be placed in his hands. All being now satisfactorily arranged, the envoys returned, and Admiral Westerwold was sent in command of a force of six hundred men and several pieces of cannon, who immediately attacked Batticalloa, wresting it from the Portuguese; and the king of Kandy, as a token of gratitude, sent two ambassadors to Batavia with presents to the General and Council of the Indies. Trincomalee was taken from the Portuguese in 1639, and by the orders of Rajah Singha the fort was razed to the ground, and not one stone left standing on the other. The fort at Batticalloa had previously shared the same fate, so that the whole of the fortifications belonging to the Portuguese, on the eastern coast, were now destroyed. Im In the year 1640, the war continued to rage with renewed vigour, success following the Kandian and Dutch troops. Negombo, a fortified town about eight leagues and a-half to the north, was taken by the Dutch after a faint resistance made by the Portuguese, as the spirits of the men were sinking under the continued prosperity that followed the Dutch arms. mediately after taking Negombo, the Dutch marched to Point de Galle, and stormed the place, which was taken after a vigorous resistance had been made by the governor, Ferreiro de Bretto, who fought by the side of his men the whole night of the assault, and fell covered with wounds, and his life was only spared at the entreaty of his noble and heroic wife. This affords us an opportunity of relating an instance of the devotion and courage of woman, where her affections are called forth, and which is recorded by Ribeiro, who states, the governor of Point de Galle, Ferreiro de Bretto, was married to a woman who was passionately attached to him, and that on the night of the assault she remained at his side on the batteries, animating and cheering him by her presence and courage. At length, after receiving five wounds, a blow with a musket levelled him, and the soldier was about to dispatch him when his wife threw herself between them, calling upon him as a man and a Christian to spare her husband's life. Finding the soldier hesitate, she implored him to take her life first, and thus save her the anguish of seeing her beloved husband butchered before her eyes, and threw herself on her knees, clinging to her prostrate husband. A Dutch officer, who was near, hastened to the group, desired the soldier to desist, raised the weeping lady, and had the gallant governor tended until his wounds were healed. Admiral Koster, under whose command Galle had been taken, was now made governor of the place, and he immediately commenced building and repairing the fortifications; but finding the Portuguese were making prepara tions to retake Point de Galle, he deemed it necessary to call in the aid of the Kandian king, and proceeded to Kandy for that purpose. Rajah Singha received him with cold civility, and, although he promised to assist the Dutch admiral against the Portuguese, refrained from keeping his word, as he considered that were the Dutch to become masters of the south of the island he would only be exchanging his enemies. The king now appeared to have awakened to the line of policy which had induced the Dutch to give him the aid of their troops to expel the Portuguese from Kandy, which was, that they might eventually become the masters of the whole island, as every place which had been taken by the Dutch had a large garrison left there to guard and protect it from the natives as much as from the Portuguese. Admiral Koster vehemently pressed the king for his aid, which was at last peremptorily refused. The admiral then accused the king's ministers by name of interfering to prevent Rajah Singha keeping his treaty with the Dutch. High words ensued, and the admiral quitted the king's presence in great wrath, setting out immediately for Galle, which he was never destined to reach, as he was murdered on the road between Kandy and Batticalloa, it is said by the king's orders. The Portuguese appear to have been imbued with their former valour, as they retook Negombo, and there were constant skirmishes all over the island between them and the Dutch. In the year 1644, the fortune of war again placed Negombo in the hands of the Dutch, and they forthwith fortified the town, throwing up earthen bastions at every corner of the fort, and on these were mounted several pieces of cannon. In 1646, a temporary pacification was entered into between the Dutch and Portuguese, which continued until 1654, and during the intervening period a species of desultory war was carried on by Rajah Singha against the Dutch and Portuguese. The Dutch authorities at Negombo, in 1646, carried off some of the king of Kandy's tame elephants, and slew them for the sake of their tusks and molar teeth. This act of wanton aggression naturally excited the anger