their being again involved in foreign war-also the regulations of the army and navy, and some system for train ing the mass of the people to arms. With regard to commerce, he suggested the propriety of rendering the United States independent both of a market for their rude produce, and of a supply of manufactures. The construction of canals, roads, and bridges, he held out as one great source of improvement. He stated his resolution to enforce, with great exactness, the collection of the public money; and concluded with proposing the conduct of his predecessors in office as his pattern. In the course of the year, steps were taken to accomplish some of the objects recommended by the president. A survey of the waters of the Chesapeake was ordered, in order to select a convenient station for a naval depot. But no very efficient measures appear to have been adopted, in order to provide for the remote contingency of a future war. The Congress was opened by Mr Munroe on the 2d December. In the message which he sent to the legislature on this occasion, he congratulates his fellow-citizens on the improving and happy condition of the country he informed them that the best understanding prevailed between Great Britain and the United States; and that, by an amicable arrangement, the armed force on the lakes in Canada had been dismantled, and only one or two vessels were to be allowed to navigate the lakes, armed with one gun; that a proposition for an arrangement, by which the commerce between the ports of Great Britain and those of the United States was to be placed on a footing of equality, had been declined by the former power. The president described the public revenue as extremely flourishing, the receipts into the treasury, for the year 1817, amounting to 24,500,000 dollars; while the expences, on the most

VOL. X. PART I.

liberal scale, and after allowing 10 millions for a sinking fund, amounted only to 21,800,000 dollars, thus leav ing an excess of 2,700,000 dollars, besides a balance in the treasury. The arrangements which had been adopted for extending the colonization of the interior, were dwelt upon with great satisfaction. The native title had been extinguished, by means of a fair purchase, within the state of Ohio, great part of Michigan, and the whole of Lou isiana; thus affording ample scope for the increasing population of the coun try to expand, with undiminished energy, for a century to come; to carry on, without halting, the cultivation of the districts in the interior; and to advance in the work of improvement, until their course should be arrested by the vast barrier of the Pacific Ocean.

Those vast plans of colonization projected by the government of the United States, appear to be seconded by the spirit and enterprize of the people. Along the whole line of the American territory, the population of the country is gradually making a progress westward. Louisiana, which is but a recent acquisition, has been explored in all its parts, and settle ments begin to be established throughout this extensive country. Along the banks of the Mississippi, cultivation already begins to make progress; and even in the remote country on the banks of the Missouri, several settlements have been begun. In the state of Georgia, extensive purchases were made from the Indian tribes, by which they agreed to evacuate the whole country eastward of the Mississippi, in exchange for some territory to the westward of that river; so that, as far as the Mississippi, to the west, the country is cleared of its original proprietors. It is the possession of this ample expanse of untouched and fertile territory, which

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forms the distinguishing feature of the American community. It is in this view that the American people present so singular and imposing a spectacle. Year after year, they are narrowing the boundaries of the desert; crowds of adventurous emigrants continually resort to the verge of civilization, there to breathe the free air of that wild region, exempted from social restraints. Here they act in the double capacity ofcultivator and huntsman, partly civilized and partly savage, until by the progress of improvement they are gradually surrounded with new settlers, and again brought within the pale of order and law. Tired of the dull routine of social life, they dispose of their lands to emigrants

of more settled habits, and again take their station on the verge of the desert, there to bear the brunt of savage hostility; to hunt and to culti vate; and by their wild and ferocious habits, to clear the way, as successful pioneers, for the great mass of the American population. It is in this manner that the country gradually assumes the aspect of civilization. The woods and men are cleared away, too frequently by the same merciless process of destruction-the fields are cultivated-the dwellings of men usurp the place of the haunts of wild beasts; and thus, under the guidance of her wise and enlightened government, America advances, with an irresistible pace, to greatness and dominion.

THE year 1817 was productive of great events and important revolutions on the continent of India. The tranquillity of our extensive possessions in that country was seriously disturbed in various quarters, first, by the continued incursions of the Pindarees, a lawless combination of freebooters, who had been gradually growing formidable, both in numbers and discipline, since the year 1805; and, secondly, by the hostility of the native princes, who appear about this period to have entered into a general combination for the destruction of the British power. Those various emergencies were met by the Anglo-Indian government with corresponding energy, by prudence in counsel and vigour in action, and the formidable confederacy of hostile princes was completely discomfited; the sovereignty of the British in India was established on a more solid basis than ever; and the Pindaree hordes were not only chased with disgrace from the British territories, but, being pursued to their haunts, were cut off, root and branch, and the continent of India was

thus for ever, it is to be hoped, freed from this dreadful scourge. The transactions which terminated in these successful results will form the subject of the following narrative, which it will be proper to introduce by a short account of the origin and progress of the Pindarees.

