sign a triple alliance as soon as we pleased. He thought it of the utmost importance to England to gain Russia, as well for her political as commercial interests; and that it would not be difficult to inspire the Empress of Russia with a jealousy, that the Emperor was not in earnest in his assurances of assisting her designs against the Turks; that he could not be desirous of exchanging so feeble a neighbour as the Turk for one so powerful as Russia. His Prussian majesty likewise was of opinion that means might be used to gain Potemkin, and suggested, that if the Emperor held him by the flattering hopes of being Hospodar, we might throw out other objects to catch his vanity, and mentioned, amongst others, the crown of Poland. He was convinced that Denmark would follow Russia. He said he knew France was trying to hurt

us everywhere; that she had sent people to India to disturb the tranquillity of that country; .. that she was busily employed in Ireland. He hoped we would lose no time in putting our affairs on so safe a footing as to be in no danger of a civil war, which, on an appearance of a foreign one, France would not fail to use her utmost efforts to ferment."

Nearly three quarters of a century have sped; but there is much to be learned from the lessons imparted to our forefathers.

But now we must away to India, and here at p. 227 we have a picture of it, drawn by the Governor-General, "secret and confidential," for the use of Henry Dundas. A number of shameful malpractices, both military and civil, are exposed, and not a few individuals, mostly concealed under asterisks, are described in the strongest terms of reprobation. Against several who are named his Lordship is exceedingly bitter. The foremost is Sir John Macpherson, "the gentle giant" of quiet suburban Brompton for a number of later years, and Sir E. Impey, whom he stigmatizes as not unworthy of hanging "without giving anybody the smallest concern." But the mighty drama of India within the last two years has absorbed all interest; and preceding events, ever so important as they befel, are now as ancient historical memories of bygone ages. We shall, therefore, wind up this branch of the subject with noticing the great difference between the communications then and now. Despatches between the countries often cost a year in interchange, and sometimes Arab bandits cut them off in the desert. And it is but due to Lord Cornwallis and Henry Dundas to repeat, that every line between them bears witness to the most patriotic, honourable, and conscientious performance of their great duties. Writing from the India Board, March 21, 1787, the latter assures the former," We never before had a government of India, both at home and abroad, acting in perfect unison together, upon principles of perfect purity and integrity: these ingredients cannot fail to produce their consequent effects." We also see letters of recommendation even from the Prince of Wales, and the Governor-General's nearest connections, negatived on public grounds, and not the shadow of a job (but the reverse) perceptible throughout the whole ("private") correspondence.

The Earl was raised to a marquisate, and returned home laden with praises, rewards, and distinctions.

The King's illness, and the acrimonious political struggle to which it led, took place while Lord Cornwallis was in the East, but the correspondence on the subject is of extreme interest. Not less so are nine letters addressed by Mr. Digby (Vice-Chancellor to the Queen, and a confidential friend of the royal family) to Miss Isabella Gunning, who afterwards married General Ross, and from whom they passed into the hands of the editor. We are

The frequency of these in other places deteriorate the value of the crippled information. The sacrifice was no doubt thought necessary, but a century hence there would be no need of reserve.

sorry we can only refer to them (vol. i. pp. 456-461) as worthy of most attentive perusal.

In 1794-5, the Flanders campaigns, the British forces under the command of the Duke of York exhibit a vexatious spectacle. Austrians and Prussians with different views, pulling different ways, or not pulling at all, demonstrate the selfish hollowness of bought alliances, and the disastrous results to combinations in the field of war. Lord Cornwallis as a Field Marshal was proposed to supersede his Royal Highness under specious pretences; but the King was much annoyed when he had to recall his son, and the Marquis, after all, did not go. He was made instead Master-General of the Ordnance, and reserved for 1798, when he was sent to Ireland,— most miserable country, convulsed from end to end, and on the eve of its greatest revolution since the steel-clad epoch of his Lordship's predecessor, Strongbow !

Into this crowded and painful field it would be impossible, if desirable, for us to follow the Correspondence step by step, and yet without some such process we confess it is out of our power fully to exemplify the three years of Lord Cornwallis' extraordinary vice-royalty. All the horrors of united Irishism were in sanguinary action and no less sanguinary retribution; danger was imminent, for there were corresponding associations in England, and the assurance of co-operation by invasions from France. But the insurrection was ultimately crushed, and the business for carrying the Union set on foot and completed, yet not without much moral suffering as well as physical exhaustion. "The life of a Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland comes up to my idea of perfect misery," writes the envied possessor of that lofty station, who only hoped by clemency and mercy towards the rebels, for which he was bitterly blamed by their infuriated opponents, to bring the Irish people within the pale of humanity and civilization. Slaughter, followed on one side by cold-blooded murders, and on the other by hot musket martial executions, or cheaper gallows, almost at the command of any subordinate individual, had maddened the land, and the voice of moderation was lost in the roar for vengeance :

"The principal persons in this country," writes the Lord Lieutenant," and the members of both Houses of Parliament, are, in general, averse to all acts of clemency, and although they do not express, and perhaps are too much heated to see the ultimate effects which their violence must produce, would pursue measures which could only terminate in the extirpation of the greater number of the inhabitants, and in the utter destruction of the country."

