grappling with the most formidable of his difficulties at once. Amongst his most marked qualities were his probity, his fearlessness, and his habit of plain speaking. His employers were sure to learn the truth from him on all subjects; and his despatches from British India, whilst conveying the most vivid impression of the inherent vices of its civil and military administration, suggest that many of the materials for the terrible explosions of which it has recently been the scene, were rapidly accumulating between seventy and eighty years ago.

Warren Hastings left Calcutta February 8, 1785, and was succeeded by Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Macpherson, the senior member of the Supreme Council. We learn from an editorial note that he had been profitably involved in the pecuniary transactions of the native princes; that he was one of the six mem bers brought into parliament by the Nabob of the Carnatic; and that, being a man of large stature and mild demeanour, he went by the name of the Gentle Giant.' Warren Hastings warned Lord Cornwallis against him; and General Grant, writing from London (January, 1787), thus follows up the warning :

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'I think you will find that the character Hastings gave of him to you was well founded; I flatter myself that I need not add that the circumstance has never been mentioned by me to any mortal. A trait which I heard of a Highlander struck me exceedingly. Macpherson offered to take him by the hand, which the other declined, telling him in the height of his power as Governor-General that it was not to be depended upon. He flatters the Duchess of Gordon by obeying all her commands, and telling her that she may consider herself as Governor-General while he remains in office, and begging to have the honour of attending the Marquis of Huntley upon his travels when he returns to Europe, which is no bad line of paying court to our friend Dundas.'

A Governor-General of this stamp was pretty sure to do as much mischief as was permitted by the brevity of his rule; and when Lord Cornwallis landed, almost everything that Hastings had left in a transition state had deteriorated. Treaties had been concluded with native princes, which, by the express desire of the Company, were immediately broken off; and a widespread system of jobbery had been openly or tacitly sanctioned, which the new Governor-General took instant and decisive measures to

suppress. The improvement of the European troops in the Company's service was one of his first objects. He thus describes them in August, 1787 :

The recruits that came from Bengal for the 73rd regiment were, I am sorry to say, very indifferent; those that were brought by Major

Skelly

Skelly were much better, except the fifteen felons and deserters who were put on board in their fetters at Gravesend.

Nothing can be more prejudicial to our interests and safety than to degrade the character of Europeans in a country where a handful of them are to hold millions in subjection. The contemptible trash of which the Company's European force is composed makes me shudder.'

His matured opinion (April, 1790) on this subject is thus stated:

'In regard to the military arrangement, I am clearly of opinion that the European troops should all belong to the King, for experience has shown that the Company cannot keep up an efficient European force in India; this is a fact so notorious, that no military man who has been in this country will venture to deny it, and I do not care how strongly I am quoted as authority for it.'

The efficiency of the Anglo-Indian army in the field was speedily to be tested under his own eye. The campaign of 1790 against Tippoo Saib having proved indecisive, he resolved to assume the personal direction of the next. His reasons, as explained in a despatch to the President of the Board of Control, were, that we have lost time, and our adversary has gained reputation, which are two most valuable things in war:'

'It is vain now to look back: we must only consider how to remedy the evil, and to prevent the ill effects which our delay may occasion in the minds of our allies. It immediately occurred to me that nothing would be so likely to keep up their spirits, and to convince them of our determination to act with vigour, as my taking the command of the army.'

It was at once taken for granted that General Medows, whom he superseded, must be discontented; and reports, similar to those circulated touching Lord Canning and Lord Clyde, were rife in England. Lord Sydney writes:

But

• The Rodney arrived just as the Parliament was rising, and various reports were circulated by a set of people who seem to act here as Tippoo's vakeels, and are perhaps in his pay. The violent animosity between you and General Medows was among the most current. your letters have given a fatal blow to that forgery. I have received one from Medows, in which he speaks of your Lordship in the strongest terms of affection and respect. We are impatient to hear the event of your campaign, and promise ourselves a happy one.'

Fortunately General Medows was a man of sense as well as of conduct and courage, and continued to co-operate cordially with him as second in `command. "The harmony of these leaders,' says Mr. Mill, 'is one of the finest features of the campaign;" but he severely criticises their tactics; and

1

their movements were undoubtedly crippled by want of foresight in providing means of transport. The night attack on the lines of Seringapatam, however, shows that Lord Cornwallis was not destitute of the spirit which led Clive to cross the river at Plassey, and Wolfe to scale the heights of Abraham. One of the first qualities of generalship is to see where an advantage, commensurate with the risk, may be obtained by a bold departure from rule and a gallant defiance of the ordinary calculation of chances. To common apprehension, the odds are always against the performance of a dashing exploit; whilst the military genius discovers at a glance that they have been miscalculated or may be reversed by a new combination. Danton's famous maxim, 'De l'audace, de l'audace, toujours de l'audace!' is far more applicable in war than in politics. Lord Cornwallis, seeing that he had no alternative between a discreditable retreat and a successful coupde-main, chose the bolder and, we believe, the safer course, very much, it appears, to the wonder and consternation of his allies. 'To attack,' says Mr. Mill, with a handful of infantry, and without cannon, the whole of Tippoo's army, in a fortified camp under the walls of his capital, appeared to them an extraordinary attempt; and their surprise was increased when told that Lord Cornwallis in person commanded the division which was to penetrate the centre of the enemy's camp, and had gone to fight, as they expressed it, like a private soldier.'

