Footprints of Famous Men: Designed as Incitements to Intellectual Industry

by John G. Edgar

While encouraging and cultivating his turn for general literature, Shore had not lagged behind his fellows in the proper studies of the school; and in the course of time he was sent to Harrow, then flourishing under the auspices of Dr. Sumner. There he was placed on the fifth form, between Sheridan and Halhead; Dr. Parr being tutor of the three. Shore applied himself to his classic studies, and showed so keen a sense of their beauties that he became a great favorite with the learned and fastidious head-master; though it was augured, that of the three leading boys, Halhead was the one destined to immortal distinction. And while events were proving the fallacy of this prognostication, Harrovian prophets were preparing another proof of the vanity of human anticipations by assigning to Sir George Sinclair the prospective triumphal crown in preference to Lord Byron and Sir Robert Peel. Shore left when on the point of succeeding to the captaincy of the school. When Warren Hastings, at once the ablest and most unscrupulous governor whom India ever saw, obtained a writership and was shipped off to Bengal, his withdrawal from studies which seemed likely to make so clever a youth one of the first scholars of the age not only elicited an indignant remonstrance from the master of Westminster, but even prompted that worthy individual to make the generous and disinterested offer of sending so promising a pupil to Oxford at his own expense; but it does not appear that the fate of the future friend, associate, and successor of Hastings, excited equal interest or pity in the breast of Dr. Sumner. However, their intimacy had become such that a correspondence was commenced between them, which did not cease till death put a period to it.

When Shore left Harrow, it was found that, however accomplished his education had rendered him generally, he was by no means possessed of a kind of knowledge which the Company required their servants to be perfect in,—namely, the keeping of accounts with correctness. In order, therefore, to qualify himself for the post to which he had been nominated, Shore was placed for a few months at an academy at Hoxton, where he was initiated into the mysteries of arithmetic and book-keeping, and fitted to enter upon and pursue his duties, and return with a fortune, if he escaped Asiatic tigers and the yellow fever. The seminary, strangely enough, contained a young nobleman, destined, like Shore, to enact the part of Governor-general of India, namely, the Marquis of Hastings, whom, half a century later, he had an opportunity of reminding of their early acquaintance, when the stately peer was on the point of embarking on the administration of the affairs of that empire which had been preserved and rendered durable by the vigor and courage of his great namesake.

Toward the close of 1768 Shore sailed from England, in company with about a dozen of writers and cadets, who proved a most disorderly set; and about the middle of the next year he set foot in Calcutta, which then consisted of tenements, whose appearance promised any thing rather than comfort to the weary and storm-tossed voyager. Nothing aspiring even to the dignity of a brick house was to be seen, however inelegant such a structure may be thought; and the town was rendered unhealthy by exposure to open drains, which emitted smells little resembling those of rose-water or meadow hay. This was no agreeable place of residence for a lad whose health was so impaired that the companions of his voyage almost gave him up as lost. Nevertheless, he bore up against all disadvantages, though scarcely having a single letter of introduction; and was, soon after his arrival, consigned for twelve months to a desk in the secret political department, where he labored with exemplary industry at the records. Though his income was fearfully small, he practiced the most stern economy rather than rely on his mother for assistance; while so rare and rigid was his integrity, in an age when Indian officials did not scruple to help themselves, and thus make up for their limited salaries, that he won the meritorious appellation of “honest John;” which in subsequent life, and in the midst of multitudinous temptations, he never was guilty of forfeiting.

