R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER,

Carton Building,

81, 88, & 85 Centre Street, N. Y.

THE

LONDON QUARTERLY REVIEW.

No. CCIX.

FOR JANUARY, 1859.

ART. I.-Correspondence of Charles, First Marquis Cornwallis. Edited, with Notes, by Charles Ross, Esq. 3 vols. London, 1858.

over-eagerness in the discharge of his public duties, at Gbuznee.

The Correspondence of a man who was employed in this manner, who was trusted to this extent, who inspired unabated confidence in his judgment, courage, and inte

THE career of the Marquis Cornwallis was in many respects a remarkable one. With-grity to his dying day, can hardly fail to out lofty ambition or shining talents, without being a hero, an orator, or a statesman of the first class, he filled effectively the most prominent place on four conspicuous stages at four of the most trying epochs of British history. He commanded the army which, from no fault of his, gave, by its sur render at York Town, the first clear glimpse of coming independence to the United States. He was Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in India from 1786 to 1794, when our Indian policy required the nicest and most judicious handling. He was Lord Lieutenant and Commander-inChief in Ireland during the agitation of the Union, the passing of that momentous measure, and the rebellion and invasion which preceded it. As British ambassador, he negotiated the peace of Amiens in 1801. He also held the post of Master-General of the Ordnance in 1795, after having had the refusal of the seals of Secretary of State from Mr. Pitt. When the mutinous spirit of the officers of the Bengal army began to excite serious alarm, Lord Cornwallis, at the earnest request of the Premier, was on the point (Jan. 1797) of proceeding a second time to India to supersede Sir John Shore (Lord Teignmouth), who was thought deficient in firmness; and the same high appointment was a third time pressed upon him and accepted in 1805, in the October of which he died, from

be replete with interest and instruction, al-
though whether to the full extent of three
bulky octavo volumes, may be questioned
by that class of readers who prefer being
fed with essences and, from dread of being
bored, attempt to skim the cream of a heavy-
looking publication by skipping every other
page, as dogs, from fear of crocodiles, lap
water from the Nile as they run. Unin-
viting as it may appear to some, this work
contains so large a quantity of authentic
information, and affords such ample materi-
als for the correction of contemporary
annals, that it may be regarded as indis-
pensable to the student of modern history,
and (to adopt the stereotyped phrase) as
emphatically one of those books which no
gentleman's library should be without. It
will take rank with the best political me-
moirs or compilations that have appeared
within living memory, with the marked
advantage of being far better edited than
most of them. There is hardly an allusion,
a reference, a dubious passage, or a dis-
puted fact, in the three volumes, which has
not been pointed, explained, or decided by
Mr. Ross; hardly a patronymic to which,
on its first occurrence, he has not appended
a brief account of the owner.
regularly informed when, where, and how
all and each of Lord Cornwallis's family,
friends, acquaintance, and correspondents,
of high or low degree, were born, married,

We are