The Press. — London, England, 1854-05-20 00:00:00

."'2!•!7. MAY 20,1854. yittraturt. Memoirs and Correspondence of Major-General Sir William Nott, G.C.B. By J. H. Stocque• _ __ _ ler. London : Hurst and Blackett. Tats biography is not well written, yet is far from deserving the severity of censure with which it has been visited by some critics. Mr. Stocqueler writes as if always in haste ; his style is occasionally wordy and feeble, and the occasions are rare on which he shows any graphic power; but he tells a plain story plainly, and brings together many interesting facts respecting the great Affghan tragedy. This historical event, in fact, occupies the greater part of the two volumes before us ; the private life of Sir W. Nott affording few subjects, and being very briefly disposed of. William Nott, the hero of the story, was born in January, 'B3, being the second son of a Herefordshire farmer. Of school-teaching he had little, but a country life gave him early habits of activity, and his energetic spirit broke out, like that of Clive, in freaks of boy ish mischief. He helped his father in farming business, and often drove the plough himself, a reminiscence to which in later days he was fond of recurring. Not destined originally for the army, he became a soldier by accident. The invasion of Wales in '97 by a French force led to the formation of volunteer corps everywhere : Caermarthenshire, to which the Nott family had removed, contributed her share of men, and William Nott, a lad of fifteen, enrolled himself as one of the national defenders. Their campaign was bloodless ; but it turned the young farmer's head. Nothing would content him but a commission, and this he seems to have obtained without difficulty, through the influence of one Mr. Twining. It is not stated how a piece of patronage usually above the expectation or reach of one in his father's station came to fall to his share ; but India in 1798 was very unlike the India of 1854. He who left England as a cadet took, probably, an eternal farewell of family and friends; his letters reached him at most once or twice in the year; the voyage home occu pied on an average six mouths, and the ex pense of the passage placed it beyond the reach of a young officer ; consequently few re turned, except when far gone in years, and with the intention of quitting India for ever. Add to this that deaths from climate were twice as frequent as now,—hill-stations being unknown, the Himalayas inaccessible, and men's social habits intemperate; that the total destruction of English power in the East, a catastrophe which even alarmists have long ceased to predict, was at that period no im possible event; and that an officer life resem bled one long campaign, while European society (especially that of women) was a luxury unattainable except at the Presidencies. All these inconveniences taken together, and doubtless magnified by report, tended to lessen the number of aspirants after Oriental renown. Perhaps also the threatened in vasion of England, and menacing aspect of Europe, had turned away the eyes of soldiers from the great work which was slowly but surely doing in the East. Be this as it may, the wishes of Nott were gratified with little delay : he embarked for Bengal in 1800, was captured by a French privateer, wounded in the struggle, and with his fellow-passengers put on board an Arab vessel, which carried him on to Calcutta. In the latter part of the passage great hardships were endured ; the ship in which Nott sailed had of necessity taken in the passengers and crew of another Indiaman burnt at sea; and now the living freight of two large vessels was transferred on board a single small one, having already her own complement. Water ran short; the voyage was protracted ; sickness broke out on board, and the young officer, who had lost his property in the captured vessel, landed at Calcutta sick, destitute, and friend less. Hospitality is still the Indian virtue, and it was more so in that day, for hotels existed not, and every European found it his interest to give the assistance which he was sure in turn to require. So the new-comer was kindly treated, and soon became fit to join his THE PRESS. regiment at Berhampore. His first service was against certain piratic tribes on the coast of Sumatra. The ill luck which had attended his start in military life did not leave him here. Placed under the command of one Captain Robertson, of the Indian navy, he gave offence to this officer, who, on their return, brought him to a court-martial. His defence is a model of manly soldierlike pleading; it is the language of an accuser rather than of one ac cused ; in truth Nott was, and felt himself to be, the person aggrieved, and the judges who acquitted him passed a severe reprimand on his prosecutor. Lord Wellesley, with charac teristic decision and contempt of forms, signified his opinion by inviting the young officer to a ball at Government-house while still under nominal arrest. In ordinary cases such a prejudgment of a pending cause by the representative of the Crown could not be too severely censured : we must suppose that Notes innocence admitted of no doubt, and that he was regarded as the victim of an unjust persecution. It is probable that his vehement temper and habit of self-assertion, which re mained with him to the end, gave umbrage to the captain, his inferior in all but professional rank. Here is a portrait of him about this time, drawn by an anonymous friend : I was a great deal with Nott in 1803, 1804, and 1805. He was rather tall, but not lusty ; neither was his figure such as indicated agility; still he moved about without awkwardness. He had a fine oval head, dark hair, sallow complexion, and not a joyous countenance ; on the con trary, without being morose, it was expressive of a calm ob servation of whet was passing, for he was rather a looker-on than a delighted participator of the gaieties of his associates. His temper was impetuous, yet he could curb it so as not to be disagreeable to his companions ; there was enough in it, however, to scare away indiscreet familiarity. I was his junior officer when on shore at Muckee, and passed the nights with him shut up in one of the stockades ; he was then, if I may so express myself, in his glory ; no precaution was omitted to prevent a surprise ; his un wearied vigilance rendered it impossible, and his prepara tions to resist any attack which might be made proved what might be expected from him when he might become the commander of an army. Those nights welded us together for ever. I cannot say whether he was studious or idle : at that period the world was in arms ; life was passed in action rather than study ; books seldom fell in our way ; our minds were solely engaged with the general orders of the day. For some years Nott remained comparatively inactive. He read much—thus making good the defects of his early teaching—cultivated the society of his brother-officers, and made himself remarkable by the attention which he paid to the wants of his men, to whom this conduct—somewhat too rare in European