the proof of Cornwallis's estimation was the appointment of Governor of the Tower, to which he was gazetted soon after his arrival.

A state of peace succeeded, and Cornwallis lived retired; but, as early as the year 1790, a fresh opportunity presented itself for the employment of his services, in the complicated distresses to which the affairs of the East India Company were at that period reduced. Possessing more subjects than the King of Great Britain, they were nevertheless enervated by difficulties; and while menaced on the one hand by a combination of the native princes, they were on the other suffering extreme evils from the peculation and tyranny of their servants. To compose this turmoil,—to carry on that most arduous of warfares against corruption and civil insubordination, to equip a neglected army, and train it to discipline and victory, the Earl of Cornwallis was sent out to the East, invested with the order of the Garter, and appointed Governor-general of the Presidency of Madras. The celebrated Tippoo Saib had already begun to develope the extent of that ambitious policy which he inherited from his adventurous father, and which was soon destined to shake the supremacy of Great Britain in the East. A peace had suspended, but not subdued his designs; and he employed the interval in recruiting and disciplining his army;

-an important labour, in which he was materially assisted by the experience of several French officers. The first act by which he gave fresh evidence of his restless views, was his invasion of the territories of the Nizam of Travancore, although a special treaty guaranteed by Great Britain had stipulated, that the monarch alluded to should enjoy his sovereignty without molestation.

Hostilities once commenced, the management of affairs was intrusted to the government of Madras; but no sooner did they assume a serious aspect, than the Governor took the field in person. Having concentrated his forces with celerity, and established a confederacy among the native powers, he promptly determined to carry the disasters of the war into the enemies' country. Early in 1791, his march brought him before Bangalore, a considerable city on the confines next to Arcot; and Tippoo, though evidently taken by surprise, appeared on the opposite heights. The British commander lost no time in investing the town; he reduced it, and in a few days after cap

tured the fort. To this success but little resistance was offered; the mode of warfare by which he and his father had so often triumphed, was as dear as ever to Tippoo; and it was still his policy to prevent the means of great victories by surprising detachments, and intercepting convoys, and waste the force of his enemies, without encountering their strength.

With this acquisition operations ceased for a season: Seringapatam, the capital of the Mysore, was too strongly fortified to be attacked with the troops at that moment under muster; the rainy season also came on, and Lord Cornwallis was obliged to fix his winter quarters in Bangalore, and there await the arrival of reinforcements. Early in 1792, he was again in the field, and after a day's halt he attacked the encampments before Seringapatam. On the side where he commanded himself, victory was complete; but on the other, although a rout also took place, yet some strange misapprehension of the orders which should have led to a storm, occurred; and the advantages of the day were so far forfeited. Had not this circumstance occurred, the capital of the Mysore, and the power of Tippoo Saib, might have then fallen with the same sublimity which soon after signalized their ruin. The siege prospered notwithstanding, and overtures of submission were offered. To these Lord Cornwallis consented to listen, upon the express understanding that he should dictate the conditions of peace himself. After some discussion it was agreed, on the 19th March, 1792, that Tippoo should pay three crores and thirty lacks of rupees, or about 4,125,0007.-a part immediately, and the rest at stated periods; that he should forfeit one half of his dominions, and cede two of his sons as hostages for the fulfilment of the treaty.

The termination of this war was most serviceable to the interests of Britain, and most flattering to the honour of her arms. Independent of the military talents displayed in thus repressing the most formidable potentate that had ever endangered possessions so productive to us of private riches and public wealth, Lord Cornwallis showed that he was possessed of even higher virtues. Contrary to the direct precedent of former generals, he accepted of no presents from the prince he had conquered, and passed the immense treasure openly surrendered to him without touching a single shilling. Unlike many other Indian governors

and commanders, he left that country no richer than he went to it; and happier than most of them, he carried from it a conscience unburthened with the reproaches of exaction and blood. Returning home, his exemplary services were rewarded with a Marquisate; he was also subsequently appointed Master General of Ordnance, and admitted to the Privy Council.

