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LORD ELIBANK

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GEORGE AUGUSTUS ELLIOT.

waited till his end came. His death," the same authority adds, "is a great loss to the British empire: to British India, at such a time as the present, it is a loss which seems irreparable.' The character of Lord Elgin as a statesman and as governor-general of India is thus briefly but justly summed up in the Times newspaper, when announcing his decease: "He has fallen in harness; but he has had the satisfaction of seeing India grow in prosperity under his rule, and hold out expectations which for years past we have not dared to entertain. All through his life he was successful in his undertakings, and he was successful to the last. He owed that success not so much to great genius as to good sense, to social tact, and to a love of hard, steady work."

The Earl of Elgin was twice married. His first wife, Elizabeth Mary, daughter of C. L. Cumming of Rose-isle, Stirlingshire, died in 1843, while he was governor of Jamaica, leaving him one daughter. His second wife was Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, daughter of the Earl of Durham, by whom the Earl of Elgin had three sons and a daughter. The eldest of these sons, Victor Alexander Lord Bruce, succeeded him in the earldom.

ELIBANK, LORD. See MURRAY, PATRICK. ELLIOT, GEORGE AUGUSTUS, Lord Heathfield, a distinguished military officer, was the ninth son of Sir Gilbert Elliot of Stobbs in Roxburghshire, and born about the year 1718. He received his education, first at home under the charge of a family tutor, and afterwards at Leyden, where he acquired a perfect and colloquial knowledge of the French and German languages. Being destined for the army, he was placed at the military school of La Fere, in Picardy, which was the most celebrated in Europe, and conducted at that time by Vauban, the famous engineer. He afterwards served for some time as a volunteer in the Prussian army, which was then considered the best practical school of war. Returning in his seventeenth year, he was introduced by his father to Lieutenant-colonel Peers of the 23d foot or Royal Welsh Fusileers, which was then lying at Edinburgh. Sir Gilbert presented him as a youth anxious to bear arms for his king and country; and he accordingly entered the regiment as a volunteer. Having served for upwards of a twelvemonth, during which he displayed an uncommon zeal in his profession, he was removed to the engineer corps at Woolwich, and was making great progress in the studies requisite for that branch of service, when his uncle, Colonel Elliot, introduced him as adjutant of the 2d troop of horse-grenadiers. His exertions in this situation laid the foundation of a discipline which afterwards rendered the two troops of horsegrenadiers the finest corps of heavy cavalry in Europe. In the war which ended in 1748 he served with his regiment in many actions-among the rest, the battle of Dettingen, in which he was wounded. After successively purchasing the captaincy, majority, and lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment, he resigned his place in the engineer corps, notwithstanding that he had already studied gunnery and other matters connected with the service, to a degree which few have ever attained He was now distinguished so highly for his zeal and acquirements, that George II. appointed him one of his aides-de-camp. In 1759 he quitted the 2d regiment of horse-grenadiers, having been selected to raise, form, and discipline the first regiment of light horse, called after him, Elliot's. This regiment was brought by him to such a pitch of activity and discipline, as to be held up as a pattern to all the other dragoon regiments raised for many years after