officers—greatly endeared him. He married in 1805, and passed the next seven years in the routine of duty and the enjoyment of do mestic life. In 1811 he was chosen for the office of paymaster of pensions at Barrackpore —a reward of merit, and an additional occu pation as well as a source of emolument. His children were sent home : iu 1822 he followed them, and did not return to India till 1825, when he received the rank of lieutenant colonel. Of his subsequent career we learn little, except that, with a natural esprit de corps, he took up the cause of the army against Lord William Bentinck's economic reforms. It was not in his nature to restrain the expression of indignant feeling ; but neither on this nor on other subjects of professional advancement where his views differed from those of the ruling powers does the warmth of his remon strances seem to have injured his personal prospects. He occasionally wrote on military matters, and appealed to public opinion against the acts of Government—a proceeding liable to abuse, and which he seems to have felt some reluctance in adopting. But he was not one to stand by tamely and see what he thought injustice done ; nor did military disci pline allow any other mode of complaint. Mr. Stocqueler shall supply the remaining details of his private life : We have hitherto traced in this chapter the few public cir• cumstances which attended a considerable series of the years of Nott's life ; it may not be inopportune to give a passing glance at the way in which he spent the many leisure hours which military duties left at his command. He took the opportunity thus afforded him of collecting a library, rather select than numerous—one for reading and not for ornament. " Torrens " was one of his great an thorities, and to his family he has said that the contents of that book were as familiar to him as the letters ofhisalpha bet. During this time the " Wellington Despatches," by (lurwood, were published, and of these he made a perfect 471 _ study. Frequently was he heard reading them aloud, and if he happened to hear any of his family at hand he used to call them to read and admire too. His devotion to his wife and family, who now clustered thick about him, was unbounded. He gave up much time to the education of his children, and was careful to insist rather on an intimate knowledge of what was read, than on a superficial acquaintance with a variety of subjects. He also gave hours daily to reading the Bible, and was very fond of Scott's " Commentary." He had presented this Bible to his wife in 1834, as the most acceptable pre- sent he could make her ; and after her death the two last volumes of it were his companions through the Affghan campaign. When lamps were lighted in the evening he was very fond of retiring into a dark room, and there rural rutting on the treasures with which he had previously stored his mind. And in his wake he recommended his children to follow, saying, " Store your minds when you are young, and then if you live to be old, and eyesight should fail you, you will have something to feed upon." He used to rise every morning before gun-fire, and spent some time in reading by candle-light while waiting for his horse to be brought round, in order that he might take a ride round the racecourse before parade time. His house used generally to be full of morning visitors, and often have his superior officers consulted him on the evolutions of an anticipated parade or field day, and afterwards looked coldly on bim for the information which he was but too ready to communicate. If he knew or heard of any one who, for some imaginary cause, was rather shunned than sought by others, to such a one he was sure to show marked instances of kindness, and to press on his family a similar course of conduct. To the haughty he was ever unbending, but he needed only to know that his aid was required to stretch out a helping hand, In 1838 Colonel INott first came before the world in a prominent capacity. A vehement reaction from the pacific policy of Bentinek had commenced. The war fever—in India always contagious—was at its height. Officers, doubly disgusted the retrenchments of their pay and by the Governor-General's avowed desire to maintain peace at any price, welcomed the prospect of a war beyond the Indus with an enthusiasm which it is difficult to describe. Lord Auckland—amiable and well-intentioned, but ever irresolute—was carried away by the torrent. Preparations for war began in earnest ; the services of Nott were of course required ; and he, always ready for fighting, had lost, by the death of his wife, the only tie which bound him to a pacific existence. His children were sent to Calcutta; he himself hastened to the encampment at Kurnaul, where he speedily received his appointment as a major-general. Some fragments of his journal and correspon dence show that he was not particularly well satisfied with the conduct of affairs ; and his displeasure was especially shown towards the Queen's officers, then jealously looked upon by those of the Company's army, over whose heads they had been promoted. But Nott had personally no cause of complaint. On Fane's retirement from the command he was put in charge of the first division, numbering nine regiments. Like most men on attaining that public employment which is the object of their wishes, he seems to have felt, or fancied that he felt, a desire to be free from his newly imposed responsibilities. He thus writes to his children : I now command nine regiments of infantry—two Euro- pean and seven native—the camel battery, itc., and I have enough to do. Believe me, I would rather hide my grey head in some small clay-built cottage, did not others de pend upon me. If it were not so, I would leave the army to-morrow, even if that army were in face of the enemy. have lived long enough to despise the opinion of the world. Direct your letters to Major•lzeneral W. Nott, command ing Ist Division of the Army of the Indus." My dear wife left me before I got this, and now it is too late. Colonel 1)--, of the Queen's 13th, has just called ; he is to com mand my brigade u long as I command the Ist Division. I do not like him. But ho naturally disliked being left behind, as he was seen afterwards in the valley of Shawl, while Keano advanced on Ca.ndahar ; the more so as his supersession by General Willshire appeared the result of an invidious preference. An angry altercation with the commander-in-chief, and an offer of resigna tion, produced no result. But he soon found the duties of the command entrusted to him sufficient to engage all his energies. En• camped at Quettah, the troops began to suffer ; forage grew scarce ; the climate was severe ; stores seemed likely to fail; and even of am munition the supply was scanty. At last, after many delays, came the order (9th October, 1839) to march with half his brigade to Canda har. It was instantly obeyed ; and on the 13th of November he was installed in com mand of the city. Here he maintained order, sternly repressed the irregularities of the Shahs native troops, and, by his rigorous