JOURNEY TO INDIA, &c PART IIL A : I •• -i l'it-2 ' . • . p.'-'i-f's ■■ - Itx.' , A ICi ^^ I O 1- / a H U (,) [ \ Jn T A ^ r" A JOURNEY TO INDIA, LETTER XLIII. After pafling through an immenfe trafl: of country, cliflnigulflied by nothing that could ferve even as a circumftance to mark and remember our daily journeys, but which 1 obferved to grow manifeftly worfe, both in foil and climate, as we proceeded Southward, we came in fight of the famous city of Bagdad, on the feventh day from that on which we left Moful, and on the eighteenth from that of my departure from Aleppo ; in which eighteen days we had rode fourteen hundred miles, partly through a route which no European, I have reafon to believe, ever took before. On entering the city, I defired my guide to conduct me to the houfe of a Merchant, to whom I had got letters of credit and introduction. He,took me accordingly through the windings of feveral A 2 ' Greets, ll^rccts, and at lafT: flopped at the door of an Armenian Merchant, or Coja^ where he made me alight, and come in. I was received witli great politends ; and, on producing my letter, found that he was not the pcrfon to whom it was directed : 1 accordingly made a fuitahle apology, and ^vas for retiring to find the houfe of the proper perfon, for tvhich purpofe the Armenian offered*nac a fervaut, when, to my great aftoniiliment, my Tartar interfered ; faid that it was to this Merchant he brought all his goods, and that I rnuft remain where I was; at the iame time ordering the Armenian, in a peremptory tone, to take charge of me, and ufe me well. U was in vain that the Armenian endeavoured to explain to him the nature of the bufmefs, and that I infifted 1 niuft go to the other Merchant—Hassan was peremptory, and declared that I fliould not. It was fo extremely outre and ridicii-lous, that I could not be angry ; and the good Armenian uniting his voice with that of the Tartar, and entreating me to favour liim with my company, I acquiefced, and indeed remained in his houfe all the time I was at Bagdad. This was proof politive, if any other than I already had was wanting, that he confidered me merely as a piece of merchandife, which he was bound (accordiivg to the language of Merchants) to deliver in good order and condition. I had undertaken, before leaving Aleppo, to give the guide, if he ačtcd conformably to my wiflies, and behaved \\'ell, twenty pounds over and above the hundred provided by the agreement: I therefore therefore fent for him, to fettle finally, and part. He had heard that 1 was a perlbn different from what he had fvippofed me to be : but it did not alter his condu^t, as might be expelled, or make him ftoop to cringing; he ftill fpoke with the fame honeft, bold familiarity; and when I gave him the pfomifed twenty pounds, he never hinted, cringed for, or even looked as if he expedted more but when we came to part, the feelings he difclofed, and thofe I myfetf felt, convinced me, that Man is not naturally that brute which prejudice ha^ maderhim ; and, when left to its own operatinn?, the human heart would be uniformly kindly, aftečtion'-atc, and lympathetic : the poor, rough, unpolifhcd Turk, betrayed the ftrongeft marks of fcnfibility, and I myfelf once more felt th« uneafinefs of parting. I think this is the proper place to give you my opinion of the Turks, ^\'hile the recolle6lion of honeft Hassan is frcfh in my mind ; and I cannot do it better thaii by quoting the words of afi excellent French Writer---- The Turks (fays M. du Loir) are naturally a good people, which is not to be afcribed to the climate; tor the Greeks born " in the fame climate have very difFefent difpofitions, and retain only the bad qualities of their ai^ceftors, viz. roguery, treachery, " and vanity. The Turks, oil the contrary, priding themfelves on their integritv an^l m(>de%, are diftingiiifhed in general by ** an open, ingenuous fimphcity of manners; courtifirs only ex* " cepted. cepted, who, in Turkey, as every where elfe, are the flavcs of " ambition and avarice." ,, The name of Bagdad Jiaa been Jo renownetl in Eaflern ftory, and is the fceue of fo raauy of thoie bewitching tales which we fiutl tranflated, or pretended to be tranflated, from the Arabic and Perfian, that I felt great pleafure in feeing it, and conceived my-lelftobe at the very fountain-head of marvellous adventure and romance. Fraught with this idea, I was Impatient to go forth into the town; and notwithflandlng the weather was beyond conception hot, 1 paraded a number of ftreets : but never did I, in the courfe of my life, fee a place fo calculated to bely the opinion one would form of it from the Eaftern talcs. It appeared to me to be among the moft difagreeable cities of the world, and has no one circumftance that I could difcover to recommend it : the heat is fo great, that in the Summer-time the inhabitants are forced to keep their markets in the night, and to lie all night in the open air on the terraces of their houfes. The Armenian with whom I refided, did every thing in his power to render the place agreeable to me; and I fiiall always retain a lively fenfe of his goodnefs and hofpitality : he was not only gejierous and polite, but well informed, and pleafmg in converfa-tion, 1 took occafion to exprefs to him the difappointment I felt at finding Bagdad lb very diiFcrent from what I expelled ; and told him tliat I liad, when a youth, learned to think highly of it, or or rather romantically, from reading Eafterii tales. This led to a. converfatioii on the Arabian Nights Entertainments, a copy of which he had in the Arabic, and produced it : he then Ihewed me, with great triumph, a French tranflation of them, printed at Paris, which he had read, and declared that the tranflation was nothing at all in comparifon with the. origuial. I believe he was Well qualified to judge, for he was a perfect mailer of the French language. We talked of the Eaftern tale of the Glafs Man, who, in a reverie, increafes his ftock till he gets To rich as, in imagination, to marry the Cadi's daughter, &c. &c. and in kicking his wife, kicks all his glafles about, and deftroys the whole of his vifionary fortune, I praifed the humour of it much—" Sir," faid he, " there is nothing in it that may not be experienced frequently in ačtual life ; thole waking dreams are the ufual concomitants of opium: a man who has accuftomed himfelf to the pernicious pračiice of eating opium, is conftantly fubjeft to them. I have, in the courfe of my time, found a thoufand of thofe dreamers holding forth in the plenitude of imaginary power. I have ieen a common porter become Cadi, and order the baftinado. I have feen a wretched tailor raifed by the effeČis of opium to the office of Aga of the Janiflaries, de-pofing the Sultan, and ordering the bow^ftring to all about him. I have feen Ibme indulging in the blandilhments of love with Prin* cefles, and others wallowing in the wealth of Golconda. But the nioft extraordinary vifionary of this kind I ever met with, was one who who imhgmsd himfeifjtraiifl.atGc} to P'4r^ife, to Mfiljomet, and fitting l?y the Ude of that p'rophot,/^rg^üng^vifh .hira, in. defence of the'xife öf wine ami opium : he argued; ihgeiiiMHjrfly, lifieiied in fdeuce to the fuppoted,arguments of h±s' swlver&ry, an-fwcred them, replied, rejoined, aiid ftill argued ©n-^-tiUv i growing at laft an^-y, he Iwoire that he wits as a good a ptfophet him, did not care a' fig for him, and called him fool atid falCe ipröpjaet. I A Turk who was prefent, in the fuhielsofhis zeal, laid a fliek very heavily acrčfš his fhoulders, iuid put an end to the ViilO»; never did i fee a wretch fo abje£t., fo fOTjo^a, dr loi ratferi^Wy delpoiit^-irig ;'he put his forehead tö thp grounclj whiehi he WPt.With hi? tears, crying, Mercy, Mahomet! mercy, Alia 1—nor could hp find relief (fuch is the, ruin gfepium) tül he got a frefli fupply of it in his mouth, which ibon gave him a temporary relpite from the'horrors of his fitliation.i' jj^ Unqueftionahly, Bagdad was c^ice a great city;, of flourifliiiig commerce ; but the Sultan Amurath the povj^fthj when he made himfelf mafter^of it, put the richgft ]Merchants to death ; and it has ever fince gradually .declined. About two days journey from it, lie the ruins of the once famous city of Babylon-I was much diipofed to go to fee it, and thence drop down the jEuphrates to BafTora: but my Armenian hoft told.me there wa& nothing in it to recompenfe a perfon for half the trouble j for, of that magnificent city, which was fixty miles in circumference, wliich was encompalfed with walls eighty-feven feet iu thicknefs, anti and three hundred and fifty in height, nothing was to be feen but the bare foundations of feme great edifices. The Tower of Belus, and the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, lie with the reft in undiftin-guifhed ruin. The greatefl: curiofities, then, were, in the firft place, the ruins of a building faid to be the famed Tower of Babel/ which appeared to have been half a league in compafs; artd the remains of a vaft bridge over the Euphrates, where it is half a league broad. I -^-as not more anxious to arrive at the city of Bagdad than I was to leave it; and having written letters, and put them in a way of being forwarded to Europe, 1 took leave of my friendly hofpi-table Armenian, and, with a thoufand acknowledgments for his kiudnefs, fet out on horfeback to a place on the Tigris, where I embarked in a boat, in order to proceed to Bafiora. This river, known fince the firft records of human exiftence by Geograpliers, is remarkable for its rapidity, whence, Pliny fays, it has the name of Tigris, (in the Median language, a dart); and for its extraordinary courfe, which is in many places, under ground, rifes in Armenia, finks into the earth near mount Taurus, and runs under a mountain—then riiing at the other lide, follows its courie through the lake Thefpites—again finks frequently under ground, and continues hid at one time for a fpace of twenty-five miles; where, once more emerging, if glides along with a very rapid ftream, meets the Euphrates at a place called Korua, pafTTcs tlirough Baflbra, and falls into the Perfian Gulph. H As • As the boat in which 1 took my pafTage had no convenience for QxckHling this- violence of the lau, exccpt an awning, I tuffereJ extremely from the heat. The river itieif was grand; but the banks, and contiguous country, contained nothing to attraft iio-tice—TUO gbječl to diverfify the dreary, deferted afpečt of the Ibene r—nothing to afford room for refleftioix, or give birth to a new idea. I do not remember to have ever paflTed through fuch a vafl extent of country, fo