consolingly to him; said that, although further resistance might have delayed the hour of his final downfall, that fall would have been when it came at last-and nothing could prevent its coming-far more calamitous both to himself and his adherents; that now he was received as a friend of the British Government, a liberal provision had been made for him, and he would pass the remainder of his days in security and comfort; whereas another appeal to arms could have had but one result-it would have involved himself and his friends in irretrievable ruin, and made them outcasts and wanderers for the rest of their days."

And so Badjee Rao, the last of the Peishwahs, became a pensioner of the British Government, and he vegetated on his £80,000 a year for a quarter of a century. It is evident that Lord Hastings would have preferred that the quarrel should have been settled by the sword. But he was heartily glad that it was settled; only he was staggered by the amount of the pension; and it must be admitted that in this instance, as in others, Malcolm devised liberal things.

Badjee Rao was much depressed when he entered Malcolm's camp, but Malcolm was just the man to animate and enliven him. His bearing towards him, it need scarcely be said, was that of a gentleman to a gentleman, and Badjee soon became contented and cheerful, and perhaps as happy as his nature admitted of his being in any circumstances. It is but a small measure of happiness that is competent to men of his stamp. He was never, even in his best days, a ruler of men,-of himself or of others, and it was quite as pleasant to be ruled by an English gentleman as by a native Wazir.

And so the Ex-Peishwah marched along with Malcolm, encamping at a little distance from him. His troops gradually melted away and returned to their homes. But there was one body of his army that could not so easily be got rid of. These were Arabs, who were guarding the mountain passes, and who now rushed in from all sides, clamouring for their arrears of pay; and Malcolm saw that it would be necessary for the safety of his prisoner that he should take the matter into his own hand :—

"Stil tenacious of his dignity-still eager to make a show of power-Badjee Rao had declared that all would be well, and that he could manage his adherents. But at noon, on the 9th of June, a messenger entered the English camp, and announced that the Peishwah's tent was surrounded by his mutinous soldiery, clamorously demanding their arrears of pay, and threatening to resort to acts of violence if their claims were not promptly satisfied.

"Though the main body of Malcolm's troops had marched as usual in the morning, he had kept in the rear, under the belief that their services would be required, a detachment consisting of a regi ment of cavalry, a battalion of infantry, some guns and about six

hundred irregular horse. They were ready to act in a moment against the mutineers; but Badjee Rao still declared that he could induce, by promises of payment, the refractory troops to march towards their homes, and implored Malcolm not to attack them lest they should sacrifice his life to their resentment. For seven hours, therefore, the British troops were kept under arms, but inactive. Still the turmoil was unabated; still the language of the chief mutineers was loud and defiant. So Malcolm sent an express to recall the troops which had marched in the morning, and in the meanwhile exhorted the Peishwah, who was in an extreme state of alarm, to compose himself during the night, for that next day he would assuredly be relieved from the danger which then threatened him. At the same time, Malcolm sent messages to the chiefs of the mutineers, warning them of the certain destruction they would bring upon themselves by committing any acts of violence; but promising them on the other hand that if they would depart in peace, the pledges voluntarily made to them by the Peishwah, should be amply redeemed.

