SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Broaessar, Memoir of the Life and Correspondence of John Lord Teignmouth. By his Son,

Lord Teignmouth. In two volumes Hatchard. Militant ADVENTURE,

The Closing Events of the Campaign iu China : the Operations iu the Yang.tze- kiaug ; and Treaty of Nanking. By Capt. Granville C. Loch, Royal Navy. Murray.

Frcriorr, Tales of the Colonies; or Adventures of an Emigrant. Edited by a late Colonial

Magi.trate. In three volumes Sounders and Otley.

LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE FIRST LORD TEIGN MOU T H.

UNLESS the reader is well acquainted with the history of British India and the annals of the Bible Society, he may be apt to ask, who was the first Lord TEIGNMOUTH ? The reply to this question is, that his name was JOHN SHORE; that he was descended from an old and respectable family, whose fortunes were injured by their loyalty in the Civil Wars, but partially revived by their connexion with the East India trade ; and that he himself was a civil servant of the Company during the bad times which followed the esta- blishment of our territorial power in Bengal ; remaining honest when all around him were corrupt, and doing his duty to the Company and to the natives at a period when the generality of Anglo-Indians oppressed the one and cheated the other. Having passed through the usual routine of offices, he was appointed by WARREN HASTINGS a member of his newly-created Board of Re- venue ; which post he filled till his return to England in 1785, on a fortune of 25,0001. This sum, a trifle for an Indian of those times, was saved from his salary, that for some years was 10,0001. per annum ; though he could, he writes to his friend BURY HUTCHINSON, have made it 40,0001. or 50,0001. if he had chosen. He married soon after his return ; but before the honey- moon was over, the Directors nominated him to a seat in the Supreme Council under the Government of Lord CORNWALLIS. This post he held for a few ears ; returning home in 1789: and such was the confidence inspired by his honesty, experience, and business talents, that in 1792 PITT appointed him Governor- General. His discharge of this high office was not distinguished by any great exploits or any large changes : he carried out the plans of Lord CORNWALLIS, which as a Councillor he had helped to fashion ; he maintained peace with the native powers, " kept things together" as the saying is, and brought the finances into a better condition,—a quiet mode of procedure, so different from the ambitious and fighting propensities of Indian Governors before, or since, that great satisfaction was felt both by the Company and the Ministry ; and Sir JOHN SHORE received the same reward as CLIVE for the battle of Plassy and the conquest of Bengal—he was made an Irish Peer, by the title of Lord TEIGNMOUTH. This honour was bestowed in 1797, and in the year following his Lord- ship arrived in England; when his public life may be said to have closed, except as regards his connexion with the Bible Society. Of this religious body be was the first President, and held the office till his death in 1834.

The distinguishing feature of Lord TEIGNMOUTH'S character was honesty. Born in 1751, at a time when public morality was very low in England, and sent to India in his teens, when the conquests of atvz had placed the wealth of the country at the mercy of ad- venturers suddenly elevated from factors to proconsuls, removed alike from check or responsibility, and paid by the vicious system of perquisites and trade on their own account,—young JOHN SHORE preserved himself untainted amidst surrounding corruption. This was the more creditable to his character, as for some time he was poor for his position : during the first five years of his service his salary did not exceed 5001. a year ; and for the first ten years of his official life he could save nothing. Of this merit something must be allowed to his religious prin- ciples; for he was always piously inclined, although it was not until his return to England and his acquaintance with WILBER - FORCE, Tuoasaws, and others of that coterie, that he became decidedly Evangelical. But he was respectable by nature and early training. He was not a fiery spirit like CLIVE, or an adventurer like HASTINGS, with one leading idea of advancing his fortunes, without much scruple about the means ; but the son of a house in a fixed position with a regular revenue, and habits and wants within their income. His family appear to have been distin- guished by an old English steadiness and amiability : his father lived in the style of a gentleman of that day, keeping his country- house and carriage, and leaving his widow in easy circumstances ; and this widow was a woman of merit and virtue, who trained up her son in a respectable English mode, the milder traits of the character predominating over the sterner. But if JOHN SHORE was without the vices of those Anglo-Indian chiefs, he was equally devoid of their great qualities; for all his merits were of a moderate kind, his very excellences leaning to the togtrot side. He had industry rather than energy, perception rather than comprehension ; and though by no means devoid of spirit in the common sense of the term, and not to be considered a dull or commonplace mind, yet be was deficient in that vicida vis which constitutes genius, whether in literature, art, or statesmanship. As a subordinate, he must have been highly " useful —his great aim ; as a ruler, be was excellent in business, safe as long as things continued in " regular course," and well adapted to introduce minor reforms and general improvements, but unequal, we appre- hend, to effect radical changes, or to cope with difficulties, espe- cially with difficulties of a foreign or warlike nature. These were the characteristics, we incline to think, that induced his choice as Governor-General by PITT and DUNDAS. With the Opposition philippics against HASTINGS still ringing in their ears, the impeach- ment still banging over him, the general opinion of the gross male- versaticel of the Indian Government, and the Ministerial under- takings to prevent it for the future strong in the public recollec- tion, their great object must have been to have a Governor-Gene- ral whose unambitious character would restrain him from foreign conquests, and his personal purity from the scandal of any more corruption. Lord TEIGNMOUTH'S exertions were not confined to public em- ployment; he also engaged in literature. His best-known work is his Life of Sir William Jones : but he dabbled a good deal in poetry, intermingling scraps of verses in his letters somewhat after the fashion of operatic air and recitative, besides occasional poems, which were published in a fugitive shape. Ile was fond of writing prose essays or characters, where Strephon or Alciphron, or some such persons, fashionable in his youth, point a moral if they do not adorn a tale. He also made some translations from Oriental literature; and, it should be observed to his credit, he was one of the first English servants of the Company who applied to the Eastern languages in a spirit of liberal curiosity.

