'1 go from village to village with my tent, settling the rents of the inhabitants; and this is so tedious and teasing a business, that it leaves room for nothing else, for I have no hour in the day that I can call my own. At this moment, while I am writing, there are a dozen of people talking around me it is now twelve o'clock, and they have been coming and going in parties ever since seven in the morning, when I began this letter. They have frequently interrupted me for an hour at a time. One man has a long story of a debt of thirty years' standing, contracted by his father. Another tells me that his brother made away with his property when he was absent, during the war; and a third tells me that he cannot afford to pay his usual rent, because his wife is dead, who used to do more work than his best bullock. I am obliged to listen to all these relations; and, as every man has a knack at description, like Sancho, I think myself fortunate when I get through any one of them in half an hour. It is in vain that I sometimes recommend to them to begin at the end of the story. They persist in their own way of making me full master of all the particulars; and I must, after making my objections and hearing their replies, dictate answers in the same copious style to them all.'-vol. i. p. 172.

After the fall of Seringapatam, in 1799, concluded the second war with Tippoo, the Company acquired, among other parcels of territory, the province of Canara, a wild and rugged district on the Western coast of India. Of this province, Mr. Munro, now promoted to the rank of Captain, was, at the express desire of the Governorgeneral, requested to take charge; his successful labours in Baramabl, where his mild and considerate conduct endeared him to the Natives, having proved him peculiarly well fitted for such a task, he was to introduce the authority of the Company into a new dependency. This appointment was not much to his liking, as he became attached to Baramahl and its inhabitants. But he sacrificed inclination to duty, it having been distinctly intimated to him that the Governor knew no one, upon whom such a duty could be so satisfactorily committed. He accordingly proceeded to his new collectorate, in July 1799, a situation which brought him into frequent correspondence with the extraordinary man, who then, under the name of Arthur Wellesley, was beginning to acquire, in the fields of india, that military tact which was afterwards to enable him to wield the destinies of the world. The letters which passed between them at this period, though confined to the most common details of warfare, will, nevertheless, be read with attention, on account of the singular fortune which has attended one of the writers. We shall give Mr. Gleig's account of Captain Munro's method of spending his days in Canara, which will render it unnecessary for us to enter into farther particulars upon that subject.

As often as the calls of duty permitted him to remain stationary at his head-quarters, Major Munro, who was economical of his time, rose every morning at day-break, no matter how late the business of the preceding night might have kept him up from a bed which consisted simply of a carpet and pillow spread upon a rattan couch. On quitting his chamber, he walked about, bareheaded, in the open air, conversing with the Natives, who, on

various pretexts and at all seasons, beset him, till seven o'clock, at which time breakfast was served up for himself and his assistants. Of this he partook heartily, more especially of the tea, which he considered a wholesome and refreshing beverage; whilst of sugar he was so singularly fond, as frequently to request an additional allowance, for the pleasure of eating the lump that was left undissolved at the bottom of the cup.

'Breakfast ended, and the meal never lasted longer than half an hour, the assistant received his instructions, and withdrew to the office of his Moonshee and English writers; upon which, Major Munro first dispatched his private and official letters, and then adjourned to his hall of audience. There he remained during the rest of the forenoon, surrounded by his public servants and the inhabitants, carrying on the current duties of the province, investigating claims upon disputed property, or obtaining such information as could afterwards be acted upon ouly by the aid of notes and calculations.

In this manner he employed himself till about half-past four in the afternoon, when he broke up his court, and retired to his apartment to dress. Whilst the latter operation was going on, his assistant usually read to him either public and private letters, should such be received, or, in default of these, a portion of Hudibras, or some other amusing work. At five o'clock he sat down to dinner, from which hour till eight he laid aside the cares of office, that he might delight those who were so fortunate as to enjoy his society, with his wit, humour, and remarkable powers of conversation; but punctually as the hour of eight returned, his habits of business were resumed. His night-cutcherry then opened, which, like that of the day, was always crowded with suitors; and though he professed then to attend only to matters of minor moment, midnight rarely found him relieved from his arduous duties.