"The night passed quietly away. On the morning Malcolm went out to reconnoitre the neighbourhood of the Peishwah's camp. It was at a distance of about a mile and a half from our own headquarters, pitched upon a spot of low, jungly ground on the banks of a watercourse, which, flowing in a serpentine direction, surrounded three sides of the encampment. The low trees and brushwood on the banks of the nullah, and the uneven, stony surface of the ground, were favorable to the operations of the irregular Arab troops who occupied it. But Malcolm's quick soldierly eye discerned at a distance of some two hundred yards from the front of the encampment a spot on which he could form his force, with the left of his line resting on the watercourse, and his right extending to a hill, the crest of which commanded the whole camp. As soon as he received intelligence that the troops which he had recalled were close at hand, he made his formations, and prepared for action. His object, however, was rather to overawe the mutineers than destroy them. There was no doubt of the result of an engagement. But the lives of the Peishwah and all his family were in danger. The mutineers encompassed his tent. His attendants and followers, including numbers of women and children, were hemmed in by the refractory troops. To have opened a fire upon them would have been to have destroyed scores of innocent lives. The moment was one of extremest anxiety. Malcolm had nine six-pounder guns loaded with grape, and if he had opened upon the mutineers, the massacre would have been dreadful. He abstained to the extreme limits of forbearance. An Arab picket fired on our men, and two of our grenadiers were wounded. Still Malcolm would not fire a shot, or suffer a man to move. The display of force was sufficient. The chiefs of the mutineers were now ing forward, to sue for terms. Galloping forward, and stopping the fire of their men, they advanced towards the English general. He told them, in a manner not to be misunderstood, that the Peishwah had already paid them a large sum of money; that other points for

com

which they had contended had been guaranteed to them on the faith of the British Government; and that therefore, as they had no longer any pretext for continuing in a hostile attitude, if they did not immediately draw off their troops from the tents of their late master, our batteries would open upon them and they would be destroyed to

a man.

66

They implored him to be patient for one more moment. They asked only that he would suffer them to return to their lines and bring with them the principal Jemadars of the force to hear Malcolm's promises confirmed. The permission was granted; and the jemadars came. "Give these men your hand," said the chief, Syud Zein by name; "promise them that, if they release Badjee Rao, you will not attack them, and all your commands shall be obeyed." To one after another Malcolm gave his hand and the promise they required to assure them; and then they hastened to their lines. In less than

a quarter of an hour, their tents were struck, their troops had moved off; and Badjee Rao, attended by his own Mahratta guards, came up to the front of the English line, where Malcolm received him with a general salute.

"The Peishwah, who had been overwhelmed with terror, was now in a corresponding state of joy. He was profuse in his expressions of gratitude. He called Malcolm the saviour of his honour-the saviour of his life; and declared that he would, for the remainder of his days, be guided in everything by the advice of his preserver. There was no blessing in life, he said, equal to that of a true friend."

After crossing the Nerbudda, the Peishwah was sent off, under the escort of Captain Low, to Benares, where, as we have stated, and at Bithur, he lived for about a quarter of a century. It is not unworthy of notice, as shewing the respect of the English for their engagements, that, although the Governor-General had strongly disapproved of the amount of pension allowed him,—although an element of Malcolm's justification was the age and debility of the Peishwah, so that it was almost assumed in the treaty that he should not live any thing like so unreasonable a time, and although it may safely be assumed that abundance of pretexts might have been found for colouring a breach of faith, yet the pension was strictly and duly paid during all these years, in the course of which it must have amounted to somewhere about two crores of rupees, or two millions sterling.

We need scarcely remind our readers that the legacy which Badjee Rao left us was the execrable Nana Saheb. This inhuman monster is the adopted son of the last of the Peishwas.

And now Malcolm, having got rid of Badjee Rao, resumed, with his wonted energy, the work of civilizing Malwah. His head quarters were at Mhow, whence he exercised "a military and political control over the greatest part of Malwah, and as far south as the Taptee." This territory he ruled with great

judgment, and had the gratification of seeing order and happiness take the place of anarchy and all its consequent evils.

But we have seen nothing of the "Boy Malcolm" for a long time. Here is a specimen, which is well worthy of preservation, were it only for the allusion it contains to the Duke of Wellington's Hindostani. Writing to the Duke on the 25th of September, Malcolm says :—

"The day before yesterday the whole of the officers in camp dined with me to celebrate the anniversary of the battle of Assye; and it was celebrated with proper enthusiasm by men who were sensible to all the advantages the Indian army derives from having its fame associated with your history. I have never yet written any poetry about you, and therefore expect pardon for making you the subject of a song for the day, a copy of which I enclose.* It is the same measure as that in which Moore has made the Genius of Erin call upon you to relieve her land, and sings equally well with the appropriate air of Paddy Whack.' If Moore is very Irish, you will perhaps say I am very Asiatic.

