In February 1798, Lord Hobart resigned the Government of Madras, and General Harris acted during the interregnum. The Town-Majorship of Fort St. George was in those days an office of greater honor and emolument than it is now, and it was regarded as a perquisite of some one of the Governor's suite. It was therefore given by General Harris to his secretary, and Malcolm held it till the arrival of Lord Clive in August. In this year also he attained his captaincy. And in this year, Lord Mornington landed at Madras on his way to Calcutta ; and Captain Malcolm took the liberty to forward to "the glorious little man," some of those papers that he had submitted to Lord Hobart, and to solicit that "when opportunity offered, he might be employed in the diplomatic line of his profession." And opportunity offered soon: on the 10th of September, he received a letter from the governor-general, an. nouncing his appointment to be assistant to the Resident at the Court of Hyderabad, and at the same time requesting to see him as soon as he could possibly present himself at Calcutta. But it would seem that Malcolm must have received the official announcement of his appointment, and started at once for Hyderabad, before getting this letter from the governor-general; and once at Hyderabad, his hands were filled for some time.

The Nizam had for a long time had a difficult part to play. He was on terms of friendly alliance with the English. He was also on terms of friendship with the French. But the English and the French were at war with each other. He had no very

special preference for either of the parties. The only question with him was as to the probable advantage of maintaining the one or the other friendship. One of the first acts of the administration of Lord Mornington was to compel him to a choice. He had in his pay a body of 11,000 troops, under the command of French officers, and devoted to French interests. The governor-general insisted that these troops should be disbanded, and their officers given up as prisoners of war into the hands of the English. This order had just reached Captain Kirkpatrick, when Malcolm joined him as his assistant. The work was one of importance. It was one also of difficulty and danger. It was admirably executed, and Malcolm had a fair share in the credit of the execution :

"That the dispersion of the French troops was a very important stroke of policy, and that it tended materially to secure our subsequent successes, is not to be denied. Malcolm shared with Kirkpatrick the credit of the achievement. But the experience which he had gained was of more worth to him than the honor. In the course of the fortnight which he had spent, by accident as it were, at Hyderabad, he had seen more of busy, stirring public life-more

of the strife and turmoil of oriental politics-than many men see in the course of years. The lesson that he learnt was never forgotten. That little reliance is to be placed on the word of an Indian diplomatist, that no native court is willing to fulfil the conditions of a treaty except under strong compulsion, Malcolm may have known before. But the great practical truth which he carried with him from Hyderabad, to be much pondered by the way, was, that the most vigorous policy is, at the same time, the most humane that there is nothing so merciful, when strong measures are to be carried out, as an over-awing display of force at the outset. Had Kirkpatrick wanted resolution-had he hesitated, and faltered, and shewn himself to be a man of weak-nerved humanity, slow to resort to extremities, in all probability before the end of October, the French lines would have been running crimson with blood. There is an ill odour about the word "dragooning," but there is more real kindness in the thing itself than is readily to be believed."

And so, deeply pondering this and other lessons, and bearing with him the colors of the disbanded French regiments, John Malcolm proceeded to Calcutta.

Any one reading Mr. Kaye's account of the reception that awaited him there, and of the place which he occupied in the vice-regal court and councils of Lord Mornington, without having much previous knowledge of the character, and tastes, and peculiarities of that nobleman, will be apt to think that Mr. Kaye unduly magnifies his hero, and represents his advent to Calcutta as a more important event than it really was. But, in point of fact, the governor-general, the "glorious little man," was one of those few men to whom, being in office, it was of no consequence whether a man were old or not, whether he were a cadet or a colonel, provided he had eyes that could see, a brain that could think, a soul that could feel what was right and what was noble, and a hand that could hold a sword or a pen. In fact, we think that, upon the whole, other things being equal, he would have preferred a young man to an old one; at all events he seems to have surrounded himself with men whom many would have despised as youngsters; but whose energies, and whose unsophisticated ways of looking at affairs, he knew how to turn to account. It was not because he despised the wisdom of the ancients; but because he had a peculiar liking for a set of men who combined, in a wonderful way, the wisdom of experience with the energy and the fearlessness of youth. There are men who are never young;calculating, planning, plotting, far-seeing in regard to the interests of self, from their boyhood. No man likes, or ought to like them. And there are men too, who never grow old; who retain the frivolity and the puppyism of boyhood, till, for their years, they ought to be old men. These are neither liked nor

likeable, neither esteemed nor estimable.. But others there are, who, without any deficiency, yea with a superabundance, of the characteristic qualities of youth, require only to have responsibility laid upon them, in order to call forth the faculties and powers which in others are only developed by time and experience; and these men often retain the freshness and the vigor of youth until a good old age. These are the men, who are fittest for the work of this world in whatsoever of its departments. Those who know how to appreciate men make much of such when they find them. Blessed is the governor who has his quiver full of such.

And such an one was Malcolm, and such ones were many of those whom Lord Mornington gathered around him in Calcutta. He knew how to appreciate them. He made much of them, in a judicious and manly way-and these fine young hearts beat joyously at the sound of his voice; and very gladly would they have poured out their life-blood for their noble chief.

