The Press. — London, England, 1858-08-14 00:00:00

fittr a t ur t. supplementary Despatches and Menwranda of Field Marshal Arthur Duke of Wellington, Edited by his Son, the Duke of Wellington. Vol. 11. London : Murray. THE second volume of the Duke's supplementary letters, despatches, and memoranda embraces a period of eighteen months, commencing with the 6th of June, 1800, and terminating December 11th, 1801. The first communication is ad dressed to Lieutenant-Colonel Maclean, in com mand of the British troops in the Nizam's ser vice, and relates to the projected campaign against Dhoondia Waugh, a Pat'han adventurer. That restless and turbulent chieftain had formed the design of establishing an independent king dom, and assumed the imposing title of Sovereign of the Two Worlds. Originally a leader of banditti, he fell into the hands of l' ippoo Sultan, by whom, after being forcibly converted to Ma hommedanism, he was intrusted with a military command. Ile continued, however, to incur that tvrant's displeasure , and on the capture of geringapatam was found in prison and heavily ironed. Liberated by the misplaced humanity of the conquerors, he made use of his freedom to collect a body of mounted marauders, by whose assistance he made himself master of several places of importance. Detachments of British troops were immediately put in motion to arrest his further progress ; and, after a series of disasters, Dhoondia was compelled to flee for his life into the Mahratta territory. Here he was plundered of everything he possessed, and for a time was utterly forgotten. Encouraged, how ever, by the weakness of the Peishwa's govern ment, he soon emerged from obscurity, and gathering together a hand of followers, seized upon several forts. Elated by these successes, and burning to avenge his thriller discomfiture and flight, Dhoondia earnestly applied himself to oreanize a confederacy for the expulsion of the English from Southern India. The discovery of these intrigues induced the Governor of the Madras Presidency to despatch a sufficient force under Colonel Wellesley to crush the bold ad venturer before his power attained to more for midable dimensions. The campaign that ensued was of an arduous and trying character, owing to the long and incessant marchings - in pursuit of an enemy who sometimes covered upwards of fitly miles within the twenty-four hours. It was not until the 10th of September that Dhoondia was finally brought to bay at Conahgull, where his force was entirely routed and dispersed, and his own body found among the slain. In some respects Dhoondia's proceedings in this cam paign form a striking parallel to those of the late Koer Singh of Jugdespore, and the result of Colonel Wellesley's experiences, as stated in a letter to Colonel Sartorms, might be applied with advantage in the operations now going on in Western Behar : The result of my observations and considerations upon the mode of carrying on war in jungly countries is just this, that as long as the jungle is thick, as the enemy can conceal himself in it, and from his concealment attack the troops, their followers, and their baggage, the operations must be unsuccessful on our side. You propose, as a remedy, t . o move in sm a ll com p act b o di es i n d i ff erent directions, in order that th e enemy m i g h t h ave no mar k , m i g h t be i n constant fear of falling in with some party, and might lose confidence. 1 agree in opinion with you that your remedy might answer some purposes for a body of troops which could move without baggage or incumbrances of any kind ; I say only some purposes, beenuse their success would nut be complete; our troupe cannot move to all parts of the Jingle as the Nairs can, and it might always be expected that at some place or other our detachment would get into °S erape. nut as we know that no troops can move without baggage to as to answer any purpose for which an operation might be undertake n , an d as t h at mo d e o f carry i ng on t h e war will avowedly not answer where there is baggage, we Must look fe- some system the adoption of which will enable us to bring on in safaty that necessary evil. I know of no mode of doing this excepting to deprive the enemy of his concealment by cutting away the lower part of the jungle to a considerable distance from the road. This, you say, is a work of time; it is true it is so, but it must be recollected that the labour of every man turns to account, that the one. rations, however long, must in the end be successful, and we shall not have to regret, after a great expense of blood and treasure, that the whole has been thrown away, and the the desultory operation s are t