uniformly dull and uninterefting. The only ^hing that ferved to keep the mind alive, was the apprehenfion of jobbers, who, in great numbers, hover over this river, and plunder paffengers, We had t^iken care, on leaving Bagdad, to be well pj ovided with fire-arms ; and they did us yeomen's fei-vice— for we were frequently attacked by robbers with a view to plunder, b^t found that a fhot or two difperfed and fent them off in conflernation. One night, however, in pafiing a creek, we perceived feveral boats iüuing from it, in great order, and in a manner that evhiced method and premeditation; we filently prepared for their reception, and were completely ready to meet them warmly, while they thought us quite unprepared, and uncon-1Ö0US of their approach: they firft endeavoured to board us by furprife: wilhing rather to frighten than to kill them, we began by firing over their heads ; on which they fet up the moft horrible fhouts, and rufhed on with a tumultuous rapidity, making the moft terrible noife, in order to intimidate us: they were by this -time quite near us; we therefore took aim at them, and let fly, and and immetliately perceived them in great coiifufiou, fomc of tlic boats lofing their helm, and falling with the ftream on the other«: at laft: we faw them fheer off, and they gave us no farther trouble. LETTER XLIV. After eight orten as difagreeable days as I rem^ itibcr to havt fpent in my life, vi^eakened with inceffant watchingi liarafled with bodily fatigue, and melted with the exceffive heat of the fun, I arrived at the city of Baßbra, where I was received with the utmoft hofpitality by Mr. Latouche, the Company's Refident from Bombay, who did every thing poffible for my accommodation, and procured me every inftru6tion refpefting. my further progrefs. This city, as well as Bagdad, is famous in matVellous ftory. The country about it is confidered by the natives as the beft, fpot in Afia, though the burning winds annoy and frequently dories here, as well fur the purpofe of commcrče^ B '2 as as the tranfit of difpiitches, by way of Damafcus and Aleppa, to Evirope. The richefl mcrchandife of India and Europe arc brought here in caravans; and its opulence is greatly increafed by the caravans of Pilgrliiis, who pafs through it on their way to Mecca, and pay great duties, bartering for many rich commodities. The horfes of this place are celebrated for their fuperlor excellence ; it is faid that they will run thirty hours without meat or drink j I doubt the fačl, and fhould be fbrry to fee fo inhuman an experiment tried. One comfortable circumftance attending BafTora is, that at night the ftreets may be walked with perfečt fafety at all hours. It is iubjeft to an Arab Prince, wlio is tributary to the Turk, and whofe revenue is very great, as well from the above-mentioned caufes, as becaufe he gives full Hberty to all Nations to come and trade to his capital. From Baffora I took my paffage in a date-boat going to Muikat, expe6^ing to get from thence a fpeedy palTage to Bombay but the boat fprung a leak at fea, and we were obliged to run into Bufheer, where I was very hofpitably received and. entertained by Mr. Galley, the Company's Refident. There really feemed to be an unufual fatality attending me throughout the whok of my journey. You will recolleči:, in the firft inftance, I was prevented, by the war with France, from going by the direčl route which I fhouid otherwife have taken, and obliged to pafs through the Low Countries and Germany—In the •ifixt next place, at Venice I was difappointed in obtaining a pafTagie to Latacliica; and, immediately on the heels of that, loft my fervant at Triefte,' by fending him for letters to Venice—Afterwards, when 1 had gone to Alexandria with expe6iation of travelling through Egypt, and viewing that hiterefting part of the world, I found myfelf'prevented by the unhappy circnmftances of the country—the' plague raging in Alexandria, and all the roads being blockcd up by an incurfion of the Arabs. Thus mortified and difappointed, I turned about, in order to make my wäy in another direč^ion ; and arriving at Cyprus, found, to my infinite furprife and regret, that an epidemic difeafe,^ little fhort of the plague, prevailed there, and fw^pt off the inhabitants in great numbers : wheni after ^iirmounting'ali thofe obftacles, I arrived at Aleppo; the firft information 1 got was, that the caravai> v/aa gone, and that it would be a long time before another would be ready; and my departure from Aleppo was attended with circum-ftances no lefs inaulpicious than my entrance—At Moful 1 experienced another dlfappointment, by the river's being dried up, and rendered impračticable by boats—My paflage from BafTora to Mufkat was impeded by the vefiel fpriuging a leak—And now, when at lail I hoped to get from Bulheer to Bombay, I was flopped by the intelligence that the Gulph was blocked up by French privateers, infomuch as no vefiel could hope to efcapc. I was therefore obliged to remain at Bufheer, till a Company's frigate, commanded by Captain Hardy, and foon expeded, fliould llioiild a,iTovtl me aii pppoituuity of proceeding to Bombay. Time, iiovvever, brought^jthat period about; and I took my paflage,. and aiTived fafe at Bombay, where I foon after embarked on .board a Portuguefe veflel, l^eiiig the only conveyance that offered for me to proceed to Madras i flie was firfl bound to Goa, and we arrived fafely at that ifland, where I was received with great poUte-;iefs, and treated with the mofl friendly attention, by Mr. HjsNsiiAW, the Englifh Refident. Goa belongs to the Portuguefe : the Viceroy jof that Nation lives there in great pomp. It was once the fcene of the moft abominable cruelties, cxercifed by that flagitious people on the natives, under pretended zeal for Chriftianity—I had read the Abbe Raynal's glowing delcription of it; and as I trod the ground,'my frame trembled at the thoughts of the maflacres perpetrated there. I was impatient to get from Goa, and yet I looked forward to my departure with a fecret uneafinefs» for which I was entirely unable to account—I wiflied to proceed, and yet fome fecret foreboding whifpered to my heart that I was on the verge of calamity: fo powerful was it, and fo obftinate, that I could neither reaibn away its admonitions, nor refift its impreflions; and fomething inceflantly told me, in as plain language as if a human being Ipoke, that I flibuld fufFer a dreadful misfortune. As I had ail my life been an enemy to fuperftition, 1 felt my fpirit infulted, and my underftand-ing degraded, by, the involuntary viftory which I allowed to this imprellion—I combated it with reafon, with ridicule, with ielf- contempt coiitcmpt---aU:,iii,yam: iii fpite of mc, I became the very flave of gloomy prefeutimeut J and iiv order to get the luccedaneous aid of a friend's rcafon, as well as to he prepared, I communicated the üate of my feelings to Mr, Henshaw. fin vain he endeavoured to cheer me : all he could do was to give me his counfel; iu confe-quence of which I aäually fettled all my aftliirs up to that day, made my will, left it with Mr. Henshaw, and, full of dreadful forebodings of fhipwAeck, went on board a Portuguefe liiow bovind to Madras. i , , • ,,t; i . It was now the eighteenth day of May when we failed from Gca. The hemifphere had been for forac days overcaft with clouds: fome light Ihowers of rain had fallen; and you may conclude that it did not tend to raife my Ipirits, or free me from my ominous ap-prehenfions, to hear that thoic'circumftances indicated an approaclf -' ing ^ale of wind. I obierved, moreover, that the veflel was much too deep in the water, being greatly overloaded—that lh,e was iu many relpečls dcfečtive, and, as the feamen lay, ill-found, and in fhort very unfit to cncouutcr a gale of w ind of any violence. I fcorncd, however, to yield to thofe united impreifious, and determined to proceed, ' : ; On the nineteenth, the Iky was obicured by iramciifc-Heeccs of clouds, furcharged with inflammable matter; and in the evening, the rain fell in torrents, the firmament darkened apa^e, fuddeu iiight came on, and the horrors of extreme darkncfs were rendered ft ill more horrible by the peals of thunder whicli. rent the air, and the frequent frequent flaflies of Ughtniiig, whlcli fej-^-ed only to (hew us the horror of our fituation, and leave us in incrcafed darkiiefs : mean-tinie tlie wind became more violent, blowing on the fhore ; and a heavy Tea, raifed by its force, united with it to make our ftate more formidable. By day-light on the morning of the twentieth, the gale had iix-crealed to a furious tempeft; and the Tea, keeping pace with it, ran mountain-high; and as it kept invariably to the fame point, the Captain and Officers became ferioufly alarmed, and almoft per-ftiaded that the South-weft Monfoon had fet in, which, if it \\'erc fo, would render it abfolutely impoflible for us to weather the coail. All that day, however, we kept as clofe as the violence of the weather would allow us to the wind; but the fea canted her head fo to leeward, that fl^e made more lee than head-way ; and the rigging was fo ftrained with the work, that we liad little hope of keeping off the fhore, unlefs the wind changed, of which there was not now the fmalleft probability. During the night there was no iutermiflion of the fuow: many of the fails flew into ribbons ; fome of the rigging was carried away; and fuch exertions were made, that, before morning, every ftick that could poifibly be ftruck was down upon the deck. About feven o'clock on the morning of the twenty-firft, I was alarmed by an unufiial noife upon the deck, and, running up, perceived that every remaining fail in the veflel, the fore-fail alone excepted, was totally carried away. The fight was horrible; and. the tlie wiiole vefTel prelented a fpeflacle as dreadful to tlic feelingb; as jnortifyiiig to human pride. Fear had produced, not only all the helpleiTnels of defpondeiKv, but all the mifchicvous freaks of inli-nlty. In one place flood the Captain, raving, ftamping, and tear-jug his hair iu handfuls from his liead—here, ibme of the crew were caft upon their knees, clapping their hands, and praying, with all the extravagance of horror painted in their faces—there, others were flogging their Images with all their might, calling upon them to allay the ftorm. One of our pafTcngers, who was Purfcr of an Englifh East-Indiaman, had got hold of a cafe-bottle of rum, and, with an air of diftračtion and deep defpair imprinted in his face, was ftalking about in his fhirt, I perceived him to be on the point of ferving it about, in large tumblers, to the few undif-mayed people; and