MEMOIR OF LIEUT. COLONEL JOHN MACDONALD,

F.R.S., F.S. A., &c. &c. &c.

LIEUT. COL. MACDONALD was born on the 30th October 1759, in the Isle of Skye. His father was Allan Macdonald, Esq., of Kingsburgh, a captain in the 84th Regt. of Foot. Captain Macdonald married his cousin, the celebrated Flora Macdonald, of Milton, by whom he had seven children: the subject of the present memoir was the youngest son of this marriage, and Mrs. Major MacLeod is now the only surviving child.

At an early age he was sent to the Grammar School at Portree, and afterwards entered the High School of Edinburgh. He did not in after-life forget the scenes of his early youth, and some time previous to his death, invested a sum of money for the purpose of giving a medal to the dux, or leader, of the third class of the High School of Edinburgh, and another sum for the purchase of a book for the head-boy of the school at Portree: thus evincing his gratitude to those institutions in which he had imbibed the principles and improved the talents which carried him through life with credit to himself, utility to his country, and the approbation of all within the sphere of his action. He was originally intended for the law, but being of an ardent and enterprising disposition, was anxious for a more active life, and coveted the profession of a soldier. In the year 1780, his wishes were gratified by his obtaining, through the influence of Sir John Macpherson, a cadetship in the service of the East-India Company, on the Bombay establishment.

He was at first attached to the infantry, but, in consequence of his knowledge of fortification, was transferred to the engineers. Finding, however, after a residence of little more than a year, that the pay and allowances were then barely sufficient even for a decent support, and wholly inadequate to enable him to administer to the wants of his relations at home, whom to the very last he deemed to have claims upon him, he obtained, in the year 1782, leave of absence, and, quitting Bombay with the determination never to return, proceeded to Calcutta.

Here, in the month of September in that year, he received the appointment of ensign in the corps of engineers on the Bengal establishment, through the interest of his cousin, Colonel Murray, and was ordered on duty to Bencoolen, where he arrived in November following. In 1783, he was made assistant engineer, and was directed by the Governor and Council to survey the Dutch settlements in the northern parts of Sumatra, which were to be immediately restored to the Prince of Orange. Though the season of the year was adverse to the undertaking, and notwithstanding he was at the time suffering from the effects of a severe illness, with which he had been attacked, yet so zealous was he in the discharge of his professional duties, that he performed this arduous undertaking, in a tropical climate, with the most consummate skill and scientific accuracy, in the short space of four months. So satisfied were the government with the assiduity and persevering attention with which he had completed the task, that they recommended him to the consideration of the Court of Directors of the East-India Company, "as a young officer of great merit, and highly worthy of encouragement;" and the Governor General and Council in Bengal bestowed upon him, in the year 1784, although only an ensign, the brevet rank of captain, whilst employed on service in the island of Sumatra, as a special mark of their favour and approbation. Shortly afterwards, he was nominated, in addition to his other duties, commandant of artillery there, which situation he held until a successor was

appointed from Bengal. His acquaintance with the science of projectiles, which he had made his particular study, obtained him this appointment, which he was in every way well qualified to fill, as may be seen on reference to a small treatise he published in the year 1819, on that branch of military science.

In consequence of the frequent and great danger which his Majesty's ships, as well as those of the East-India Company, had experienced from the inaccuracy of the charts in use, Colonel Macdonald was employed, in 1786, by direction of the Governor General of Bengal, to survey the harbour and roadstead of Bencoolen; but before he had completed the survey of Poolo Bay and Rat Island, his services being required in Bengal, he was recalled to Calcutta by Lord Cornwallis, and ordered to return via Penang, for the purpose of surveying that valuable island, then just ceded to the British government by the king of Queedah. On his arrival there, he found General (then Captain) Kidd on that service, and he consequently proceeded on to Calcutta direct. Here, however, he did not long remain, his knowledge of the language, manners, and habits of the people recommending him to the Governor General as a fit person to be sent to Bencoolen ; by whose directions he returned thither, in 1788, to superintend the military and civil works in operation there, and to complete the survey of the port and other parts of the west coast of Sumatra. He continued on this duty until the year 1796, when, having suffered much from his laborious professional avocations and the pestilential climate of the island, he retured to Europe on furlough, where he arrived in January 1797, after an absence of nearly seventeen years, the great part of which period he was exposed to the scorching influence of the sun in a place proverbial for its insalubrity.