and aroused the vengeance of Rajah Singha, who without loss of time surrounded the Dutch troops, took their commander, Adrian van der Stell, prisoner, caused him to be strangled, then cut off his head, and sent it enclosed in a silken wrapper to his countrymen who were stationed on the sea coast, with a message to the effect that thus he punished murderers and robbers. In the year 1655, hostilities again recommenced between the Dutch and Portuguese, and Caltura was taken by the former in the October of that year. During the month of December following, the Dutch took prisoner the Portuguese governor of Jaffnapatam, as he was on his road from Manar to Colombo, then the stronghold of the Portuguese. The Dutch now prosecuted the war against the Portuguese with renewed energy, and marching up to Colombo, laid siege to that city, blockading it both by sea and land; and after severe loss on both sides, and an obstinate resistance on the part of the Portuguese for seven months, it was surrendered by capitulation, the Portuguese stipulating that they should be allowed to retire unimpeded to Jaffnapatam. The accounts given by Ribeiro of the sufferings of the Portuguese during this siege are frightful. Reduced to starvation, they swallowed the most loathsome matter, resorting to the most revolting expedients to sustain life-maternal love being engulphed in the pangs of hunger, and mothers cutting the throats of infants at their breast, devoured their offspring to sustain life. These accounts are too horrible to dwell upon, and we willingly let a veil fall. Not contented with the victory they had already obtained, the Dutch pursued the Portuguese to Jaffnapatam, thereby violating the articles of the capitulation; and, after a siege of four months, it was surrendered, and the inhabitants made prisoners of war. The Portuguese historian vituperates most bitterly the indignities offered to his nation by the Dutch-houses pillaged, plantations destroyed, wives dishonoured, and daughters ravished, are amongst the crimes that he attributes to the Dutch conquerors. It is at all times fearful to contemplate the horrors of war, and its attendant misery to individuals, even of the victorious nation, but how much greater to meditate on the sufferings of those attached to the conquered country? But in no history do we find greater atrocities recorded than those laid to the charge of the Dutch after the surrender of Jaffnapatam, in 1658, and which terminated Portuguese dominion in Ceylon; but our own sentiments cannot better be expressed than in Fox's favourite maxim, "Iniquissimam pacem justissimo bello antefero." We conclude the account of the Portuguese rule in the island, by quoting the following from Percival's "Ceylon:" "The improvements made in the cultivation of Ceylon by the Portuguese were by no means considerable-that people, when they first took possession of it, were rather warriors than merchants. Their continual wars with the natives contributed to keep up the same spirit; and their principal attention seems to have been directed to the fortification of a few stations on the coast, and the erection of some military posts to awe the natives. But the Portuguese appear never to have properly discovered the advantages to be derived from this island, either in a commercial or military point of view. Their dominion extended all around it, and no station could be pointed out more commodious for a depot, either of merchandise or military stores. These advantages were overlooked by the court of Lisbon; and those individuals who were sent to the command at Ceylon, were more anxious to gratify their pride by conquest, and their avarice by extortion, than to pursue a plan of permanent advantage either to the mother country or to the colony. The Portuguese, therefore, by their own misconduct, were deprived of this valuable island before they were aware of the benefits to be derived from it." Although we do not coincide completely with the view taken by this excellent writer, still it is self-evident that the Portuguese paid but little attention to the cultivation of this prolific spot of earth, and we do not find amongst Portuguese records any statement of the proceeds of any pearl fishery; so that we may conclude that comparatively little attention was paid to the commercial or agricultural capabilities of Ceylon. However, it must be borne in mind that the Portuguese had to contend against innumerable difficulties, being not only at war with the natives, whom they never entirely conquered, but continually harassed by skirmishes and war with their European enemies, the Dutch. The following is a list of Portuguese governors and commanders in Ceylon, as given by Ribeiro:-Pedro Lopez de Souza, Jerome de Azevado, Francois de Menezes, Manuel Mascarenhas, Homen, Nunho, Alvares Perreira, Constandin de