well convinced, that, lb far from alleviating, it would iharpen the horrors of their mind, I went forward, with much difficulty prevented him. Having accompliflicd this point, I applied myfelf to the Captain, and endeavoured to bring him back (if poiiiblc) to his recoj-ledion, and to a fenfe of what he owed to his duty as a commander, and to his dignity as a man : I exhorted him to encourage the failors by his example; and ftrove to raife bis Ipirits, ,hy faying that the ftorm did not appear to m£ by any means fo terrible s as fome I had before experienced. While I was thus employed, we fliippcd a fca on the ftarboard fide, whicli I really thought would have fent us down. The vef- C {A fei feemetl to fink beneath its Mxight, fliivered, and remained motionlefs—"it was a moment of critical llilpenfe : fancy made me think I felt her gradually dcicending—I gave myfelf up as gone, and fummoned all my fortitude to bear approaching death with becoming manhood. Juft at this crifis, the water, which rulhed with incredible force through all ports of the vefTel, brought out floating, and nearly fuffbcated, another Englifli paflenger, who was endea-'vourliig to take a little repofe in a fmall cabin boarded off from the 'deck: he was a very ftout voung man, and full of true fpvrit. Fin'ding that the veflel was not, as I had thought, going imme' diately down, he joined me in exhorting the Captain to his duty : we perfuaded him to throw the guns overboard, as well as a • number of trunks and packages with which the veffel was much encumbered; and, with fome little exertion, we got the pumps fet agoing. ' Here I will ftop, knowing the warm fenfibility of my Frederick's mind ; and, convinced that his fympathetic heart will go * hand-in-hand with his Father's fuiferings, 1 will not overcharge it with grief by an immediate continuation of the bufiuels, biit ' defer it to another Letter.. LETTER XLV. 1 HE name of the Eiiglifli pafTenger, whom I mentioued to you in my lafl: Letter as affixing me iu gettuig the Captain and Mariners to do their duty, was Hall. He was a yoiing man of a moft amiable difpofition, and with it poflefTcd all that manly fpirit that gives prefence of mind in exigences of danger. He and I having, with great difficulty, got fome hands to ftick to the pumps, ftood at the wheel, at once to afiift the men, and prevent them from quitting it; and, although hopelefs, determined that no effort pra6ticable on our parts fhould be wanting to the preferva-tion of the veflel. The water, however, gained upon the pumps, notwithftanding every effort; and it evidently appeared that we could not keep her long above water. At ten o'clock the wind Teemed to increafe' and amounted to a downright hurricane; the Iky was fo entirely obfcured with black clouds, and the rain fell fo tliick, that obječts were not dif-cernible from the wheel to the Oiip's head. Soon the pumps were choaked, and could no longer be worked : then difmay feized on all—nothing but unutterable defpair, filent anguifh, and horror, wrought up to frenzy, was to be feen; not a fingle loul was ca- C 2 pable pable of an effort to be ufeful—all leemccl more defirous to extiiv guiih their calamities by embracing death, than ;\villing, by a painful exertion, to avoid it. At about eleven o'clock we could plainly diftinguifh a dreadful roaring noife, refembling that of waves rolling agau\ft rocks; but the darkncfs of the day, and the accompanying rains, prevented us from feeing any diftance ; and if they were rocks, wc might be adually dallied to pieces on them before we could }x:r-eeive them. At twelve o'clock, however, the weather clcarcd up a little, and lx>rh the wind and the fea {eemed to have abated ; the very expanfion of the profpeft raund the fhip was exhilcratin^; and as the weather grew better, and the fea lefš furious, the fenfes of the people returned, and the general ftupefačtion began to dei 1 creafe. The weather continuing to clear up, we in fome time difcovcred breakers and large rocks without fide of us ; fo that it appeared we muft have paffed quite clofe to them, and were now fairly hemmed in between them and the land. In this, very critical junfture, the Captain, entirely contrary to-my opinion, adopted the dungerous refolution of letting go an anchor^ to bring her up with her head to the fea : But, though no fea.-man, my common fenle told me that flie could never ride it out, but muft direčtlv go down. The event nearly juftified my judgment ; for {he had fbarcely been; at anchor before an enormous lea rolling over her, overwhelmed and filled her with water, and every every one ou board concluded that Ihe was certainfy finklng—TOn the inftaiit, a Lafcar, with a prefence of mind worthy au old EngUfli mariner, took au axe, ran forward, and cut the cable. On finding; herlelf free, the veflcl again floated, and made an effort to right hcrlelf; but Die was idmoft completely watei-logged, and hcekd to larboard lb much that the gunnel lay under water. Wc then endeavoured to fteer as fafi: as we could for the land, which we knew could not be at any great djftance, though we were unable to dilcover it through the liazy weather : the fore-fail was loofened; by great efforts in rolling, fhe righted a little, her gunnel was got above water, and we fcudded as well as we GiHiid before the wind, which ftill blew hard on flrore; and at about two o'clock the land appeared at a fmall diftance a liead. The love of life countervails all other conliderations in the mind of Man. The uncertainty we were under with regard to the fhore before us, which we had reafon to believe was part of Hyder Alli's dominions, where we Ihould meet with the moft rigorous treatment, if not ultimate death, was forgotten in the joyful hope of favlng hfe; and we fcudded towards the fhore in all the exulting tranfports of people jufl: fuatched from the jaws of death. This gleam of happinefs continued not long: a tremendou? fea rolling after us, broke over our ftern, tore every thing before it, ftove in the ftecrage, carried away the rudder, fliivered the wheel to pieces, aiid tore up the very ring-bolts of the deck—conveyed. veyed the men who ftood at the wheel forward, and fwept them overboard. I was ftaiidhig, at the time, near the wheel, and fortunately had hold of the taffarel, which enabled me to refift in part the weight of the wave, I was, however, Iwept off my feet, and dafhed againfh the main-maft. The jerk from the taffarel, which I held very tenacioufly, feemed as if it would have diüocated my arms: however, it broke the impetus of my motion, and in all probability laved me from being dallied to pieces againft the maft. I floundered about in the water at the foot of the mall, till at length I got on ray feet, and leized a rope, which I held in a flatc of great embarralTment, dubious what I Ihould do to extricate my-felf. At this inftant I perceived that Mr. Hall had got upon the capftern, and was waving his hand to me to follow his example : this I wilhed to do, though it was an enterprife of fome riik and difficulty ; for. If I loft the hold I had, a fingle motion of the vef-fel, or a full wave, would certainly carry me overboard. I made a bold pufli, however, and fortunately accomplilhed it. Having attained this ftation, I could the better furvey the wreck, and faw that the water was nearly breail-higli on the quarter-deck, (for the vefTel was deep-waiftcd) ; and I perceived the unfortunate EnglilTi Puffer {landing where the water was moft lhallow, as if watching with patient expc£lation its rifing, and awaiting death ; I called to him to come to us, but he Ihook his head in defpair, and faid, in a lamentable tone, " It is all over with us! God have mercy upon us us!"---theii feated himfelf with feeming compofure on a chair which happened to be rolling about iu the wreck of the deck, and in a few minutes afterwards was wafhed into the lea along with it, where he was fpeedily releafed from a ftatc ten thoufiind times worfe than death, n During this univerfal wreck of things, the horror I was in could not prevent me from obferving a very curious circuraftance, wbicii at any other time would have excited laughter, though now it produced no other emotion than furprile—We happened to be in part laden with mangoes, of wliich the ifland of Goa is known to produce the fineft in the world; fome of them lay in baikets on the poop I a little black boy, in the moment of greateft danger, had got feated by them, devouring them voracioufiy, and crying all the time mofl bitterly at the horrors of his lituation ! The veffel now got completely water-logged; and Mr. Hall and I were employed in forming ccjnjedtural calculations how many minutes (he could keep above water, and confoling one another on the unfortunate circumftances under which we met— lamenting that fate had thus brought us acquainted only to make us witncfles of each other's, mifery, and then to fee one anotlifr no more. As the larboard fide of the ve/Tel was gradually going down, the deck, and of courfe the capflern, became too nearly perpendicular for us to continue on it: we therefore forefaw the neceflity of quitting it, and got upon the ftarboard fide, holding faft by the gunnel^ Tftcl, ancl allowing our bodies and legs to yield to the fca as it broke over-us. Thus we continued for fonie time: at length the feverity of the labour fo entirely exhauftedour ftrength and Ipirits, that our bc-fl: hope fecmed to a fpeedy conckifion to our painful death; and we began to have ferious intentions of letting go our hold, and yielding ourfelves up at once to the fury of the waves. The veffel, which all this time drifted with the fea and wind, gradually approX-rmated the fliore, and at length ftruck the ground, which for an inftant revived our almoft departed hopes; but we loon found that It did not in the fmalleft degree better our fitua-tion—Again I begati to yield to utter defpair—again 1 thought of letting go my hold, and fmking at once : It is impoflible, thought I, ever to efcape—-why, then, prolong, for a few minutes, a painful cxiftence that mu-fl: at laft be given up ? Yet, yet, the all-fubduing love of life fuggefted, that many things apparently impoflible had come to pafs; and I faid to mylelf, If life is to be loft, why not lofe it in a glorious ftruggle ? Should I llirvive it by accident, life will be rendered doubly fweet toane, and I ftill more worthy of it by perfevering fortitude. While I was employed In this train of refiečlion, I perceived fome of the people collefting together, talking, and holding a confultation—It immediately .occurred to me, that they were de-vlfing fome plan for efcaping