Favourable circumstances afterward occurring, of which, however, only his faculties and application enabled him to profit, he seized the opportunity to propose to Governor Lord Pigot his first step for the recovery of the commerce mentioned, and in consequence received permission to make avoyage of observation to the Eastward. The interesting particulars of Mr. Dalrymple's exertions for opening the commerce he had in view are necessarily omitted in this brief memoir. It was at the commencement of this pursuit that he was led into nautical studies, in which his first instructor was the Hon. Mr. Howe. In 1762, he was appointed captain of the London packet, and sent with a cargo to Sooloo. In this voyage, he obtained for the East-India Company a grant of the island of Balambangan, of which he took possession on the 23d of January 1763. The history of Mr. Dalrymple's commercial transactions with the Eastern Islands would form an interesting volume of itself. In 1771, Mr. Dalrymple published his pamphlet entitled, "A Plan for extending "the Commerce," &c. and shortly afterward the first suggestion arose of an office for hydrography in England, and of Mr. Dalrymple's appointment to fill it. A Hydrographer to the Admiralty was now first proposed; and the following account is given of the occasion.

Mr. Dalrymple had agreed to accompany his friend, the Hon. Thomas Howe, to the Downs, on board the Nottingham Indiaman, of which he had got the command after the loss of the Winchelsea in Bengal River. In the passage from Gravesend, Lord Howe accompanied his brother and Mr. Dalrymple; and it being observed in conversation, what a loss and shame it was, that there should be no Hydrographical Office esta blished in this country, Mr. Howe asked Mr. Dalrymple if he should like such an office. Mr. Dalrym

ple replied, if he did not go back to India, he should like it very much. Some time after, Lord Howe called on Mr. Dalrymple, who happened to be from home; but meeting in the street a few days after, he informed him, that in consequence of what had passed with his brother, he had urged Lord Egmont to establish such an office, and had informed his Lordship that there was a very proper person in his eye, whom he would name if such an establishment took place. Lord Howe said, he had called on Mr. Dalrymple, to say, that Lord Egmont had recently informed him his Majesty had been pleased to approve of the office, and promised to assign 500l. per annum for that purpose.

Mr. Dalrymple having communicated to Earl Shelburne, then Secretary of State, his collection of South Sea Voyages, when it was proposed to send persons to observe the Transit of Venus, in 1762, he was thought of as a proper person to be employed on that service, and for prosecuting discoveries in that quarter. Mr. Dalrymple accordingly accompanied the Surveyor of the Navy to examine two vessels which were thought fit for the purpose, and by his judgment one was purchased But the command of her ultimately passed to another. Admiral Hawke, then at the head of the Admiralty, was persuaded that he would be liable to parliamentary impeachment if he employed any but a naval officer, and the objection of Mr. Dalrymple to undertake the voyage in any other capacity than as chief, being insurmountable, the engagement on his part was decidedly terminated.

In June, 1769, ten years after his first quitting his civil station at Madras, to promote the Company's interest by an extension of their trade to the Eastern Islands, he was presented by the Court of

Directors with the sum of £5,000, as an equivalent for the emoluments he had relinquished as Secretary at Madras.

About the same time, Mr. Dalrymple was appointed to the government of Balambangan, measures having been resolved on by the Company to effect a settlement there; and the Britannia was ordered to be fitted out for that purpose, under the command of Mr. Dalrymple; but a difference with the Directors annulled this appointment also; and another gentleman proceeded thither.

The conduct of this gentleman however was not satisfactory; and, in the year 1774, the Court of Directors determined on sending thither a supervisor. Mr. Dalrymple now again offered his services, on condition that after every expense that had occurred under his management, including the exploring voyage, should have been reimbursed, a small portion of the clear profits (but how small does not appear) of the establishment should be granted to him and his heirs, Mr. Dalrymple engaging that the expences of the establishment should not exceed 10,000l. per annum. This proposal was referred to a Committee, and ultimately rejected. The settlement was soon after cut off by a set of freebooters from Sooloo; but as this was effected without bloodshed, imputations of neglect and mismanagement have been made, and considered as the real causes of failure, where an opposite course of administration would have insured the stability of the settlement, at a cost less than the amount paid for port charges at Canton, for two years.