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The defences of Seringapatam then consisted of three lines, comprising nine redoubts and the fort, besides a hedge of thorny plants almost impenetrable by man or beast; the whole defended by 300 pieces of artillery. The attacking force, about 9000 men, was divided into three columns. The right, under General Medows, was misled by the guides; and there was a critical interval during which the centre was left without support. The firing was heavy; and Lord Cornwallis, well knowing his man, exclaimed, 'If Medows is above ground, this will bring him'a noble expression of sympathising reliance, which recalls the exclamation of Collingwood at being first in the heat of the fire at Trafalgar, What would Nelson give to be here?' whilst Nelson was simultaneously crying out, See how that noble fellow, Collingwood, carries his ship into action!'

6

Medows came up in time to do his part effectively, and the victory was complete. The British casualties in killed and wounded were 533, of which 342 fell to the share of the centre column. Tippoo's army was reduced to the extent of 23,000, but four-fifths of his loss was by desertion; and on appealing to his officers he was informed that the spirits of his remaining troops were too much broken to enable him to continue the con

test.

test. The want of means of transport, with the resulting scarcity of munitions of all sorts, rendered a termination of hostilities highly acceptable to the Governor-General, although it is not true that, compelled to make peace, he hastily conceded terms which laid the foundation of future disputes and difficulties. On the contrary, when Tippoo, who wished to retain the power of wreaking vengeance on the Rajah of Courg, threatened to break off the negotiations if a projected impediment was thrown in his way, Lord Cornwallis ordered the siege operations to be resumed, and the hostages were on their way back when the Sultan yielded, and the definitive treaty was signed. By it Tippoo was to surrender one-half of his dominions, pay down a large sum of money (3 crores, 30 lacs), and give two of his sons as hostages. Lord Cornwallis's despatch to the Board of Control, dated Camp before Seringapatam, March 4, 1791,' begins thus:

We have at length concluded our Indian war handsomely, and I think as advantageously as any reasonable person could expect. We have effectually crippled our enemy without making our friends too formidable. Indeed I am well convinced that the impression they have received of the power and superiority of our arms will greatly overbalance any confidence with which their territorial acquisitions can possibly inspire them.'

The Secret Committee acknowledged his brilliant successes,' and in the July following he was fraised to the dignity of a Marquis, his consent being taken for granted after consulting his brother, the Bishop. Mr. Pitt, it would seem, was not of the same way of thinking as Lord Melbourne, whose reply to a noble friend desirous of a similar elevation in the peerage was a blunt expression of astonishment.

Lord Cornwallis had received the Garter soon after he left England in 1786, and wrote thus to his son:

'You will have heard that soon after I left England I was elected Knight of the Garter, and very likely laughed at me for wishing to wear a blue riband over my fat belly. I could have excused myself in the following lines :

66

Scarfs, garters, gold, amuse his riper stage,

And beads and prayer-books are the toys of age."

But I can assure you, upon my honour, that I neither asked for it nor wished for it. The reasonable object of ambition to a man is to have his name transmitted to posterity for eminent services rendered to his country and to mankind. Nobody asks or cares whether Hampden, Marlborough, Pelham, or Wolfe were Knights of the Garter.'

His Lordship is singularly infelicitous in his mode of philosophising on honours, distinctions, well-paid places, and the rest of

what

what are popularly considered the good things of this world, the prizes of success, and sometimes (if not uniformly) the outward and visible signs of merit. If a title, a riband, or a star, be but the guinea stamp which may be carelessly or culpably impressed on brass, it may notwithstanding be useful in giving currency to gold. If nobody asks or cares whether Hampden, Marlborough, Pelham, or Wolfe-a strange assortment, by the way-were Knights of the Garter, this is simply because this particular Order is no longer associated in men's minds with merit-no longer contemplated as the reward of intellectual, political, or military services to the State. But everybody asks and cares whether our statesmen and heroes have received their due meed of honour; and the noblest of them (Nelson, for example) have been commonly the most sensitive on this point. Tried by the severest rules of reason, the value of decorations and distinctions depends on their accordance with the claims and character of the recipients; and most right-minded men will say of them what Lord Mansfield said of popularity, 'I wish popularity, but it is that popularity which follows, not that which is run after; it is that popularity which, sooner or later, never fails to do justice to the pursuit of noble ends by noble means.'

The treaty with Tippoo left Lord Cornwallis at liberty to resume and complete the financial and judicial reforms which form the most durable and striking memorials of his Eastern Administration. His arrangements for the collection of the land revenue of Bengal and some adjacent provinces, commonly called the permanent settlement, have remained a subject of constant. interest and discussion to this hour. Three modes of collecting this revenue were open to the government: through the Zemindars, who might be made primarily liable and empowered to levy the required assessment on the occupiers; by the village system,. under which a given district was required to supply a stated sum; or under the ryot system, which brought the actual occupiers into direct contact with the collectors of the State. Lord Cornwallis chose the first, regardless of the doubts that prevailed touching the proprietary title to the soil or the original status of the Zemindars, who have been alternately treated by high Indian authorities as a sort of greater feudatories, or as mere farmers of the revenue under the native sovereigns. Lord Cornwallis resolved on considering them as the owners of the soil; thereby, it was alleged, too summarily disposing of the vested rights of other claimants. He was also accused of treating with many as Zemindars who had no well-founded pretension to the rank. In fixing the amount to be levied, it was assumed by him that moderate payments, punctually collected, were most likely to Vol. 105.-No. 209.

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