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To silence, if not to calm, the infuriated was no easy task; but materially assisted by Lord Castlereagh, a very able and good young man," an amnesty was proclaimed, and the rebellion was worn out, yet amid such atrocities as are described in a letter to his friend Major-General Ross from Dublin Castle, July 24, 1798, which we find at vol. ii. p. 370.

We rejoice to turn from the contemplation of such a state of wretchedness, even as if it were a relief and a compliment to the dignity of human nature, to plunge into the shameful sink of degradation and infamy by which the great and wholesome measure of the Union was (of necessity) carried into effect. Here indeed the mob, the rabble, the misguided peasantry, had nothing to do; but their worst qualities were not weakly represented by gentry, magistrates, placemen, patriots, members of parliament, bishops, and peers.

On the first great division, nearly twenty-two members who had pro

mised support voted with the opposition, but twenty "might be bought off." Ever and anon £5,000, or other like sums, were remitted from England, and the "Castle Spectre" (Mr. Secretary Elliott, the pseudo-double of Windham in the Imperial Parliament) was the conveyancer of more heavy bribes than ever any other ghost or phantom has been known to carry. Lord Castlereagh writes to the Duke of Portland, "The advantages (of the last £5,000) have been important, please send another supply forthwith." The open compensations were estimated at £1,500,000. But notwithstanding all these exertions, in April, 1799, we have several anxious letters from the Lord-Lieutenant written to Ross at various dates.

And here we close the humiliating exhibition; those of our readers who may desire to learn how the business was finally accomplished by bargains for places, promotions, peerages, bishoprics, and cash, will find enough to satisfy their curiosity in these pregnant pages, and will agree with the Lord-Lieutenant in saying that it is a sad thing to be forced

to manage knaves, but it is ten times worse to deal with fools."

He must have been a joyful man when, in July, 1801, he found himself at home again in Suffolk, the harvest just ripening, the country smiling, and the only shooting looked forward to that of the first of September. The fears of a French invasion were ripe, yet not overwhelming, but the condition of our defences and other cognate topics are treated of in letters worthy of reference from the Marquis, who was appointed to the command of the Eastern district. At that date there were only forty different kinds of rifles in the tower; what will Enfield, and Whitworth, and Armstrong think of that? In November, however, the preliminaries having been previously signed with Otto, the Marquis was sent as plenipotentiary to arrange the detailed conditions of a peace with Buonaparte, and Amiens was the rendezvous. The pros and cons, the offs and ons, and all the exquisite et cæteras of diplomacy are related in the despatches, and in March, 1802, the sham was concluded. The particulars of the conferences are nevertheless exceedingly interesting, and furnish bases for history for all time to come. On setting out, the King, whose letters in these volumes are as shrewd and sensible as they are short, and, like Wellington's speeches, direct to the purpose, states a curious fact for the guidance of his representative, viz., to insist on the bishopric of Osnaburg not being given to the King of Prussia in lieu of the duchy of Cleves, seeing that it is "a palpable injustice to the house of Hanover, who have by treaty alternately one of the family as bishop of Osnaburg." A like claim is urged for the bishopric of Hildesheim, only none of our princes had a right to tonsure there.

Lord Cornwallis in the first instance went to Paris, and had an interview with the Consul, on whom he had to press, inter alia, the evacuation of Hanover, a suitable provision for the House of Orange, and "the restoration of Piedmont to the King of Sardinia ;" for these were days of Ligurian and Cisalpine republics, to be succeeded by kings of Rome and viceroys of Italy. When the last came to be proposed at the private interview with Napoleon, Lord C. writes home that he could make no progress, and that Buonaparte also objected to Malta being garrisoned by Russians, because" it would give the Emperor a claim to a passage through the Dardanelles, and in many respects would tend to the speedy dissolution of the Ottoman empire, and probably to the interruption of the peace of Europe." We rub our eyes, as if we were conning news from another planet; but no, it is all of Europe, and within the present century. Why are treaties signed to last "for ever?" It is surely a waste of parchment: the ink on that of Amiens

GENT MAG. VOL. CCVII.

F

had not time to dry ere it was riven to shreds and tost into the limbo of false national deludings. It might have been contracted with Talleyrand instead of Joseph Buonaparte, though very opposite characters of the two men are drawn on this vital occasion. Ex. gr. of Talleyrand, Lord Hawkesbury (Liverpool) warns the ambassador,

"There certainly cannot be the least objection to your listening to anything Talleyrand may have to say, and to your entering into any explanations with him which may appear to you to be likely to facilitate the speedy termination of the business. At the same time you are probably apprised that he is a person who is likely to take every unfair advantage in conducting business with others, and should therefore be treated with more than usual caution and circumspection."