In 1770 Shore was nominated assistant to the Provincial Council at Moorshedabad, where, deprived of all real power, the Nabob of Bengal still resided, with princely magnificence, and played at government. While holding this office, the young writer had the unexpected good fortune to be elevated to the responsible position of a judge, at the immature age of nineteen. The fact of his being invested with large and important juridical functions, furnishes a pretty strong illustration of the remark of Hastings, as to “the boys of the service” being “the sovereigns of the country.” But this charge, so far from overwhelming Shore, called forth the innate steadiness and perseverance of his character; and he discharged the duties with so much success, that, though he decided no fewer than six hundred cases in a single year, there were not more than two appeals against the justice of his adjudication. Meanwhile his leisure hours were diligently devoted to the improvement of his mind, and to preparation for climbing the steep ascent that yet lay, enveloped in shadow, between him and the height he was destined to reach with honor and security. Perceiving what profit might arise from an acquaintance with the Oriental languages, his industry was immediately aroused to the undertaking; and he strove for proficiency in the Arabic, Persian, and Hindostanee tongues. He did not neglect his former learning, but kept a journal in Latin, that the language might remain fresh in his memory, and read from several Greek authors with a similar object. Still he imagined that the road to fortune and affluence was daily narrowing, and complained that hope, patience, and perseverance, were all he had left; though most people would be inclined to consider such qualities very sufficient capital for an intelligent youth who had hardly arrived at legal age. He was still regretting that he had left England, when, after employing his knowledge of Oriental languages before the Provincial Council at Moorshedabad, he was appointed a member of the Board of Revenue, and thus plunged into that long quarrel which was, as years rolled on, transferred from the council-chamber of Calcutta to Westminster Hall. He owed this promotion to the opponents of Hastings, and was, besides, inclined to sympathize in their opinions; but he could not regard the distracted state of affairs in British India without dreading the influence it might have on his personal fortunes. He felt the extreme difficulty that there was of taking any course without endangering his prospects, and he looked to the future with a gloomy eye. At this crisis his good angel appeared, in the shape of a sagacious old gentleman; who, after listening to his expressions of doubt and anxiety, said, “Young man, make yourself useful, and you will succeed.” Shore, luckily for his own interests, accepted the maxim as the rule of his life and conduct,—frequently repeated it to, and inculcated it on, others; and he found the system it enjoined wonderfully efficacious in promoting his interests under divers circumstances. His opinions and feelings were avowedly hostile to the supremacy of Hastings; and he was employed to revise one of the bitter philippics launched by the vain and rancorous Francis against the dread governor, when the star of the latter was thought to have fallen. Add to this, that Shore lent his pen to prepare a memorial against the Supreme Court of Judicature, and its chief-justice, Sir Elijah Impey, the former school-fellow, and now unprincipled tool, of Hastings. These matters he managed with all the skill and dexterity possible in the position of affairs; yet when Francis, baffled and utterly routed, beat a retreat, it was with no small reason that Shore conceived himself in danger of being consigned to adversity. But his efforts to “make himself useful” had been so apparent, that his services were deemed well worth securing.

The now triumphant governor, however, bore no good-will to Shore. He did not forget that the latter had been among the allies of his adversaries; and his nature, though in some respects great, and even heroic, was not forgiving, any more than righteous or merciful. Yet when he abolished the provincial councils, and instituted the Supreme Council of Four, the first man whom he appointed to a seat in it recommended that Shore should have the second. Hastings expressed much astonishment at such a proposal: but his adviser answered, “Appoint Mr. Shore, and in six weeks you and he will have formed a friendship.” The prediction proved perfectly true; Shore held his position thus conferred for years, and frequently had to appear as chief of the Board during the absence of Hastings from the seat of government. He remained in India till Hastings quitted it, in 1785, with triumphal honors. They sailed for England in the same ship, and, during the voyage, Hastings addressed to Shore an imitation of an ode of Horace—an occupation of time which might not have occurred had he scented the fiery tempest that was awaiting his arrival.

When separated from the delightful companion of his voyage, whose conversation had been so pleasing, Shore, the ever-prosperous hero of one maxim, had, unfortunately, no opportunity of practicing it. His mother had died the year before, and he was thus deprived of the pleasure which he had often looked forward to enjoying in her society. He felt dull and solitary: he had been absent from the country for more than sixteen years, and, doubtless, many of the old friends who had watched his youthful career with interest and satisfaction, had sunk into the grave. His confirmed Indian habits were not quite convenient; he felt the want of sympathy; and, perhaps, he began to make the appalling discovery that it is not good for man to be alone, and that a helpmate would be particularly acceptable. At all events, as fortune had hitherto bestowed upon him success in life, chance now threw a little romance in his way.

