The indirect dominion of the merchants was converted into the direct dominion of the conquerors; the allies were deposed, their lands confiscated, tributes were exacted, and garrisons erected in their territories. In the same year Tanjore was taken, and its rajah became a pensioner; the whole of the Carnatic was eventually captured, and the British authority was supreme from the river Kistnah to Cape Comorin.

9. War with the Mahrattas.-The Mahrattas were now the only powerful foes remaining in India; but, happily for the British, there was no harmony among them. Hostilities had broken out with these tribes in 1774, in consequence of the aid which Bombay afforded to a pretender against the rajahs of Berar. In 1803, war again raged with these rajahs, and terminated in the following year successfully for the British, who pushed their conquests towards the north, and took Agra and Delhi itself, the residence of the Great Mogul. The terms of the peace were highly advantageous to the British. The ceded territories were the Dooab, lying between the Ganges and the Jumna; Beroach in Guzerat; and the district of Kuttak, with the harbour of Balasore, between Bengal and the Circars. The rajahs promised neither to take nor keep Europeans in their service; the Great Mogul was to be entirely dependent on the English. By these conquests, and by the acquisition of the Dutch possessions in Ceylon, which were added by the peace of Amiens, the territory of the Company extended over all the eastern coast, the greater part of the western coast, and on the Ganges and Jumna, as far at Delhi. The principal seat of the military power was now transferred from the south to the countries on the Upper Ganges, and to the neighbourhood of the Sikhs and other warlike nations. Notwithstanding the peace of 1803, war was renewed in the following year with Holcar, chief of the Mahrattas, who had infringed the territories of the English, and expelled the sovereign of Poonah. A series of brilliant victories ensued, under the command of Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, Lord Lake, and Harcourt, the result of which were the complete reduction of Holcar, and of his ally, the rajah of Bhurtpoor, an immense increase of territory, and the annihilation of French interest in the peninsula. In 1804, the Marquis of Wellesley was recalled; and Cornwallis, appointed a third time, actually went out, but died in the following year, soon after his arrival. He was succeeded by Lord Minto, who was followed, in 1813, by the Earl of Moira, afterwards Marquis of Hastings.

10. In 1814, disputes arose with the rajah of Nepaul, the border country between Oude and Thibet. The events of this mountain war were less successful during the following year; but, by the victorious advance of General Ochterlony, peace was concluded in 1816, with cession of the contested districts, and of the mountainous passes. By this new acquisition, the English

dominions were brought into close contact with the Chinese empire. But a new war with the Mahrattas was now to decide the fate of these tribes. The central parts of India were infested, in 1817, by hordes of freebooters, known by the name of Pindarees, who were endeavouring to form combinations with the chiefs of the Mahrattas. But the English prevented their junction-overpowered the single nations-annihilated the Pindarees, and obtained considerable cessions of territory. By the successful issue of these wars, the Indus became the boundary of the British dominions. Between that river and Calcutta, there were now only small states, which were either attached to the English, or too weak to raise a single standard against them. The power of the Mahrattas was for ever broken. Notwithstanding the enlargement of the territory of the Company, no alterations took place in its political constitution; the regulations introduced by Pitt continued to be the basis of its internal policy. But a change was introduced into its commercial privileges, when the charter of the Company was to be renewed in 1814. Clamours had been raised against its monopoly; and a partial restriction was now imposed upon it. The Company received the exclusive trade with China for twenty years; but the other trade was made free to all Britons, with all the harbours of the Company, in their own private vessels. Certain regulations were annexed concerning the application of the territorial revenues, and of the profits accruing from the trade. The governorgeneral, the governors, and the commanders of the troops, were to be chosen by the Court of Directors, but agreeably to the will of his majesty.

11. Burmese War.-In 1823, Lord Amherst, who had been previously sent on an embassy to China, was made governorgeneral of India. In the following year, the Burmese, a nation extending along the eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal, assumed a threatening position on the British frontier; and invaded a small territory under the protection of the British government. Colonel Bowen was sent against the invaders with a small force, but was repulsed with considerable loss. A few months afterwards, a considerable naval and military armament, under the command of Sir A. Campbell and Commodore Grant, attacked Rangoon, the principal seaport of the Burmese, and captured it without loss. Several engagements ensued, in which the Burmese were signally defeated, and driven into their own territories. In 1826, hostilities were renewed, when the arms of the British were again victorious; and a treaty of peace was concluded, by which the four provinces of Aracan, with Mergui, Tavoy, and Zea, were ceded to the English, together with a large sum of money, to be paid as an indemnification for the expenses of the war. But the Burmese having by various artifices eluded the terms of the treaty, an attack was made upon their head-quarters at Melloon, with complete success; and a rapid advance made upon the

capital of their empire, when his majesty of Ava was compelled to ratify the treaty, and the British army retired to Rangoon.

12. Scarcely less important was the capture of Bhurtpoor, which occurred in the same year. This was a fortress of great strength, and had been deemed impregnable. A rebellion had taken place on the death of the rajah, who had maintained a strict alliance with the British. His nephew had seated himself on the throne, in defiance of his son and rightful heir. Under Lord Combermere, the fortress was taken by storm, the usurper made prisoner. All the other fortresses in the rajah's dominions successively surrendered, and the lawful prince was established on his throne.

13. In 1827, Lord William Bentinck was appointed governorgeneral of India. His administration was eminently pacific, and characterized by a series of financial reforms in every department of the government. In 1833, the Company's charter expired, and further changes were introduced. The exclusive right of trade was taken away; and the commerce with India and China freely granted to all British subjects. The Company retained the political administration of India for twenty years; but all its other rights and possessions were ceded to the English government, in consideration of an annuity of £630,000, secured by a guarantee fund of two millions sterling.