from the wreck, and getting on Ihore: and, lb natural is it for Man to cling to his fellow-creature for fupport in difficult or dangerous exigences, I propofed to Mr. Mr- Hall to join them, and take a fiiare in the execution of the plan—obferving to him at the fame time, that I was determined at all events to quit the veflel, and truft to the proteäion aiid guidance of a (liperintending Provideuee for the reft. LETTER XL VI. i ■ ■ . ' / k ■ ■ ' ;) As prodigality of life is, in fome cafes, the'excefs of virtue and courage—fo there are others in which it is vice* mean-nefs and cowardice. True courage is, according to the circum-ftances under which it is to operate, as rigidly tenacious and vigilant of life in one cafe, as it is indifferent and regardlefs in ano. ther; and I think it is a very ftrange contradit qualities of.the miijd and body, aiid. depend upon the exercife gf entirely ditferent functions ? Be that as it tnay, 1 argued \yith myfelf, iu the heiglit of my calamitoiis fituation, upon the fubječi of fortitude and dejpčlipn, courage and cowardice ; and, notwithflanding the ferious afpečl of affairs, found myfelf liftening to the fuggefhions of pride: What a paltry thing to yield, while ftrength is left to ftruggle ! Vanity hcr-felf had her hint, and whiipered, " Should I efcape by an effort of my own, what a glorious theme of exultation!" There were, I confefs, tranlTtory images in my mind, which, co-operating with the natural attachment to felf-p/efervatjon, made me perfevere, and refolve to do foj while one yeftige of hope was left for the piind tp dwe^l pn. Qbferving, as I told you before, the peogk j^oniulting together, and refolving to join them, 1 m^de an effort to get tg the lee ihrouds, where, tljey were fta^iding,, or. rathqr elingipg; b}it before I could aecompUfli it, 1 loft my h^ld, fell dDW4i,t]3e hatcli-way (the gratings haying been cafrie^i aw^y wifh the Ipng-bf^), and was. for fome minutes enta^glpd there a^p^gfl a Ja^p of packages, which the violent fluäuations of the w^ter l^d cpl^et^^ on the lee fide. As the veflel moved with the fea, and ^ w^ater flowed in, the packages and I were rolled together—fom^lfimes one, fomctimes another, uppermoft; fo that I began to be appre-henfive I Ihould not be able to extricate tnyfelf: by the mereft accident, however, I grafped fbmething that laj^ in my way» made a vigorous fpring, and gained the lee Ihrouds. Mr. Hali-* who, who followed me, in feiziilg the fhrouds, came thump agaiiift mc with fuch violence that I could fcarcely retain my hold of the rigging. Compelled by the perilous fituation in which I flood, I called out to him for God's fake to keep off» for that I was rendered quite breathlefs and worn out: he generoufly endeavoured to make way for me, and, in doing fo, unfortunately loft his hold, and went down under the fhip's fide. Never, never fliall I forget my fenlätions at this melancholy incident—I would' have given millions of worlds that I could have recalled the words which made him move; my mind was wound up to the laft pitch of an-guilh: I may truly fay, that this was the moft bitter of all the bitter moments of my life, compared with which the other cir-cumftances of the fliipwreck feemed leflencd—for I had infenfibly acquired an unufual efteem' and warm attachment for him, and was doubtful whether, after being even the innocent occalion of his falling,'I ought to take further pains to preferve my own life. All thofe fenfations were pafling with the rapidity of lightning through my thoughts, when, as much to my aftonifhment as to my joy, I' faw him borne by a returning wave, and thrown among the very packages from which I Had but juft before, with fuch labour and difficulty, extricated myfelf—In the end he proved equally fortunate, but after a much longer and harder ftruggle, and after fuf-taining much more injuiy.' I once more changed tny ftation, and made my way to the' poop, where I found myfelf rather more fhcltered—I earneflly D 2 wilhed wHhed Mr. Hall to be with me, whatever might be my ultimate fete—and beckoned to him to come to me ; but he only anfwered by^lhaking his head, in a feeble, dcfponding manner-—flaring at the iiime time wildly about him: even his fpirit was fubdued; and delpair, I perceived, had begun to take pofTeßion of his mind. ; Being a little more at eafc in my new ftation than I had been before, I had more time to deliberate, and more power to judge.. I redoUečted, that, according to the courfe of time, the day was^ far gone, and the night quickly approaching: I reflečted^ that for any enterpriae whatfoever, day was much preferable to night r and above all I coniidered, that the vcffcl could'not hold long to-_ gether—I therefore thought, that the beft mode 1, could adopt would be, to take to the water with the firft boyaiit thing I could {be ; ajid, as the wind and water both feemed to run to the fliorc, to take my chance in that way of reaching it. In. purfuance of this refolution, I tore off my ihlrt, having before that thiwn off tlie other parts of my drefs—I looked at my fleeve buttons, in which was fet the hair of my departed children—and, by an involuntary, ačt of the imagination, alked mylelf the queftipn, " Sliall I be happy enough to meet them where I am now about to go ?—fliall thofe dear laft remains, too, become a prey to the devouring deep In that inftant, reafon, fufpended. by the horrors of the fcene, gave way to inftinfl; and 1 rolled my fhirt up, and very carefully thruft it into a hole between decks, with the wild, hopes that the fkevc buttons mi^ht yet efcapc untouched. Watching my opportunity. tunity, 1 iaw a log of wood floating near the veflel, and, waving my hand to Mr. Hall as a laft adieu, jumped after it. tlere, again, I was doomed to aggravated hardfliips—I had fcarcely touched the log when a great fea fhatclicd it from my hold ; ftill as it came near me, I grafped at it ineffcdually, till at laft it was completely carried away, but not before it had cut and battered and bruifed me in feveral places, and in a manner that at aay other time I fhould have thought» dreadful. Death (eemed inevitable; and all that occurred to me now to do, was to accelerate itj and get out of its pangs as fpeedily as poflible; for, though I knew how to fwim, the tremendous furf rendered fwimming ufclefs, and all hope from it would have been ridiculous. I therefore began to fwallow as much water as poflible ; yet, flill rifmg by the boyant principle of the waves to the furface, my former thoughts began to recur ; and whether it was that, or natural inftinfV, which furvived the temporary impreflions of defpair,, I know not—but I endeavoured to fwim, which 1 had not done long, when I again difcovered the log of wood I had loft floating near me, and with fome difficulty caught it: hardly had it been an inftant ia my hands, when, by the fame unlucky means, I loll: it again- lhad often heard it faid in Scotland, that if a man will throw himfelf flat on his back in the water, lie quite ftraight and ftiff, and fuffer himfelf to fink till the water gets into his ears, he will continue to float ib for ever: this occurred to me now, and I determined to try the experiment; , „ f" fo T threw myfelf on my back in the manner I have defcribed, and left myfelf to the difppfal of Providence; nor was I long till 1 found the truth oftthe fayiiig—for I floated with hardly an effort, and began for the firfl: time to conceive foinething like hopes of prefervation. ' After lying in this manner, committed to the difcretion of the tides, I foon iaw the vcffeU^-fawthaft it was at a confiderable dif-tance behind me. Llvelieft hope began to'play about my heart, and joy fluttered with a thoufand gay fencies ■ in my mind: I began to form the favourable conclufion, i that the tide was carrying me rapidly to laiKl from the veffel^ and that! 1 fliould fooii'once more touch terra ßrma. This expefiation was a cordial that revived tny exhaufted fpi-rits : 1 took courage, and left myfelf ftill to the fame all-direčling Power that had hitherto preferved me, fcarcely^ doubting that I fhould foon reach the land. Nor was I miftaken; for, in a fliort time more, without effort or exertion, and without once turning from off my back, 1 found myfelf ftrike againft the fandy beach. Overjoyed, as you may well fuppofe, to the higheft pitch of tranfport at my providential deliverance, I made a convulfivc fpring,' and ran up a little diftance on the fliore; but was fo weak and worn down by fatigue, and fo unable to clear my ftomach of the fait "water with which it was loaded, that I fuddenly grew deadly fick, ^nd apprehended that I had only exchanged one death for another; and in a minute or two fainted away. LETTER XLVII. ,1 I That admirattle man, and fag^cious penetrating philo-lopher. Dr. Frank^-JN» has left us, among innumerable inftruc-tions for the conjlu^: of human life,,,and for remedying many of the grievances of it, dire^tioii.^ for goii^ a voyage at fca, and has particularly enforced tl^e folly of quitting Ihips liaftily, and yielding one's felf up,ftp defpajr. I am convinced, that nine tenths of the people wlio perißi by ftipwrecH, pqrifli from the want of prefence of tniud, fUid fufEcient fortitude to bear them out. The unhappy Purfcr, who fat deliberately in a chair, and fuffered himfelf, withaut a ftruggle, to be carried overboard, is an in-ftance in point. The feeble eopdin^i of the Captain and Crew is another. Had he, inikad of tearing his hair, raving, iind aäing the part of a bedlamite, «icovraged his me«, a»d taken vigorous meafijres in time; and badf tlaey, inf];cad of whimpering prayers on their knees, and I whipping t heir inaag^s, made all clear, ■ and' prepared for the worft; in iliojrt, had they, according to the tao-Fal of the old fable, p^t their ftiouilder to tlie wJicel, inftead of calling on Hercules, it is not impolfible but the vclTel might have bee^i iiived. As As for my part, the joy of efcaping immediate death made me blind to the other miferies of my fituatioa. Naked, moneylefs and friendlefs, upon an unknown, and probably inhofpitable coafl, what reafonable caule had I to rejoice ? Perhaps the reverfe. But that rcmahis to be feen. How long 1 continued in the fwoon into which I had fallen, 't is impoinble for me to tell; but, when I recovered, I found my-felf furrounded by a guard of armed foldiers, fepoys, and pikemen. I knew them immediately to be the troops of Hyder Alli, and almoft wiHied myfelf back into the waves again. Looking round, I faw that the people and efFeiSts that had been faved from the wreck were coUefted all together along with me. In this ftate we remained till it was dark. A Lafcar * belonging to the veffel, perceiving that my nakednefs gave me great concern, tore into two a piece of cloth which he had tied round his waift, and gave me one part of it, which afforded a fhort apron. This fimple ačl of a poor, uninformed black man, whom Chriftian charity >vould call an idolator, methought had more of the true and eflential fpirit of charity in it, than half the oftentatious, parading newfpaper public charitie« of London—the flough of purfe-proud vanity, and unwieldy bloated wealth. Of all the acts of beneficence that I ever met with, it ftruck me the moft forcibly : it had kindnefs, difintereftednefs and delicacy for it? bafis; and I have v never * Natives of India, employed fometimes as failors, fomctimcs for inferior offices in the army, fuch as pitching tents, drawing güns, &c. never fincc thoughtf-ofr if without wifliing Jthat I could meet the man,' to. reward him for his beneficence with a fubfiftence for life. The lower ,order;jof people of a ccrtain Country, I know. Would think a man in fuch circumftances as 1 was then in, a fitter ob-ječliof plealiintry than pity. ■■ . ' i :ü . The väft «quantity of fait water I had fwallowcd, fti^ n\a4c me deadly fick in the ftonnach: however, after, fome t;irtie,. threWi'it up, and got great relief, I had hardly felt the comfortable efFečls of this, before I was ordered to march : nine of us, all Lafcars except myfelf, were conveycd to a village at a few miles; diftance on the fea-fide,.