As regards the literary character of the biography before us, a leading defect of the present Lord TEIGNMOUTH'S Life of his father is almost inseparable from his position : the work is overladen. Familiar correspondence and the details of daily life can have but two sources of attraction—the general inte- rest felt in the person, or the qualities inherent in the things. Respecting Lord TEIGI4MOUTH the public interest is small, from the time that has elapsed since he was actively before it ; nor can any means revive the attraction, because he accomplished no great action, nor exercised any influence upon great events, or upon the progress of the human mind. The reader will care for nothing about him that has not character or matter. During the greater part of the first half century of Lord TEIGN- MOUTH'S career, there is no deficiency in these qualities. The nar- rative of his childhood and school days contains several anecdotes, and presents an agreeable domestic picture of an old English mer- chant's family ; his early letters from India display some lively sketches of character, and incidentally present glimpses of the manners of the day, and of the position of a junior in the service, besides possessing a biographical interest. As life and fortune advance, this interest diminishes; and as his religious feelings deepened, reveries often superseded facts, conclusions, or sentiments, in his journal and letters. Still, as long as he was connected with the Government of India, there is an interest arising from the subject and the times, which embraced the ad- ministration of HASTINGS and CORNWALLIS. With the close of the first volume and Lord TEIGNMOUTII'S return to England nearly all attraction ceases ; at least there is not attraction to animate the remaining six hundred ample pages, in the life and correspond- ence of a private gentleman, whose most conspicuous public act was presiding at a meeting of the Bible Society, or superintending the Surrey Volunteers, and whose domestic life was passed in a routine of family and social duties, with, as he himself appeared to feel, as much of quiet happiness as is incident to humanity. The executive part of the publication is well done,—easy without effort, and animated by an amiable feeling ; though, after the hero is carried to India, the work is less a continuous and connected biography than a narrative carried on chiefly by extracts from letters and journals. The style is generally plain ; but there is oc- casionally some singular looseness of structure ; and when it arises from a laxity in the use of pronouns without considera- tion of the antecedent noun, productive of confusion as regards facts. We believe Lord TEIGNMOUTU was a great-grandson of Sir Joust SHORE, a physician who was knighted by CHARLES the Second, it is supposed for services rendered daring the King's escape: by the biographer's narrative, so far as it is grammatically intelligible, the first Lord TEIGNMOUTLI would seem to have been a grandson. In tracing the connexion of the SHORE family with India, the biographer's phrase of " his son" applies to Sir JOHN SHORE'S second wife's brother's son ; but the meaning seems to be the son of Sir JOHN SHORE.

It was an axiom of NAPOLEON, which observation seems to verify, that the character of the son is most influenced by the mother. Here is a sketch of

MRS. SHORE.

