my being the 
 only officer of rank who had made a voluntary offer of his 
 services. 
 
 " I request that copies of this letter may be transmitted 
 to his Royal Highness the Duke of York, Commander-in 
 Chief, for the information of his Majesty; that, at the 
 same time he is informed of my having been twice super- 
 seded by Colonel Wellesley, he may be in possession of 
 such reasons as you shall think proper to give for it, that 
 he may be satisfied the measure was dictated by necessity, 
 and not by any want of capacity on my part to fill the 
 situation. 
 
 " I have the honour, &c. D. BAIRD."
 
 428 APPENDIX. 
 
 TO MAJOR-GENERAL BAIRD, &C. &C. &C. 
 
 " 8th of May. Camp, Seringapatam. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " The Commander-in-Chief directs me to inform you 
 that he has this day received, from Major of Brigade Fal- 
 coner, your report of the assault intrusted to your conduct 
 on the 4th instant; and that, ever ready to do justice to the 
 merits of officers under his command, he is happy in the 
 occasion you have given him for taking particular notice of 
 the conduct of Colonel Sherbrooke ! 
 
 " I am also directed to acknowledge the receipt of the 
 very improper letter which accompanied your report. 
 
 " The distinguished command for which you were se- 
 lected by the Commander-m-Chief, and the sentiments he 
 has so publicly and recently expressed on that occasion, 
 sufficiently mark what was his sense of your military merit; 
 and it is with regret that he now finds himself compelled to 
 blame a total want of discretion and respect in an officer of 
 your high rank and length of service, in terms so opposite 
 to those in which he was lately so happy to applaud your 
 gallantry, humanity, and zeal. 
 
 " Lieutenant-General Harris is persuaded that an officer 
 who thinks himself authorised to remonstrate with his imme- 
 diate superior, can never be usefully employed in the army 
 he commands. Should you, therefore, continue to hold 
 sentiments so opposite to the principles of military subor- 
 dination, you have his permission to proceed by the first safe 
 conveyance to Fort St. George, 
 
 " The Commander-in-Chief will certainly forward to his 
 Royal Highness the Duke of York copies of your letter 
 and his reply. I have the honour to be, Sir, your very 
 obedient servant, (Signed) P. A. AGNEW." 
 
 Mil. Sec. to the Commander-in-Chief.
 
 APPENDIX. 429 
 
 GENERAL BAIRD TO GENERAL HARRIS. 
 " SlR, 
 
 " I yesterday received a letter from Lieut.-Col. 
 Agnew, your public secretary, which has created in me the 
 greatest astonishment. 
 
 " Conceiving myself injured, and my military character 
 in some degree impeached, in the repeated preference that 
 had been shewn to my junior, the Honourable Colonel 
 Wellesley, in nominating him to distinguished commands, 
 while I, serving with the same army, was still left in my 
 original situation of commandant of a brigade ; and feeling 
 as I conceived every military man in a similar situation 
 would have felt, on being superseded by the same officer in 
 the command of the important fortress of Seringapatam, 
 I thought it due to my own character to address you on 
 that subject, and I can safely affirm that, in that address, it 
 was my firm intention to make to you the most respectful 
 statement of facts. 
 
 " On the receipt of your secretary's letter, I again and 
 again perused the one I had had the honour to address to 
 you; and, after every attempt, must acknowledge myself 
 unable to discover one paragraph, or even one word, which 
 can be construed into the smallest disrespect. God knows, 
 such an idea was the farthest from my thoughts ! I there- 
 fore feel with double sensibility the unmerited asperity of 
 your secretary's letter, which I can hardly bring myself to 
 believe to contain your real sentiments. If, however, I am 
 wrong in this conjecture, I trust you will enable me to 
 clear myself before a general court-martial, from which 
 I can have nothing to fear, being satisfied in my own mind 
 that there is not an officer in this, or in any army, who 
 more abhors the crime of which I stand accused. 
 
 " It was my intention, from the moment I was superseded 
 in the command of Seringapatam, to apply for permission
 
 430 APPENDIX. 
 
 to quit the army, as soon as I deemed my services to my 
 king and country no longer required my remaining with it. 
 My wish is still to do so, and I shall, when there is no 
 longer an appearance of the army's being actively em- 
 ployed, make an application to you to that effect. If, how- 
 ever, you should still persevere in your determination of 
 ordering me from the army, in consequence of the respect- 
 ful representation 1 have thought myself authorised to 
 make to you, I shall, in that case, only have to regret the 
 necessity there will be for making my removal from the 
 army, and the circumstances which occasioned it, equally 
 public. 
 
 (Signed) D. BAIRD." 
 
 TO MAJOR-GENERAL BAIRD, &C. &C. &C. 
 
 " Seringapatam, 10th of May, 1799. 
 " SIR, 
 
 " The Commander-in-Chief has received your letter 
 of the 9th instant, and directed me to inform you in reply, 
 that the explanation therein given has produced no change in 
 the sentiments expressed by his order on the 1th instant, in my 
 letter to you. 
 
 " It was not the words, but the tenor of your letter of the 
 6th instant, that the Commander-in-Chief thought it his 
 duty to remark. He never can admit the right of any 
 subordinate officer to remonstrate with him on the pro- 
 priety of measures he has adopted for the public service, 
 or on his selection of officers for situations of public trust. 
 In assuming this privilege, he still thinks that you have 
 been wanting in discretion and respect ; and your letter of 
 yesterday has in a great measure removed the concern he felt 
 at the necessity which obliged him to inform you that such 
 were his opinions.
 
 APPENDIX. 431 
 
 " Lieu tenant-General Harris desires that this letter may 
 conclude a correspondence which you are at liberty to 
 make as public as you think proper. I have the honour to 
 be, Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) " P. A. AGNEW." 
 
 Mil. Sec. to the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSON, and FLEY, 
 Bangor House, Shoe Lane. 
 
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