Whilst he thus regulated his conduct by the standard of usefulness only, he gradually acquired, both in his costume and manners, a considerable degree of eccentricity. Remote from all intercourse with polished society, he attended very little to the niceties of dress; so that whilst in his person he was always remarkable for cleanliness, his attire gave few indications of time wasted at the toilette. His garments, likewise, set all changes of art and fashion at defiance: they continued to hold the form which they had originally assumed in the days of Sir Eyre Coote; whilst his cue was not unfrequently tied up with a piece of red tape, in the absence of a wrapper of more appropriate colour and texture. In like manner, his conversation would, at times, assume a character indicative of any thing rather than an excess of refinement. The idea of love he treated with unsparing ridicule, declaring that idle men only fell into so gross an extravagance; and when informed by Mr. Read of the marriage of their mutual friend, Mr. Ravenshaw, his only observation was, " [ would not advise you to increase the difficulties of your situation, by taking a young wife for an assistant."

Major Munro was at all times particularly humane towards the inferior animals. He possessed an old white horse, which he had purchased in the camp before Cuddalore, and which he had ridden ever since, as long as it was capable of carrying him; and now that its strength failed, he caused it to be tended and fed with the utmost care and regularity. Nay, his attachment to the animal was such, that, finding it unable to bear the

fatigue of a removal, he literally pensioned it off when he himself quitted the district; and his grief was unfeigned when he heard that, his servants having withdrawn it by mistake, it died upon the road. So it was with a flock of goats which he kept in Canara, to supply his family with milk, and in watching whose gambols he took great delight. On no account whatever would he permit the peons to drive them away during the storm, from beneath the verandas, asserting that the goats had as much right to shelter as any persons about his cutcherry, and that none should presume to deprive them of it.

'One more specimen of the habits of this extraordinary man may be given, ere I close this chapter. Besides his favourite amusements, swimming, billiards, quoits, and fives, he possessed a curious predilection for throwing stones, of which Mr. Read has furnished us with the following whimsical illustration. "Having got completely wet on one occasion," says he in his MS. Journal," during a morning ride, I wrote him a note, requesting that he would wait breakfast. He returned for answer, ' I will wait ten minutes, which, in my opinion, is enough for any man to put on his clothes.' When I joined him, I perceived a stone in his hand, and inquired what he meant to do with it. I am just waiting,' answered he, till all the Brahmins go away, that I may have one good throw at that dog upon the wall,' and added, whenever I wanted to play myself, in this or any other manner, in the Baramahl, I used to go either into Macleod's or Graham's division."'-vol. i. pp. 295–299.

From Canara, Captain Munro proceeded to other ceded districts as their great organizer, a disagreeable and most laborious sort of office in which he was engaged until the latter part of 1807, when he returned to England. The following beautiful letter shows with what warm feelings his heart was animated upon revisiting his favourite Northwoodside.

'Dear Erskine,

'Glasgow, 25th October, 1808. 'Your letters to Alexander and me, without date as usual, have arrived just as punctually as if they had had that qualification. We shall not be in Edinburgh till the 2d November, and instead of paying you a visit at Ammondel, I must, I believe, stay at home until I recover my hearing; for I am now deafer than ever I was in my life, owing to a cold which I caught, or rather which caught me, a day or two before I left Edinburgh. I have been little more than a dumb spectator of all the gaiety which you talk of, for I can hardly bear a word that is said. I never was so impatient under deafness as at present, when I meet every moment in my native city old acquaintances asking fifty questions, which they are obliged to repeat four or five times before they can make me comprehend them. Some of then stare at me, and think, no doubt, that I am come home because I am deranged. I am so entirely incapable of taking any part in conversation, that I have no pleasure in company, and go into it merely to save appearances. A solitary walk is almost the only thing in which I have any enjoyment. I have been twice at Northside, and though it rained without ceasing on both days, it did not prevent me from rambling up and down the river, from Claysloup to the Aqueduct Bridge. I stood above an hour at Jackson's Dam, looking at the water rushing over, while the rain and withered leaves were descending thick about me, and while I recall the

days that are past. The wind whistling through the trees, and the water tumbling over the dam, had still the same sound as before; but the darkness of the day, and the little smart box perched upon the opposite bank, destroyed much of the illusion, and made me feel that former times were gone. I don't know how it is, but, when I look back to early years, I always associate sunshine with them. When I think of Northwoodside, I always think of a fine day, with the sunbeams streaming down upon Kelvin and its woody banks. I do not enter completely into early scenes of life in gloomy, drizzling weather; and I mean to devote the first sunny day to another visit to Kelvin, which, whatever you may say, is worth ten such paltry streams as your Ammon!'-vol. i. pp. 378—379.