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wards. Colonel Elliot, indeed, may be described as a perfect military enthusiast. His habits of life were as rigorous as those of a religious ascetic. His food was vegetables, his drink water. He neither indulged himself in animal food nor wine. He never slept more than four hours at a time, so that he was up later and earlier than most other men. It was his constant endeavour to make his men as abstemious, hardy, and vigilant as himself; and it is stated that habit at last rendered them so, without their feeling it to be a hardship. It might have been expected, from such a character, that he would also be a stern and unscrupulous soldier; but the reverse was the case. He was sincerely anxious, by acts of humanity, to soften the horrors of war. In the expedition to the coast of France which took place near the close of the Seven Years' war, he had the command of the cavalry, with the rank of brigadiergeneral. In the memorable expedition against the Havannah, he was second in command. After a desperate siege of nearly two months, during which the British suffered dreadfully from the climate, the city, which was considered as the key to all the Spanish dominions in the West Indies, was taken by storm. The Spanish general, Lewis de Velasco, had displayed infinite firmness in his defence of this fortress, as well as the most devoted bravery at its conclusion, having fallen amidst heaps of slain, while vainly endeavouring to repel the final attack. Elliot appears to have been forcibly struck by the gallant conduct of Velasco, and to have resolved upon rendering it a model for his own conduct under similar circumstances. After the peace his regiment was reviewed by the king (George III.) in Hyde Park, when they presented to his majesty the standards taken from the enemy. The king, gratified with their high character, asked General Elliot what mark of his favour he could bestow on his regiment equal to their merits. He answered that his regiment would be proud, if his majesty should think that, by their services, they were entitled to the distinction of royals. It was accordingly made a royal regiment, with this flattering title-"The 15th or king's royal regiment of light dragoons." At the same time the king expressed a desire to confer a mark of his favour on the brave general; but he declared that the honour and satisfaction of his majesty's approbation were his best reward.

During the peace between 1763 and 1775, General Elliot served for a time as commander of the forces in Ireland. Being recalled from this difficult post on his own solicitation, he was, in an hour fortunate for his country, appointed to the command of Gibraltar. In the ensuing war, which finally involved both the French and Spaniards, the latter instituted a most determined siege round his fortress, which lasted for three years, and was only unsuccessful through the extraordinary exertions, and, it may be added, the extraordinary qualifications of General Elliot. Both himself and his garrison, having been previously inured to every degree of abstinence and discipline, were fitted in a peculiar manner to endure the hardships of the siege, while at the same time his military and engineering movements were governed by such a clear judgment and skill, as to baffle the utmost efforts of the enemy. Collected within himself, he in no instance destroyed by premature attacks the labours which would cost the enenty time, patience, and expense to complete; he deliberately observed their approaches, and, with the keenest perception, seized on the proper moment in which to make his attack with success. never spent his ammunition in useless parade or in unimportant attacks. He never relaxed from his

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discipline by the appearance of security, nor hazarded the lives of his garrison by wild experiments. By a cool and temperate demeanour, with a mere handful of men, he maintained his station for three years of constant investment, in which all the powers of Spain were employed. All the eyes of Europe were upon his conduct, and his final triumph was universally allowed to be among the most brilliant military transactions of modern times.

Minto would say, "if it had not been for me, the pyets [magpies] would have been pyking your pow on the Netherbow Port." "Ah, Gibbie, Gibbie,' Veitch would reply, in reference to the first impulse which his persecutions had given to the fortunes of Lord Minto, "if it had not been for me, you would have been writing papers yet, at a plack the page."

To return to the Earl of Minto: his first education was of a private nature; and, as his father had proOn his return to England, General Elliot received spects of advancement for him in England, he was the thanks of parliament, and was honoured by his subsequently placed at a school in that country. In sovereign, June 14, 1787, with a peerage, under the 1768 he entered as a gentleman commoner at Christ title of Lord Heathfield and Baron Gibraltar, besides Church, Oxford; whence he was transferred to Linbeing elected a Knight of the Bath. His lordship coln's Inn, and in due time was called to the Eng. died at Aix-la-Chapelle, July 6, 1790, of a second lish bar. His health becoming delicate, he soon stroke of palsy, while endeavouring to reach Gib. after commenced a tour of the Continent, with the raltar, where he was anxious to close his life. He view of acquiring a knowledge of the general state left, by his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Francis Drake, of European life and policy. While at Paris, he a son, who succeeded him in the peerage. frequented the society of Madame du Deffand, by whom he is justly praised in her correspondence. She calls him "ce petit Elliot," either in endearment, or in allusion to his youth and delicate person. 1777 Mr. Elliot married Miss Amyand, daughter of Sir George Amyand, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. Soon after this period his father died, leaving him in possession of the baronetcy.

