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,†
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,‡
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.

"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 affecting."-Note by Marquess Wellesley.

"Lord Duncan was of very noble and venerable appearance, with

a fine complexion and long grey hair."-Note by Lord Wellesley.

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 diù secum, et conatibus ægris
Fessa cadit, proprioque jacet labefacta veneno.
Mox tamen ipsius rursùm violentia morbi
Erigit ardentem furiis, ultròque minantem
Spargere bella procul, vastæque 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 giganteâ campis prorumpit apertis,
Successu scelerum, atque insanis viribus audax.
At quà Pestis atrox rapido se turbine vertit,
Cernis ibi, priscâ morum compage solutâ,
Procubuisse solo civilis fœdera vitæ,

Et quodcunque Fides, quodcunque habet alma verendi
Religio, Pietasque et Legum fræna sacrarum.

Nec spes Pacis adhùc-necdum exsaturata rapinis
Effera Bellatrix, fusove expleta cruore.

Crescit inextinctus Furor; atque exæstuat ingens
Ambitio, immanisque irâ Vindicta renatâ
Relliquias Soliorum et adhuc restantia Regna
Flagitat excidio, prædæque incumbit opimæ.
Una etenim in mediis Gens intemerata ruinis
Libertate probâ, et justo libramine rerum,
Securum faustis degit sub legibus ævum ;
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, terrâque subactâ

Impius Oceani sceptrum fœdaverit Hostis !

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 examined.-Lord Mornington'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 Hobart 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 transferred the Government to Sir Alured Clarke, the Commander-in-chief of the Forces, and Vice-President 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 éclat by the promptitude evinced by him in the seizure of the Dutch settlements in Ceylon, &c. as soon as he received intelligence of the commencement of hostilities between Holland and England, would have succeeded Lord Cornwallis,-his Lordship having actually been officially nominated as his successor 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 his Brother in 1803; vol. ii.

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 expectations, 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 GovernorGeneral and Commander-in-chief! Under the circumstances, the appointment was considered an extraordinary one, and it of course gave rise to much speculation and conjecture among political circles at the time. What tended to render the matter still more mysterious 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 inferences 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 peculiar nature," the Earl of Mornington had been appointed Governor-General. The truth appears to be this: Lord Teignmouth was desirous of enjoying his newlyacquired 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