And the Marquis, after some acquaintance with the future Prince of Benevento, re-echoes his opinion in a letter to the minister. "But when the appeal is to be made to a man so void of honour and principle as Talleyrand, much good is not to be expected." On the contrary, Joseph Buonaparte, who represented France at the meeting, though the tool of his younger brother, is declared to be "a very sensible, modest, gentlemanlike man, totally free from diplomatic chicanery, and fair and open in all his dealings." Two letters from Amiens are so amusingly descriptive of the social intercourse at Paris and there, while the important business was lumbering on its trifling wheels, that we must request our readers to turn to them. The first, at p. 410, is from Viscount Brome, the son of the Marquis, to General Ross; the next, p. 435, is from Lieut.-Col. Nightingall, an attaché to the embassy, to the same.

The circumstances described in these lively sketches varied the tiresomeness of the other treating; and we must say that the fun of the company when assembled at the dining-tables seems to have been of as much ultimate consequence as the solemn conversations anent the balance of power. Not so fancied the citizens of Amiens, for the table on which the treaty was signed is still a show at the Hotel de Ville; and there is a picture of the plenipotentiaries, indifferently painted, with, in the back ground, a sample of the entente cordiale,-an English officer cordially embracing one of the French suite. Nothing could be more instructive. As we have trenched upon the entertaining, however, in order to season the dulness of the political-historical, we may pause here to state that amid the painstaking research which marks and enriches the labours of the editor, especially in his numerous biographical notes, we have fallen upon a few miscellaneous bits, which, like an afterpiece, may be tacked to the main drama. Justice Buller is remembered as Judge Thumb, in consequence of his unlucky judicial dictum that it was lawful for a husband to beat his wife with a stick of the calibre of his thumb. Justice Cresswell would divorce him for cruelty if he threatened his patient rib with such a lethal weapon against her crinoline. An Indian general Smith, it seems, who did the Prince of Wales and Duke of York at cards, was commonly called Hyder Ali, and his son, reckoned the best whist-player of the day, got the name of Tippoo, in honour of their proficiency and exploits." At the new club-house Lord Barrymore received two black balls more than there were members in the room, and Weltzie, who had officiated in the royal household confectionary, and was the keeper, when called on to explain, said, "I did put two black balls in myself, lest he should come in and ruin my club." This was the origin of always examining and shewing the empty ballot-box before any ballot. When the Duke of York fought a duel with Col. Lennox, and had his curl carried away by his opponent's

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ball, Lord Rawdon (Moira), his second, always said that by delaying the signal for firing, and thus rendering Col. Lennox' aim unsteady, he saved the life of the Duke. A Mr. Clowdesley applied for advancement in the Ordnance Office, and the Master General describes him as the son of "the man who verily believed that the French troopers had a design against his life when they gave him fourteen cuts on the skull." Of the far-famed Bull-maker, Sir Boyle Roche, the annexed are recorded:

:

"It would be better the speaker to give up not only a part, but if necessary even the whole of our constitution, to preserve the remainder."

"Here perhaps, Sir, the murderous Marshall Law men (Marseillois) would break in, cut us to mincemeat, and throw our bleeding heads on the table to stare us in the face."

When the French government sent emissaries to urge Tippoo Sahib into war, they carried with them stores and proclamations, but when the latter came to be translated into Persian great difficulties arose, for the language had no equivalents for "Liberté," "Fraternité," Egalité," and "L'an VI. de la Republique une et indivisible" would have beaten Hafiz to render intelligibly.

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But we must finish this mosaic page, and hastily proceed to wind up this long "article," though so short when the variety and importance of its subjects are considered. Very soon after his return from peace-making, Lord Cornwallis found his military skill commanded for the preparations against the threatened invasion from Boulogne, and he tells us Pitt wants to make the volunteers more of soldiers than their constitution can possibly admit; and Fox, on the contrary, so little of soldiers as to be entirely useless." The error, if any, did not lie with Pitt, and we trust that our rising Rifle Corps will shew that their constitution admits of perfect soldierly efficiency, should their country ever require their services.

Again, in 1805, as we stated in our opening, Marquis Cornwallis went as chief to India. He landed at Calcutta on the 29th of July, and died on the 5th of October at Ghazepore, Benares, aged 67. He was (as he had been throughout his whole career) all for forbearance and peaceagainst the opinions of Lord Lake and Col. Malcolm (two high authorities), but whether he was right or wrong in his judgment, death denied the opportunity to prove. He had spent a life of elevated and splendid usefulness-fame and honour attended him-even those who politically or otherwise opposed him were prone to pronounce eulogies upon his virtues; and he died as a loyal and patriotic statesman would wish to die, giving his last breath to the service of his king and country. The descendant of a sheriff of London in 1378, of Irish blood, all the accumulated distinctions of many generations have already (except in the female line) evanished like the baseless fabric of a vision, no son succeeding." When he was sent to America, his affectionate wife pined and died, as she declared, of a broken heart; and she requested that a thorn-tree should be planted above the vault where she was buried, as nearly as possible over her heart-no stone to be erected to her memory; that tree yet lives in the common churchyard, having been removed from its first site when the estate was sold to a stranger on the death of the last Marquis, in 1823. Sic transit gloria mundi! the life and death of the lady was a romance; what more, a few years hence, will be the life and death of her lord?

We had marked a number of passages for extract, but our article has already exceeded the prescribed limits, and we must therefore refer the curious reader to the work itself for the letters referred to in the foregoing pages.