to His disadvantage, and the indecent joy at the state of His disorder, deemed by such evil-minded men hopeless, is indecent beyond measure, beyond sufferance. Humanity would plead in favour of a good man, but for a moral, religious, and good K... uttering expressions of the tenderest concern for His people and his country.

Monday (probably Dec. 15), 1788.

You will hear reports of the K... being one day much worse than another, of His having seen the P", then the Q...., and may like to hear what you can depend upon, so shall, tho' in the greatest haste and being far from collected, briefly tell you, on Friday, the last day He walked out, the Princesses Mary and Amelia (Sophia not being well) were situated at a window up-stairs, for Him, as He came into the house, to have a glimpse of; when He had fixed His eyes upon them, He pulled off His hat, which in His agitation he flung one way, His gloves and cane another, and ran into the house. This has variously been interpreted as everything He does and says is, but you are as competent to form a judgement; some imputed it to being quite frantic, others to reflection and a power of combining, and a sensibility to the privation of all He so dearly loves. He burst into tears which did not however last. On Saturday evening Dr. Willis wished to try the experiment of bringing Princess Amelia to Him about Her bedtime, hoping thereby to soften Him and produce tears in abundance. The scene was truly tragic without the desired effect. That little innocent of Her own accord said, "Papa, shall I go and bring Mama?" "Yes my little Angel do go." Dr. W. could not refuse, and the Q.... had the courage to come to Him, nothing material passed. He was totally calm, refrained from tears, and when it was time to go and He was reminded of His promise, to continue the game He was playing at Baggammon, "How can I be said to break my promise, when such guests as these come to my interruption?"

I will not comment upon the good sense of this, but it was spoken in a tone the most affecting, and brought tears into eyes unapt to overflow: Her M. overwhelm'd, choak'd, but could not with every inclination cry. He had a disturbed night, Sunday less calm and well, but this day was as forward as before the above experiment. Her M. has seen the Chancellor and Mr. P. yesterday; I hope it is as I hear, that She has declared how much she has His M.'s interest at heart, that the prerogative of the Crown sh" be defended, and that when it shall please the Almighty to restore His health, and enable Him to resume the functions of His High Office, He may find it unembarrass'd and unincumber'd.

I am particularly requested to remain at Kew, at least this week.

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 1788.

Our good Dr. Willis meets with many obstructions. Yesterday morning a dispute arose between Sir G. Baker and the Dr., about the word very being put into the report. Sir G., not upon the spot, and hearing the opinion of the Pages who had sat up and declared He had had a good night, still objected. Dr. Willis was firm, would not put his name, unless the truth of the case is stated. Sir G. said in all his practice, all his consultations, he had never known two Physicians, himself and Sir Lucas Pepys, give up their opinions to one; however they did; this only shews their extreme jealousy of Dr. Willis, who came at the request of His M.'s Phy., but has too much character to act a subservient part, feeling as he must, with great experience in twenty-eight years' practice, how much more of this disorder he knows, than all who have not made this malady their peculiar study. I have disliked our leading Phy., he is a Politician, an intriguing, artful, ill-behaved man, and we should go on much better without him. We flatter ourselves we are making a progress. God bless the means of His recovery, and confound every

evil intention against a blessing so envied.

Saturday, Dec. 20, 1788, Kew.

You will hear there is not the greatest harmony amongst the Physicians. I wish we had got rid of His M.'s Physicians, and that the good old man Dr. Willis had the sole direction, for while it continues with Dr. Warren at the head, we are likely to have disputes and quarrels every day; for instance yesterday, he chose to attack Dr. Willis upon having written a letter to Mr. P., which he averr'd to have been delivered in the morning during the debate, congratulating Mr. P. upon the recovered state of His M., that he had done so with a political view, said he was ashamed of him, and warn'd him to beware of interfering in politics. Now did you ever hear anything so impudent, so impertinent? If you knew his whole behaviour, the decided political line he has taken, you would indeed think it so; you may imagine my blood has boil'd within me. To observe, to counteract, and to support the good old Man, has been one cause of my remaining.

CHAPTER XII.

Tippoo attacks the Raja of Travancore - Negligence of the Madras Government Gross misconduct of Mr. Hollond Preparations for the War Negotiations for the coöperation of Maratha States - Affairs in Europe — Letter from the Prince of Wales - Campaign of 1790 - General Medows - Difficulties of an Indian campaign - Lord Cornwallis proceeds to Madras Assumes the military command and marches against Tippoo.

THE attack upon the lines of Travancore by Tippoo, put a stop to all the endeavours of Lord Cornwallis to diminish the expenses of Government and improve the revenues of the country. He was compelled to turn his whole attention to the approaching war, which cannot be said to have been quite unexpected, since early in 1788 Lord Cornwallis had anticipated such a possibility; and his correspondence, especially with Captain Kennaway and Mr. Malet, shows that he was laying the ground for a closer alliance with the Nizam and the Peshwa than was permitted by the then existing Act of Parliament.

