vt dase) 
[March 1, 
MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS, 
BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES relating to 
the late LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN 
MORDAUNT, of the HONOURABLE EAST 
INDIA COMPANY'S MADRAS ESTAB- 
- LISHMENT. 
HIS very stagular and well known 
personage has been so much ad-’ 
mired, so much reprobated, so much up- 
held, and so much decried, that some 
account of hin may probably be accept- 
able to the public. - 
He was a natural son of the late Earl 
of Peterborough, and, together with an 
elder brother by the same mother, was, 
at an early age, put out to nurse. Harry, 
the eldest, was a pining, spiritless starv- 
ling ; while John, the subject of this.Me- 
moi, was active, lively, and of an un- 
commonly fine form. He, was more of 
the Apollo Belvidere, though more rigid 
.In muscle, than any other person I ever 
Saw. : 
Harry took a sedentary turn, and 
being tender in constitution, could not 
partake of those gymnastic exercises, 
which John delighted in, and in which 
he, on all occasions, took the lead. In 
fact, Harry was more calculated for 
scholastic researches, in which he made 
the ordinary progress of a school-boy, and 
would, probably, have shone under dl- 
ma Mater, had nochis father,with the view 
of providing fer him handsomely, and at 
a distance trom the family in general, 
‘shipped him off as a cadet to Bengal. 
John was too wild to learn much, his 
whole time was devoted to truancy; and, 
as he often said, “one half of his days 
were spent in being flogged for the other 
half.” Hence he was in no danger of a 
professorship, if we except those arts in 
“which the celebrated Breslaw,Jones, &c. 
‘took their degrees! In such John was 
‘completely at home, and they were cer- 
tainly of some use to hin, as will be 
- hereafter seen, 
When John was taken from school, he 
was about as learned as when he first 
was sent there; however, when this was 
‘ascertained, and a quarrel was com- 
amenced on the occasion, he very hand- 
‘somely stept forth to exculpate his mas- 
-ter; whose attention he declared to be 
unparalleled, and, slipping off his cluaths, 
exhibited the earnestness of the good 
mats endeavours ; humorously observing, 
that “as nothing could be gat into his 
brains, his master had done his best to 
impress his instructions on the opposite 
seat of learning.” 
4 
At the time that John was to pass 
muster before the India directors, he was 
out of the way, and it was nearly too 
late when he was found at marbles im 
Dean’s: yard. No time was lost in 
coaching hin up to Leadenhall-street, 
where, being bent more on his pastime 
than on the grave questions put by his 
examiners, he was near being rejected 
as an idiot; when one of the quorum, 
who knew the youth’s trim. well, and 
who probably wished to see John ap- 
pointed, asked him if he understood 
eribbage? John’s soul was_ instantly 
roused, his eyes glistened, and regardless 
of every matter relative to his appoint- 
ment, he pulled out a pack ef. cards, sv 
greasy as scarcely to be distinguished, 
and offered “ to play the gentleman for 
any sum he chose !” 
''The youth now felt himself at home, 
and speedily convinced them that, how- ~ 
ever ignorant he might be of the clas- 
sics, he was a match for any of them at 
cards! He was passed, and dispatched 
to Portsmouth, where he was to em- 
bark in an India ship ready to sail with 
the first fair wind; but as that was not 
to be had for some days, the person whe 
had charge of him put him on board, and 
returned to tewn. 
John’s gaiety of disposition soon made 
him the fiddle of the crew; all.on board 
loved him. He was elegant in his make, 
graceful in his movements, (though he 
never could be made to.walk a minuet 
by his dancing-master,) of a very ani- 
mated countenance, strongly marked — 
with good nature, spirit, and dignity; _ 
his features were regular and handsome, 
his eyes keen and commanding, and, on 
the whole, we may say he was such as is. . 
rarely seen'! Be ae 
_ Notwithstanding the rigid restrictions 
jaid down hy the person who had ‘shipped 
him, such were the qualities of eur young 
adventurer, that none ‘could resist his 
wishes ; the kindness he experienced, ad- 
ded to the novelty of the scene, made 
him completely happy, and attached him 
more to his new companions, than to his. 
native soil, He could not bear to mope — 
about the ship,whilst waiting fora wind, 
and frequently lent a pull-in the ‘boats, — 
which occasionally were sent for pro- — 
visions, &c. _ st a 
One day, however, John:strayed int 
the town, and got into company 3 
some girls, who soon eased him, no 
of lis money, but of his buckles, 
