Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
forthcoming volumes , we are promised a detailed account of the doctor ' s political life . In that branch of literature which the French so admirably describe as " Matcriaux pour servir , " and which consists of journals and correspondence , there have been recently published two works which , beside their intrinsic merit and interest , have a peculiar bearing upon present times and present cies . The first contains the "Journals ancl
Correemergen spondence of General Sir Harry Calvert , Bart ., G . C . B ., " * during the war in Erance and Flanders , in 1793-4 . Of this campaign , commenced and ended under the auspices of the Duke of York , England has no reason to be proud . It was in truth a failure , and the result of a monstrous amount of jobbery and incapacity . The English Government was selfish , boastful of resources which showed themselves in raw levies without armsand often without clothing—officers promoted through family
, , influence to posts they were incompetent to . fill , or by having proved themselves adepts at the dignified process of crimping ; while our allies were jealous , and our Gallic enemies enterprising and active . Much , howeA'er , of the mal-success of the campaign was undoubtedly occasioned by the treachery of Austria , which , after having invoked our assistance , concluded a separate treaty with France , the condition of which was hostility to England . Well , indeed , may Sir Harry Verney apply the
warning which his father conveyed to Mr . Pitt , to the present aspect of European affairs : trust Austria , —trust in allies whose want of ability , exertion , principle , and honesty , stigmatized the year 1794 with infamy , ancl loaded Em-ope with calamities , and we may expect the same reward as we then reaped . The second work to which we have alluded is a review , by the late Sir Charles Napier , of the "Defects , Civil and Militaryofthe Indian Government ; "t and riht vigorously are they
, g exposed . In the same way as the gallant general cut his way through swarms of Sikhs and Afghans , so does he come down upon the red-tape Civil Service of India , ruthlessly laying bare all the jobbery and corruption of Indian administration , regardless of Boards and officials , of Governor-Generals and Lcadenhall Directors . Abuses he hated more than an Indian enemy , and he as promptly endeavoured to annihilate them . The second hook is thus described by an able Reviewer : —•
"It tells , " says he , " of the cruelty and injustice that lie at the root of many of our Indian quarrels with the native population . It points to the number of little wars set on foot by political underlings , without any communication with the Commander-in-Chief , four or five of which were carried on during Sir Charles's term of office . It tells of peculation , of the oppression and reckless taxation of natives , of the senseless management and disposition of troops , and of the consumption of soldiers in the mere house-service of political officials . These , and a hundred other rotten things , are struck with a strong hand . "
The conclusion of the work is most affecting . It speaks to us in the language of a wounded but a noble spirit ; and leaves posterity to sit in judgment 0 "a the -memory of a rtia-o . who did great things for his country and whose chief fault , in the eyes even of those he so unsparingly chas-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
forthcoming volumes , we are promised a detailed account of the doctor ' s political life . In that branch of literature which the French so admirably describe as " Matcriaux pour servir , " and which consists of journals and correspondence , there have been recently published two works which , beside their intrinsic merit and interest , have a peculiar bearing upon present times and present cies . The first contains the "Journals ancl
Correemergen spondence of General Sir Harry Calvert , Bart ., G . C . B ., " * during the war in Erance and Flanders , in 1793-4 . Of this campaign , commenced and ended under the auspices of the Duke of York , England has no reason to be proud . It was in truth a failure , and the result of a monstrous amount of jobbery and incapacity . The English Government was selfish , boastful of resources which showed themselves in raw levies without armsand often without clothing—officers promoted through family
, , influence to posts they were incompetent to . fill , or by having proved themselves adepts at the dignified process of crimping ; while our allies were jealous , and our Gallic enemies enterprising and active . Much , howeA'er , of the mal-success of the campaign was undoubtedly occasioned by the treachery of Austria , which , after having invoked our assistance , concluded a separate treaty with France , the condition of which was hostility to England . Well , indeed , may Sir Harry Verney apply the
warning which his father conveyed to Mr . Pitt , to the present aspect of European affairs : trust Austria , —trust in allies whose want of ability , exertion , principle , and honesty , stigmatized the year 1794 with infamy , ancl loaded Em-ope with calamities , and we may expect the same reward as we then reaped . The second work to which we have alluded is a review , by the late Sir Charles Napier , of the "Defects , Civil and Militaryofthe Indian Government ; "t and riht vigorously are they
, g exposed . In the same way as the gallant general cut his way through swarms of Sikhs and Afghans , so does he come down upon the red-tape Civil Service of India , ruthlessly laying bare all the jobbery and corruption of Indian administration , regardless of Boards and officials , of Governor-Generals and Lcadenhall Directors . Abuses he hated more than an Indian enemy , and he as promptly endeavoured to annihilate them . The second hook is thus described by an able Reviewer : —•
"It tells , " says he , " of the cruelty and injustice that lie at the root of many of our Indian quarrels with the native population . It points to the number of little wars set on foot by political underlings , without any communication with the Commander-in-Chief , four or five of which were carried on during Sir Charles's term of office . It tells of peculation , of the oppression and reckless taxation of natives , of the senseless management and disposition of troops , and of the consumption of soldiers in the mere house-service of political officials . These , and a hundred other rotten things , are struck with a strong hand . "
The conclusion of the work is most affecting . It speaks to us in the language of a wounded but a noble spirit ; and leaves posterity to sit in judgment 0 "a the -memory of a rtia-o . who did great things for his country and whose chief fault , in the eyes even of those he so unsparingly chas-