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London, Published Sept 11820, by Henry Colburn & C Conduit Street.

No. 80.]

NEW MONTHLY

MAGAZINE.

SEPTEMBER 1, 1820.

MEMOIR OF SIR HENRY TORRENS.

SIR Henry Torrens, the present adjutant-general, is a native of Ireland, and was born in the city of Londonderry, in 1779. His father the Rev. Thomas Torrens, and his mother, a lady of considerable beauty and accomplishments, died while he was yet an infant, leaving him and his three brothers under the protection of their grandfather the Rev. Dr. Torrens. Of his affectionate care, however, they were also soon deprived; and young Henry was placed under the guardianship of his uncle, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Torrens, who was a fellow of the university of Dublin, and one of the most distinguished of his day for literary attainments and colloquial powers. Being destined for the army, Henry was sent, at an early age, to Bates' military academy in Dublin. Here he was remarkable for the warmth of his social feelings; and in consequence of his ever buoyant and joyous spirit, he was known among his youthful companions by the familiar appellation of Happy Harry. In November 1793, when he was about fourteen years of age, he commenced his military career, and obtained an ensigncy in the 52d regiment. In June 1794, he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the 92d regiment; and in December 1795, was removed to the 63d regiment. With this corps he joined the expedition under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, for the reduction of the enemy's Colonies in the West Indies.

During this arduous service, our young soldier was happy in having frequent opportunities of distinguishing himself. He acted with the grenadier battalion at the taking of St. Lucie, and was wounded by a musquet ball, in the upper part of the right thigh, in an action which took place on the 1st of May 1796, during the siege of Morne For tuné. This wound compelled him to remain behind, while the army under Sir Ralph Abercrombie proceeded to the attack of St. Vincent's. At such a period, however, the pain and danger of a premature removal appeared preferable to inactive security; and before NEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 80.

[VOL. XIV.

he had recovered from his wound he rejoined his regiment, just as the army was advancing to the attack and storming of a strong line of redoubts, by the possession of which the enemy held the island in subjection. After assisting in driving the French from these important positions, and in finally expelling them from St. Vincent's, Sir Henry Torrens was for six months employed in constant skirmishing with the natives of the Carib country, who, having joined the French interest, took refuge in th mountains and fastnesses. At this time though only holding the rank of lieutenant, he was entrusted with the command of a fort.

The extensive operations and the splendid achievements by which, in the satter years of the struggle against France, the British troops decided the fate of Europe, have in a manner obliterated from the public the Colonial conquests with which the revolutionary war commenced. Yet never did the British soldier display more courage, or sustain more hardship, than during the attack upon the French West India islands under Sir Ralph Abercrombie. Even the officers were unable to obtain any better fare than the salt rations issued from the stores; nor in that burning climate could they ever venture to refresh themselves by sleeping without their clothes.

In what manner Sir Henry Torrens bore himself during the difficulties and hardships of this his first campaign we have already attempted to state, and shall merely add two facts, as marking the opinion entertained of his conduct by those who witnessed it. On the return of the troops to Jamaica, the general rewarded his services by a company in one of the West India corps then forming; and on one occasion, when quitting the regiment with which he had been acting, the non-commissioned officers and soldiers under his command insisted upon bearing him in triumph upon their shoulders, as a rude but touching mark of their attachment and admiration.

VOL. XIV.

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In 1798 Sir Henry Torrens returned to England; and at the close of that year embarked for Portugal, as aid-decamp to General Cuyler, who commanded the British auxiliary army sent to protect that country from the threatened invasion of the Spaniards under French influence. While holding this situation he was removed from the West India corps to the 20th regiment of foot; and hearing that his regiment was to form a part of the force destined for Holland, under the Duke of York, he immediately relinquished the advantages of his staff situation for the post of honourable danger. He served in all the different actions of this sanguinary campaign, during which the British army sustained its high character, though the object of the expedition failed. The inundation of the country, and defeat of the Austrian army upon the Rhine, which enabled the French to assemble a force four times more numerous than ours, compelled our troops, after many a desperate struggle, to evacuate Holland. In the last of these contests, which was fought between Egmont and Harlaam, Sir Henry Torrens was again desperately wounded. A musquet ball passed quite through his right thigh and lodged in the left, from which it was found impossible to extract it, and where it still remains, subjecting him at times to great uneasiness.

