ELPHINSTONE. 77 



mand. In 1800 he was ordered to Egypt to recover it from the French. He made 

 an admirable landing at Aboukir and captured Cairo and Alexandria in 1801. 

 Returning to England in 1803, Keith was given command of the meager North 

 Sea fleet and had to plan the coast defenses of England against France. His 

 attempt to destroy French ships off Brest by means of fire-ships failed. In 1810 

 he was appointed admiral of the red and commander of the Channel fleet; as such 

 he directed measures to meet the threatened invasion. When Bonaparte sur- 

 rendered, Keith had to manage his care and keeping and expressed to the Emperor 

 the decision of the government. Keith now retired to the estates that he was able 

 to purchase with his great wealth. He built a large house at Kincardine-on- 

 Forth, and planned piers, embankments, and reclamation walls. He was fond 

 of society, but eschewed politics. He died in 1823. "Lord Keith was an accom- 

 plished and gallant officer, methodical, attentive, and correct; but otherwise he 

 rose little above the commonplace." (Mahan, 1899, p. 364.) 



Keith was a fighter of fighting stock, especially on his mother's side. Her 

 mother's brother Francis (1696-1758) was graduated from the University of Edin- 

 burgh, and early showed a decided preference for a soldier's career; but as a Jacobite 

 he and his brother George had to flee England (1715). He obtained a colonelcy 

 in the Spanish army (1726-1727), later took command of a regiment in Russia 

 (1728), and gained a high reputation. In 1747 he offered his services to Frederick 

 II of Prussia, who made him field marshal and gave him and his brother George 

 evidences of high personal regard. In 1756, when the Seven Years' War broke out, 

 Francis Keith was given high command and gained still higher reputation for "res- 

 olution and promptitude of action as well as care and skill." After repeated engage- 

 ments he was killed in 1758 at the battle of Hochkirch. Francis's brother George was 

 less of a fighter and more of a diplomat; and having conveyed valuable information 

 to Lord Chatham he was pardoned by George II and returned to Scotland in 1759. 



Lord Keith had a brother, William (IV 7), who entered the Royal Navy, 

 but later became connected with the East India Company and eventually became 

 a director of it. Another brother, John (IV 5), entered the army and was later 

 lieutenant governor of Edinburgh Castle; his son, Montstuart Elphinstone (1779- 

 1859), received a civil appointment in the East India Company, through his uncle 

 William, became attached as diplomatist to the mission of Sir Arthur Wellesley 

 to the Mahrattas, and, though a civilian, acted virtually as Wellesley's aide-de- 

 camp. At the battle of Assaye he displayed such military knowledge and insight 

 that Wellesley told him he should have been a soldier. Appointed resident at 

 Poona, he suspected treachery under the friendly mask of the peshwa and when 

 that mask was thrown aside and war was declared Elphinstone assumed command 

 of the British troops at a crisis in the battle of Kirkee and defeated the peshwa. 

 Of his later career it is stated (Encyl. Britt., llth ed.) : "He may fairly be regarded 

 as the founder of the system of state education in India." He twice refused 

 the governor-generalship of India. He published a great history of India (1841). 

 Still another brother of Keith was Charles (IV 6), who was also in the navy and 

 who died on the Prince George when she took fire off Ushant Island in 1757. 



The quality of diplomacy was marked in George also and had to be exercised 

 at the Cape of Good Hope as well as in his relations with the captured Napoleon. 

 George Lord Keith believed in obeying orders, however, and adhered to discipline 

 even when his obedience of St. Vincent's orders lost him the capture of Bruix's fleet. 

 He was just, considerate, and merciful, and was even reproved by the admiralty 

 for furnishing a better diet to the sick than was prescribed by that authority. 