ELLIOT MURRAY KYNNYNMOND, GILBERT, first Earl of Minto, a distinguished statesman, was born at Edinburgh, April 23, 1751. He was the eldest son of Gilbert Elliot, Esq., advocate, younger of Minto, by Mrs. Agnes Murray Kynnynmond, of Melgund and Kynnynmond.

The Earl of Minto was descended from a race of very eminent persons. His father, who became Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto, baronet, was conspicuous as a parliamentary orator, and in 1763 held the office of treasurer of the navy. He subsequently obtained the reversion of the office of keeper of the signet in Scotland. In the literary annals of his country he is the well-known author of several excellent poetical compositions, particularly the popu lar song, My Sheep I neglected. He also carried on a philosophical correspondence with David Hume, which is quoted with marks of approbation by Mr. Dugald Stewart, in his Philosophy of the Human Mind, and in his Dissertation prefixed to the seventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

Sir Gilbert was the eldest son of Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto, lord justice-clerk, a respectable judge and most accomplished man, especially in music. Lord Minto, as he was called, is said to have been the first to introduce the German flute into Scotland, about the year 1725. In the history of Scotland, during the early part of the eighteenth century, he is distinguished by his zealous and useful exertions as a friend of the Protestant succession, and also by his patriotic enthusiasm in every measure that tended to the improvement and advantage of his country.

The father of Lord Minto was Gilbert Elliot, popularly called "Gibbie Elliot,' at first a writer in Edinburgh, and in that capacity employed by the celebrated Mr. Veitch to rescue him from the tyrannical government of Charles II. in Scotland; a duty in which he succeeded, though it led to his own denouncement by the Scottish privy-council. Gilbert Elliot contrived to make his escape to Holland, but, nevertheless, was tried in his absence for high treason to King James VII., for which he was condemned and forfeited. After the Revolution he returned to his native country; and being recommended, both by his sufferings and his sagacity and expertness in business, was made clerk of the privycouncil. He subsequently entered at the Scottish bar, and rose to the rank of a civil and criminal judge. It is related, that when he came to Dumfries in the course of the justiciary circuit, he never failed to visit his old friend Veitch, who was there settled minister; and the following dialogue used to pass between them: "Ah, Willie, Willie," Lord

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In 1774 Mr. Elliot was elected member of parliament for Morpeth; and, though he never became a very frequent speaker, he gave proofs on many occa sions of his talents both as a debater and a man of business. In the deliberations of parliament on the American contest he warmly espoused the cause of ministers, until nearly the close of the war, when he joined the ranks of the opposition. Having attached himself to Mr. Fox, he gave his support to the coalition ministry, and after the dismission of that party, adhered to it throughout its misfortunes and disgrace. In the endeavours of the party of the coalition to humble that of the new aristocracy, which seemed to have arisen in what was called the India interest; in their attempts to win the people back to their side, by swerving, to a certain length, into democratical Whiggism; in their hopes to strengthen themselves on the authority of the heir-apparent to the crown; in their opposition to a war on behalf of Turkey, with the power of Russia and its allies; in their efforts to maintain what was really the constitutional right of the Prince of Wales to the regency; and in all their other political measures, whether to serve their country or to restore themselves to official power, Sir Gilbert Elliot bore no undistinguished part.

The estimation in which he was held by his party is proved by the circumstance of his having been twice proposed as speaker; on one of which occasions he very nearly carried his election against the government. At the breaking out of the French revolution, he, like many others of his party, warmly adopted the views of the Tories, and became a warm supporter of ministers. In 1793 the town of Toulon, and other parts of the south of France, had declared for Louis XVII., and seemed likely to become of great service to the British arms in operating against the new republic. Sir Gilbert Elliot was then associated in a commission with Lord Hood and General O'Hara, respectively commanders of the naval and military force, to meet with the French royalists, and afford them all possible protection. On the re-capture of Toulon by the republicans, December 18, 1793, he procured for such of the Toulonese as escaped a refuge in the island of Elba. The Corsicans having now also resolved to declare against the republic, Sir Gilbert was nominated to take them