14. Afghan War.-Lord Auckland was the next governorgeneral. During his brief administration, a fearful contest broke out with the Afghans. The importance of establishing a more secure line of frontier to the north of the British possessions, where danger was apprehended from the intrigues of Russia at the court of Persia, induced the governor-general to interfere in the affairs of Afghanistan, a district situated on the west of the Indus. His object was to unite the various clans under one firm government, which should be under the influence and protection of Great Britain. With this view, he resolved to depose Dost Mahommed Khan, and to place Shah Sujah on the throne of Cabul, from which he had been expelled for many years. But he appears to have been deceived in his notions of the popularity of the Shah. In 1841, an insurrection broke out at Cabul, when Sir W. H. Macnaughtan and Sir A. Burnes, the political residents, were treacherously murdered; and, in the following year, the British forces were obliged to commence a retreat under the most disastrous circumstances. This distressing march continued until the whole army was killed or captured, excepting Dr Brydon, who succeeded in reaching Jellalabad, where Sir R. Sale had successfully maintained himself. The events of this terrible campaign are so recent, and have occupied so much attention of late, that any detail of them would be superfluous. The catastrophe may be briefly stated. Lord Auckland was superseded by Lord Ellenborough. The English, under Generals Nott and Pollock, fought their way back to

Cabul, released their prisoners, and finally evacuated Afghanistan. The British dominions were, however, enlarged by the annexation of the territory of Sinde, which secured to them the navigation of the Lower Indus. The dominion of the Punjab, occupied by the Sikhs, passed at this time, by the death of Runjeet Singh, into the possession of his son, Shere Singh, whose authority has been recognised by the British government. His position appears, however, to be by no means secure. In 1844, Lord Ellenborough was recalled by the directors, contrary to the wishes of the government, and was succeeded by Sir Henry Hardinge.

SECTION V.

OF ENGLAND, FROM THE PEACE OF PARIS TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE AMERICAN WAR.

1. IN 1760, George III., grandson of the late king, acceded to the throne of England, in the twenty-second year of his age. His situation differed widely from that of his two predecessors. The house of Hanover had hitherto secured no hold on the affections of the people: its princes had displayed no merit to balance the defect of hereditary right; nor any personal qualities to compensate for their foreign predilections. The young king was an Englishman; his tastes and habits, for good or for evil, were of English growth. The period of his accession was one of great national joy. The brilliant success of our arms in Canada, and the conclusion of a long and expensive war on terms honourable to our country, had raised the spirits of the people, and revived in them the dormant sentiment of loyalty. Even faction had sunk into repose; whig and tory had forgotten their animosity. The very ministry which welcomed the new sovereign, appeared to have been framed upon the principle of reducing to harmony the most discordant elements of power. From this period, epochs are more closely connected with administrations than with reigns. The sovereign is changed; the government remains the same. At the commencement of this reign, the first Pitt, who had so vigorously directed the war department under George II., was still at the head of affairs. While Newcastle devoted his peculiar talent to the purchase of power, Pitt was no less assiduous in the employment of it. At the accession of George III., the national debt amounted to upwards of eightyeight millions; and at the end of the three following years, it had increased to upwards of 138 millions. But Pitt was reckless of expense; it was sufficient for him that England was victorious at once in America, in India, in Germany; that she was the umpire of the Continent-the mistress of the sea. At this juncture, France proposed terms of peace, and suggested that all differences

subsisting with Spain and England should be settled by her arbitration. But Pitt knew that France and Spain had signed the Family Compact, and he accordingly determined to declare war upon the latter power. His counsel was rejected; and in 1761, he retired from the ministry. Nevertheless, his successor, Lord Bute, adopted the same policy: war was declared against Spain, and was successfully terminated by the peace of Paris (p. 510). With the fall of Pitt, a new order of things commenced; and, for the first time since the accession of the house of Hanover, the tory party was in the ascendant. The spirit of faction was roused from its sleep, and discontent was heard in the land. In 1760, an obnoxious tax had been laid upon the beverage of the poor, to the amount of three shillings per barrel on strong beer. In 1763, a further impost was made of four shillings a hogshead on cyder, with permission to excise officers to enter private houses at pleasure. Lord Bute, yielding to the clamour which this measure excited, resigned the seals into the hands of Lord Grenville. The press now exerted its power against the king and his ministers. In 1764, Wilkes, a member of parliament, was tried for publishing "The North Briton," and his journal condemned to be burned by the common hangman. To crown the whole matter, the king was impressed with the importance of the royal prerogative; and this impression was not checked by the governing party, so long as their own power and privileges were preserved. To such an extent was the influence of the aristocracy upheld, that, to increase their votes in parliament, more peers were created in one month than had been created during the whole of the preceding reign; and to such an extent was the prerogative pushed, that, in the language of the famous motion of 1780, "it was now necessary to declare, that the influence of the crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished,"—a motion which was carried in the House of Commons by a majority of 233 to 215. But, during these events, public indignation, in another quarter of the world, had ripened into open rebellion and revolution.

THE AMERICAN WAR.

2. Grenville's Stamp Act.-By the peace of Paris, the British colonial dominions in America appeared to be more consolidated than at any preceding period. By means of her navy, Britain was enabled, even in times of war, to keep up communication with her colonies; and, consequently, suffered little interruption of her commerce during the periods of military agitation. The colonies of North America, extending from the Mississippi to the St. Lawrence, and in the interior, to the Alleghany Mountains, had been augmented by the cession of Canada and Florida. The matured state of these countries-their flourishing agricultural condition-their long-cherished democratic principles--their experience of growing strength, which had been tested in the Seven