o b e recommence d i n t h e fdlowing season, as has been the case hitherto, and as will always be the case until some such mode of carrying on the war with security to the followers is adopted. In another respect, also, Colonel Wellesley's example might be followed with great benefit to THE PRESS, AUGUST 14, 1858. the public service. Dhoondia's overthrow was chiefly effected through the excellent intelligence obtained of his movements, and this was accom plished by means of liberal guerdons to whoever brought in reliable information. The man who made known to the British general Dhoondia's position in the 9th and 10th of September received a present of 200 pagodas, and was recommended for further reward. The same system was pur sued by Lord Lake, and there is still a tradition among► the nations that in " Lik Bahadoor's " tent there always stood two sacks of money— the one full of gold pieces, the other of silver— and into one or the other of these the bearer of useful tidings was desired to thrust his hands and carry off as much as he could grasp. In the last Burmese war, however, a man who perilled his life to bring in news might consider himself fortunate if he was presented with a few rupees, and consequently nothing was ever known of the enemy's movements or intentions. The same ill-judged parsimony is producing precisely the same fruits at the present moment, and the in efficiency of the intelligence department is com plained of on all hands. Towards the close of the year 1800, the Marquis Wellesley determined upon concen trating a considerable force at Trincomalee, with a view to reduce the French islands of Mauritius and Bourbon, and finally to co-operate with the English army in Egypt. The command of this force he originally bestowed upon his brother, who actually proceeded to Ceylon, but discovered, to his bitter disappointment, that he had been superseded by General Baird. The appointment of Colonel Wellesley to the government of Sering apatam had caused much ill-feeling at the time, and was looked upon as a glaring act of favouritism. By way of amending the injustice then shown to Sir David Baird, Lord Wellesley now perpetrated a second wrong at the expense of Colonel Wellesley, whose chagrin was evidently intense at such an open affront. lie had, never theless, determined to proceed to Egypt as second in command—for the Mauritius expedition had the refusal of Admiral London: been abandoned through Rainier to co-operate—but was prevented by an attack of fever which caused him to be left at Bombay. On his recovery he returned to his old post in the Mysore country, and until the latter part of 1801 his letters arc dated from Seringapatam. The present volume is a valuable addition to the already voluminous collection of despatches and memoranda from the Duke's indefatigable pen. The labours of the editor, however, are of the humblest character. With the exception of some half-dozen footnotes conveying the smallest pos sible amount of topographical information—and that apparently borrowed from Thornton's Gazetteer—not a single line has been contributed towards the illustration of obscure points. Nor can it be said that much judgment has been dis played in selecting such papers as the fol lowing:— G. 0. Camp at Sirhitty, Tuesday, 25th July, 1800. A salute of thirteen guns to be held in readiness to be fired on Goklah alighting at Colonel ‘Vellesley's tent this afternoon. A salute of thireen guns to be prepared immediately, to he fired on Chintomeny Rao alighting at Colonel Wellesley's tent. ARTHUR WELLESLEY. G. 0. 19th September, 1800. Two salutes of thirteen guns each to be in readiness to be tired this afternoon on the Mahratta Chiefs, Chintomeny 800 anJ Baba Saheb, taking leave of Colonel Wellesley. ARTHUR WELLESLEY. TO THE OFFICER CaMMANDINC: AT MANGALORE. Trincomalee, 12th February, 1801. Sir,--In case any letters should be sent to you direzted for me, I request that you will keep them till [ shall have an opportunity of sending for them.