rica, seem, on the whole, to be supported by a larger and firmer basis of undeniable facts, than were ever before piled together to sustain a prospective and predictive theory. His work on "America, and on the Colonies," is highly deserving of more serious consideration than as yet it seems to

have obtained. The prètending and gasconading character of his style should not be allowed too deeply to prejudice us against a writer, who has undoubtedly as much acuteness, and at least as much eloquence, as any of his contemporaries.

In the same hemisphere, meantime, our own more scattered possessions continued to be visited with many symptoms of that general spirit of colonial commotion, to which allusion has already been made in treating of the more terrible convulsions which have so long agitated the more extensive and important provinces of Spain. In Jamaica, an insurrection of negroes occurred at the opening of the year, which promised to be of long and serious endurance at its commencement, but which the vigilance of the Duke of Manchester happily suppressed in the course of a few days. A far more extensive and alarming tumult took place in Barbadoes on Easter Monday. In that island, however, the level cha. racter of the country, and the much greater admixture of white inhabitants, presented facilities of repressing the commotion, infinitely superior to what almost any other of our insular colo nies could have afforded. For three days, nevertheless, the insurgent slaves not only made head against all the troops which the governor could bring into the field, but devastated at their

VOL. IX. PART I.

pleasure an extent of country much wider than these at first conceived to be in any danger from their violence. On the evening of the third day, the ringleader, or captain of the whole, was defeated in a village where he had posted the prime and flower of his adherents; he was surrounded and taken, and executed on the morrow; but be fore his death, he made such disclosures as enabled the king's authorities to cut off all communication among the remainder of the negroes, and so to prevent the farther progress, and not improbable completion, of a plot, which, according to the account given of it by this desperate chief, exceeded, in the boldness of its preconcerted atrocities, every thing which has yet occurred in the history of these ferocious savages.

The notice of parliament was immediately directed to the subject of these disturbances by the old and honoured champion of negro emancipation, Mr Wilberforce. This gentleman made a long and energetic speech, in which he expressed his conviction, that a very great share of the unhappy tu

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mults which had just occurred, were owing to the want of such a law concerning the registry of slaves, as he had on several previous occasions recommended to the wisdom of parliament; because the absence of such a law enabled avaricious and unprincipled planters to contradict the whole of the merciful intentions of the British legislature, by furtively introducing additional slaves into the islands, and so protracting the shameful traffic of human souls renounced by the wisdom of a Christian nation. The actual bondsmen employed on the soil of the colonies could not, he contended, look forward to that increase of regard to their own comforts, of which their increased value might otherwise give rational expectation, far less be encouraged to hope for that gradual, indeed, but final and effectual suppression, of the very system of negro slavery, for which such alleviations in their immediate lot might naturally be expected to make way. A very different view was taken of the matter by Mr Palmer and some other gentlemen, who maintained that the whole of the disturbances, in the present condition of the colonies, might with more reason be ascribed to the injudicious behaviour of persons entertaining the same views with Mr Wilberforce, but entirely devoid of the wisdom and prudence which had always formed so distinguishing a point in his character and deportment. The ignorant slaves, it was said, addressed by baptists and other missionaries, almost as ignorant of worldly affairs and their management as themselves, had been led to consider immediate emancipation as their clear right, Mr Wilberforce as the advocate and champion of this right, and the slave registry bill in question as one leading and important step towards the attainment of all their wishes. It is not to be supposed that such assertions could have been made without some ground in fact;

indeed, there is no doubt that the deluded negroes of Barbadoes had been heard, in their tumult of insurrection, too often to utter the name of Wilberforce, in a way which the eminent person who bears it would have been as sorry as any one to hear. It was probably, in a great measure, owing to this circumstance, that Mr Wilberforce consented, so easily as he did, to withdraw his motion for the present, and to wait till the lapse of a tranquil interval might render the adoption of his measures more likely to be attended with no violent results.

In the other great division of our foreign possessions, India, there occurred during this year several events of considerable importance. Of these we shall now endeavour to give a brief abstract.

The war with the Nepaulese was commenced last year under very disadvantageous circumstances. It had been always their policy to prevent foreigners from obtaining any knowledge of their country; and although an imaginary line only separated it from our possessions, we were in a great measure unacquainted with it. The campaign was planned on uncertain information, and it was in consequence unaccompanied with that success which the Governor-general anticipated, and which his scientific arrangements under other circumstances would have deserved. The fatigue which our troops had to undergo was out of all proportion to the natives, for they had to act in a mountainous region, to which they were altogether unaccustomed. They had to invade a country by nature the strongest in the world, where their discipline and their science were comparatively of little avail, and to encounter an enemy fully aware of the advantages they possessed, and overweeningly confident in themselves. The supineness of Generals Marley and Wood, the defeat of

their outposts, and the severe losses which the division of Major-general Gillespie sustained, served, in the early part of the campaign, to confirm the mountaineers in their long-cherished opinion that they were invinciblean illusion which the brilliant victories of Sir David Ochterlony, and the success of Colonel Nicholls, did not entirely dissipate.

