who served in the successful and glorious assault of Seringapatam; and I beg you to assure them, that this distinguished mark of the favourable opinion and esteem of those excellent officers, whose gallant exertions secured the memorable victory of that day, will ever be regarded by me as a recompense of the highest value.

I have the honour to be,

To Colonel Sherbrooke.

Sir,

With the utmost respect,

D. BAIRD.

The following were the field-officers who served on the occasion, viz. Colonel Sherbrooke, Lieutenant-Colonels Dunlop, St. John, Dalrymple, Mignan, Wallace, Gardiner, and Monypenny, Majors Shee, Picton, Forbes, Craigie, and Bell.

These marks of esteem, regard, and admiration from men who loved him and appreciated his merits, must have been highly flattering and gratifying to General Baird; but, strange to say-and it is a miracle which more than once or twice recurs in the course of the eventful narrative which follows-they were his only rewards.

He received an extremely handsome letter from Lord Mornington, who had been created Marquess Wellesley, in which, after expressing his high sense of General Baird's services, he offered to recommend him either to the Honourable East India Company for a pension, or to the King for the red riband. Can anybody doubt for a moment which Baird would select?—a badge of honour from his sovereign, or an annuity from a company of

merchants in Leadenhall-street, trading to India? He of course made choice of the riband. But for all that happened subsequently, it appears he might as well have chosen the pension, for neither the one nor the other did he receive, nor indeed did he ever hear more from Lord Wellesley on the subject, nor did he even get so far into the history or mystery of the affair as to ascertain whether his lordship actually ever did make the application in his favour to the British government.*

The thanks of both houses of parliament were voted, on the 4th of October, 1799, to General Baird, and the other officers who commanded at Seringapatam, upon which occasion Mr. Dundas said, in the House of Commons,

"With regard to the military, I can only say, that from the highest of them to the lowest of them, they vied with each other in doing service to their country-to all of whom a proper acknowledgment should be made by this house. But I cannot help observing here the great praise that is due to General Baird for his brave conduct in the storming of Seringapatam. It is singular that this heroic officer was upwards of three years in

• Lord Wellesley's letter, in which the offer of recommendation for the riband was made, we are unable to lay before our readers, General Baird having, in the year 1821, sent it to Lord Sidmouth without keeping a copy of it. It should be recollected, that at the period when Lord Wellesley's offer was made, the honourable order of the Bath consisted of but twentyfour military and twelve civil knights.

imprisonment by order of the very tyrant whose barbarity in this instance he was the instrument of Providence to avenge."

A copy of the resolution of the House of Commons was transmitted to General Baird, in a letter from Lord Mornington, of which the following is a copy:

SIR,

Fort William, April 26, 1800.

IN obedience to the commands of the House of Commons of Great Britain, I have the honour to transmit you a copy of their resolutions of the 4th of October, 1799.

It is a peculiar satisfaction to me to be employed to signify to you, in the name of the Commons of Great Britain, their sanction of those sentiments of applause and approbation which it has been my duty to express in public orders on various occasions during the progress and since the termination of the late glorious war in Mysore.

I have the honour to enclose a copy of the letter from the Speaker of the House of Commons, which accompanied the resolution.

With the most grateful and cordial sense of your distinguished and meritorious services, I remain, Sir,

Your faithful and humble servant,

Major-General David Baird.

MORNINGTON.

At the East India House, a meeting of the directors and proprietors, or, as it is called there, a general court, was held on the 13th of November, and resolutions of thanks, similar in purport to those of parliament, were unanimously carried; the one more particularly applying to the distinguished subject of our memoir is in the following words:

"Resolved-That the thanks of this court be

given to the officers of the king's and company's forces employed in the assault of Seringapatam, on the 4th of May, 1799, for the rapidity, animation and skill which they manifested in the execution of that important service; and to the noncommissioned officers and privates for the courage and intrepidity of their conduct on that brilliant occasion, and especially for the exemplary humanity displayed by the assaulting party under circumstances which reflect equal honour upon their discipline, valour, and exalted generosity."

A special resolution of thanks to General Baird was proposed, in which a detail of his personal merits and services was most elaborately embodied, but it was withdrawn, on a suggestion from the chairman that a comprehensive resolution was preferable to separate resolutions of thanks to each officer, and because it appeared to some of the proprietors to partake more of the character of a disquisition than a resolution. As we shall in a subsequent part of this memoir refer somewhat at length to the circumstances connected with these proceedings, we shall in this place make no further observation upon them.

Shortly after the capture of Seringapatam, and the consequent subjugation of the Mysore country, the different general officers were directed to return to their several stations and presidencies; an order which left Colonel Wellesley in the command of the whole Mysore country-General Baird went to Madras.

CHAPTER XV.

ARRIVAL AT MADRAS-FLATTERING RECEPTION BY LORD WELLESLEY -OFFERS GENERAL BAIRD A COMMAND IN BENGAL-GENERAL BAIRD DECLINES, BUT SUBSEQUENTLY FOLLOWS LORD WELLESLEY -APPOINTED TO DINAPORE-EXPEDITION PROJECTED AGAINST BATAVIA AND MAURITIUS-INTERVIEW WITH LORD WELLESLEY -REMONSTRANCE-IS FINALLY APPOINTED TO COMMAND-DETAILS OF PREPARATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS-COLONEL WELLESLEY TO BE SECOND IN COMMAND-PROCEEDS TO SAUGUR-OverLAND DESPATCH FROM ENGLAND-DESTINATION OF THE EXPEDITION CHANGED — DELAYS AND DIFFICULTIES-DESPATCHES AND CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LORD WELLESLEY, GENERAL BAIRD, AND COLONEL WELLESLEY-MR. DUNDAS'S DESPATCH-FINAL BAIRD PROCEEDS TO COLUMBO AND

ARRANGEMENT-GENERAL

POINT DE GALLE-ARRIVES AT BOMBAY, WHERE HE FINDS COLONEL WELLESLEY.

WHEN General Baird reached Madras, he found there, his excellency, the governor - general, who had been created Marquess Wellesley, and who had, as it will be remembered, temporarily removed the seat of supreme government from Calcutta, for the specific purpose of personally superintending and accelerating the war in the Mysore country, which had now terminated so successfully.