"Our Assye festival did not finish with my dinner. My native aide-de-camp, Subadar Syud Hussein, a gallant soldier, owes his rise to that day. He was the leading havildar of the Fourth Cavalry in the charge; and he afterwards dashed into the centre of a party of the enemy's horse, and bore off their standard. His commanding officer, Floyer, brought him and the standard to you; and upon the story being told, you patted him upon the back, and with that eloquent and correct knowledge in the native language for which you were celebrated, said, 'Acha havildar; jemadar.' A jemadar he was made; and though the anecdote has no doubt been expelled from your memory to make room for others of more interest, it holds an important place in Syud Hussein's; and amid all his subsequent successes in Persia and in India, which have raised him to medals, pensions, and a palanquin from Government, his pride is the pat on the back he received at Assye; and he told me the other day with great naivete that he felt raised by your actions, as your increasing fame gave increasing value to the notice you had once taken of him. This grateful soldier followed my feast by one on the 24th to two hundred subadars, jemadars, havildars, and naicks of my division; and a grand nautch which he gave in the evening to about four hundred spectators, was attended by all the English officers in camp. A very good transparency of your head, with the word Assye, which had ornamented my bungalow, was put up by him in a large tent, and the Persian name of Wellesley Sahib Bahadur, in Persian characters, announced to those who had not seen the light of your countenance in the original, for whom the picture was intended. The subadar was pressed to call you the Duke

The song which Malcolm wrote on this occasion-one of the most spirited of his poetical compositions-will be found in the Appendix. It was sung by Captain Fleetwood, of the Rocket Corps.

of Wellington; but he said (and I think very justly) that was your European name, but your Indian name was Wellesley Bahadur."

"P. S. Since writing this letter, all the Pariahs at head-quarters met and gave a feast, to help which they purchased thirty bottles of Pariah arrack. Led by the riot they made to the place of meeting, I went with some others to see what was the matter. A drunken mehtur came up and said, 'We all get drunk for Wellington

name.'

This song is given by Mr. Kaye in his Appendix. He characterizes it as one of the most spirited of Malcolm's poetical compositions. Malcolm could do better things than write poetry, but poetry he could not write.

It was his peculiar faculty of putting every one around him into good humour that constituted one great element of Malcolm's success. Thoroughly in earnest as to the work he was engaged in, disposed always to look at the brighter side of every picture, acting on the principle that as a man he had an interest in all human things, confident in his own powers, and preferring the accomplishment of the end to the establishment of any preconceived theory respecting the means, he effected vastly more than a man of a different temperament could have achieved, and enjoyed the highest gratification that is permitted to men in this evil world, the sight of great good accomplished by his instrumentality.

He was now contemplating a speedy return to England, when more stirring work detained him. On the 10th of February, 1819, intelligence was brought to Malcolm that Appa-Sahib, the deposed Boonsla, or Rajah of Berar, who had for some time been hunted by our detachments, had broken from the hills, and accompanied by Chettro, the last of the Pindari chiefs, had made his way to Asseerghur, a strong fortress belonging to Scindia, the gates of which had been opened to him, but closed against his companion. Immediately on receiving this intelligence, he moved forward with his force, to co-operate with General Doveton. At first it was supposed that Jeswunt Rao, the commandant of the fortress, had acted on his own responsibility, and that his conduct would be disapproved by Scindia; but it soon appeared that he acted under instructions from Head-quarters at Gwalior. Jeswunt attempted, as usual, to amuse Malcolm by negotiations; but he was wide-awake, and was gradually surrounding the place; and the preparations being now complete, it was intimated to Jeswunt Rao that if he did not surrender himself before the 13th of March, the fortress should be attacked on the morning of that day. A move on the part of Scindia however put off the actual commencement of