Her estimable character combined, in a remarkable degree, warmth of affection with soundness of judgment, under the regulating influence of reli- gious principle. Of her religious opinions, her non would otferve, that they were of the school which predominated in her day ; dwelling principally on the morality of the Gospel, and little on the fundamental doctrine of the Atoce- ment. Her manners have been described to me, by one who was acquainted with her, as elegant and polished. Of his mother's self-command under trying circumstances her eon would mention the following proof. She had discovered him, whilst a child, bestriding the roof of a high barn, unconscious of the danger of his situation. Fearing the Effect on his mind of any indication of alarm on her part, she concealed her feelings, by conversing plij fully with him, whilst, by her directions, a servant procured a ladder and secured him. Her emotions, which she had controlled whilst doubtful of his safety, now overcame her, and she fell into a swoon.

MASTERS AT HARROW : DR. SUMNER'S EAR.

From his position in the school, he derived the full advantage of the in- struction of the two eminent scholars under whose auspices it then flJurished, Drs. Sumner and Parr. His diligence, and keen perception of the beauties of the classic authors, soon recommended him to the partiality of the former. He would indeed observe, that the refined sensitiveness of Dr. Sumner's taste produced one defect in his conduct as master of a public school—a disposition

to neglect boys in whom this faculty was found wanting. And he would allude, in proof of this, to Dr. Sumner, on an unlucky wight having aggrieved him, whilst reciting the opening line of an ode of Horace, by several false quantities, manifesting his disgust by never again allowing the boy to construe before Lim.

FIRST VOYAGE TO INDIA, 1769.

Mr. Shore's messmates on board of the vessel which conveyed him to India were a disorderly set of writers and cadets, about a dozen in number; who contrived, amidst other extravagancies, to fight two duels during a short delay at Portsmouth, and three or four more at places intermediate or at the end of the voyage. His captain was a rough well-meaning sailor, exhibiting an ex- traordinary medley of occasional profaneness and uneducated religious notions. It was his invariable practice on Sunday to let down a canvass curtain at one end of the cuddy—for he reserved to himself no cabin, and to read the Church service,—a duty which he considered a complete clearance of the sins of the preceding week ; and, that they might not accumulate too fast, he was heard, when he had chanced, in the hurry of giving orders, to utter an oath, to ejaculate a prayer for forgiveness; observing, " Let us rub off as we go."

DIFFICULTIES OF LEARNING ORIENTAL LANGUAGES, AND MODE OF STUDY.

Mr. Shore perceived the advantage to be derived from the study of the Oriental languages. His industry embraced at once the Hindostanee, Persian, and Arabic. Nor did he neglect the Bengalee ; though not essential, as the natives with whom he sought conversation spoke Hindostanee. In the pro- secution of his elementary pursuits, he was iu agreat measure his own pioneer. He acquired the Hindostanee language through the medium of colloquial intercourse. It was his practice to employ an individual who had held the office of Story-teller in the service of various Nabobs, in narrating to him, as he reposed after dinner, tales extracted from the works of different authors. He fortunately obtained the assistance of a Hindostanee Grammar, written by an Englishman slain at Patna. But his knowledge of Persian and Arabic was originally derived exclusively from oral instruction ; for he had not the ad- vantage of a grammar or a dictionary in either of these languages. Same years afterwards, he obtained Meninski's valuable compilation of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish dictionaries. His first aim in studying a language, was to acquire a thorough knowledge of the verbs, which he regarded as a key to all its mysteries. In the Persian language and literature, to which his attention yeas chiefly directed, his proficiency was considerable.

A MOONSHEK.S GRAMM/E.

A lasting friendship was formed between the pupil and his Moonshee. Grateful for some services rendered to him by Mr. Shore, this attached native transmitted to him at Calcutta a present of Oriental books. The whole collection was swamped in the Ganges, and irrecoverably, excepting a single volume, a splendid copy of the Shalt Nameh of Phirdonsi. Its pages are yet stained by the waters of the sacred river. Not satisfied, however, with this costly proof of his regard to his benefactor, the Moonshce, who had become wealthy, afforded him yet more substantial evidence of his recollection, by earnestly requesting him, when on the point of leaving India, to accept a sum amounting to 1,60W., on the plea that the latter had saved little, and that the state of his health would prevent him again exposing himself to an Indian climate. Mr. Shore, whilst he declined the proposal, was much affected by this trait of generosity ; and happily enjoyed, on returning to India, an opportunity of testifying his regard to his friend, by rendering essential assistance to his family : for the Moonahee had died during his absence, and left his children consuming his pruperty in litigation. Mr. Shore offered his services as arbitrator of their differences, and acquitted himself of his duty to their satisfaction.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