The judgment of every projector, says one of the biographers of this gentleman, is naturally biassed by his sanguine expectations of success, and his expectations are formed on the presumed sagacity of his own contrivance. Whether the failure was really the

consequence of mal-administration, or whether the Company, finding the profits of the concern inadequate to the expence, con-, nived at its relinquishment- no attempt was made to re-establish it-and therefore the latter supposition is the more presumable. Mr. Dalrymple's undertaking.

seems to have been but a revived project, and as the pursuit of profit is rarely relaxed so long as it is found to be a profitable pursuit, it may fairly be inferred that the commerce of the Eastern Islands was more promising in prospect than gainful in possession.

But while busied in the consideration and prosecution of his darling scheme, his hydrographical pursuits necessary to the due execution of it went on with so much ardour, industry, and accuracy, that he was encouraged by the Court of Directors to publish various charts, &c. and to his chart of the northern part of the Bay of. Bengal, published in 1772, it is affirmed that the India Company was indebted for the safety of the Hawke Indiaman, which would otherwise have fallen into the hands of the French.

Mr. Dalrymple's zeal for the Company's interest had led him from his post at Madras, but he nevertheless conceived his claim on that establishment still valid; and on the appointment of Lord Pigot, in 1775, to the government of Fort St. George, he was advised by the then Chairman and Deputy Chairman to make a specific application before the arrangement of the Madras Council was completed. On the 3d of March, 1775, Mr. Dalrymple, in consequence of this advice, preferred his claim, and requested to be restored to his standing. This request was complied with, and he was appointed in his rank a Member of Council, and nominated one of the Committee of Circuit.

In pursuance of this appoint

In 1795, the establishment of an hydrographical office at the Admiralty was again taken into consideration, and a memorial to his Majesty in Council was presented by the Lords Commissioners, recommending the measure, which was graciously approved.

The appointment was now offered to Mr. Dalrymple, by whom, with the consent of the Court of Directors, it was accepted.

But

Under the direction of Mr. Dalrymple, the purposes of the institution were fully effected, to the extent of the plan laid down. Many plates were engraved toward forming a complete collection of charts for the use of the royal navy; and several memorials were presented by him, suggesting measures of improvement. whether by his public zeal he gave any private disgust, or whatever may have been the cause, Mr. Dalrymple was, on the 28th of May, 1808, dismissed from his employment as Hydrographer to the British Navy, and on the 19th of June following died broken hearted, in the 71st year of his age. At least in the opinion of his physician, the vexation of his dismissal was the cause of his death.

Catalogue of printed Books and Tracts,

by the late Alexander Dalrymple. Those marked were never published.Those marked not sold.

(1.) Account of Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean before 1764. 8vo. 1767

(2.) + Memorial to the. Proprietors of East India Stock. 8vo..1768..

(3.) + Account of what has passed between the East India Directors and Alexander Dalrymple, as first printed. 8vo. 1768.

(4.) Account of what has passed-Do. -Do.-as published. 8vo. N. B. It is dated 1769, by a ridiculous custom of printers, to date publications, printed towards the close of the year, as if in the year ensuing.

(5) Plan for extending the Commerce of this Kingdom, and of the East India Company, by an Establishment at Balam

bangan.-N. B. Although printed in 1769, it was not published till 1771.

(6) Letter concerning the proposed Supervisors. 20th June, 1769. 8vo.

(7) Letter concerning the proposed Supervisors. 30th June. P.S. 3d July,

1769. 4to. 1769.

(8) Second Letter-Do.-10th July, 1769. 4to. 1769.

(9) Vox Populi Vox Dei, Lord Weymouth's Appeal to the General Court of India Proprietors considered, 14th August. P.S. 19th August, 1769. 4to. 1769.

(10) Historical Collection of South Sea Voyages. 2 vols. 4to. 1770. 4to. 1771.

