FRANgOIS KELLERMANN, MARSHAL OF FRANCE 251 soothe the pains of mind and body he had recourse to the treacherous aid of opium, which only aggravated both; at length, on November 22, 1774, he died by his own hand. That Cliv^e committed many faults cannot be denied ; and it is not sufficient excuse to sa>- that they were necessary to the founding of the British empire in India. But his second administration, the reforms he introduced into the gov- ernment, and the system of wise policy which he established, may well atone for his errors ; indeed, it has done so in India, where the natives not only respect his memory as a conqueror, but venerate it as a benefactor. FRANgOIS KELLERMANN, MARSHAL OF FRANCE (i 735-1820) FRANgois Christopher Kellermann, who with a little army of raw recruits defeated the forces of united Europe at Valmy, and saved France from destruction, was born of a respectable family at Strasbourg, then part of France, on May 28, 1735. At the age of seventeen, he became a cadet in the regiment of Lowendalh ; and passing through the grades of ensign and lieutenant in 1753 and 1756, became captain of dragoons, in which rank he served in the Seven Years' War until 1 762, and was favorably mentioned in the reports of the battle of Bergen. A brilliant charge of cavalry, against a corps commanded by General Scheider, procured him, in the last year, the distinction of the cross of St Louis, then an honor of the highest esteem. After the peace of 1 763, he passed with the same rank into the legion of Conflans, and in 1 765 and 1 766 was charged by the king with the execution of some important commissions in Poland. In 1771, the increasing troubles in Poland furnished a pretext for the invasion of that country by the united troops of France and the Germanic confederation ; and Kellermann was appointed to accompany the French commander-in-chief of the expedition, Baron de Viomenil ; and in 1772, he was placed at the head of a native corps of cavalry which he had been concerned in organizing. His conduct in the retreat from the castle of Cracow, in 1772, elevated his character for dexterity and courage. In 1780, he became lieutenant-colonel of hussars; on January i, 1784, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier, and in 1788, received the rank of major-general. In 1790, under the National Assembly, he was placed in com- mand of both departments of Alsace, and so approved were his services in plac- ing that frontier in a state of defence against the threatened invasion of com-