An unexpected visit to his brother in Devonshire, in November, suddenly brightened his domestic prospects. Mr. Thomas Shore resided at this time at Dor) ard near Exeter at the house of his father-in-law, W. Mackworth Praed, Esq , of Bit ton, Teignmouth ; whose daughter he had lately married. Here he was received by a young lady of great personal attractions, whom a snow- storm had detained at the house, his brother and sister being absent ; and in a single interview, his affections became so much engaged, that he sought fresh opportunities of cultivating her acquaintance ; and in the February following she became his wife. Mrs. Shore was the only daughter of a widow lady, named Cornish, of the old anal respectable Devonshire family of Floyer, whose hus- band had held the situation of Collector of the Customs at Teignmouth ; a gentleman much respected in that place and in its neighbourhood. Thus originated an union, cemented by an entire accordance of sentiment and prin- ciple, which during forty-eight years produced as much domestic happiness as could perhaps be realized in this present checquered state of existence.

AN OLD MAN'S ADVICE HOW TO RISE.

Mr. Shore received his new appointment from Mr. Hastings's opponents at the Board, who Lad set aside the Governor-General's recommendations. Perceiving the distracted state of the public councils, and consequent violence of party-spirit, he determined at once on pursuing an independent course, though not without anxious apprehensions of its proving a bar to his advance- ment in the service. Once, whilst expressing his fears on this sultject to an old gentleman named Burgess, he received in reply advice which he adopted as his rule of conduct, and frequently inculcated on others, having himself made tull proof of its value: " Make yourself useful, and you will succeed."

WARREN HASTINGS'S MODE OF COMMUNICATING INSTRUCTIONS.

Mr. Shore was on one occasion commissioned to settle the revenues of the provinces of Dacca and Behar. Mr. Hastings, who treated him uniformly with the greatest confidence, summoned him, on the eve of his departure, to receive Lis instructions. And they were conveyed in a brief sentence, which might Lave been interpreted, in conformity to practice too prevalent at that period, iu a manner very different from that in which it was intended by Mr. Hastings or received by Mr. Shore—" You know your business, Shore ; and good luck to you! "—for the settlement of the revenue afforded to the Company's ser- vants much scope for corruption ; and some had realized vast sums, by re- ceiving bribes from the landlords, in return for underrating their rents. In this single mission to Dacca, Mr. Shore might easily, as he stated, have added 100,0001. to his fortune.

As Mr. SHORE had been an opponent of HASTINGS, though sub- sequently they became friends, the intentions of the Governor- General are not so clear as the biographer supposes. These were his ways of making friends.

INSTRUCTIONS PROM DUNDAS.

Previous to hit quitting London, Sir J. Shore received a summons from Mr. Dundas, to receive his parting instructions. At the appointed hour, he found the President of the India Board stepping into his carriage, to proceed to Scotland on urgent business: and joined ham, at his earnest request. After they had advanced some stages, Sir John expressed his regret that his engagements would prevent him proceeding further ; when Mr. Dundas shook hint cordially by the hand, observing, that his views were as well known to Sir John as to himself: the first allusion be had made to ludian affairs, though lie bad conversed incessantly on other subjects.

FARCE OF STATE.

These poor descendants of imperial dignity maintain the forms of royalty :

and we mutually acted parts inconsistent with our real characters; I, the re- presentative of our power, professing humility and submission before the de- pendants on the bounty of the Company ; whilst they, who are the objects of charity, and feeling their situation, thought it incumbent on them to use the language of princes. I was caparisoned with a sword, shield, and turban ; and the Princes took off their jackets, which I put on. In short, what between sensibility at the misfortunes of those descendants from the stock of Tamer- lane, and my sense of the ridiculous character I was acting, my feelings cannot be described.

THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S INTRODUCTION TO INDIA.

Marquis Cornwallis to Sir J. Shore. Whitehall, 10th June 1796.

Dear Sir—I beg leave to introduce to you Colonel Wesley, [ Wellesley,] who is Lieutenant-Colonel of my regiment. He is a sensible man, and a good officer; and will, I have no doubt, conduct himself in a manner to merit your appro- bation.

I am, with great regard, dear Sir, most faithfully yours.

LORD TEIGNMOUTH'S JUDGMENT OF CHARACTER.