(11) Proposition of a benevolent Voyage to introduce Corn, &c. into New Zealand, &c. 4to. 1771.

(12) Considerations on a Pamphlet (by Gov. Johnstone), entitled, "Thoughts on our Acquisitions in the East Indies, particularly respecting Bengal." 8vo.

1772.

ginal MSS. by Dr. Halley, M. Bouvet, &c. with a Preface concerning a Voyage on Discovery, proposed to be undertaken by Alexander Dalrymple at his own Expense; Letters to Lord North on the Subject, and Plan of Republican Colony. 4to. 1775;

(23) + Copies of Papers relative to the Restoration of the King of Tanjour, the Imprisonment of Lord Pigot, &c. Printed by the East India Company, for the use of the Proprietors. 4to. 1777.N. B. In this Collection are many Minutes of Council, and some Letters by Alexander Dalrymple.

(24) + Several other pieces on the same Subject, written by Alexander Dalrymple, were printed by Admiral Pigot and Alexander Dalrymple, but not sold; those particularly by Alexander Dalrymple are 4to. 1777.

(25) Notes on Lord. Pigot's Narrative, (26) Letter to Proprietors of East India Stock. 8th May 1777.

(27) Account of the Transactions concerning the Revolt at Madras. 30th April, 1777. Appendix.`

(28) Letter to the Court of Directors. 19th June, 1777.-Memorial-19th June, 1777.

(29) + Account of the Subversion of the Legal Government of Fort St. George, in Answer to Mr. Andrew Stuart's Letter to the Court of Directors. 4to. 1778.

(30) Journal of the Grenville, published in the Philosophical Transactions. 4to. 1778.

(31) Considerations on the present State of Affairs between England and America. 8vo. 1778.

(32) Considerations on the East India Bill, 1769. 8vo. 1778.

(33) State of the East India Company, and Sketch of an Equitable Agreement. 8vo. 1780.

(34) Account of the Loss of the Grosvenor. 8vo. 1783.

(35) Reflections on the present State of the East India Company. 8vo. 1783. (36) A Short Account of the Gentoo Mode of collecting the Revenues on the Coast of Coromandel. 8vo. 1783.

(37) A Retrospective View of the Antient System of the East India Company, with a Plan of Regulation. 8vo. 1784.

(38) Postcript to Mr. Dalrymple's Account of the Gentoo Mode of collecting the Revenues on the Coast of Coromandel; being,-Observations made on a Perusal of it by Moodo Kistna. 8vo. 1785. (39) Extracts from Juvenilia, or Poems, by George Wither. 24mo. 1785.

(40) Fair State of the Case, between the East India Company and the Owners of Ships now in their Service, to which are added, Considerations on Mr. Brough's Pamphlet, concerning East India Shipping. 8vo. 1786.

(41) A serious Admonition to the Public, on the intended Thief Colony at Botany Bay, printed for Sewell, Cornhill.

(42) Review of the Contest concerning Four New Regiments, graciously offered by his Majesty to be sent to India, &c. 8vo. 1788.

(43) Plan for promoting the Fur Trade, and securing it to this Country, by uniting the Operations of the East India and Hudson's Bay Companies. 4to. 1789.

(44) * Memoir of a Map of the Lands around the North Pole, 4to. 1789.

(45) An Historical Journal of the Expeditions by Sea and Land, to the North of California, in 1768, 1769, and 1770, when Spanish Establishments were first made at San Diego and Monterey, translated from the Spanish MS. by William Revely, Esq. to which is added-Translation of Cabrera Bueno's Description of the Coast of California, and an Extract from the MS. Journal of M. Sauvague le Muet, 1714. 4to. 1790.

(46) A Letter to a Friend on the Test Act. Svo. 1790.

(47) The Spanish Pretensions fairly discussed. 8vo. 1790.

(48) The Spanish Memorial of 4th June considered.. 8vo. 1790,

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(49) + Plan for the Publication of a Repertory of Oriental Information. 4to. 1790. (50) * Memorial of Alexander Dalrymple. 8vo. 1791.

