SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 33 



filled the office of lieutenant-governor of Java, con- 

 ferred upon him the title of Lieutenant-governor of 

 Bencoolen, as a peculiar mark of the favourable sen- 

 timents which the court entertained of his merits 

 and services ;" and thus they washed away every im- 

 putation which could have previously affected his 

 character or administration. 



During his residence in England, Mr Raffles 

 gained additional friends, and formed new attach- 

 ments ; he regained his former health, and early in 

 the year of his arrival married Sophia, the daughter 

 of Mr Hull, an Irish gentleman. His leisure was 

 occupied in writing his History of Java, of which we 

 shall afterwards speak ; and upon presenting it to his 

 Majesty George IV., (at that time Prince Regent), 

 he received the honour of knighthood. He visited 

 also the continent, and ever anxious for the welfare 

 of his favourite Java, which had now been given up 

 to the Dutch, he travelled through Holland, and 

 had several interviews with the Dutch king, hoping 

 to influence him in a line of administration which 

 might at once be most advantageous to his govern- 

 ment, and favourable for the native inhabitants and 

 the prosperity of the island. He examined all the con* 

 tinental collections, many of them richer than those 

 in this country, with the view of improving his know- 

 ledge before again returning to India. Even at this 

 time, he contemplated the possibility of an establish- 

 ment similar to the Garden of Plants in Paris, and 

 which he seems never to have lost sight of, until its 



VOL. vin. c 



