Page images
PDF
EPUB

sador being accidentally shot at Bombay, he was again entrusted with a mission to that empire, in order to make the requisite arrangements for the renewal of the embassy, which he accomplished in a manner that afforded the highest satisfaction to the Company. In December, 1804, he was promoted to the rank of LieutenantColonel. In the June of the following year he was appointed chief agent of the Governor-General, and he continued to serve in that capacity until March, 1806, having successfully concluded several very important treaties during that period.

[ocr errors]

Upon the arrival in India, in April, 1808, of the new GovernorGeneral, Lord Minto, Colonel Malcolm was sent by his lordship to the court of Persia on a very important mission, that of endeavouring to counteract the designs of Bonaparte, then in the zenith of his power, who threatened an invasion of India by way of Persia, supported by the Persian and Turkish governments. In this difficult embassy Colonel Malcolm did not wholly succeed. He returned to Calcutta in the following August, and soon afterwards proceeded to his residence at Mysore, after having, to use the words of Lord Minto, "laid the government under additional obligations to his zeal and ability." Early in the year 1810, he was again selected to proceed in a diplomatic capacity to the court of Persia, whence he returned upon the appointment of Sir Gore Ouseley as ambassador. So favorable was the impression which he made, on this occasion, on the Persian Prince, that he was presented by him with a valuable sword and star, and, at the same time, made a khan and sepahdar of the empire: to that impression, indeed, may be ascribed much of the good understanding, both in a political and commercial point of view, which now so happily subsists between this country and Persia. During this embassy, while at Bagdad, Colonel Malcolm transmitted to the government at Bengal his final report of the affairs of Persia, a document so highly appreciated, that the government acknowledged its receipt to the secret committee in terms of unqualified praise.

[ocr errors]

In 1812, Colonel Malcolm again visited his native shores. He was met by the Court of Directors of the East India Company with the deepest regard and acknowledgment of his merits; and, shortly afterwards, he received the honor of knighthood. He returned to India in 1816, and soon became engaged in extensive political and military duties; he was attached, as political agent of the GovernorGeneral, to the force under Lieutenant-General Sir T. Hislop, and appointed to command the third division of the army, with which, after taking Talym by surprise, he acted a prominent part in the celebrated battle of Mehidpoor, when the army under Mulhar Rao Holkar was completely beaten, and put to rout. His skill and valor on this occasion were the theme of general admiration. A vote of thanks was awarded him, on the proposal of Mr. Canning, by the House of Commons; and the Prince Regent expressed his regret that the circumstance of his not having attained the rank of MajorGeneral prevented his creating him a Knight Grand Cross: but his

1

intention to do so was ordered to be recorded, and, in 1821, he accordingly received the highest honor which a soldier can receive from his Sovereign. After the termination of the war with the Mahrattas and Pindarees, to which Colonel Malcolm's services so eminently contributed, he was employed by Lord Hastings in visiting and settling the distracted territories of Mulhar Rao, which, and other services, he accomplished in a most satisfactory manner, and gained to British India a large accession of territory and treasure. In April, 1822, he returned once more to England, with the rank of Major-General; and shortly afterwards he was presented, by those who had acted under him in the war of 1818 and 1819, with a superb vase of the value of 1,5007. It was during this visit to England, too, that Sir John received a proud testimony of the favor of the East India Company, and acknowledgment of the utility of his public career, in the grant, passed unanimously by a General Court of Proprietors, of a thousand pounds per annum, in consideration of his distinguished merits and services.