(51) Parliamentary Reform, as it is called, improper, in the present State of this Country. 8vo. 1793.

(52) Mr. Fox's Letter to his Worthy and Independent Electors of Westminster, fully considered. 8vo. 1793. Printed for Stockdale, Piccadilly.

(53) + Observations on the Copper Coinage wanted for the Circars. Printed for the Use of the East India Company. 8vo. 1794.

(54) The Poor Man's Friend. 8vo. 1795.

(55) A Collection of English Songs, with an Appendix of Original Pieces. 8vo. 1796.

(56) A Fragment on the India Trade, written in 1791. 8vo. 1797.

(57) Thoughts of an old Man of independent Mind, though dependent Fortune. 8vo. 1800. Printed for Reynolds, Oxford-street.

(58) Oriental Repertory, Vol. 1st. 4to. April 1791 to January 1793.

(59) Oriental Repertory. Vol. 2d, 4to. (not completed.)

N. B. There are some other pieces printed by Mr. Dalrymple, which from want of a copy to refer to, cannot be particularized; especially a Treatise of Prac tical Navigation...

You will no doubt have heard much of the war with Nipal, and of the present condition of India. Every body here has been speculating and writing; but, from the secrecy observed in the foreign and political department, but little transpires with respect to our external relations, and even the progress of events is very imperfectly known to the public. My situation has necessarily enabled me to be better informed, and you may rely on the accuracy of the following statement in as far as it goes.

Our quarrel with the Nipalese was no new matter. For a series of years they had been making encroachments on the British dominions, which, not being vigorously resisted at first, encouraged a con1 tinuance of the evil. At length a remon, strance was made to the court of Catman doo on the subject, and commissioners were appointed on the part of both states, to examine jointly the pretended rights of the Nipalese to the lands which they had acquired.

The result of this inquiry was a complete refutation of all their pretensions, and the production of the most satisfactory evidence of the artifice and violence by which their acquisitions had been obtained; but notwithstanding this public exposure of their total want of right, they continued to evade, on various pretences, the demands of the British government for restitution.

It was far, however, from the wish of the British government to engage in a -war with Nipal, if this extremity could have been avoided; and these measures · of forbearance and conciliation were even carried to the utmost extent; compatible with the dignity of the English empire.

In the course of these investigations it appeared that the Nipalese had occupied, about 25 years ago, a considerable, tract of the country which has since been ceded to the company by the Newab of Oude, - and to which they had no better claim than they had to any other portion of the territory which they had seized. As this aggression, however, had not been made directly on the dominions of the honourable Asiatic Journ. No. V.

company, it appeared possible to have it in their hands without injury to the credit of the British government, and it was therefore proposed to relinquish our right to it in their favour, on condition that they should peaceably restore the lands which they had usurped on the English territory. To this proposition a reply was received, expressed in their usual terms of deceit and evasion, and it was found necessary to inform them, that we should insist on the resumption of this country, as well as of all the tracts which they had acquired by direct aggression on the company's dominions. In the mean time it was known that they were preparing for war; that they had for some time been laying up large stores of saltpetre; purchasing and fabricating arms, and organizing and disciplining their troops under some European deserters in this service, after the model of the companies of our sepoy battalions.

Under these circumstances, perceiving that there was no end to the evasions; that every effort at accommodation served only to augment their pretensions and their arrogance; and that longer delay would only render a contest more arduous than was now obviously inevitable, it was deemed indispensable by the British general to bring the question to immediate issue; and a portion of country in Goruckpore, in which they had seized upwards of thirty villages during the very progress of their discussions, was selected as a fit object to decide the point. Ample time was allowed for the progress of a messenger from Calcutta to Catmandoo; for deliberation and decision on the subject there; and for the dispatch and execution of orders by the Nipalese authorities established in the territories in question; and they were distinctly informed, that if, at the conclusion of a specified period, determined by these considerations, this portion of country was not relinquished, the officers of the honourable company should be replaced by force. A body of troops adequate to the service was at the same time held in readiness, and orders to carry the above resolution into effect, VOL. I. 3 I