Soon after Captain, now Colonel, Munro returned to England, discussions commenced similar to those which are now in course of revival amongst us, concerning the renewal of the East India Company's Charter. Colonel Munro was called upon, in consequence of his great knowledge of Indian affairs, to take an active part in that question. His evidence was given in a most able manner before the Committee of the House of Commons, of course in favour of the Company. In the course of the investigations which were made at that period, it was admitted, on all hands, that the judicial system in India was in a most deplorable state, and a commission of enquiry was appointed, at the head of which Colonel Munro was placed. In consequence of his acceptance of this office, he returned to India in the latter part of 1814, having been married in the previous March to Miss Jane Campbell, daughter of Mr. Campbell, of Cragie House, Ayrshire; a lady of whom his Biographer gives a high, and, we doubt not, a well merited character. The commission having experienced many difficulties and delays, was about to enter upon a course of action about the end of the year 1817, when the Mahratta war broke out, and Colonel Munro returned to his military profession, in which he was promoted successively to the ranks of Brigadier and General. His campaign against the Peishwah was conducted in brilliant style, and with decided success, although he had more than ordinary obstacles to encounter in the singular vacillation displayed by those in power, who sometimes shifted the command from General Munro to General Pritzler, and from the latter to the former, without assigning any reasons. Although public fame has not shone upon the military services of General Munro during this war, yet they stand recorded in the archives of the Company, and the reputation to which they are entitled will wear well, for it was most laboriously earned. The lamented Canning, in recapitulating the merits of the other armies and leaders engaged in the Mahratta war, spoke of the subject of these volumes as "a gentleman, than whom Europe never produced a more accomplished statesman, nor India, so fertile in heroes, a more skilful soldier." Notwithstanding this just eulogium, however, it did seem as if the object of it were pursued by a hostile destiny. Fortune,' he says in one of his amiable

letters to his sister, 'during the greatest part of my Indian life, has made a drudge of me; every labour which demands patience and temper, and to which no fame is attached, seems to have fallen to my share, both in civil and military affairs.' At the conclusion of the war, General Munro, whose health had been injured by excessive fatigue, his eyesight having been particularly affected, resigned all his commissions, and returned with his wife and family once more to England, in 1819, firmly resolved never to see India again. He had scarcely, however, arrived in England, when he was appointed Governor of Madras, an office which, notwithstanding his resolutions, he felt it his duty to accept, having been, at the same time, invested with the insignia of K.Č.B.

Our limits preclude us from entering into the details of Sir Thomas Munro's administration in India. His new situation enabled him to reform many abuses which had existed up to his time, and to introduce many judicious and useful alterations. His long acquaintance with the Natives, taught him to set upon their character, in general, a much higher value than we are inclined to do in Europe; he was a strong advocate for their employment, not only in the army, but in civil and judicial offices. He was not long at Madras, when the Burman war considerably augmented the duties of his office; he was not, indeed, employed in the field, but he had to supply troops and provisions, and was frequently consulted during the progress of the campaigns which ended in the humiliation of the "Gold-footed" King. For his exertions on this occasion, he was raised to the dignity of a baronet. Such was the opinion which the Government at home had of his abilities, that when, at one period of the war, the recall of Lord Amherst was contemplated, Sir Thomas Munro was intended, it is now understood, to have been appointed his successor.

While honours were thus accumulating around him, his domestic happiness was interrupted by a dangerous distemper which seized the elder of his two sons, and rendered it necessary for Lady Munro to take the child to Europe in March, 1826. Although Sir Thomas had sent in his resignation in May, 1824, at the termination of the Burman war, yet the non-arrival of a successor prevented Sir Thomas from accompanying his family, and after he took leave of them, he saw them no more. His letters to Lady Munro, while on her passage, and after her return to England, are so characteristic of the man, and breathe so affectionate a spirit, that we cannot resist the pleasure of transcribing a few passages from them. The names Kamen and Toto, which occur in them, were substitutes coined by the children for their respective names of Campbell and Thomas :

Guindy, 2d April, 1826.

We came here last night, for the first time since you went away; Col. Carfrae and I drove out together. We alighted at the old place, near the well. It was nearly dark, and we passed through the garden