Cornwallis now enjoyed a short period of relaxation: the exigencies of the times, however, soon called him again into active employment, and in a capacity which, even more than the former, required considerable civil, as well as military talents. The discontents of Ireland, which, though over and over again silenced by the sword, have never been extinguished, caught the reflection of successful resistance from the French revolution, and once more burst out into open rebellion. To suppress this danger, and give an earnest of better government, Marquis Cornwallis was appointed Viceroy, in 1798; and perhaps no previous Lord Lieutenant had a more arduous part to perform. He was required to punish, with the, one hand, and to soothe with the other; to reconcile a whole country to the loss of that distinction and independence which the possession of a separate parliament secured; and to encourage the unhappy Catholics to peace and confidence, upon the assurance that the Government was pledged to put them upon an equality with their fellow-subjects. It 'must be admitted, indeed it has been confessed on all hands, that Marquis Cornwallis acquitted himself of this new office with singular felicity and unexampled merit. He was popular with all men; with the Catholics because he was almost the first Lord Lieutenant under whom they had received not only any share of favour and distinction, but even the common birth-right of the subject

an impartial administration of justice; and with the Protestants, because he showered fortunes and titles among them in return for their exertions in seconding the legislative enactments of the union-an important measure, now strenuously urged into execution. There were, however, acts done, and crimes perpetrated during this period which no man can extenuate, and every reader must deplore; but it has been denied that they were the deeds of the chief governor; and they certainly appeared most adverse to his counsels, and distinct from his purposes. Let it be admitted, then, that they were horrid germs of that ancient misrule

which, thank Heaven, is fast falling into the disuse and execration which should ever accompany civil atrocities. The best proof of this is the common feeling of the country; the day is gone when even a solitary voice or two ventured to asperse the integrity of this Lord-Lieutenant.

While he was thus honourably engaged in the work of general conciliation, a body of French troops, under the command of General Humbert, effected a landing at Killala Bay, in the county of Mayo. Leaving a garrison behind on the shore, they advanced upon Castlebar, defeated some military, who had been there hastily collected together, and penetrated to Tuam. This partial success gave rise to the utmost consternation, but it was speedily counteracted. The Lord Lieutenant hastened into Connaught by forced marches, and at Ballinamuck compelled the enemy to surrender. Meantime the union was ratified, and with that event all the bright prospects and golden promises which were held forth for its completion, vanished into nothingness. The Marquis Cornwallis, unable to redeem the pledges of his administration, was superseded in his authority; but, as a mark of the satisfaction with which the Government reviewed his conduct, was appointed Plenipotentiary for signing the peace of Amiens.

Cornwallis had now encroached upon his sixty-third year, and it might be reasonably supposed that the decline of his life would elapse in peace and retirement. Important events, however, still supervened; and in 1805 he was prevailed upon to repair a second time to the East Indies, and compose the embarrassments of the Company, with the rank of Governor-General, and Commanderin-chief. After having made a variety of improvements in the civil departments, he placed himself at the head of the army, and resolved to conduct the war in person. But his constitution was unequal to the labour, and he was obliged to perform his journeys by slow and short stages. By degrees, his digestive powers began to fail, and before he could reach head-quarters, he expired, on the 5th of October, 1805, at Ghazecpoor, in Benares. His funeral was performed with great pomp, and his memory distinguished by every testimony of regard. A mausoleum was voted to him at Madras, a statue at Bombay, and at home the House of Commons erected that monument of which a description introduces this article.

A summary of the character of Marquis Cornwallis is briefly made. He was not a man of those brilliant talents which the world distinguishes by the title of genius; but he was a nobleman of deep patient sense, considerable application and enviable equanimity. With these qualities, and, above all, a rectitude of principle which no temptation perverted, he served his country in a manner which always secured respect, and must still longer merit gratitude. His life-time comprised a memorable portion of an era the most eventful and extraordinary in the history of nations; the various situations into which he was introduced were highly emergent, and the manner in which he overcame the ordeal was eminently signal. Humane, just, and conciliating, his deserts were assayed by experience, and all parties therefore concurred in lamenting his death. He combined the remote and oftén discordant capacities of a general and a statesman to a degree of excellence such as few have attained, and all may safely emulate.