On his first interview with Colonel Wellesley at his levee, Sir J. Shore evinced his characteristic prompt discernment of character. Turning quickly round to his aides-de-camp, as the young soldier retired, he remarked, with prophetic sagacity, " if Colonel Wellesley should ever have the opportunity of distinguishing himself, he will do it, and greatly." One of those to whom these expressions were addressed did not return to England till the Duke of Wellington had reached the zenith of his Peninsular reputation ; when he re- minded Lord Teigumouth of the complete verification of his prediction. Two instances, among many others, of Lord Teignmouth's almost intuitive perception of character, occur to the recollection of the writer of this memoir. On one occasion, haring joined in play with a boy whom his father had brought to Lord Teignmouth's house, be was suddenly forbidden by the latter asso- ciating with him: Lord Teignmouth accompanying the prohibition with the remark, that there was something in his countenance indicating that be would not come to a good end. The individual in question was young Polidori, the future companion of Byron ; and the prediction, uttered so emphatically that it could not be forgotten, was but too accurately fulfilled. It is well known that the unfortunate youth terminated a licentious career by suicide. Lord Teigrtmouth was equally happy in another and very different prog- nostication. The author was sitting by his side, under the gallery of the House of Commons, when Sir Robert (then Mr.) Peel delivered one of his earliest speeches, from one of the upper Ministerial benches. Lord Teign- mouth, having listened to him with much attention, observed instantly, as Mr. Peel sat down, If that young man should live, I should not be surprised to see him filling some of the first situations in the country."

Among Lord TEIGNMOUTH'S peculiarities was a belief in omens, which develops itself at an early period. He stopped writing a letter to his mother as he felt it was useless ; and the next post brought an account of her death. Many years afterwards, he entertained a hope that somebody on a deathbed would recover, because the fire in his room, which appeared out when he went to bed, blazed up in the middle of the night. He had a more distinct " warning" of the death of his little daughter, of which he gives this account to his friend CHARLES GRANT— "The coincidence of dreams with facts is sometimes striking; and my loss unhappily furnishes me with an instance. In a letter to Lady Shore, of the II th May last, I mentioned a dream respecting nay daughter Caroline, which had shocked me to agony ; but I did not communicate to her the particulars. It happened on or about the first of that month—my letter particularly men- tions the first. I thought I was walking out with the dear girl, when, stopping to speak to somebody, I missed her. A ladder was eructed against a house which was repairing, and I concluded she had ascended by it. I entered the house; and, on inquiring for the child, was told a Coroner's inquest was sitting on the body of a dead infant. I hastened to the room, and was struck with the appearance of the dissevered limbs of a child, which I knew to be my own. I took up an arm ; and the hand grasped my finger. I need not add, that I awoke with a scream, and in an agony of tears. It was perhaps at that time that my beloved girl ceased to exist.'

His biographer says it was the same night.

Late publications, friendly either to the abilities or character of WARREN HASTINGS, have painted the differences between the Go- vernor-General and the majority of his Council, FRANCIS, MONSON, and CLAVERING, as chiefly disgraceful to the latter. It is but right, therefore, to quote the opinions of Lord Talcustouru, as he was well acquainted with all the circumstances ; though it must be borne in mind that he was advanced by the Opposition majority, and assisted FRANCIS in the revisal of the " minutes " by which he op- posed HASTINGS.

LORD TEIGNMOUTH ON WARREN HASTINGS AND FRANCIS.

The war with Hyder Ally, however, owes its origin to the politics of Ben- gal. Had Mr. Hastings been less ambitious—had be not volunteered in a use- less, impolitic, absurd war with the Mahrattas, sending our troops across the Continent of India, and wasting resources which, with good management, would have secured us against all invaders . . . . [MS. defective] . . . . At present, it is impossible to guess the event of our manceuvres : success may attend us in the field, but the most sanguine expectations cannot form an idea that we shall be reimbursed for any part of the large sums we have so idly, so foolishly expended.

The consequences which bare arisen from this Mahratta war were, on the

first proposals to enter into it, into by Mr. Francis, and used as an argu- ment by him against entering nto it, or prosecuting it. But his remonstrances have long since failed to have any effect ; and the last he made so provoked the Governor, that he answered it by the most insulting language, personally ad- dressed to Mr. Francis, and meant avowedly as a personal affront. This pro- duced a duel between them, in which Mr. Francis was dangerously wounded; although he has been so lucky as to recover, without any injury to his consti- tution. We regret the loss of his abilities, which, with proper support, might have saved the sinking affairs of the Company. • • Mr. Francis has, 1 find, retired from all concern in the politics of India. I should not suppose that his principles would be supple enough for the system in England. As far as I can judge of his conduct in Bengal, he conducted himself in all public business with honour and integrity; nor has calumny been able to fix an imputation of dishonesty on his name.