In the course of 1789 he repeatedly urged, or rather commanded, the Government of Madras to make ample preparation for war. How pertinaciously these orders were neglected, his despatches sufficiently show; and the estimation in which he held such false economy is evident from a letter dated March 30, 1790, where he says, "I think it very possible that every cash (24d.) of that ill-judged saving may cost the Company a crore of rupees (1,000,0007.)."

Before entering upon a detail of the military operations in the Mysore, it may be advisable to advert to a few of the civil questions which engrossed the attention of Lord Cornwallis. Prominent among these was the land settlement. Upon this subject he had in the preceding year drawn up two long and able Minutes.1 Mr. Shore dissented in one material point-the perpetuity of the settlementbut in other respects agreed generally with Lord Cornwallis.

The abolition of a smaller branch of the revenue was also effected this year-the Sayer-duties, consisting mainly of what may be termed excise-duties, and tolls on the entry and transit of goods by land and water. The charges of collection absorbed so great a portion

See the Appendix for these Minutes.

of the receipts that the net produce was trifling, while commerce was greatly impeded. A duty was afterwards imposed upon spirituous liquors, which nearly compensated for the loss incurred.

The separation of the judicial duties from those belonging to the collection of the revenue occupied much of his attention. The whole system for the administration of justice was faulty in the extreme. In one of his letters to the Court, Lord Cornwallis says, "Your possessions in this country cannot be said to be well governed, nor the lives and property of your subjects to be secure, until the shocking abuses and the wretched administration of justice in the Foujdarry department can be corrected." But though he endeavoured in this year to remedy some of these evils, it was not till 1793 that he was able to promulgate his regulations on the subject.

As the time was approaching when the renewal of the East India Charter would necessarily come under the discussion of Parliament, Mr. Dundas applied confidentially to Lord Cornwallis for his views on this subject. Lord Cornwallis entertained no high opinion of the Court of Directors as a body, which, while professing great respect for him, and declaring their anxiety to carry out his views, thwarted him in many instances, especially in the nomination of members of the Supreme Council. He had recommended several persons, whom, from his knowledge of their characters, he considered eminently qualified for such a post. Among these were Mr. Charles Grant and Mr. Jonathan Duncan; but they were both set aside on the plea that there were senior servants whose claims the Court could not pass over; the truth however being, that private jobbing and personal feeling had more influence than talent and merit. In such cases the Board of Control had no directing power; they could only give advice, which the Court disregarding, appointed in succession three persons who, as Lord Cornwallis remarked more than once in bitter terms to Mr. Dundas, were totally incompetent for their duties. His opinions on the general subject are embodied in a long despatch to Mr. Dundas.2

These were the principal subjects of a civil nature which, besides the ordinary business of Government, occupied the attention of Lord Cornwallis during the year 1790. Others of minor consequence were necessarily neglected, as the paramount importance of the war with Tippoo obliged him to devote himself almost exclusively to military affairs.

The origin of the war, and the grounds on which Tippoo justified his attack on the lines of Travancore, have already been men

1 See Letter to Court of Directors, Nov. 17, in the Appendix.

2 See Despatch, March 4.

tioned. That he was encouraged in this attempt by the worse than negligence of the Madras Government was evident; but not till some time after the event did the extent of Mr. Hollond's misconduct become known in Bengal. It was at length ascertained that before the Raja of Travancore entertained the proposition of purchasing Cranganore and Jacotta from the Dutch, he had consulted Sir Archibald Campbell; that Mr. Hollond was apprised of the intention some time before the transaction took place; and that neither of them expressed any disapprobation of the proceeding. The bad state of Sir Archibald's health was probably the cause of his not having communicated with Bengal, but there can be no doubt that Mr. Hollond's omission was intentional. When the pecuniary charges, brought against him by the Nabob of Arcot in the summer of 1790, were investigated, there appeared little doubt that he expected to receive large sums from the Raja of Travancore, in return for the British support claimed by the Raja. It was evident that the only means of extorting this sum was to keep the British force in such an inefficient state as to encourage Tippoo to terrify the unfortunate Raja. The alarm created in Calcutta by Mr. Hollond's conduct was so great, that Lord Cornwallis had determined to go at once to Madras to supersede him, and take upon himself the supreme authority, both Civil and Military; but he relinquished this intention, so agreeable to his feelings as a Military man, when he heard of the expected arrival of General Medows, because he felt that the Governor-General would be more usefully employed in Bengal, from whence he could better control the conduct of the Allies, with whom the negotiations were principally carried on through Captain Kennaway and Mr. Malet, as Sindia was not so ready as the others to take any prominent part.

The animosity, more or less active, of all the Maratha states against Tippoo, enabled the Peshwa, or rather his Minister Nana Furnaveze, to co-operate heartily with the British Government; and this feeling, notwithstanding the long subsisting jealousy between the Nizam and the Peshwa, induced the former cordially to join the alliance. Several years before, both these princes had been anxious to unite with the English on terms very favourable to the latter, and though the provision of the Act of Parliament then interfered, there now existed no impediment to the conclusion of these treaties. Sindia was not a party to them, but he promised to use all his influence to induce the Peshwa honestly to perform his engagements. These political arrangements having been successfully

1 See Minute of Lord Cornwallis, April 2, 1790, on Mr. Hollond's proceedings.