Whilst at Bencoolen he took observations on the diurnal variation of the magnetic needle, some of which were published in the Transactions of the Royal Society for the year 1796; and so anxious was he to obtain every possible information on this very interesting subject, that he proceeded in a small American vessel to St. Helena, where he remained some months, at a considerable expense, making similar observations at that island. The results of his labours were submitted to the Society, and were deemed by them worthy of being given to the scientific world. He had been in the habit, while in India, of corresponding (though then unknown) with the late Sir Joseph Banks, which he continued until the decease of that learned president; and immediately on his return to England he was elected a fellow of the Society.

Ever active in the duties of his profession, and alive to its interests, he accepted, with the permission of the East-India Company, the situation of captain in the Royal Edinburgh Volunteer Artillery, which had been offered to him at a season of alarm and danger, though he was far from being restored to health. In this situation, likewise, his exertions met with the approbation and gratitude of those for whom they were made, and when he resigned, in consequence of being appointed major in Lord Macdonald's Regiment of the Isles, the gentlemen under his command, whom he had been indefatigable in teaching their duty, presented him with a superb sword as a mark of their affection and esteem. While in command of this fine corps (composed of gentlemen of Edinburgh), which was armed with pikes, he wrote, under the patronage and with the approbation of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, a treatise on some practical and theoretical parts of artillery, for the use of this corps only. The work contains a new drag-rope exercise, and a pike exercise, simple in practice and readily acquired. In June 1800, he was made lieut. colonel of

the Royal Clanalpine Regiment, and proceeded with the regiment on duty to Ireland, where it continued until the peace of Amiens, when, being disbanded, he returned with his family to London,

No species of military knowledge can be reckoned of greater importance or more useful than that which puts the army in possession of the tactics, internal discipline, and elementary instruction, of an enemy. To oppose effectually the operation of any military system, it is indispensably necessary that its principles and modes of action should be developed, explained, and made generally known. Impressed with this conviction, the late Colonel Macdonald proceeded to France, visited her armies, and conversed with her officers, for the purpose of prosecuting on the spot inquiries into the state of French tactics, and of procuring every possible information on so interesting a subject. He found their tactics so extremely accurate, and so thoroughly and systematically founded on science, that he deemed it a duty he owed to his sovereign and to his country to give them publicity. He accordingly translated a work issued by authority of the French government, which he published, with a preface and notes, in 1803; the work has run through two editions.

At the beginning of the year 1804, Mr. Pitt having, in a very complimentary manner, selected him to be one of his field officers in the Cinque Port Volunteers, he left London in consequence, and removed with his family to Dover, in March 1804. He had not been there many hours before, unasked, he embarked in an open boat, and reconnoitred the harbour of Boulogne, with a view to obtain information as to the state of preparation for the threatened invasion of this country. The result of his observations upon this and various other occasions he communicated to the Prime Minister at his own desire, as well as to other leading personages, and so valuable was the information he afforded that he was induced, at great personal hazard, risk, and expense, in consequence of requests made to him, to visit often the French coast during the period he remained at Dover.

He continued at Dover until after the decease of Mr. Pitt, his patron, whose confidence he had obtained and with whom he was at all times on terms of intimacy, continually receiving from that distinguished statesman marks of his approbation and friendship. The Cinque Port Volunteers being greatly reduced in numbers, and not requiring a field officer of his rank, Lieut. Col. M. left the regiment and removed to Exeter, where he continued to reside until the time of his death.

The science of telegraphs, imperfectly practised and still less known in this country, attracted his notice immediately on his return to England from India. He attentively studied it, and offered an improved system, in 1806, to the Admiralty. In 1808 he published a small work on telegraphic communication; and in 1817 a larger one, explanatory of a new system of that species of communication, with a telegraphic dictionary, numerically arranged, attached to it, in order to mature and render general a science hitherto in its infancy. A second and improved edition of the dictionary was in hand at the period of his death.

He had written several papers respecting the variation of the magnetic needle, and the supposed position of the magnetic poles, which he laid before the Royal Society; and he was preparing for publication a small work on the Theory of Magnetic Variation." He conducted for several years the military department of a review of high repute, and was a frequent contributor to the Asiatic Journal and the Gentleman's and other magazines. The following are some of the works he had translated and published: Rules and Regulations Asiat. Jour. N.S. VOL.6. No. 22.

T

for the Field Exercise and Manœuvres of the French Infantry; An Essay ort the Principle and Origin of Sovereign Power; The Experienced Officer, or General Wimpffen's Letters to his Son; Instructions for the Conduct of Infantry on actual Service; The Formation and Manoeuvres of Infantry, by the Chevalier Duteil; all with prefaces and copious notes, containing observations adapted to the circumstances of the times.