Doubtless Malcolm at this time was very happy. Nor less so, when the governor-general announced to him that he was to accompany himself to the Madras presidency, and take such part as might be assigned to him in the events that were "looming in the distance." In the governor-general's suite he arrived at Madras, and thence he was despatched to join the Nizam's force, and accompany it to Seringapatam. It consisted of two portions, the British troops in the pay of the Nizam, commanded by Colonels Roberts and Hyndman; and the Nizam's own troops under Meer Allum. They were all sepoys alike, but the one body was directly under the command of the Company's officers, while the other owned no master but the Nizam. It was with the latter portion of the force that Malcolm had mainly to do. He found these troops then in a state of mutiny; Meer Allum acknowledged himself unable to control them, and Malcolm felt himself justified in offering to take the command. His offer was accepted; and by a manly and determined bearing, he subdued those rude spirits, and reduced them into a state of obedience and efficiency. With this force of the Nizam, H. M.'s 33rd regiment was associated; and it was this that brought Malcolm into contact with the Honorable Arthur Wellesley; and thus a friendship was begun, which ripened into cordial intimacy, and which never slackened on either side till the last day of Malcolm's life. Indeed we may say in passing that we do not know that the Duke of Wellington was ever on more intimate terms with any man than with Sir John Malcolm.

The capture of Seringapatam, the death of Tippoo, and the subversion of his dynasty, belong to the history of India, rather than to the life of Malcolm. But there are two anecdotes,

On

related by Mr. Kaye, that we must transfer to our pages. the morning of the final assault on the city, "Boy Malcolm " went into General Harris's tent, and addressed him as "Lord Harris." The old hero thought the joke mistimed, and answered him gravely. Yet we may be sure that he did not particularly dislike to be reminded by one whom he knew to be as sagacious as he was buoyant, of coming events casting their shadows before. The other story is equally characteristic. When the loot of Seringapatam was put up for sale, it was not unnatural that General Harris should wish to become possessor of the Spolia opima. But Tippoo's sword was knocked down to another bidder, to Captain Malcolm. Was he going to keep it for himself? No, he was not selfish enough for that. Was he going

to send it Burnfoot? This would not have been inconsistent with his intense regard for his father and mother. But this too would have been selfishness; for what right had they peculiarly to a trophy which he had not peculiarly taken? No! he bought the sword, and presented it to Sir Alured Clarke. Harris liked him all the better for this tribute of respect for a hero, of gratitude to his first patron.

In General Harris's despatch, Malcolm has a whole paragraph devoted to his praise; and indeed his services were of no ordinary kind. But for his exertions, and the confidence that the Nizam's officers and soldiers reposed in him, this large branch of the army would have been almost certainly lost to the cause. Lord Mornington was as willing to listen to the recommendation, as General Harris was to recommend "Captain Malcolm to the particular notice of his Lordship in Council;" and when a Commission was appointed for the settlement of the Mysore territory, consisting of General Harris, Arthur and Henry Wellesley, Colonels Kirkpatrick and Close,-John Malcolm and his friend, "Tom Munro," were appointed secretaries. When a governor-general nominates such a commission and such secretaries, it is not to be doubted that he means it to be a working commission; and such was this. In a month, the work was done, and done well. Much has been written on a point to which Mr. Kaye does not allude, or alludes only so slightly that the allusion will not be understood except by those conversant with the history of the period. We refer to the slight supposed to have been cast upon Sir David Baird, by his exclusion from this commission, and by the appointment of Col. Wellesley to the command of the city, to which Baird was thought to have a superior claim. We have no wish to revive this controversy; but we do think it is scarcely fair to admit, as seems to be sometimes admitted as an element in the discussion, the subsequent career of Colonel Wellesley. It is forgotten SEPT., 1857.

Y

that the controversy took place in the eighteenth, not in the nineteenth century; that the parties were not Sir David Baird and the Duke of Wellington, but Sir David Baird and Colonel the Honorable Arthur Wellesley. That Colonel Wellesley's appointment was a good one is doubtless true; and it may be true also, that Baird's temper and habits fitted him better for the head of an army than for the settlement of a province; but we have not been quite convinced, either that Wellesley had showed so pre-eminent qualifications, or Baird so striking disqualifications as to justify the Governor-General in passing over the fine old hero, and appointing his own brother.

The business of the Mysore Commissioner was scarcely wound up when Captain Malcolm was informed by Lord Mornington that he intended to send him as ambassador to the court of Persia. With what joy he received this announcement we need not tell. Since the days of Elizabeth, when Sir Anthony Jenkinson was sent to the court of the Shah of those days, no British envoy had proceeded to the Persian court. Malcolm himself thus states the objects of his Mission;-"To relieve India from the annual alarm of Zemaun Shah's invasion,* * * to counteract the possible attempts of those villainous, but active 'democrats, the French; and to restore to some part of its former prosperity, a trade which has been in a great degree 'lost."

Zemaun Shah was at this time king of Affghanistan, who had been for years blustering about an invasion of the British territories, and a junction with the Mohammedan princes of India. It was considered a good stroke of policy to enlist Persia on our side, so that if he should attack us, Persia might attack him. The French were no doubt at this time ready for mischief of any sort; and it was probably necessary to checkmate them by all possible means. The trade with Persia had never been great; but it was considered desirable that it should not be allowed to fall wholly into disuse. Such were the objects of Malcolm's mission to Persia. As it was desirable that no time should be lost, and as his own temperament was never such as to lead him to lose time, he set off at once for Hyderabad, and spent a busy fortnight in closing his accounts there. He left Hyderabad on the 1st of November, 1799, reached Poonah on the 19th, and after a very short stay at Bombay, sailed thence on the 29th of December, two days before the end of the century. His first destination was Muscat, where he entered into a treaty between the Imaum and the English. He then started for Bushire, which he reached on the 1st of February, 1800.