—l have, &c., ARTHUR WELLEst.xv. The frequent allusions to courts-martial on anonymous offenders might likewise have been omitted without loss to the public, and certainly without detriment to the value and interest of the volume. Allowing for these trifling blemishes, the present collection is no unacceptable addition to the military literature of this country. We had marked several passages for extract, but have space for no more than one, which amusingly illustrates the practical good sense so eminently characteristic of the Duke : I wish t ) have your opinion upon the subject of two officers in the 33rd regiment, Lieutenants Hook and Stewart, who, I understand, are as black as my hat ; at least I am told so by Lieutenant-Colonel St. John, in whose garrison of Poonamallee they were quartered for some time. lam also informed that one of them, Lieutenant Hook, says 775 that be contrived to avoid showing himself at the War Office or to the Duke of York ; and I am sure he must have equally avoided Lord Cornwallis. Without having any prejudice against half caste men, who, I dare say, may be intrinsically u good as others, I have a strong objection to a black face in an European corps in this country; and I think that, if these gentry are of the colour that I hear they are, it is not proper that they should be allowed to remain in the 3:ird regiment, at least without the particular orders of the Commander-in-Chief upon the subject. My present opinion is, that they ought to be reported to the Commander in -Chief, and that they ought to be made to show themselves at the Adjutant-General's office ; and after this inspection, if the Commander-in• Chief thinks it proper that they should continue to be officers, it is his affair, and not ours. The Ballade of Scotland. Edited by William oune Aytoun, D.C.L. Two Vols. Blackwoods. (Second Notice.) FURTHER examination of this work confirms us in the opinions indicated in our former notice. Southern readers will not place so high a value on some of these poems as is assigned to them by their accomplished editor. In ballad literature, more than in any other kind of letters, local affection is required to give the charm of associa tion ; and those who recollect how rich Scotch literature is in songs, must feel disappointment in perusing the mass of these Scotch ballads. We admit their general value, and we are glad to have them collected and carefully edited, but their poetical merit is overrated. We are no friends to " modern glitter," but our ear demands more resonance than is to be found here. The flatness and insipidity of the ballad form are too frequently perceptible. For example, we see here the ballad of " Bessie Bell and Mary Gray," to which is prefixed two pages of interesting letterpress alluding to the plague of 1665. Professor Aytoun closes his introductory note thus : It was during this pestilence that Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, daughters of the Lairds of Kinvaid and Lednoch, in Perthshire, built their bower on a romantic spot by the banks of the river Almond. Here they were supplied with their provisions by a young gentleman, a suitor of one or oth , :r of them; but unhappily he also brought with him the infection from the town of Perth, and they both died. All admirers of Scottish song are familiar with the air which bears their name ; but the words, as usually sung, were com• posed by Allan Ramsay, and are comparatively modern. The old ballad now given, which is very sweet and simple, war recovered by Mr. Sharpe. The reader wmild from this preface expect something striking and pathetic. Here is the ballad : 0 Bessie Bell, and Mary Gray, Thev were twa bonnie lasses, They biggit a bower on yon burnside, And theekit it ower wi rashes. They theekit it ower wi rashes green, They theekit it ower wi' heather ; But the pest cam' free the burrows-roue, And slew them bsith thegither. They thought to lie in Methven kirkyard, Amang their noble kin, But they maun lie in Dronoch Haugh, To beek forenent the sun. Arid Bessie Bell, and Mary Gray, They were twa bonnie lasses, They biggit a bower on yon turnside, And theekit it ower wi' rashes. Is there one line of poetry, or one spark of genius, in these flat stanzas ? The subject was a capital one for a ballad-writer. The two friends retired to the hillside to live and die together : they were both young, of the gentle sex: they chose a romantic spot, and were tended in their bower of refuge by the lover of one of them. And the poet, on so suggestive a theme, could do nought better than the specimen given above. A more flat and tame attempt at a ballad on a fine subject we never read. In this second volume now before us the accomplished editor gives us three Montrose ballads,—"The Haugtis of Cromdale,' " The Battle of Philiphaugh," and " The Gallant Gra hams." The last stanza of the first of these ballads runs : Of twenty thousand Cromwell's men, Five hundred fled to Aberdeen, The rest o' them lies on the plain, Upon the haugha o' Cromdale. Professor Aytoun thinks that this ballad can hardly have been written at the time of the engagement, as the designation of " ' Cromwell's " men' was not applicable to the forces under " the command of Urry." We have no doubt that the ballad was not written at the time of the fight commemorated in it, but Cromwell was then A