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under the protection of Great Britain. Early in 1794 all the fortified places of the island were put into his hands; and the king having accepted the proffered sovereignty of the island, Sir Gilbert presided as viceroy in a general assembly of the Corsicans, June 19, 1794, when a code of laws was adopted for the political arrangement of society in the island, being in substance somewhat similar to the constitution of Great Britain. In a speech of great wisdom, dignity, and conciliation, Sir Gilbert_recommended | to the Corsicans to live quietly under this constitution, and to value aright the advantages they had gained by putting themselves under the protection of the same sovereign who was the executor of the laws and the guardian of the liberties of Great Britain. Whatever could be done by prudence, moderation, energy, and vigilance, was done by Sir Gilbert in the government of this island; but, notwithstanding all his efforts, the French ultimately gained the ascendency, and in October, 1796, the island was deserted by the British. George III. acknowledged his sense of Sir Gilbert's services by raising him to the peerage, under the title of Lord or Baron of Minto, in the shire of Roxburgh, with a special permission to adopt the arms of Corsica into the armorial bearings of his family.

Lord Minto's speech in the House of Lords in support of the union with Ireland, a measure which met his sincere support, was one of considerable effect; and much admired even by those with whom he differed on that occasion. Early in 1799 his lordship was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the court of Vienna, where he resided, and ably executed the duties of his very important office, till the end of the year 1801. On the accession of the Whig administration in 1806, he filled for a short time the office of president of the Board of Control; but having soon after been appointed to the situation of Governor-general of India, he embarked for that distant region in February, 1807. As the Company, Board of Control, and ministers had differed about the filling of this office (vacant by the death of Marquis Cornwallis), the appointment of Lord Minto must be considered as a testimony of the general confidence in his abilities and integrity, more especially as he was at the time quite ignorant of Indian affairs. The result fully justified all that had been anticipated. Under the care of Lord Minto, the debts of the Company rapidly diminished, the animosities of the native princes were subdued, and the jealousy of the government was diminished. In quelling the mutiny of the coast army, he evinced much prudence, temper, and firmness; but his administration was rendered more conspicuously brilliant by his well-concerted and triumphant expeditions against the Isles of France and Bourbon in 1810, and that of Java in 1811. Although these enterprises were in conformity to the general instructions, yet the British ministers candidly allowed, in honour of Lord Minto, that to him was due the whole merit of the plan, and also its successful termination. He himself accompanied the expedition against Java: and it is well known that his presence not only contributed materially to its early surrender, but also to the maintenance of harmony in all departments of the expedition, and tended materially to conciliate the inhabitants after the surrender. For these eminent services Lord Minto received the thanks of both houses of parliament; and in February, 1813, as a proof of his majesty's continued approbation, he was promoted to an earldom, with the additional title of Viscount Melgund. His lordship returned to England in 1814, in apparent health; but after a short residence in London, VOL. I.

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alarming symptoms of decline began to show themselves, and he died June 21st, at Stevenage, on his way to Scotland. Lord Minto's general abilities are best seen in his acts. His manners were mild and pleasant, his conversation naturally playful--but he could make it serious and instructive. He displayed, both in speaking and writing, great purity of lan guage, and an uncommon degree of perspicuity in his mode of expression and narration. He was an elegant scholar, a good linguist, and well versed both in ancient and modern history. With all these qualifications, he possessed one which gives a charm to all others-modesty. In short, it is rare that a person appears with such a perfect balance of good qualities as the Earl of Minto.

ELPHINSTONE, THE HON, MOUNTSTUART. This distinguished civil servant of the East India Company, who won for himself such a high name in the history of our Indian empire, was the fourth son of John, eleventh Lord Elphinstone, by Anne, daughter of James, third Lord Ruthven, and granddaughter of James, second Earl of Bute. The Elphinstone family is one of great antiquity in Scotland; several of its members held responsible situations in the political events of their day; and John Lord Elphinstone, the father of the subject of the present memoir, was a general officer, held for some time the office of governor of Edinburgh Castle, and was one of the representative peers of Scotland.