A circumstance occurred at this time which deserves to be recorded. On the 2d of October 1799, a severe action was fought near Alkmaar, and some of our officers, amongst whom was Sir Henry Torrens, imagining that they had purchased security for a few days, rode into that town for the purpose of viewing the place, and enjoying the rarity of a good dinner. While this dinner was in preparation, Sir Henry Torrens sat down in the coffee-room to make some notes in his journal; but seeing Major Kemp, then aid-de-camp to Sir Ralph Abercrombie, ride hastily into the town, he started from his unfinished task, to ask the news. From Major Kemp he learned that the French had made an unexpected advance upon the English troops, and that the division to which he was attached was under orders for immediate action. Without waiting to return for his papers and his pocketbook, containing berween forty and fifty pounds, which he had left on the table, he mounted his horse, and in a moment was at full speed. He arrived in time to place himself at the head of

his company, just before the commencement of that action, in which he was so desperately wounded. A considerable time afterwards he revisited Alkmaar, and calling at the inn he had so abruptly left, received his papers and his purse, which had been with scrupulous honesty preserved.

On his return from Holland, Sir Henry Torrens was promoted to a majority in one of the fencible regiments then raising. The formation of the corps devolved upon him as being the only officer possessing permanent rank; and he subsequently embarked with it for North America. Here he remained until the autumn of 1801, when having effected an exchange to the 86th, then in Egypt, he joined and took the command of the corps in that country. When the expedition to Egypt had effected its object, Sir Henry Torrens marched his regiment across the Desert, and embarked at a port of the Red Sea for Bombay. Here he was taken extremely ill in consequence of a coup de soleil, and was obliged to take his passage to England, in order to save his life. The ship in which he embarked for Europe touched at St. Helena; the climate and the society of that island restored him to health, and gave a new impulse to his feelings and he prosecuted the voyage no further.

The government of the island of St. Helena was at this time held by Colonel Robert Patton, a gentleman in whom the military character was united with that of the philosopher and man of letters. In the works which he has given to the public, profound and original reflections are conveyed in a style of classic elegance. In his "Historical Review of the Monarchy and Republic of Rome," and in his " Principles of Asiatic Monarchies," the influence of property upon society and government is explained and illustrated in a very masterly manner. The principles established in the latter work have been adopted by Mr. Mill in his excellent History of British India. The publications of Governor Patten, however, have not attained a circulation at all commensurate with their merit; for, to borrow his own language, "A work of investigation and research it is almost impossible to render entertaining or popular. The precious ore of truth lies deep, and must be dug for: the flowers which attract general admiration are all gathered on the surface."

We shall not enter into the abstruse

disquisition whether talents are hereditary in families; but we believe it will be generally conceded that, under favourable circumstances, parents may, to a certain extent, succeed in impressing their own characters upon their children. The daughters of Governor Patton acquired the accomplishments of their father. Some notion of their attainments may be gathered from the circumstance that, while they resided in Scotland, previous to their settling at St. Helena, they were the only females admitted into that brilliant coterie of wits and philosophers, the members of which have since acquired so much celebrity as the conductors of the Edinburgh Review. Our readers will be prepared to anticipate that in the society of Government House, Sir Henry Torrens was exposed to other wounds than those of war. He became enamoured of Miss Sally Patton, and married at the early age of twenty-four. In this instance, however, reflection and reason have sanctioned the instinctive impulse of the heart; and the most fortunate events in Sir Henry Torrens' meritorious and prosperous career, are his touching at the island of St. Helena, and forming a congenial and happy union,

"Where mind preserves the conquest beauty won."

In 1803 Sir Henry Torrens rejoined his regiment in India, and remained in the field until he was again driven from the country by extreme and dangerous illness; in 1805 he returned to England, obtained the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and was employed in the Staff as Assistant Adjutant-general for the Kent district; and in 1807, he joined the expedition against South America, as Military Secretary to the Commander of the Forces. At the attack of Buenos Ayres he received a contusion from a musket-ball, which shattered a small writing apparatus which was slung to his side. When this unfortunate expedition returned from South America, Sir Henry was examined as a witness on the trial of General Whitelock. His situation now became painful and delicate in the highest degree, being compelled by his oath to make known the truth, and bound by honour not to divulge the confidential communications of his chief. His evidence is published with General Whitelock's trial; and it is only necessary to say in this place, that he obtained the highest credit by the manner in which it was given.

