86 MODERN HISTORY. [Part YI. 



A-D- displayed disaffection, and to laying waste the out- 

 1803. ipj-,g territories of Kandy, burning the villages and 

 temples, and destroying the harvests and fruit trees. 

 The private correspondence of IMr. Xorth at this period 

 with the Governor-General of India e\dnces the inten- 

 sity of his anxiety for peace. Messages were sent 

 secretly to the king, through the high priest of Kandy, 

 to entreat him to ask for pardon, as all the Governor 

 required was not treasm'e or territories, " but satis- 

 faction for the horrid crime he had pei'petrated ; " but 

 the only reply was a refusal on the ground that the 

 butchery had been committed ■without his orders by 

 the Adigar, from whom he had since withdrawn his con- 

 fidence.^ A sullen peace ensued from the exliaustion 

 of the enemy ; and the long-deferred retribution for the 

 atrocities of 1803 was not exacted till 1815, when a 

 renewal of similar aggressions and cruelties by tlie 

 Kandyan sovereign led to the final and effectual over- 

 tlirow of his authority. 



The administration of Mr. North, although dimmed 

 by these diplomatic errors and the sanguinary results 

 by which they were followed, was characterised by signal 

 success in the organisation of the ci\il government ; the 

 promotion of rehgion, education, and commerce ; the 

 establishment of comts of justice ; the reform of the 

 revenue ; and the advancement of native agricultiu^e and 

 industry. The three mihtary governors who succeeded 

 him between 1805 and 1820"^, devoted to the civil im- 

 provement of tlie colony all the attention compatible 

 with the madequate income of the settlement, and the 

 vigilance and precautions indispensable for its protection 

 from foreign, as well as internal enemies. 



Dming this interval, the career of the Kandyan king 



' Mr. North to the Marquis of 

 "Welleslet, ITtli .Tanuarv, 1804 

 ( Wellesley MSS., p. 287). CoRDiyER 

 states (ch. iii. vol. ii. p. 259), that 

 these advances for peace were "made 

 by the Kandyans," but the letter 

 quoted above shows that they ema- 

 nated from the Governor. 



"^ 1805, Lieutenant-General the 

 liight Honom-able Sir Thomas Mait- 

 land, G.C.B. 1811, Major-General 

 Wilson, Lieutenant-Governor, 1812, 

 General Sir Robert Brownrigg, 

 Bart., G.C.B. 