His younger brother had been educated to the clerical profession, and was at this time residing with his wife near Exeter. Thither Shore—tired of himself, of his London friends, and of walks over Westminster bridge before breakfast in cold November mornings—bent his way. On arrival he found that his brother and sister-in-law were from home; but he found full and complete consolation for their absence. A snow-storm had detained at the house a young lady of great personal attractions, by whom he had the felicity of being courteously received and entertained. Their interview was fatal to any dreams of celibacy in which Shore might have indulged. Suddenly crept around his heart a flame which would have seemed more natural in the gay and gallant inhabitants of places where Italian maidens lean on marble balconies on warm nights, and listen to lovers’ tales, than in the sage and reflecting descendant of the ancient couple, in whose memory “the Shore trees,” sung of by Wordsworth, were planted on the summit of the Oker Hill; and who, moreover, had just exchanged his dwelling amidst the garden-houses of Eastern nabobs for the frost and sleet of an English winter. But if his love was as sudden and inspiring as Romeo’s, it was destined to be more happy in its results. Before the sun had gone down his affections were engaged; he retired to rest, doubtless pondering on what a day may bring forth; he was now as resolute in cultivating his charmer’s favor, as he had formerly been in making himself useful: ere three months had gone over she was his wife; and, during half a century, they had cause to be grateful for the Providential snow-storm.

Within the fortnight after his marriage, Shore, perhaps for the first time in his life, found it extremely difficult to act on the principle which had hitherto proved so advantageous. He was offered a seat in the Supreme Council of Three, established under Pitt’s India bill, and requested to return to the East, where it was anticipated that his experience would be of infinite value to Lord Cornwallis, the newly-appointed governor. His situation was a little perplexing; but at length he consented to forego the blessings of home for the sake of advancing his fortunes, which were of greater consequence since he was no longer single. He accordingly sailed from Portsmouth, and sought refuge from his dark and distressing thoughts in a perusal of the Company’s records. He had again abundant opportunities of proving his industry and usefulness; and particularly employed himself in the settlement of the revenues of Bengal, Behar, and Oresa; and in 1789, with increased reputation but impaired health, set his foot once more on his native soil. He took up his residence in the county where his infancy had been spent, and appeared as a witness at the trial of Hastings, of whose conduct he did not wholly approve; though he thought himself bound to treat it with indulgence.

The adventures of John Shore were not yet ended. He was called upon once more to “make himself useful,” and to reap the fruits of having done so in times past. He had gone to Devonshire to take a long lease of a house there, when intelligence reached him that Lord Cornwallis had resigned his high office, and that the succession to it was within his grasp. Pitt wished to introduce into the English empire in the East the pacific system which he had led Parliament to enjoin, and rightly conjectured that Shore was the man to do so with effect. The offer, however, was so unexpected and undesired, that he at first resolved on declining the high distinction, and hurried to London to explain his reasons for taking such a course. On returning home and announcing this refusal to his wife, she disinterestedly begged him to sacrifice all domestic consideration; and thus persuaded, he declared he saw that he must be a great man in spite of his teeth, and received the splendid and lucrative appointment. Burke immediately protested against the office being filled by one who had been connected with Hastings; but the Court of Directors answered, that Shore was regarded by their body as one of the ablest and most upright servants of the Company. Having been previously created a baronet, he set sail in the autumn of 1792, and after a long voyage reached, in the brilliant capacity of Governor-general, the same town which he had once entered, apparently in a dying state, to write for an annual salary of twelve pounds a year, to pay an exorbitant rate for a wretched and unwholesome lodging, and to endure poverty with the consoling assurance that if he made himself useful he would succeed.

Soon after the arrival of Sir John Shore in India, the celebrated Sir William Jones died; and Shore, who afterward became the biographer of the great scholar, succeeded him in the presidency of the Asiatic Society. On taking the chair he paid an eloquent tribute to the virtues of his deceased friend. He took measures for the advancement of true religion in Bengal, and was corresponding with several eminent men on the subject when he was plunged into a war with the Rohillas—the sequel to that sanguinary contest upon which Hastings had entered under circumstances so unjustifiable. A single battle, however, settled the matter.