-where we „were for tho night put Unto a fquare place,f walled i'ound, open to the inclemency of the weather alxjve and below, ai;d filled with large logs of wood ; it blew>iti?>ftr violently, and the raiiliif fell i" torrents—wl^ilf ^not one fmooth plank could )be found on which to ftretdi'our fatigued andiWüfted bodies.;I Thus,'naked, fick, ['exhauftetj with'fatigue and failing» drenched with wet, and unable to lieafcars then along witli me were all that were fa ved from the wredc ^ and he ^vas, at the time I parted from him, fo exhaufted botli iubody and mind, that i thought he would be the laft who could efcape, lie, however, E 12 (hook llioök'iifie^by the hanJ ^'antl, liÄlng tFownv^-'toM me' tliut lie hatl ^tVeH» irlfe up for'ioft'' aiid remained "with^ the-tieftet-'until tliefide, hävifi^ ebbed, lef! her ''alhi(jfl;'(rr^--ihat, immediately oii'getting aflioi'e,''and' being taken prifoner, lie made inquiries Jaboiit'mei dj^ I^aM^hit I hatl'been'-iä)väd»---tliat,t;iibc<-{ino» j-smxI Lo-"^ a djidw uo-^ v ::'..' " 'O ; ■ jii ■■/■v.ir ' lo ,jiwJlni , uij -i, rm un f'- a« [ j:iir> ■ - Vfil '^f^Oiji; V-J <■ v>/i"' t:. . n :;i/n .;rt V'j , ' " ""if!^ ' ' ■ \ r -:, : r : -tiJ .--ri ^ vih . E T t'E K' o'.ail LETTER XLVIIL Yo ü R Letter, occafioned, by the accouiit of my fliip. wreclc and fubfequent difafter, gave me, my amiable boy! as great pleafure as thofe dlfafters gave me pain- Your account, too, of John's burfting into tears on the reading of it to him, had almoft a fimilar effe6t upon myfelf: and I truft in the Almighty Dilpofer of Events, that that excellent turn of mind will be lb fafhioned by the education I give you, as to make it the fource of boundlefs gratification and true greatnefs (by which I mean good-nefs) here, and of never-fading felicity hereafter. You fay you cannot account for it^ but jou found more happinefs at my efcape, than raifery at my misfortunet, I hail that circumlliance as the ftrongeft mark of perfeft excellence of dilpofition. A great Moral Philofopher has laid it down as a maxim, that it is the furer mark of a good heart to fympathife with joy than with forrow; and this ioftance only comes in aid of that opinion of you which my ^bnd hopes have always nouriflied. At the fame time I muft declare to you, that my pleafure at «leaping fliipwreck was by no means as gieat as the agony my mind underwxjftt at the profpečt now before me was poignant. I hav« have already Hiid, and indeed with truth,' that I iliould have Witli much greater pleafure embraced death: I, who had been already fome years in India, and had opportunities of hearing, as weil from my Father as from other 'Officers in the Service, what the diljpofitioii of the-Tyrant in whofe power 1 had now fallen was, knew- too well the horrors of my fituation to feel any thing like. hope. The unmerciful difpofitioni of Hyder,' and allthofe in authority under him, and the cruel policy of the Eailern Chiefs, making the life of any one, particularly a Britifh prifoner, at the befl: a precarious tenure,, I did not know the moment when death might be infličted upon me with perhaps a thoufand'aggravating circumftances: and at allv events, the affairs which demanded my prefence in India fo very importunately as to'urge me to all the fatigues and hardfhips of apaflage over land, were, of themfelves, fufficient to make my mJnd.uneafy;: but the abječl ftate of want and nakednefs In which it Teemed I was likely to remain, Aruck a deep and damp horror to my heart,, and almoft unman'd me.. t I Mr.. Hall and I,- however, endeavoured with all our' mighc to jftem the headlong torrent of our fate—Melancholy preyed deeply and openly upon him, while I concealed mine, and endeavoured to cheer the finking fpirits of that noble youth, who, I perceived,, was the prey rather of esttreme fenfibility than feeble- ^efs of mind. All the horrors of fhivering nakedncfs, though, to , » ^ mind delicate like his, alnd a perfon reared in the lap of luxury',^ ^ifficiently goading, appeared as nothing when compared with one ioü lofs he liatl iufluiiietl ^iu thp depredations with \\'hicli fhipwreck coiiftantlyjfollowed up.^ Ip. the cruel fiifpenfe between life and death, \vliich|I have already defcribed, previous to my getting on ihorc, this amiable y.ouns man had lecurcd and treaf^ired next bi^ Ji . : .1 . ^ ' ' ® "'-iji' _ IIJ heart, as the.infeparabl^ companion of his fate, amiiiiature portrait 1. ' • ^ ; I' of a yoiing^Lady : it hung round his neck, and was, by the unfeel-iiio- villains who „feizcd him on his landin^j, taken awav. This , o . 1 Ii . I ' IL- ° } I i ' ! ij: ■ cruel deprivation was an- inceflant corrofive to hLs mind—the ,co- . - ^ - -.t , , ■ - pious iource of anguifh to his heart—the hourly theme of the mofl pathetic, affli^ins exclamations. " Had I," he would ,cfv, f / 'M Ö u-j i__________M • »r ■ , . 1 " oh L had I had but the good fortune to have gone to the bottom while yet it hunw about mv neck, I fliould have been happy : but ■ 'J.' '0 ,, J.. , . ^ ^^ 1 , .. rw,, llow, fe^arated from the heavenly original, and bereft of the pre-gious imai^e, Vk'hat-is life? what would be life were" I yet furc of It ? What pleaiurc, ^^'hat common content, has the world left for ■ v.. ■ 1» _ :.■/: 1 •"I:- . i 'J . .Uiitt: me ? None—oh ! none, none ! Never Ihall this heart a^aiu knovv ■ . . .'i i ■ -j ■ il . . comfort!" , , I did every thing I could to confple him, and, as far as I could, prevent l:um from dwelling 911 thotjb,gloomy fubječts. Our con-yerfations were, interjefting and pathetic;, but, alas! the picture, at e^yery paufe, chafed a^iay the flight impr^flions pf the preceding converfe: no ijjfFerings of the body could couu|;crvail that lofs—no confolation mitigate it; and amidrt the horrid reflexions w^ich unparalleled calamity impofed upon his mind, the lofs of that .. ■ . one one dear relic rofe paramount to all—and as every thought began, fo it ended, with the pičiurc. For foine days wc lay in this place, cxpofed to the weather, without even the (lender comfort of a little ftraw to cover the ground beneath us—our food, boiled rice, ferved very fparhigly twicc a-day by an old woman, who juft threw a handful or more of it to (cach upon a very dirty hoard, which we devoured with thofe fpoons Nature gave us. At the end of that time, wc, and, along with us, the Laf-cars, were ordered to procecd into the country, and drove on foot to a confiderable diftance, in order to render up an account of our-felves to pcrfoiis belonging to Government, authorifed to take it. It was advanced in the.morning when we moved, without receiv-iiig any fort of fullenance ; and were marched in that wafting dingte eight hours, without breaking our faft; during which time we were expofed alternately to the fcorching heat of the fun and licavy torrents of rain, which raifed painful blifters on our Ikin : we had often to ftand expoled to the weather, or to lie down, \uider the prelTure of fatigue and weaknefs, on the bare ground ; then wait an hour, or more, at the door of fome infolent, unfceN ing; monfter, until he finifhed hL^ dinner, or took his afternoon,'« O ' nap 5 and when this was over, drove forward with wanton barbarity by the people who attended us. You, my Frederick! who only know the mild and merciful diipofition of the People of Great Britain, where govern- F nient, ment, religion, and long habit, have reduced charity and benevolence fo completely to a fyftem that they feem to 'be innate principles of the mind, can have no conception of a People who will not only look upon the worft human affličlions with indifference, but take a favage delight in the raileries of their fellow-creatures, even where no poffible advantage can be reaped from their inhumanity, and where the only reward they can propofe to themfelves for their cruelty is the pleafure of contemplating humaa fufFer-ings. Such, fbrry am I to fay it, is the difpofition of fome parts of the Eaft: Indies that I have been in ; and although thofe parts under the dominion of Great Britain owe their emauclpation from the mofl: galling yokes to the Englifh—and: though, under their aufpices, they live in a ftate of greater happineiš than ever they did, and greater freedom even than Britons themfelves—yet fuch is the wicked ingratitude of many of them, fuch the inflexible animofity arifing from a contradi61ory religion, that the. death or fuffering of an Englifhman, or any misfortune that may befal him, often ferves only as matter of fport or amufement to them. It would be well if it refted there—but unfortunately they are worfe again ; for in general they have the like coldnefs and indifference^, or indeed, to fpeak more properly, the like averfion,. to each-other's good ; and the fame diabolical principles of felfifhnefs and treachery pervade the greater number in thofe vaA regions, a]moft> boundlefs in extent, and almoft matchlefs In fertility. Two- Two days after this, we were, , moved again, and marched up the country by a long and circuitous route, in which wc underwent every hardlTiip that cruelty could infličt, or human fortitude endure—now bliftered with the heat, now drenched with the rain, and now chilled with the night