Mountstuart Elphinstone was born in the year 1779. Until his twelfth year, his education was conducted in his father's house at Cumbernauld, and in 1791-92 he attended the high-school of Edinburgh. At this time he gave little promise either of talents or scholarship, having selected for himself a different class of teachers from those of the highschool. These were French prisoners of war, who had been captured in the early part of the revolution, and retained in the castle of Edinburgh; and as his father was governor of the castle, young Mountstuart, who was a Whig of the Charles Fox school, fraternized with these hot republicans, wore his hair long after their fashion, and learned to sing their revolutionary war-songs, chiefly the Marsellaise and Ça ira. After this unpromising training he was sent to a school in Kensington, taught by Dr. Thompson, where his education, such as it was, was completed in two short years. Thus he owed little to schools, and was of too volatile a disposition for serious application. It was only when he went out in early life to India, and was obliged to rely upon his own energy and resources, that he became a selftaught accomplished scholar. The place of his career was probably decided from the circumstance of his uncle, Mr. Fullerton Elphinstone, having been for many years a director of the East India Company. Having obtained a cadetship in the Company's civil service, he embarked for India in July, 1795, when only sixteen years of age. It was a dangerous ordeal for one so young to undergo. No literary tests were required of him; he was freed from the usual restraints of youth; and if he punctually discharged the duties of his office, no further questions were asked. But these circumstances, which might have corrupted and debased an inferior mind, only strengthened that of young Elphinstone, and made him brave, considerate, and self-reliant.

Almost immediately on his arrival in India he was appointed assistant to the magistrate at Benares. Here, however, his life glided silently onward for some years, with the exception of one important incident. In January, 1799, Vizier Ali, the deposed Nawab of Oude, who was detained in a sort

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of honourable captivity at Benares, visited the
British resident Mr. Cherry, and during the inter-
view, either from design or under the influence of
sudden passion, aimed a blow at him with his sword.
As if this had been a preconcerted signal, the na-
wab's followers attacked the British officers present
at the interview, and a massacre commenced which
seemed to have for its object the extirpation of all
the Europeans in Benares. But the gallant resist
ance of Mr. Davis, who with spear in hand defended
the narrow stair leading to the roof of his house, on
which his family had taken shelter, gave time for
the arrival of British troops, by whom the sudden
mutiny was quelled. In this wild uproar the situa-
tion of Mr. Elphinstone was truly critical.
He was
sitting with his friend Sir R. Houston, then on a
visit to Benares, and they were engaged in conversa-
tion, unconscious of the murders going on in the
streets, until nearly all the English were destroyed or
had fled. They had only time to mount their horses,
when they were pursued by the enemy's cavalry;
and their escape was owing to a sugar plantation
into which they dashed, and where they were hid by
the tall sugar-canes. It was a lesson of political
wariness against the sudden outbursts of Asiatic pas-
sion, which, among other lessons, Elphinstone was
careful to lay to heart. Two years after this event
he was transferred to the diplomatic service at the
Mahratta court, under Colonel (afterwards Sir Barry)
Close, and here it was that Elphinstone might be
properly said to commence in earnest the career that
led him to fame and distinction.