From the constant wars and commotions which prevailed among the native powers in India, it necessarily happened that a great proportion of the population was trained to habits of disorder and military licence; and although the settlement which was ef fected in 1805, under the second administration of Lord Cornwallis and Sir George Barlow, was sufficiently satisfactory, in as far as it respected the mutual relations of the different independent powers, it unfortunately had no tendency to check this great and growing evil. On the contrary, it was evident, that subsequent to the peace of 1805, the class addicted to these habits was fast increasing, and were improving in consistency and strength. They were regularly asso

ciated into bands under recognised leaders, and indiscriminate plunder was their only object. Numbers of these freebooters were settled in the neighbourhood of Scindia and Holkar, and these princes, if they did not abet them, made no great efforts for their suppression. These military plunderers were known under the general denomination of Pindarees, and their force consisted of a species of light cavalry, which scoured the country, and defied all pursuit, by the celerity of their movements. Their uniform practice was to plunder and waste the towns and villages with the most unheard-of barbarity-neither age nor sex were spared; and the most shocking tortures were frequently inflicted, in or der to force from the defenceless inhabitants a disclosure of their secret hoards. Before undertaking any important expedition, their horses were carefully trained to long marches and hard work; they were then shod, and a leader of tried courage being selected, the expedition set forward, consisting latterly of several thousands. Out of 1000 cavalry, 400 were well mounted; they were armed generally with a bamboo spear, from 12 to 18 feet long; but as fire-arms were indispensible in the attack of villages, every fifteenth man carried a matchlock. Of the remaining 600, about two-thirds were indifferently mounted and variously armed, and the remainder, consisting of slaves, attendants, and camp followers, were mounted on tattoos or wild ponies, and kept up with the main body as they best could. About the year 1814, these predatory bands consisted of about 40,000 horse, which were daily recruited by deserters from Holkar's irregular bands, and from the loose cavalry establishments of Scindia and others, where they were retained by no tie but that of present advantage, and where they were always in arrears of pay. The central

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situation of these freebooters, at an equal distance from the three presi dencies, rendered them formidable enemies; and though the British were in the practice of guarding their frontiers by a line of posts, it was easily penetrated by these flying hordes, and the country, in consequence, subjected to annual devastations. Their first incursions into the British territories took place in 1809 and 1812. 1815, a body of 8000 Pindarees crossed the Nerbuddah, penetrating to the Kishna, though they were watched both by infantry and cavalry; and they were only deterred from crossing into the Madras presidency by the swollen state of the river, along whose fertile and populous banks they took their course, plundering and burning as they went along, and committing every kind of enormity. They finally made good their retreat along the British positions with an immense booty, and with utter impunity. A second expedition soon after crossed the Nerbuddah; in one day they marched 38 miles, plundering 92 villages with every circumstance of barbarous outrage; next day they marched 38 miles, and plundered 54 villages. They finally returned loaded with spoil, and with scarcely any loss; and it was ascertained, that during the 12 days they remained within the Company's terri tories, 182 persons were put to a cruel death, 505 were severely wounded, and 3603 suffered different kinds of torture.

The devastations of this horde of plunderers having become so destructive, and so widely extended, it became necessary to adopt vigorous measures for protecting the Company's territories from so dreadful a scourge. With this view it was resolved to establish along the course of the Nerbuddah, which crosses the country in a direction nearly from east to west, an extensive line of defensive positions, and by the 26th

October, 1816, this line extending nearly 150 miles from Soonee to Siri nagur, was completed. Great was the alarm spread among the Pindarees by the advance of the British troops to the Nerbuddah; they immediately retired northward towards Malwa, and even suspended the preparations which they were making for an expedition to the north. But when they observed that the British remained stationary on the Nerbuddah, their courage and their hopes revived. In the course of November and December, Colonel Walker's line was penetrated by different bodies of the Pindarees, with a rapidity of movement which baffled all the attempts of the infantry, either to impede or harass their march. Two expeditions were formed, which advanced the one towards the east, and the other took a northern direction. There was besides another division of the Pindaree force which crossed the Nerbuddah, and having passed the valley of the Taptee, and the mountains of Berar, advanced northward between Aurangabad and Talna, and moved direct upon Ahmednagur. By the singular activity of the Company's troops, aided also by fortunate accidents, all these expeditions were intercepted, broken, and discomfited, so that very few of the plunderers ever reached their own country. The Pindarees were so disheartened by these reverses, that they did not again venture, during the remainder of the season, into the Company's territories, but confined their ravages, which were carried on for mere subsistence, to the northern confines of India, above the mountains of Malwa,

But although, in the course of this active campaign, the most brilliant successes were achieved, it was still evident that the result was owing ful. ly as much to accident, as to any previous calculation; and had the differ

ent expeditions taken another course, in place of being overtaken and dispersed, they might, as in former occasions, have safely re-crossed the Nerbudda, loaded with the spoil of wasted provinces. In place of a system of mere passive defence, therefore, which was necessarily insecure and inefficient, it was resolved to carry on active operations against these predatory hardes, to attack them in their native haunts, and either to exterminate them or to drive them from the advantageous po sition which they occupied in the very centre of India. With this view, the rainy season of 1817 was spent in preparations for a great military effort against the Pindarees, and their abettors, if any such should be found among the central powers of India. It was resolved, in this war, to admit of no neutrality, and those who refused their aid in the common cause of peace and good order, were, if it was found expedient, to be treated as enemies. The plan of the campaign was simple and comprehensive. The armies of the Company were to advance southward for the purpose of encompassing the devoted territories of the freebooters, with an extended cordon of troops, which were gradually to converge to a common centre, surrounding the enemy at every point, and preventing his escape. On the side of Hindostan, four divisions were to take the field, each of sufficient strength to act independently according to circumstances, be sides two corps of observation, to guard the frontiers against accidental incursions. On the side of the Deccan four independent corps were in like manner to take the field, and a corps were also to penetrate from Gu zerat, in order to complete the intended line of operations. The Go. vernor-General the Marquis of Hast ings was to take the field in person, under whose orders Sir Thomas