damps—deftitute of any place but the bare earth to reft or lay our heads on, with only a fcanty pittance of boiled rice for our fupport—often without water to quench our thirft, and conftantly goaded by the guards, who pricked us with their bayonets every now and then, at once to evince their power, entertain the fpečiators, and mortify us. We arrived at Jlydernagur, the metropolis of the province of Biddanore—a fort of confiderable ftrcngth, mounting upwards of feventy guns, con^ taining a large garrifon of men, and poffcfled of immenfe wealth, -j It was about two o'clock in the morning when we arrived at Kiddanore: the day was extremely hot, and we ;yi'erc kept put under the full heat of that broiling fun till fix o'clock in the e\ cn-ing, before we were admitted to an audience of the Jemadar, oj Governor of the place, without having a mouthful of vičhials offered tons after the fatiguing march of the morning. While we ftood in this forlorn ftate, a vaft concourfe of people collected about, and viewed us with curiolity. lyooking round through thole who ftood neareft, I obferved fome men gazing at me with ftrong marks of emotion, and a mixture of wonder and concern pourtrayed in their countenances. Surprifed to fee fuclx lymptoms of humanity in a Myloriaii Indian, I looked at them F 2 with with'"more fcrutinizlng attention, and thought that their faces "were' familiar to me. Catching my eye, they looked at me fig-liihcantly, as though they would exprefs their regard and' refpečl for- me, if they dared; and I then began to recollečt that they were formerly privates in my regiment of cavalry, and were then ■prifoners at large with Hyder. • I was not lefš furprifed that thofc poor fellows fhould recog-nife me in my prefent mlferable fallen ftate, than aFcdted at the ■fympathetic feeling they difclofed. I returned their look with a private nod of recognition; but,- feeing that they were afraid to fpeak to me, and fearing I might injure them by dilcloiing pur acquaintance, I forbore any thing more.' The gxiiky fouls of def-potlc Governments are perpetually alive- to fufpicion : every look alarms them ; and alarm or fufpicion never fails to be followed up with profcription or death. ' ., : i Meii, when in the fullnefs of power and pride of office, very feldom give themfelves time to refleft upon the inftability of human greatnefs, and the uncertainty of earthly contingencies, \V!ien, inveftcd with nil tlic trappings of authority, I commaitded the regiment to which thofe poor fellows belonged, I would have tliought that he fpoke wildly indeed who would have alledged that it was poflible I could ever become an obje<5l of their pity-that I fhould ftand naked and degraded before them, and they be afraid to acknowledge me: but, though I fiiould have thought fo then, it was yet fomc comfort to me, when that unfortunate event event did come to pafs, to reflect, that, when in power, I made fuch ufe of it as to excite emotions in their bofoms of affeäion and relpečt. Did the tyrant and overbearing infolent Chiefs con-fider this, and govern themfelves by its inftručtlons, they would go into the field with the confoling reflection, that no gum,would be .levelled at their head except that of the common enemy—a thing that does not always happen. LETTER XUX. Had we been niade prifoners of war in battle againfl an enemy, there is no law of Nature or Nations, no rule of reafun or principle of equity, that could palliate fuch treatment as that '\\-hich we now received: but, caft by misfortune and fhipwrcck on their fliore, we we're entitled to fulace and protečlion. The worft wretches who hang out falfe beacons on the W'cftern Coaftt; of England, to allure fliips to their dcüruClion, would not be cruel without temptation; and, if they did not cxpe6l to gain f<)mc profit by it, would rather decline knocking tlieir fellow-creatures in the head: but thofe barbarians, without any profit but what a malignant heart derives from the mifertes of others, or any plcafure but 1)\jt what proceetls from their pain, exerciicd upon us the moft wanton cruelty. Compared with fuch treatment, iiiftaat death would have been an ačl: of mercy to us ; and we fhould have had rcafoii to blefi the hand that infličtetl it. Mortifications of one fort or other—the inceffent torturing of the mind on the rack of fufpenre—the injuries to the animal fyftem, occafioncd by conftant expofure to the weather, and the want of food—all confpired to reduce me to the dimenfioiis and feeblenefs of a Ikelcton. I had grown daily weaker and weaker, and was now nearly exhaufted, and quite faint; while, on the other hand, my amiable companion in affličtion was reduced by a dyfentery, which attacked him foon after our fliipwreck, and which the torments of his mind, the want of medicine and comfortable food, and, above all, the alternate violent changes from profufe perfpiration in \valking to chilling cold at night, had increaled to fuch an alarming degree, that he was obliged to be carried the two laft days journey: —In this ftate, we appeared to each other as two fpečtres hanging over the brink of the grave : and in truth, perceiving the rapid progrefs he was making to his diflblution, I was affefted to a degree, that, while it really exafperated my own worn-down ftate, deprived me of all attention to the rapid decline I was falling into, and almoft entirely engroffed my care. In my progrefs through life, I have had occafion to try feveral men, and have found among them many who were every thing that a good heart could wifh to find: but this young Gentleman had at once lb much fuavity and and rpirit—fuch gentlcnefa and fortitude—hia fuffcrings (tliofe of his mind, as well as thofe of his body) were fo exquifite, and he bore them with fuch meeknefs, tempered by fuch uninterrupted good humour, and concealed and managed with fo much delicacy, that I do not tranfgrefs the bounds of truth when I iky I never met one who fo entirely interefted my feelings, and attached my friend-fliip fo unalterably, upon principles of inftindive impulfe, as well as reafon. Impelled by the irrefiftible claims he had upon my approbation and efteem, I entered with all the warmth of a brother into his fuffcrings, and can aflert with truth that they confti-tuted the fevereft trials I underwent during my whole imprifon-rnent». While we ftood in the court, waiting to be brought before the Jemadar, we prefented a Ipeflacle that would have wrung pity, one would think, from the heart of a tiger, if a tiger was endued with refleftion. At length we were fummoned to appear before him, and brought into his prefence. I had made up my mind for the occafion—dfetermincd to. ^leport myfelf in a manly, candid maimer—and to letno confideration whatfoever lead me to any thing difgraceful to my real character, or unworthy my fituation in life ; and, finally, had prepared myfelf to meet, without ihrinking, whatever misfortunes might yet be in flore for me, or whatever «ruelties the barbarous dilpofition on wicked policy of the Tyrant might think proper to infllÖ. Oiv Oll entering, wc found the Jemadar in full Durbar.* He was tlicn occupied with the reading of dilpatches, and in tranlačling other public bufniefs. We were placed diredly oppofite to him, where we flood for near an hour, during which time he never caft hii eyes towards us; but when at lall: he had concluded the bufmefs in Avhich he was engaged, and deigned to look at us, we were ordered to proftnite ourielves before him : tliC Lafcars immediately obeyed the order, and threw themfelves on the ground ; but I contented myfelf with making a falam, in wliich poor Mr. Hall, who knew not the Eaftern manner as I did, followed my example. As foon as this ceremony was over, the Jemadar (who was no other man than the fiimous Hyat Sahib that has made Ibmc noife in the hiftory of that war) began to queftion me. He defired to know, who I was ?—what my profefiion was ?—what was the caufe and manner of my approaching the country of Hyder Alli ?—To all thofe queftions 1 gave anfwers that Teemed to lii-tisfy him. He then afked me, what ne^vs I had brought M'ith me from Europe ?—inquired into the f^ate of the army, and number of recruits difpatched in the ihips of that feafon—was minute and circumftantial in his queflions reipefiing the nature and lliccels of the war in Europe—and examined me clolely, touching the re-Iburces of the Eaft India Company. I faw his drift, and was cautious and circumipečl in my anfwers, and at the finne time contrived • Court. aoi^trived to Tpcak w.il;l>.aa air (of candour that 141 foinc Tort fatis-, /ied hinitj ! .An awü i tr':-iij:! i.- , jJl JavUig «3fhiuifl-ed^ hi? whob, jS^rVig of qiiefUqns, he difGourfe tD aiiothfCr fubjefl—110 .leiä than-hii. gre^t and puiflä^t l;ord aßd Mafter, li.vDC-R, o^^ whom he had endeavoured to jra-, preis me with a great,, if not t^r^ible idea—amplifying his power, hi? vi^aUh», ^uid the.,?xteut arfi^ opulcace of )iis domimons--'.anfl deftribitig to mei, "in the mofl; exaggerated terms, the nuoibefj of his troops—his military talents-his,. vaft, a;id, accordmg to Ipäü; account, unrivalled genius—^h« amazing abilities in conqu^r^ig and governing Nations~*and, j above all, his many amiable qualities, and fplendid endowment? of heart, no Icfs than underhand-ing. : . tf' ,.)ij; ■■•• ■■ „ , , Having thus, with.equal Zeab^id fidelity, endeavoured to im-prefs mc with veneration for Iiis Lord and Marter, and for that pur. pofe attributed to him every perfečHon tliat may be fuppofed to be-divided among all the Kings and Generals that have lived fiuce tlk--birthof Christ, and given each their due, he turned to the Englilh Government, and endeavoured to demonftratc to me the folly amt inutility of our attempting to refift his progrefš,^ which he con-pared to that of the fea, to a tempefl, to a torrent, to a lion's pace' and fury—to everything that anEaftern imagination could fuggeft as a figure proper to exemplify grandeur and irrefiftible power. He then vaunted of his Sovereign's fuccefles over the Englilh, fomo of which I had not heard of before, and did not believe; and conG eluded ckded by aflliring me, that it was Hyder's determination to drive all Europeans from Indoftan, which he averred he could not fail to do/confidering the weaknefs of the one, and boundlcfs ptower of the other, ' This part of Hyat Sahib's difcourfe is well worth your remembering, as it will ferve to make a very diverting contrail with his fubfequent conduit. '" After having ejtpended near half an hour in this manner, he called upon me to come over near him, and caiiled me to feat my-felf irpöii a mat with af pillow to lean upon—^encouraged