The armistice which was concluded between Major-General Sir D. Ochterlony and the Goorka Viceroy, in April 1815, left us in military occupation of the whole of their territories west of the Kali, and negociations for a permanent treaty were immediately entered into; but the Rajah was by no means sincere in his desire for peace. Encouraged by promises of support and assistance from Scindiah, and the other powers of the interior of Hindostan, and flattering himself, probably, that the Emperor of China would interfere in his behalf, he made use of every artifice to protract the negociations, and it was not till the 2d of December that it was signed by his commissioners, and by Lieutenant-Colonel Bradshaw on the part of the British. The ratifications were to be exchanged within fifteen days; but still persisting in the same line of policy, the Rajah interposed delays, and finally refused to sign it.

The unhealthy season was now approaching, and it was even doubted if the troops could with prudence enter the country at so late a period; but, in other respects, they took the field under much more favourable circumstances than in the former campaign. The army of Bengal had been considerably increased, so that it was not now necessary to expose the Mahratta frontier. Already possessed of one half of the enemy's territories, we had obtained an accurate knowledge of the other, and the obstacles we had to encounter were ascertained to be less

formidable than had been apprehended. Our troops were in the highest spirits; and they possessed, in Sir David Ochterlony, a general of consummate abilities, in whose conduct they placed unbounded confidence. With regard to our opponents, the protracted warfare had drained their resources and impoverished their country-we had no longer to encounter troops inured to war-the fine army which had extended their dominions to the banks of the Sutledge was annihilated in the first campaign-and the forces which they now drew together for the defence of their capital, though formidable in point of numbers, were deficient in experience and discipline.

The Governor-general, in order to be prepared for every emergency, had concentrated about 1500 men in the vicinity of Patna, at the head of which Sir David Ochterlony took the field, as soon as it was known that the Kajah had refused to ratify the treaty. He advanced in three columns towards the range of hills which forms the natural barrier of Nepaul. It can only be penetrated by a few places, which were occupied by the enemy, and had been fortified with much labour and expence; but the British general fortunately obtained information of a pass unknown to, or neglected by, the enemy's commanders. By a sudden movement with one brigade of the column under his personal command, he entered the hills at that point, and turned their position. They fell back on Muckwampore, and the British column encamped within two miles of them on the 27th of February, occupying a hill in front, from which they had retired on the approach of our troops. They, however, immediately perceived that they had committed a gross blunder in evacuating a position of such importance to our future operations, and their efforts were accordingly di

rected to the recovery of it. Advancing with an overwhelming force, our small party was compelled to retire before them, until a reinforcement arrived from Tank to their assistance; and fresh troops continued to be poured in on both sides, until the action became almost a general one. The enemy persevered, during five hours, in desperate attempts to retake the hill; but, after their first momentary success, they never could make any impression, and, in the end, they were totally routed, chiefly by a charge which was made by the second brigade. The troops engaged were part of the 87th regiment, under Captain Fenton; the second battalion 8th regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, under Majors Manly and Nation; the second battalion 12th, under Major Shapland; and the second battalion 25th, under Captain Smith; the whole under the immediate orders of Lieut.Colonels Miller and Burnet, who highly distinguished themselves. The enemy lost a gun, and left about 500 dead on the field of battle, whilst our loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, did not much exceed 200. Lieutenant Tyrrele, of the 20th Bengal regiment, who had particularly distinguished himself in command of the original party on the hill, was the only officer who fell. The Goorkas behaved throughout the day with the most determined courage, and, in particular, shewed the greatest devotion in carrying off their wounded. It is worthy of remark, that their guns were filled with tangent scales, an improvement which had been but recently adopted by our artillery in India; and it is said they threw Shrapnell shells in this day's action, a circumstance very surprising, when it is considered that the French themselves have never been able to imitate them.

In the mean time, the column under the command of Colonel Kelly entered

the hills by another route, and on the 1st of February commenced operations against the Fort of Hurryhurpore. It appeared that a point of considerable importance, within a short distance of it, had been overlooked by the enemy, which the colonel determined to take by surprise. He accordingly detached a party, under Lieut.Colonel (now Sir J.) O'Halloran, of the 18th Native Infantry, which dislodged the enemy's piquet, and repulsed their whole force in a desperate attempt they made to recover posses sion of the point. Cazee Ranjour Sing, who had so greatly distinguished himself by the defence of Jytuck, in the last campaign, commanded in this quarter. He saw that the fort was no longer tenable, and retreated during the night, leaving a place of great importance to be taken possession of without opposition.

As soon as Sir David Ochterlony was joined by the third column, under the orders of Colonel Nicol, he advanced upon Muckwampore, and encamped before it. A few days would have given him possession of it, placing the capital within his grasp, when the Nepaul Rajah thought proper to submit to the terms imposed by the Governorgeneral. The conditions of the former treaty embraced all the objects for which we had gone to war, and none other were now exacted. Peace was signed on the 2d of March, and it was formally ratified by the Rajah on the 4th of the same month. It was fortunate that the campaign was so speedily brought to a conclusion, for sickness had begun to break out in the British camp, and it would undoubtedly have increased as the weather became hotter. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on the manner in which the whole was conducted by Sir David Ochterlony. His plans appear to have been laid with singular judgment, and executed with the greatest decision