to send a mission to the great Mahratta chiefs, Scindia, Holkar, and the Rajah of Berar, to reconcile them to the change. The mission, however, failed, although Arthur Wellesley, the future hero of Waterloo, was at the head of it. That final argument of force was necessary which none knew better how to apply, and the unsuccessful negotiator was soon after to be the conqueror of Assaye. During his mission, General Wellesley, who had come in contact with our promising diplomatist at Poona, and marked his abilities, requested the resident "to give him young Elphinstone." This at the time was declined; but afterwards, when the sickness of Sir John Malcolm, Wellesley's secretary, had disabled him from duty, Elphinstone was sent to supply his place. He joined the general at Ahmednuggur early in August, 1803, and was present with him through the whole of that Mahratta campaign in which Sir Arthur's great military achievements were commenced. And here it was that Elphinstone showed the courage, the energy, and coolness of an approved soldier, with that military enthusiasm which so largely enters into the composition of a hero. At Assaye, though suffering from sickness, he quitted his palanquin to follow the general through the dangers of the fight, on which occasion, as he wrote after the battle, he was "well dusted;" and at Argaum he was again at Sir Arthur's side, when our troops were thrown into momentary disorder by the unexpected fire of the enemy's guns. At the siege of Gawilghur, with which the campaign terminated, Wellesley was so pleased with the conduct of his young secretary This new sphere of action, to which he was ap- throughout the whole war, that he said, "You have pointed in 1801, presented a complication of diffi- mistaken your profession; you ought to have been a culties seldom to be paralleled in the politics of soldier." Nor were his official services less appreEurope. The Mahratta empire had risen on that of ciated, as was shown by the general's letter recom. the Mogul, and succeeded to the same ascendency in mending him to the important post of representative India; but at the end of the eighteenth century had of British interests at the court of Berar, when peace fallen into the same state of anarchy as its prede- was concluded. "Upon the occasion," he writes cessor. Although the form of its government and to the governor-general, "of mentioning Mr. Elphinthe prestige of its name still survived, the real power stone, it is but justice to that gentleman to inform had been usurped by the chiefs of the Mahratta con- your excellency that I have received the greatest federacy, who after paying a merely nominal homage assistance from him since he has been with me. He to the peshwa or representative of the sovereign-an is well versed in the language, has experience and official who under that subsidiary title had ruled with a knowledge of the Mahratta powers, and their reregal authority-governed their own territories with|lations with each other, and with the British governunrestricted sway. Thus there were two sovereigns ment and its allies. He has been present in all the and a double court at Poona-a pageant king, with actions which have been fought in this quarter during the title and show of royalty, and a mayor of the the war, and at all the sieges. He is acquainted palace, who enjoyed the real authority. This last with every transaction that has taken place, and with functionary was impersonated in Bajee Rao, a Mah- my sentiments upon all subjects. I therefore take ratta prince of great cunning and showy accomplish- the liberty of recommending him to your excellency.” ments, but no soldier, who, although he had usurped This was high praise, especially from a quarter so for the time the chief power of the state, was con- chary of commendations. It was a trying situation trolled by whatever warlike Mahratta chieftain might for which Elphinstone was recommended, as the happen for the time to be uppermost. In this con- Rajah of Berar, an independent sovereign, had just fusion of parties, where sovereign, peshwa, and been deprived of some of his provinces by the British, factious princes were all striving for supremacy, and and might at any time renew the war to recover them, the Mahratta empire was about to be torn to pieces, and be revenged for his recent discomfiture. And a power greater than them all stepped in, either to extraordinary was the merit of one only twenty-five compose or profit by the confusion. Need we add years old who was appointed to watch and control that this power was the British empire in India? such a potentate. Lord Wellesley, the governor-general, proposed a military alliance with the peshwa, and although the terms were those of a superior, the peshwa was constrained to submit to them. It was into this Mahratta court, or rather political chaos, that Elphinstone was sent, and he had arrived in time to witness the struggles that overthrew the peshwa's authority, and the British interference by which his rule was re-established.

A treaty, however, by which the ambition of so many was thwarted could not be of long endurance, and it was found necessary by the governor-general

Contrary to all expectation the rajah remained quiet, having been appeased by the restoration of part of his conquered territory; and Elphinstone, after holding peaceful office in the country, was transferred, in March, 1808, to the temporary charge of our relations with the court of Scindia, and in the following August to the charge of an embassy to Cabul. In consequence, however, of changes which had occurred at the court of Cabul after he had set out, and instructions sent to him from headquarters to conclude no alliance that was not purely defensive, the mission produced no important conse.

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