me, by every'means he couM,''by the mofl: gentle accents, and the moft Toothing,' mollifying language,J to fpeak to bin:i! without the leaft relerve—exhorted mö to tell him the trvith in every thing we Ipoke of—and hinted to me, that my falling into his hands might turn'out the moft fortunate' event of my life. I was at a lofs to what motive to attribute all thofe fmgular marks of indulgence; but found that he had learned whofö.Jon I wds, and knew my father by reput^ition from the prifoiK-rs,' our Sepoys, who- were now prifoners at large here i and as^ rank 'and office are the chief reccMnmendation in the EafV, as well as-elfe-wherc,'or rather much more than any where elfe, the fagacious Hyat Sahib found many claims to efteem and humanity in me as thel()nof a Colonel Campbell, which he never would have found in me hat] I been the ton of a plain humble farmcror tradesman in Rnglawd. . ■ " ; " After -After, a full hour's audicuce, in whlph Hyat Sahib treated • me with,diltiaguilhejd marks of^ his favour, confidering mj fitua-tion,- he dilmitfeid me with the ceremony of,beetle-nut^* rofe-^w^-..tcf, and other compliments, which are in that cquntr)^ ^Id as tl>e . ftrougeft marks of politencfs, refpeä, and good-will. Leaving the Durbar, I was led to the innpr fort or citadel: and the officious zeal of thole about me, unwilling to let me. remain ignorant of that whiqh they conceived to be a moll fortunate turn in my ,affairs, gave the coup de grace to my miferies as I went along, by congratulating me on the favourable opinion which the-Jemadar had formed of me, and intimating at the fame time that „1 would foon be honoured with a relpečtable command in Hydek's fervice. ,'7 i ■ If I was miferable before, this intimation entirely deftroyed the laft renniant of peace or hope. 1 was determined to die a thoufand deaths fooner than ferve any State hoftile to Great Britain—but ftill more a Tyrant, whofe country, nature and principles I detefted, and could never think of without the greateft horror; and I judged, that if fuch an otFer Ihould be made, and 1 refufed it, my life would fall a lacrifice to their j'age and dilkp-pointment, or at leaft I iKould live a life of imprifomnent, and never more behold country, family, friends^ conneČtions, or any thing that I valued in life. G 2 , That ■* An aromatic nut which the Eaü Indians chew ; it is warm and aftrinscnt, and confidcrcd by thtin a great reftorativc. ' That night the Jemadar fent me an excellent fupper, of not "leß than fix diihcs, from his own table ; and although I had been fo long famifhing with the want of wholefome food,' the idea of Ijeing enlifted in the fcrvice of Hyder ftrnck me with fuch horror, that I loft all appetite, and was fcarcely able to eat a mouthful. Mr. Hall and I, however, were feparated from the Lafcars, who were releafed, and forced to work. Notwithftanding the favourable intentions manifefted towards me by the Jemadar, as 1 have already mentioned, no mark of it whatfoever appeared in our lodging. This confifted of a fmall place, exadly the fize of our length and breadth, in the zig-zag of one of the gates of the citadel: it was open in front, but covered with a kind of a fhed on the top; and a mimber of other prifbners were about us : each of tis was allowed a mat and pillow, and this formed the whole of our local accommodations. Upon my remarking it, we were told, that in conformity to the cuftom of the Circar,* we mufl: be treated fo for Ibmc tlnic, but that our accommodations would afterwards be extended, aiVd made more agreeable to our wiflies: even tliid was better "than our litu-ation fince we landed. ' ' ' In addition to this luxury, we were allowed to thfe value of four pence halfpenny a day for our maintenance and a gtiard of Sepoys was put over us and a few more prifoners, one of v. horn was directed to go and purchafe our vičluals, and do fuch like offices for us. This * Country or Provliicr. This guard was changed every week—a ftrong mark of the iufpicious and wary tempers of thofe people, who could fear intrigues and cabals between wretched prifoners like us and their fol-■diers. ' ■ In two or three days after this, Hyat Sahib fent for me, treated me with great kindnefs, gave me feme tea, and furniihed mc with two or three fhirts, an old coat, and two pairs of breeches, which w pirci. pire. Hyat, he faid, was then only a bov of eleven or twelve years of age, of a mofi: promifing genius, and a quicknefs of mind unufually met with in one of thole tender vears. -Hyder, who was in all refpečls a man of uiirivafted' penetration, thought he law in the boy that which, if properly cultivated, would turn out of vaft life to a State; and as, in all Mahomedan Governmenti, uiicomwjrteii," ifolated boys, aft-tiraes flaVres, ^re bred up in the Seraglio toilicceedto the great offices of the Stivtd, Hyp er adopted tlie boyviliaä him niade a Mahon:iedaii, and, iu fadl, treated him as if he had been the ilTue of Iiis own loins, and brought him yp with all tlw; aiFeftion and tendernefs of a fond parent. I am the more particular in ftating this part of Hvat's hiftory to you, a^j fome refpeÄable Hiftorkns, deceived by erroneous report, have faid that hie was the illegitimate offspring of Hvder. Tiio Sultan, however, was not difappolnted in the expedations he bad formed ; for Hyat Sahib had,, in zeal, fidelity and attachment» Qs well as in intelledhial faculties and talents for governing, even furpaffed the warmeft hopes of his Marter. i Having given me this concife account of the Jemadar, he proceeded to inform me, that the Arcot Sepoys, whom I have before mentioned to you, had difcovered to Hyat Sahib who I was, given him a full account of my family, and informed him that I had commandedi a regiment of cavalry in the fervice of the Nabob of Arcot, together with a corps of infantry and artillery attached to it. In confequence of this report, Hyat Sahib, he faid, had interefted iiitercftcd hlmfelf very warmly in my favour, and exprefled an anxious dcfire to render me a fervice.. Thus far the difcourfe pleafed me." Nothing was faid ui it to give me alarm ; on the contrary, I indulged a hope, that, knowing my rank, and the rank of my father, he would- no longer entertain a hope of my entering into the fcrvice of Hyder, and» for the timer was to be imprifoncd, treat me with fuitable indulgence.. But ! fliittcred.myfclf too foon or, as the old faying-is, " reckoned-without my hoft.," When he had finifhed his hiftory of iHyat Sahib, which he overcharged with fulibms panegyric, he told mc, with a face full of that triumphant importance which one who thinks he is conferring a great favour generally affumes, that it. was. the intcntiou of Hyat Sahib, for and on behalf of his mailer the Sultan, to gi-^'c me the command of five thoufand meur—an offer which he ilippofed I could not think of declining, and therefore expečied no other anfwer but a profufion of thanks, and ftrong manifeflationa. of joy on my part. It is not poffible. for mc-to dcfcribe to you my dlfmay at this, formal propofal, or pourtray to you the various emotions that took, jjofleffton of my brcaft. Rcfentment had its (hare—-the pride of the Soldier, not unaccompanicd with the pride of B'amüy and Rank> while it urged me to fpurn from me fuch a bafe accommodation,, made me confider the offer as a great infult. I therefore paufed'a little, to fupprefs my feelings a:id then told him my firm refölu- II tion,, tion, never to accept of luch a propofal; and upon his exprefllng great aflonilhment at my declining a ilation ib fraught with advantage, 1 lal4 down, m the bail: manner Icon Id, my reafons; and I mufl: fay, that he liftened to all the objeftions 1 ftarted with great patience ; but, in the conclufion, faid he had little doubt of tinding means to overcome my reluiJitancel ' ' '<'■' He difmiffed me for the prefent,' and I returned to fny prifon, where I related to my companion, Mr. Hall, every thing that pafled between us: we canvalTed the matter fully; and he agreed with' me, that it was likely to turn out a moft dreadful and cruel perfecution. It was on this occafion that I firft felt the truth of the principle, that perfecutioii never fails to be fubveriive of its own end, and to promote that which it is intended to dcftroy. There is, in the human mind, an innate abhorrence of compulfion ; aiad perfecution always gives new ftrength and elafticity to the foul; and at lafl, when ftrained to its utmoft extent, makes Man fur-mount difficulties which at firft feem to be beyond the reach of humanity. Piqued by the idea of perfecution, I began to feel a degree of enthufiafm which I was before a ftranger to: I locked forward, with a kind of gloomy pleafure, to the miferies that brutal tyranny might infliČl upon me, even to death itfelf; and already began to indulge the exultation of martyrdom. " No," faid I, « my dear Hall ! never will I tarnifh the charaČler of a Britifh Soldier— never will I dilgrace my blood or my profeflion—never fhall an ad ačl of mine fully the pure fame of my revered Father—never fllall any fufFerings of mine, liowever poignant, or worldly advantage, however fedudlive, tempt me to do that which his noble spirit would regard with-horror or contempt.! I may, and I forefee I muft be miferabler; but i never will be bafe or degenerate !" Indeed, 1 had wrought mylelf up to tiich a pitch of firmnefs, that I am per-fuaded the moil exqiiifite and refined cruelties which the ingenuity-©f an Iroquois Indian could have inflifted on my body, would have been titterly incapable of bending the ftubborn temper of my mind; ■ • ■ The place in which we were lodged was fituated in a way not very flivourablc to our feelings. Juft within fight of it, the Commandant of the citadel held a Court—by him yclep'd a Court of Juftice---where themoft ihocking^ barbarous cruelties were hourly excrciled---moft of them- for the purpofe of extorting mon^y, and compelling the difcovery of hidden-, or fuppofitious hidden trea* fures. Indeed, fiv'€ fixths of thole who fuffered were of this de-Icription .; and the procefs purlued was as artful ää bal-barouS-: they firft began with earefles, then proceeded to examination and crofs-examination, thence to threats, thence to-punifhment, and, finally, to the moft cmel' tortures.. ■ '' " Direčlly oppofite to ys, was imprifoned an unfortunate per-fbn, who had for years been a clofe captive,'and the I'port artd' lubječl of thole enof niities. He was a man once of the highell:' rank in the Country where now he was a pri:fi)ner: for a ferie's of H 2 years ^ cars he had been Govenior and fole ]\T:inager of the whole province of Bidaiiore. This was