The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-04-16 00:00:00

PRICE SIXPENCP..

BIOGRAPHT,

An authehtic Account the Lire and CUA It ACT Ell of the
late ROBERT ORME, Eso. F.A.S. Historiographer to
the Hon. Fiat-Inds Cum/rany.
•
Robert Orme was the son of Mr. John Orme, a
Surgeon in the Hon. East-India Company's service
on the Bombay establishment ; a station in which
he served for many years with considerable reputa-
tion. Being appointed to attend the fastury at An-
jenga,
.in the province of Travencore, lie proceeded
thither with his family ; and at that place Robert
Orme was born in the month of June 11;:8.
With a judicious attention to his health and edr.-
cation, his father sent him to England at an early
age ; and in Mb he was placed at I Lirrow schoo.
where he was equally distinguished for the quick-
ness of his capacity and the assiduity of his applies.
tiun. At that seminary he continued till 174
when he was removed to an academy in London,
for the purpose of being instructed in the theory of
commercial business ; with which, as he was design-
ed for the civil service of the East India Company,
it was deemed essential he Should' be then aighly
ac-
guainted. His progress in this brancii of know-
ledge was proportioned to the talents lie had 'ere..
viously displayed, in more lively and attractive
studies ; and as he could not but have tilt consider-,
able regret on being obliged to relinquish those
studies, his applying to others so little congenial, if'
not repulsive, to a youthful mind, evinces uncom-
mon vigour as well as diligence.
• Having completed his course of study at the aca.
demy, he was appointed a writer in the Company's
service ; and in 1744, or 5, proceeded to Calcutta,
where he had an elder brother already settled. He
continued in Bengal until 175'4, when he went to
Madras ; and in the following year returned to Eng.
land, in company with captain (afterwards lord)
Clive, with whom he lived un terms of the closest
intiniacy.
With a mind so acute and observing, he could
net have resided for eight years iu India, without
acquiring considerable knowledge, not only of the
manners, customs, and institutions of its inhabitants,
but of the political condition of its different states.
And possessing a good address, and a pleasing
manner of communicating inftulnation, lie was,
soon after his arrival in London, much noticed by
those who desired to obtain information oo the af.
'fairs of India; and being by this means introduced
to Lord flolderness, then secretary of state, he re-
ceived ti,. count:inn/cc and support of that noble-
man.
Such patronage naturally led to that prefix/near
to which his abiiiti s so well iatitled Sum; and, ha
1755, he was appointed fourth member in the coun-
cil at Madras, whither he accordingly proceeded.
In the subsequent year he had an opportunity of
shev. ins much of that poliOccal sagacity and decision,
which distinguished has centind in the important
station he now tilled. When intelligence wait
brought to Madras of the capture of the English
settlement at Calcutta, by Seraujerd-Dowlah, the
subandar of Bengtl, and of the dreadful sufferings
of the captives on that o: vision, the governor and
council, after some deliberation, resolved to avenge
the injuries which their countrymen had sustained,
to wrest Calcutta from the hands of its conqueror.
and re-establish a settlement which was of suck
deep importance to the interests of the Company.
An armament for that purpose was speedily equip.
pod, in conjunt`tion with admiral Watson ; but a.
difference of opinion arose in the council, respeaing
the ehoice of an officer to command the troop..
The commander in chief of the forces at Madras.
who was colonel of his Majesty's Si•rth regiment,
had certainly a prior claim to this appointments
but there existed sufficient reasons why he should
not be entrusted with the chief direction of an ex-
pedition, on which the reputation of the British arm:
in India, and the consequent stability of the Com-
pany's possessions, so materially depended. Mr.
()rme objected in forcible terms to the commaati
being given to that officer. He represented the na-
ture of the country which the erpedition was des-
tined to invade, the magnitude of the army which
it would have to oppose, the numerous difficulties
and dangers with which it would infallibly be sur,
rounded, and the necessity, therefore, of vesting the
command of it in an officer, who should not only be
equally intelligent and atlive, but also accustomed
to the peculiarities of Indian warfare, andacquahit.
ed with the character of the natives. The succest
of such an enterprise, he said, would depend not
less on the keen discernment and decisive judgment,
than on the personal valcur and intrepidity of him
to whotn it might be intrusted. In this opinion he
was supported by the celebrated colonel Lawrence,
then a member of the council, and commander in
chiefof the Company's troops, and, after much dis-
cussion, lieutenant-colonel Clive was finally chosen
as the person in all respects the best qualified to con:.
Maud the expedition. The well-known result was a
glorious confirmation of the wisdom and propriety
of the choice; and it serves to place. in a striking
l;ght, the penetrating sagacity and sound judgment
of Mr. ()rme, to whom his country is indebted for
tins hazardous enterprise having been placed under
the guidance of Clive, whose intrepid and adven.
turous genius could perhaps have alone 01140.44
it to the important conquest it atehieved.
In the deliberations of the, council of Madras,
relative to the military operations in the Camatic,
between the years 175.5 and 59, Mr. Orme took an
active part ; and, in some of the most critical con.
junctures of that war, his abilities, as 4 politician
and a statesman, appeared particuhuly.coOptcuous.
So sensible were the Court of Directors of the bene,
fit which the public service derived from his advice,
and so highly was his general conduct approVed of,
that he was appointed the eventual successor to th
governor of Madras,—(the late unfortunate Lor4
Piot.) He did not, however, continue lug aigool
there to. be tlopt4..d to that station.

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