Sir Henry Torrens had now established a character not only for gallantry in

the field, but for talent, discretion, and integrity in the conduct of affairs. The Duke of Wellington, then Sir Arthur Wellesley, saw his rising talents, and appointed him his Military Secretary. In this capacity he embarked with the expedition to Portugal in 1808, and was present at the battles of Rolleia and Vimiera. When the Duke of Wellington was superseded in his command, he returned with him to England; and was again to have attended him in the same capacity, when that consummate General recommenced his glorious career. But the situation of Military Secretary to the Commander-in-chief being, without solicitation, offered to him just at this moment, prudence weighed with the father of a rising family against the ardour of the soldier, and domestic considerations induced him to forego the more active operations of the field, and to accept the office. How he discharged the difficult and arduous duties which now devolved on him, it is almost unnecessary to state. Under the immediate inspection, and guided by the distinguished talents, of his illustrious and royal master, we may venture to say, that at no period of our military history were the arrangements of the British army more ably or successfully conducted. During the eventful war, upon the issue of which depended not only the fate of England, but of Europe, nothing could more strongly contribute to its success than an active and skilful direction of our powerful resources, and attention to the comfort of the soldier. That no one was more fitted for these arduous duties than the present Commander-in-chief, is not only proved by the unanimous voices of the army the nation, but by the glorious and triumphant termination of the late sanguinary and protracted struggle. And while we thus pay a deserved tribute to the illustrious character at the head of the army, we cannot withhold his due portion of applause from the Secretary, Sir Henry Torrens. His talents, and his laborious attention to the multifarious duties of his office, have been universally acknowledged; while his conciliatory manners and kind attentions have procured him the love of his friends and the respect of the whole army. From the duties of his office during four years of the most active period of the war, he was not a single day, scarcely even a Sunday, absent; and never failed, either in winter or summer, to rise at five o'clock in the morning. These exertions were rewarded by his appointment.

and

in 1811, to a company in the 3d Guards; in 1812, by his being made aid-de-camp to H. R. H. the Prince Regent, with the rank of colonel; and in 1815 (having obtained the rank of major-general in the brevet of the previous year), by an appointment to a regiment. He was also honoured with the medal awarded for the battles of Rolleia and Vimiera, and with the distinction of Knight Commander of the Bath. But promotion and honours were not the only sweeteners of his toil. In his delightful villa at Fulham every domestic endearment awaited his return after the cares and labours of the day. It was impossible for his marriage to be otherwise than happy. Sir Henry Torrens possesses an enlightened intellect and a feeling heart; and in Lady Torrens, excelling in music, in painting, and in dramatic literature, gifted with the powers of reasoning no less than with the principles of taste,

And blest with temper whose unclouded ray
Can make to-morrow cheerful as to-day,

we recognize those qualities which, from the constitution of our nature, a man of an enlightened intellect and feeling heart is constrained to admire and to love. Lady Torrens has, with great success, directed the powers of her fine understanding to the most useful of all objects, that of practical education. She has six children; and it is impossible to contemplate the quickness of their understandings, and the docility of their dispositions, without feeling how much may yet be done for society, by early training, and a proper attention to the circumstances which are calculated to awaken the mind and to regulate the temper.

lar

Sir Henry Torrens presents a particuexception to the general maxim, that a "prophet is without honour in his own country." In the autumn of 1818, he revisited the city of Londonderry, the place of his nativity. On this occasion he was invited to a public entertainment in the town-hall. Two hundred gentlemen of the first character in the city and county assembled to greet his return. Sir George Hill, the member for the city, was in the chair. When the cloth was removed, he rose to propose the health of Sir Henry Torrens, and addressed him in these words:

"Major-general Sir Henry Torrens : "On the part of this numerous and most highly respectable assemblage of your friends and fellow-citizens, I am directed to express to you the very great gratification which they feel in having

the honour of receiving you, on this occasion, as their guest in your native city. The compliment paid to you this day is not, permit me to say, of a trivial nature; for it falls to the lot of but very few public men to obtain such an unequivocal and ample testimony of esteem and approbation as is now conveyed to you. We rejoice in receiving you amongst us; and we reward you with the universal, unqualified esteem and approbation of all the most respectable, liberal, and independent gentlemen who inhabit the soil from whence you sprung. The gentlemen of this city and neighbourhood who now surround you, and greet your welcome, are not insensible cer in the field; they know and duly to your qualifications as a military offiappreciate your early promise of heroism evinced in almost every quarter of the world-both in the East and in the West, at the Helder-in Egypt-and in Portugal, where the matchless Wellingby appointing you to the most confidenton himself announced your rising fame tial situation on his staff. Yet still the present source of their gratification is your incomparable conduct in discharge of your most important duties as Chief Secretary to His Royal Highness the Duke of York, under whose military administration, aided by your talents and advice, the armies of the United Empire have been organized in a manner unparalleled for excellence in ancient or modern times, and which has mainly contributed to the wide-extended triumphs and glory of the British nation. These sentiments, most humbly expressed through me, will mark to you, Sir countrymen in this part of Ireland." Henry Torrens, the disposition of your

During this address, Sir HenryTorrens'
two brothers, the Rev. John Torrens,
Archdeacon of Dublin, and Robert Tor-
rens, Esq. Chairman of Kilmainham, sat
ed them of utterance. We can conceive
beside him, under feelings which depriv-
pure delight.
no scene of prouder triumph or more

appointed to the situation of Adjutant-
Sir Henry Torrens has been recently
general. His health, which had suf-
fered from excessive exertion and close
confinement while he was Military Se-
cretary, is now entirely restored. If this
memoir of his life should
the colour of panegyric, the reader will
appear to wear
be aware that the cause is to be found
in the subject, and not in the writer.
It is not his fault if a statement of facts
is the highest praise.

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