Sà y Noronha, G. d'Albuquerque, D. George d'Almeida, Diego de Mello, Antoine Mascarenhas, Philippe Mascarenhas, Francois de Mello de Castro, Antoine de Souza, Continho, under whom Colombo was lost. At Jaffnapatam and Manaar there were also Antoine d'Amarel y Menezes, the last of their captaingenerals. HORACE BOOK II., ODE 19. TO BACCHUS. Far amid rugged rocks, as Bacchus sung On trees whose caves with honied treasures teem; Ocean and river, Ind's barbaric waters, Thou rulest. On the lonely heights, where bathed Gathering the fearful tresses thou hast wreathed With knotted snakes, and bearing all unscath'd The writhing terrors. With a lion form Thy fang hath smote Earth's monster-sons, who breathed Hurl'd their gigantic chief back on the rebel swarm. To war's rude scenes unused, thy gentle fame In peace or war, an equal deity. Graced with thy golden horn far glittering, see Slow shook his cumbrous tail, nor dared to stay Thy steps, but licked the feet that sought the realm of day. LORD CASTLEREAGH. THE volumes before us have long been eagerly looked for in this country, as calculated to throw much light upon the most interesting period of the history of Ireland. The late Lord Londonderry acted a very conspicuous fart, both during the rebellion, and in the negotiations for a legislative union; and our wonder is, that some relative, or friend, did not earlier take in hand the arrangement and the publication of his correspondence. It is within our knowledge, that he himself earnestly pressed upon the late Alexander Knox, who had been his private secretary, to undertake a history of the measure of the Union, proffering him all the aid which government could furnish, as well from treasury documents as from the private memoranda and the personal recollections of its members; and we cannot but grieve that that most gifted and accomplished individual did not think fit to comply with his request, and that an opportunity was thus lost of presenting to the world an account of that great transaction, such as never could occur again. The next best elucidation of the secret history of the times in which he lived and acted, we would naturally expect to be, the correspondence of the noble marquis himself; and we heartily thank his gallant brother, the present worthy possessor of his estates and title, for the pains he has taken in preparing the present volumes for the press, and which he continues to take respecting those which are not yet pub-lished, and in which, at a future period, we expect to see as full development of the noble marquis's continental policy, as those before us exhibit of his policy in Ireland. The following extract from a private letter of Mr. Alison to the noble editor, expresses, better than we can, an opinion of the importance and the interest of the present publication, in which we cordially concur with that able historian :— "I cannot adequately express the gratification and interest which these papers, one and all, have afforded meI consider them as invaluable materials for history, of which I hope in future largely to avail myself. Those regarding the union and government of Ireland during the rebellion, and after it, are of the highest importance, especially from the vehement manner in which that measure has since been assailed, and the unceasing efforts made to get it repealed. "You must allow me to add, that I think the life admirably done, in such a way, indeed, as leaves no room for regret, that even the great novelist had not undertaken the task. I was very much struck with several letters it contained, particularly the beautifully expressed one from Sir R. Peel, and the feeling one from the Duke of Wellington, immediately after the melancholy catastrophe. But, more than all, I was impressed with the touching and highly interesting account of his life from your own pen, which none but a member of the family could have done so well, which elevates him so much above what those unacquainted with his private character were aware of, and which does equal credit to the head and heart of both brothers, who, in their respective careers, have deserved so well of their country." We do not agree with Mr. Alison that the biographical portion has been well done. It is wholly unsuited to the dignity of the subject; and, respecting the more important transactions of his eventful life, meagre, jejune, and unsatisfactory. The noble editor pleads the profession of arms as an excuse for his literary deficiencies; but that is no excuse whatever for having undertaken what he was unable to perform. His brother's memory ought to have been dearer to him than any idle desire of literary distinction; and the pens were many and able of which he might have availed himself to do justice to that distinguished statesman. It is true, Sir Walter Scott was "Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh, second Marquess of Londonderry.' Edited by his brother, Charles Vane, Marquess of Londonderry. Vols. 1 & 2, 8vo. London: Henry Colburn. VOL. XXXII.