Sir John had quitted India with the determination to spend the evening of his life in his native country; but the solicitations of the Court of Directors, and of his Majesty's ministers for India affairs, induced him to again embark in the service of his country, where experience had so fully qualified him to act with advantage. In July, 1827, he was appointed to the high and responsible situation of Governor of Bombay, which post he continued to fill until 1831, when he finally returned to England, having effected, during the few years of his governorship, incalculable benefits for this country, our Indian territories, and every class of the inhabitants there. Upon his leaving Bombay, the different bodies of the people seemed to vie with each other in giving proofs of the esteem and high consideration in which he was held. The principal European gentlemen of Bombay requested Sir John to sit for his statue, since executed by Chantrey, to be erected in Bombay; the members of the Asiatic Society requested a bust of him, to be placed in their library; the native gentlemen of Bombay solicited his portrait, to be placed in their public room; the East India Amelioration Society voted him a service of plate; the natives, both of the presidency and the provinces, addressed him as their friend and benefactor; and the United Society of Missionaries, including English, Scotch, and Americans, acknowledged with gratitude the aids they had received from him in the prosecution of their pious labors, and their deep sense of his successful endeavours to promote the interests of truth and humanity, with the welfare and prosperity of his country and his countrymen. These were apt and gratifying incidents in the closing scene of his long and arduous services in our Indian empire. But whether at home or abroad, all parties who knew any thing of his career concurred in awarding him the highest praises, both as a civil, military, and political character; and the brief encomium of Mr. Canning in Parliament, that he was "a gallant officer, whose name would be remembered in India as long as

the British flag was hoisted in that country," is only in accordance with the universal opinion of his merits.

Shortly after Sir John's arrival in England, in 1831, he was returned to Parliament for the borough of Launceston, and took an active part in the proceedings upon several important questions, particularly the Scotch Reform Bill. He frequently addressed the House at length; and his speeches were characterized by an intimate knowledge of the history and constitution of his country, though neither voice nor delivery were much in his favor with that assembly, at once so popular and so fastidious. Upon the dissolution of Parliament, in 1832, Sir John became a candidate for the Dumfries district of burghs; but being too late in entering the field, and finding a majority of the electors had promised their votes, he did not persevere. He was then solicited to become a candidate for the city of Carlisle, and complied; but it was at the eleventh hour; and being personally unknown to the place, the result of the first day's poll decided the election against him. Sir John then retired to his seat, near Windsor, and employed himself in writing his work upon the Government of India, which was published a few weeks ago, with the view of elucidating the difficult questions relating to the renewal of the East India Company's Charter. His last public act was his able speech in the General Court of Proprietors of East India Stock, and the introduction of his resolutions relative to the proposals of government respecting the charter, which resolutions were, after several adjourned discussions, adopted by a large majority.

As an author, the name of Sir John Malcolm will occupy no mean place in the annals of his country's literature. His principal works are, - A Sketch of the Sikhs, a singular nation in the province of the Penjamb, in India; the History of Persia, from the earliest period to the present time; Sketches of Persia; a Memoir of Central India; and his last work on the Administration of British India. Sir John had also been engaged for some time past in writing a Life, and editing the papers, of Lord Clive; and we trust the work will yet be given to the public.

Sir John married, on the 4th of June, 1807, Charlotte Campbell, daughter of Sir Alexander Campbell, Baronet, who was Commander-in-Chief at Madras, by whom he has left five children, viz. Margaret, married to her cousin, the present Sir Alexander Campbell; George Alexander, a Captain in the Guards, whose regiment is now in Ireland; Charlotte Olympia; Ann Amelia; and Catherine Wellesley.

[From "The New Monthly Magazine, No. 152.”]

THE DUKE of SutherLAND, K. G.

[The Duke of Sutherland, having been so lately elevated to that rank in the peerage, may be better known to some of our readers as the Marquis of Stafford.

He was distinguished by his wealth, being perhaps, the richest nobleman of Great Britain, and by his famous collection of pictures, one of the most valuable ever owned by an individual. An account of this collection is given in the "Stafford Gallery," a work containing nearly 300 etchings of different paintings, in 2 volumes royal quarto. - EDD.]