He was likewise the author of several original works, all displaying talents and extensive acquirements. His knowledge of music was unusually refined, as appears by his Treatise explanatory of the principles constituting the practice and theory of the violoncello, and also that on the harmonic system of stringed instruments. The merits of these works have been acknowledged by the most eminent musical professors of the day.

In every situation, both at home and abroad, it was Lieut. Col. Macdonald's constant study to be of use to his country, and to leave behind him some monuments of his existence, and that he had not lived in vain.

As for rewards, he met with but few beyond honorary marks of distinction, and the self-approbation of having done his duty. A late Chairman of the East-India Company feelingly and justly remarked, "that he seemed to be one of those destined to labour for others more than for himself." He received from the King of the Netherlands a gold snuff-box, and the King of Prussia presented him with a gold medal.

A provincial paper, in speaking of Colonel Macdonald, observes, "the activity of his mind and the benevolence of his heart would not permit him to remain an indifferent spectator of events daily passing around him, and he was in consequence one of the first to step forward upon all occasions of national or local interest, as well as to assist in ameliorating individual or general calamity; scarcely a charitable institution exists in the city of Exeter and its neighbourhood without having his name as a contributor, and in the strictest sense he maintained with unblemished splendour the high character of a gentleman and a philosopher. The loss experienced by his death is great, and his name will be revered by all who knew his worth." This panegyric is no less true than honourable to the deceased.

He died at Exeter, on the 16th of August last, in the seventy-second year of his age, and his remains are deposited in the cathedral there. He was twice married: first, in India, to Mrs. Bogle, widow of L. Bogle, Esq., formerly a civil servant in the East-India Company's service; by whom he had two children, who died in their infancy; and next, in 1799, to Frances Maria, elder daughter of the late Sir Robert Chambers, Chief Justice in Bengal, by whom he had issue seven sons and two daughters, all of whom (except a son, who died very young) are living to deplore his loss and to emulate his virtues.

In his conduct through life he was ever actuated by a sense of true piety; he died, as he had lived, a Christian, in faith and practice, not merely in profession; and his relatives and friends humbly, but confidently, trust, that he is now reaping in the mansions of eternal bliss the rewards of a well-spent life on earth.

REMARKS ON THE PENAL CODE OF CHINA.

CONCLUSION.

THE seventh and last division of this code contains the laws relative to public works.

Public buildings and works are not to be undertaken by any officer without proper authority; if they are commenced without authority, the officers offending are punishable according to the scale provided in ordinary cases of pecuniary malversation: the wages of the labourers employed being computed at 7d. per day. A proviso is made in favour of officers in charge of public buildings or fortifications which fall down or become damaged, and require immediate repair. Unnecessary waste of materials or of labour, in public works, likewise entails upon the person occasioning such waste a punishment according to the same scale: the sum wasted being assumed to be purloined from the state. If through mismanagement, or want of due diligence, accidents happen through dilapidation of buildings, whereby a person is killed, the officer responsible is liable to a fine to the relations of the deceased, as in a case of homicide.

The following law is characteristic:-if any public officer performs or causes to be performed any public work or manufacture contrary to the established rule and custom, he shall be punished, at the least, with forty blows; and in the case of any such deviation, in the manufacture of military weapons, silks, stuffs, and valuable articles, fifty blows; and the expense incurred in reforming the articles, so as to make them serviceable, is to be considered as a sum purloined from the state, and the officer is to be punished according to the law of pecuniary malversation. If such improperly prepared or manufactured articles had been destined for the use of his majesty, the punishment is more severe, extending, in extreme cases, as far as perpetual banishment!

The misapplication of public stores, and the use of the public looms or manufactories for the private purposes of public officers, are punishable offences.

Any private individual, who shall manufacture for sale any silks, satins, gauzes, or similar stuffs, according to the prohibited pattern lung (dragon), or fung-whang (phoenix), is punishable with 100 blows, and the goods are forfeited to the state. The purchaser, the wearer, the working weaver, and embroiderer of such stuffs incur different degrees of punishment.

A failure of the determinate quantity of silks and stuffs and military weapons, annually manufactured at the public works, is visited upon the workmen who omit to provide their assigned proportion, and upon the superintending officers and if the raw materials are not delivered to the workmen in sufficient quantities, at proper times, the superintending officer of the factory and the superintendant of supplies are alone punishable.

Governors of cities or other provincial subdivisions, who, instead of inhabiting the houses provided for them, reside in private houses belonging