-NO. CXCI. 1848. 2 R asked to undertake the memoir-an office which, for very sufficient reasons to our seeming, he respectfully declined. But there were others, whose services, on such an occasion, the noble marquis would have done well to have solicited. His friends, Mr. Gleig or Mr. Alison, would either of them, we feel persuaded, have complied with such a request, had the materials in his hands been placed at their disposal; in which case, a valuable and interesting piece of biography would have been the result. Had his son, Lord Castlereagh, been permitted to try his powers upon such a work, he has already given promise of ability and skill, as a sound thinker and an accomplished scholar, which induces us to believe that it could scarcely have been placed in better hands. Lord Londonderry does feel a brother's affection for the memory of his distinguished predecessor, and it was his heart's desire to exhibit him to the most advantage; but beyond this he possesses no one quality which could have enabled him successfully to execute the delicate and difficult office of his biographer; and we would earnestly advise Mr. Colburn to discard, in the next edition, the present life, and procure one to be written, in which the character of the noble marquis may be fully portrayed, his views as a statesman clearly expounded, his style of parliamentary oratory graphically illustrated, and a somewhat fuller account given of his conduct, both personal and political, during the more critical and interesting periods of his administration. It grieves us to say anything disparaging of the present Lord Londonderry. He has proved himself, again and again, an able negotiator, and a gallant soldier. But, "ne sutor ultra crepidam;" he has here undertaken a task beyond his powers. It often happens, such is the perversity of human nature, that the very qualities which we do not possess are those for which we chiefly give ourselves credit. The beautiful woman frequently desires to pass for a wit; and she whose conversation might fascinate, to be regarded as a beauty. It is just so with the noble marquis. Instead of being satisfied with the high distinction which he has achieved in the noble profession of which he is an ornament, he affects the character of a litterateur, and tries "his prentice hand" upon a subject which would have fully taxed the powers of the ablest and most experienced writers; and we are angry with him precisely in proportion as we desired to see such a statesman as the late Lord Londonderry exhibited to the most advantage." Of the early years of this distin It is but right to give the noble editor's excuse for having undertaken a work out of his line, and above his powers. "Valeat quantum valere potest." To us it is by no means satisfactory. That others, who could do it, would not, is no reason whatever why he who could not do it should have made the attempt. Let him read Bell's Life of Canning," in which his brother is victimised, and then ask himself whether corresponding ability should not have been employed in his vindication. But let him speak for himself: "In regard to the biography of my lamented brother, including a connected narrative of his public transactions, which is comprehended in the plan of this collection, I did hope that my task might be reduced to little more than a discreet and judicious selection from such materials and documents as were in my possession; but a wholly unforeseen accident has deprived me of that intimate fraternal correspondence for twenty-five successive years, which would have formed the most important part of any work I could have offered to the public. On returning from my embassy to Vienna, many years since, I placed this collection in the hands of the Rev. S. Turner, who was at that time nominated and going out as bishop of Calcutta. This excellent and invaluable divine and friend had been tutor to my son, Castlereagh, and feeling a deep interest in the family, he had undertaken to arrange these papers, and to commence the life of the late Marquess of Londonderry, aided by various other documents and information which he had collected. The vessel, however, that sailed for India, with Mr. Turner's baggage, effects, papers, &c., was unfortunately wrecked, and thus ended all my hopes, at that period, of leaving for posterity such a record of the statesman and the brother as I felt that he deserved. I suggested the idea of writing his life to Mr. Turner alone: it was he who applied to Sir Walter Scott on the subject, and Sir Walter's reasons for declining the task have already been given in the letter from him, inserted in my pamphlet in answer to Lord Brougham." |