The Duke of Sutherland died on the 19th July at his seat, Dunrobin Castle, in the county of Sutherland. His Grace had labored under an infirm state of health for several years, but up to his departure for the North, on the 2d of July, he was better than he had been for many months. George Granville Leveson Gower, Duke of Sutherland, Marquis of Stafford, Earl Gower, Viscount Trentham, Baron Gower of Sittenham, and a Baronet, K. B., Recorder of Stafford, and (jure uxoris) High Sheriff of the county of Sutherland, succeeded his father Granville, the late Marquis, K. G., Oct. 26, 1803. The Marquis was called up to the house of Lords during the lifetime of his father, and placed in his barony of Gower of Sittenham; he married, September 4, 1785, Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland and Baroness of Strathnaver (in her own right); and has issue, first, George Granville, Earl Gower, born August 6, 1786; married, May 28, 1823, Harriet, third daughter of the present Earl of Carlisle; second, Charlotte, born June 8, 1788; married, December 27, 1814, Henry, Earl of Surrey, only son of Bernard Edward, Duke of Norfolk; third, William, born June 4, 1792, and died in 1793; fourth, William Leveson, died June 17, 1804; fifth, Lord Francis, born 1799; married Harriet, eldest daughter of Mr. and Lady Charlotte Greville, by whom he has a family of six children; sixth, Elizabeth, married, Sept. 16, 1819, Richard, Viscount Belgrave, now Earl Grosvenor. The family of Gower has some pretensions to be considered of AngloSaxon origin. The object of the creation, in Queen Anne's time, is thus stated by Burnet: -"Finch, Gower, Granville, and young Seymour, were made Peers in 1702, to create a majority in the Upper House, while Harvey was advanced at the same time through private favor.". On the death of the Duke's uncle, Francis, the last Duke of Bridgewater, in 1803, he became the heir general of that nobleman, and acquired the whole income of the Bridgewater Canal and the Worseley estate, which latter is entailed on his youngest son, Lord Francis Leveson Gower. Thus, for life, by the Stafford, the Sutherland, and the Bridgewater possessions united, his Grace was regarded as enjoying one of the largest incomes in Europe, report affirmed that it exceeded 300,000l. per annum. The Duke expended that income nobly and munificently. From the late Duke of Bridgewater, and by his own extensive purchases, his Grace possessed a superb collection of paintings, ancient and modern, which, during a certain portion of the year, he was accustomed to open to the public, at his late residence in Cleveland-row. Subsequently to his occupation of Stafford-house many pictures have been removed thither; but the Bridgewater part of the collection remains in Cleveland-row.

[ocr errors]

When, after the decease of the late Duke of York, it had been deemed advisable to dispose of the palatial residence erected for his Royal Highness in the Green-Park, we believe there was not an individual capable of forming an opinion on the subject who did not rejoice at its falling into the possession of its late noble owner. The purchase-money of the mansion was 75,000 guineas; but it must be borne in mind that its interior was then, and yet remains, incomplete. The Duke of Sutherland did not survive his elevation to a ducal coronet more than six months. He supported the present administration, and his proxy was given in favor of the Lord Chancellor's Local Courts Bill.

[From "The New Monthly Magazine, No. 152."]

LORD DOVER.

-

George James Welbore Agar Ellis, Baron Dover, of Dover, county of Kent, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, died at his house in Whitehall, on the 10th of July. He was a Trustee of the British Museum and of the National Gallery, F. R. S. and F. S. A. ; was born January 14, 1797, and married, March 7, 1822, Lady Georgiana Howard, second daughter of the Earl of Carlisle, and niece to the Duke of Devonshire and the Countess Granville. His lordship was the only son of the present Viscount Clifden, by Lady Caroline Spencer, sister to the Duke of Marlborough. At the general election in 1818, he was returned for the borough of Heytesbury; and, at the age of twenty-one, took his seat in the Imperial Parliament, of which he was an efficient member, seldom, indeed, taking a very conspicuous part in debates upon the great political questions which have been discussed; but while he maintained his principles upon these in a way not to be misunderstood, applying himself with more congenial and prominent zeal to every subject which involved the cause of learning, the fine or useful arts, charities, and the improvement of the people. Thus in 1824, when the sum of 57,000l. was appropriated to the purchase of Mr. Angerstein's collection of pictures for the public, as the foundation of a National Gallery, it must be recorded, to the lasting fame of Mr. Ellis, that he was the first person who suggested this illustrious design, and one of the most earnest and enlightened of its advocates whose energy led to the adoption of the measure. His lordship was a steady political adherent of the present Administration; and, on the change of government in November, 1830, he was selected by Earl Grey to succeed Viscount Lowther as Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests. This office he, however, resigned a few weeks afterwards, on account of his delicate health, and he did not subsequently accept any other appointment under In the spring of 1831 his lordship was created a Brit

the crown.

ish Peer.

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »