" In the enemy's hospital were found 44 sick and wounded soldiers without one person to attend them. Mr. Lally's sudden march may account for his leaving these people behind, but nothing can justify abandoning them without leaving a line to recommend them to our care. They, however, found humanity in their enemy, which was denied them by their General ; immediate orders were given that the same care should be taken of them as of our own people, and the greatest part . have since recovered. The enemy's precipitate retreat prevented the destruction of the Black Town, which was fully intended, as appears by Mr. Lally's letter of the 14th February. The houses in general have suffered, notwithstanding, considerable damage, as well by the loss of doors, windows, etc., which were useful to the enemy, as by our shot and shells. The Company's garden house and the houses belonging to the European inhabi tants in the environs and at the Mount have suffered a severe fate ; all of them are greatly damaged ; some have only the walls left, and nothing but want of time prevented the total demolition of every one." So ended the memorable siege of Madras. Time has wrought but little change in the old fort. In An Account of the War in India, between the English and French, on the Coast of Coromandel, by Richard Owen Cambridge, 1761, we have A view of Fort St. George as it appeared after the Siege in 1759 ; and the old fort presents very much the same appearance at the present hour. The glacis, the ditch, the basement, all seem familiar to us. Threading a narrow passage, we come to a quaint, rude square, which takes the memory back a century. On one side of it is the statue of Lord Cornwallis, under a stone canopy. Murray informs us that the statue is by Chantrey. But in Bacon's First Impressions and Studies from Nature in Hindustan we have the following : " This figure was executed in London by the late Thomas Banks, R.A., whose genius won him just celebrity ; though he was peculiar in some of his sentiments, an example of which was exhibited in his design of this statue. Those who were acquainted personally with the late noble Marquis need not be told that he had a cast outwards of one eye. While the work in question was in the model, Banks received a visit from a brother Royal Academician, who expressed his astonishment on observing that Banks had thought proper to make the statue commemorate this obliquity of vision. Banks, however, con tested the point on these grounds : If,' said he, the cast had been inwards, it would, I conceive, have conveyed the impres sion of a contracted character, and I would have corrected it ; but as eyes looking to the right and left at the same moment would impart the idea of an enlarged and comprehensive mind, I have thought it due to the illustrious Governor-General to convey to posterity this natural indication of mental greatness, which I am convinced all must be sensible of, on observing the peculiarity referred to.' Had I been in possession of this anec dote before I went out to India, I should have been particular in ascertaining if Banks really persisted in this notion, so far as to transfer the defect from the model to the marble ; but having been in ignorance of this story while at Madras, I must leave others who may hereafter visit the statue to make observa tion. Be this as it may, for the fact above stated I have ex cellent authority, since the artist who remonstrated with Banks was my grandfather, and he related the circumstance to my father on his return from Banks' studio." The Editor of a charming little work called Pickings from old Indian Books, published at Madras some years ago, adds : " The marble confirms that it was carved, but Banks laboured under a mistake in supposing the cast was a natural one. While at Eton, Cornwallis received, by a sad mischance, from a school fellow, such a severe blow on the eye from a hockey stick, that for a time his sight was considered in danger ; it, however, only produced ' a slight, but permanent obliquity of vision.' The boy who struck the blow was Shute Barrington, afterwards Bishop successively of Llandaff, Salisbury, and Durham." From the Cornwallis statue we proceed to the small church which stands near, and is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, Protestant church in India. It was on Easter Monday, April i, 1678, when Charles II was on the throne, and the madness of the Popish Plot was raging in England, that " the foundation of the English Church (to be built with the contributions of the English in these parts) was begun to be laid, and in respect that it was lined out, and the ground first broken up, upon Lady-day last—'tis intended to be called St. Mary's, and will be eighty feet long, fifty-six feet broad within the walls, and built with aisles arched with brick and stone." The church took a year to build, for it is entered in the Consultation of the 28th October, 1679 : " The new Church was dedicated by virtue of Commissions directed to the Governor, and Mr. Richard Portman, the Minister, from his Lordship ye Bishop of London, the solemnity was per formed in very good order, and concluded with volys of small shott fired by the whole Garrison drawn out and the cannon round the Fort, the Church named St. Mary's as first intended, and from this day forward all public divine service to be there performed." The interior of the church is picturesque and full of interest to Englishmen, for it contains many memorials of the brave, wise and good, who have helped to make the Empire. One of the most striking of the sepulchral monu ments is the statue of that fine soldier, Conway, " the father of the Madras army." Few men saw more active service than he did. On the pedestal are engraved these words : " The Soldier's Friend," and no nobler epitaph could a soldier desire. Not far from the statue of Conway is the bas-relief which represents the death-bed of one of the noblest soldiers of the Cross—Christian Frederick Schwartz. Schwartz is surrounded by his friends, and an angel is seen in the clouds, holding up a cross to his view. True-hearted, truly loving, devout, the poor loved him and the powerful respected him. " Do not send me," said the warrior Hyder, " any of your agents, for I do not trust their views or treaties ; but if you wish me to listen to your proposals send to me the missionary of whose character I hear so much from every one : him I will receive and trust."
Schwartz, at the earnest request of the Madras Government, accepted the office of English Envoy. For three months he lived with Hyder, won his confidence, and did his best to promote peace. But war was inevitable. When it broke out Hyder showed his respect for Schwartz by issuing an order to his officers " to permit the venerable padre to pass unmolested, and to show him respect and kindness ; for he is a holy man, and means no harm to my Govern ment." The memory of that noble soul still dwells in the heart of the heathen, and a crowd of primitive native men and women comes yearly to visit his tomb.
There is a good deal to be seen in Madras. There is a Government House with a detached banqueting hall, which was built to commemorate the capture of Seringa patam. It contains the portrait of the great Marquess, who crushed the power of Tippu, of Harris, the curate's son, who took his capital, of Stringer Lawrence, who trained Clive to be a soldier, and there is the famous picture of Eyre Coote, which Wilks informs us the sepoys of old used always to salute.
Madras has a cathedral which is built after the Italian or " Jesuit " style of architecture, of which we have so many examples in Rome, and was evidently designed by some one who was familiar with the old churches at Goa. The interior is striking on account of its fine proportions, its handsome ceilings, and its noble pillars glistening as if they were made of the purest marble. The chief object of interest in the cathedral is the fine statue of Bishop Heber. The face is refined, fastidious, and suggestive of the finer insight which his Journal displays. In the figure of the girl kneeling before him we have the unconscious grace and sweetness of girlhood. The face of Sir James Anderson by the same artist conveys the expression of powerful thought, and the whole figure has the appearance of calmness and repose. In the statue of Dr. Corrie the eye is attracted and the grace of the composition destroyed by the figure of a native with an obtrusive rope of hair. The monument to Broadfoot, the gallant defender of Jella labad, is also marred by the figures of the two sepoys. An inscription informs us that he was the last of three brothers who died for their country in the battlefield of Asia. Of him Lord Hardinge said, and it is no small praise coming from the soldier that turned the tide in the battle at Albuera, " He was as brave as he was able, and second to none in all the great qualities of a soldier." Madras has a Museum which has a name among scientific men all over the world for its many unknown forms of animal life. It has also a fine collection of coins. Among them is the Aureus of Claudius, which was struck to com memorate the conquest of Britain, and found in the Madura District. Strange that its last resting-place should be in a museum in one of the capitals of an Empire greater than the colossal dominion of Rome. Our Oriental Empire is only a century old, and therefore young compared to the long leadership of Rome. We seldom realize how thoroughly the Romans had established themselves in Britain, and that their occupation of it lasted for nearly four hundred years. They had anticipated in many important features our ad ministration of India. They had their collectors and their judges and they, too, built magnificent roads and enjoyed the expensive luxury of a Public Works Department. The Forum was the cutchery and something more—it was the centre of business. The Roman magnate lived in his villa in the country, as the collector and judge live in their bun galows. But the villas were adorned with rare marble and mosaics. All was peaceful and quiet. Then came the time when Rome needed all her soldiers at home, and the departure of the Roman legions left Britain defence less. The Britons knew nothing of self-government. All authority had been centralised at Rome and all local vigour had been repressed and crushed. Patriotism had died by foreign conquest, and no one was ready to defend his country. The savage horde marched through the land and the grand buildings of the Romans were given to the flames. When the enemy arrives at our northern gate the stability of our Indian Empire will, let all men bear in mind, depend mainly on the loyalty and contentment of the people.
Madras has also another institution whose work has won it an European reputation—her Observatory. A century ago the East India Company, who were more generous patrons of literature, science and art than the Imperial Govern ment which has succeeded them, resolved to establish an observatory at Madras " for promoting the knowledge of astronomy, geography, and navigation in India." Sir Charles Oakely, feeling certain that his liberal-minded masters would sanction the proposal, sent home to build an observatory, had it erected and supplied with instruments before the orders of the Court reached Madras. But he would not have been able to accomplish this good work except for the liberality of William Petrie, Member of Council. Two years previously William Petrie (1787) had built an observatory at his own expense, and collected in it the instruments which the Company had sent out from time to time, which were scattered over the country. At his own expense William Petrie added a small, but excellent transit instrument. When he went to Europe he presented this observatory and instruments to the public.
On the south wall of the observatory we find a slab bear ing the following inscription : A translation in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindustani is carved on the granite pier that bore Petrie's transit instrument, in order that " Posterity may be informed a thousand years hence of the period when the mathematical sciences were first planted by British liberality in Asia." After noticing with profound respect the old astronomical clock, which for a century has proved " a most excellent timekeeper," we take our departure, wondering whether there were many things manufactured in the present day which would so rule and stand the test of time.