during the reign of the laft Rana, or Q^ecn, whofe family had been Sovereigns of the Country for time immemorial, till HyueH made a conqucil of, and annexed it to his other -LifurpationS. Unfortunately for him, he was fuppofed to have atnafied and fecreted enormous treafures, in confequence of which he had already undergone the fiery ordeal of torture leve-ral times. He was fuppofed to have produced, from firft to laft, about fifteen lacks of pagodas; and then, in the courfe of eighteen months, was degraded gradually, from the high refpečl in which he was at firft held, dovtai to a moll abjeft ftate—threatened, flogged, puniftied in a variety of ways, fand, finally, put to the moft cruel tortures. I myfelf faw him treated with the highefl; degree of refpečt, and afterwards brought to the loweft ftage of mifery and humiliation. One thing, however, I muft not forget, is the fortitude with which he and all of them bore their punifh-ment: it was truly heroic—indeed, beyond all behef. Nothing could furpafs it, except the Ikill and inventive ingenuity which the barbarians exhibited in flriking out new modes of torture. My Ibul fickened with horror at the fight: the amiable Hall could worfe fupport it than his own miferies, and loft all that fortitude, in his feeling for others* misfortunes, which he difplayed in fo vmbounded a ihare in his own: and often, very often, we found the rigour and feverity of our own fituation utterly forgotten in our anguifh and fympathy for the fufferings of others. Never ihall I I forget it: never lhall I think without horror of the accurfcd policy and wicked'tyranny of the Eaftern Governments, where every ienle of humanity is extinguilhed, and Man, more mercilefs than the tiger, riots in the blood of his fellow-creatures without cairfe'. N Mr. Hall, notwithftanding the various fufferings both of miiid and body which: he had undergone,' began to recruit, and get a little better; and this circumftance,i of itfelf, dlfFufed a! flow of fpirits over me that contributed to my fupport, W.c confoled each other by every means we could devife—fometimes indulging in all the luxury of woe—fometimes rallying each other, and, withiill-i diflembled fprightlinefs, calling on the Goddefs Eufhrosytje. tö cwme with her quirps- and cranks^ and wreathedJhiilcj but^ alas! the mountain nymph, fweet Liberty, was:&r^away^ and the Goddefs fliunned our abode. Wed his fortitude unparalleled; yet could I fee," that fomething more than appeared upom the furface wroughti within hlmi. and gnawed his heart with hidden pain. ^ United as weLwere'by feutiment, as well as by'parity of fuffering, I felt for him too deeply, not to have an iuterefting curiofity to know what it was that preyed upon Iiis muid j'had now been, months together,, fellow-fufferers; atid I thought myfelf iKjt without fome claim to his coafideucer— Š told him ib, ; and defired hiin to impart to me his ftofy ; which he, -vi^ith his acGuftomed luavity and condeieeniion, agreed to— afluriug rae that it was nat fuch a frory as could irequite the trouble of hearing it^ oräntereft afty one buthimfelf, of Ibme vdry Warrti friend indeed : foch, h&wever, he added, /he took me to beand, as fuch,: would tell it to me. :t< I think, it,, however* .wprth relating, and will give it to you in Iiis own words; and, though at be ye^jf üiort, muft defer the relation to another Letter-1: t- n . > ^hi . ; i' : -ii t ) "ir-rM----') ■ r - I,-. - f! 'Sijiir :: .1 -/r;-■ . . ' . 7!? ■ ' ' ■ ■ ■ T 'l ■ • '>1:1.: ■ : ] ■; f! //. |i ■ - ; i ■•- r- . , ? . ' 1; ' ^ . i T,EXTER LETTER LI. 'I I Mr. Hall having, as I told you in my laft, obligingly agreed to favour me with a relation of his ftory, I now give it to you as nearly in his own words as I can remember them. He proceeded thus; « Although you are now, my dear friend! a witnefs to my being the moft perfeftly wretched of all created beings, yet the time is not long paft when fortune fmiled upon and gave me pro-mife of as much happinefs as Man in this wretched vale of tears is allowed by his circumfcribed nature to hope for. I have feen the time, when each revolving fon rofe to uftier me to a day of joy, and fet to confign me to a night of undifturbed repofe—when the bounties of Nature, and the produčlions of Art, were poured with the profufion of fond paternal afFeäion into my lap—when troops of friends hailed my riling profpeds—when health and peace made this perfon their uninterrupted abode—and when the mofl: benignant love that ever bleffed a mortal filled up the mealiire of my blifs. Yes, Campbell ! it was once my happinefs, though now,' alas! the fource of poignant milery, to be blefTed with the befl parents parents that ever watched over the welfare of a child-—with friends, too, who loved me, and whom my heart cheriHied—aiid —O God ! do I think of her, and yet retain my fenfes—with the afFcčtions of a yDung lady, than whom Providcnce, In the fullnels of it:! power and bounty to Mankind, never formed one more lovely, one more angelic in perfon, more heavenly in dlfpo-fition, more rich in intelleflual endowments. Alas.! my friend, will you, can you pardon thole warm ebullitions of a fond paffiou ?. will you for a moment enter into my feelings, alid make allowance for thoie tranfports ? But how can you ? Your friendlhip and pity may indeed induce you to excufe this interruption ; but, to fympathife truly, and feel as I feel, you niuft have kaowi> the charming girl herfelf. " My father, though he did not move in the very firft. walk of üfe, held the rank of a Gentleman by birth and education, and wa£ refpečtable, not only as a man of- confiderable property;, but. as a perfoii who knew how to turn the gifts of fortune to their be/t accouut; he was generous without prodigality, and charitable, withoiit oftentatioi^: he was allowed by all who knew him to be the mcft tender of hufbands—the moft zealous and fincersrof friends j-and I can bear witnefs to his being the beft of. parents. As long as, I can remember to liavc been able to make a remark, the tenderr-nefs of both my father and mother knew no bounds: I feemed < ta 'occupy all their thoughts, all their attention; and'in a few years, as 1 thank God.: I never made an unfuitaJble return for their affection,.. lion, it increafeJ to fiich a degree, that their exigence feemed to hang upon mine. " To make as much of a child fo beloved as his natural talents would allow, no expence was Ipared in my education: from, childhood, every inftru6tion that money could purchafe, and every allurement to learn that fondnefs could fuggeft-, were beftowed upon me; while my beloved father, tracing the advances I made with the magnifying eye of afFeftion, would hang over me in rapture, and enjoy by anticipation the fame and honours that, overweening fondnefs fuggefted to him, mufl one day furround me. Thefe prejudices, my dear friend ! ariiing from the excefs of natural affe6tion, are excufeable, if not amiable, and defcrve a better fate than difappointment. Alas! my honoured father, you little knew—and, oh! may you never know, what fort of fame, what fort of honours, await your child ! May the anguifh he endures, and his moft calamitous fate, never reach your cars!—for, too well I know, 'twould give a deadly wrench to your heart, aiid precipitate you untimely to your grave. " Thus years rolled on; during which, time feemed to have added new wings to his flight, fb quickly did they pafs. Unmarked by any of thofe finifter events that parcel out the time in weary ftages to the unfortunate, it Hid on unperceived ; and an enlargement in my fize, and an increafe of knowledge, were all I had to inform me that eighteen years tud pafTed away. J It It was at this time that I firft found the fmooth ciirreiit of jny tranquillity interrupted, and the tide of my feelings fwelled and agitated, by the aeceffion of new flreams of fcniätion—In fhort, 1 became a flave to the delicious p^iins of Love; and, after having borne them in concealment for a long time, at length colledted Courage to declare it. Franknefs and candour were among the virtues of my beloved: ihe liftened to proteftations of afFe6lion, and, rifing above the little arts of her fex, avowed a reciprocal attachment. The meafure of my blifs feemed now tobe full: the purity of my paffion was foch, that the thoughts of the grofler animal deiires never once occurred; and happy in loving, and in being beloved, we pafled our time in all the innocent biandifhments which truly virtuous Love infpires, without our imagination roaming even for au inftant into the wilds of fenfiiality. " As 1 was to inherit a genteel, independent fortune, my father propofed to breed me up to a learned profefEon—the Law ; rather to invigorate and exercife my intelleiis, and as aftep to rank in the State, than for mere lucrative purpofes. I was put to one of the Univerfities, with an allowance fuitcd to his intentions towards me; and was immediately to have been lent to travel for my further improvement, when an unforefeen accident happened, which completely crufhed all my father's views, dalhed the cup of Iiapplnefs from my lips, and brought me ultimately to that deplorable flate in which you have now the misfortune to be joined along with rae„ « k; " it was but a few months autecedeiit to iny embarklug for the Eaftern World, that my father, whom,I had for fome time with forrow obfcrved thoughtful, iludious and melancholy, took me iato his iludy,.and, feizing my hand, and looking earneftly Into my face, wlrile his countenance betrayed the violent agitation of his mind, aiked me emphatically, if i thought 1 had fortitude to bear the greateft poffible calamity ? 1 was horror-ftruck at his emotion accompanied by fuch a queftion—but replied, I hoped 1 had. He then afked me, if I had afFedion ,enough for him to forgive him if he was the caufe of it ? I anfwercd, tliat the idea connečted with the word forgtvenefs^ was that which I could never be brought by any earthly circumftance to apply to my father; but begged Urn at once to difclofe the woi'ft to me—as, be it what it might, my mifery could not furpafs what I then felt from the myfterious manner in which he then fpoke. " He then told me that he was an undone man—that he had, with the very beft intentions, and with the view of aggrandizing me, engaged in great and important fpeculations, which, had they fucceeded, would have given us a priucely fortune—but, having turned out, unfortunately, the reverfe, had left him little above beggary. He added, that he had not the refolution to communicate his lofTes to me,, until neccflity compelled him to teil nie all the trutli. " Although this was a fevere flit)ck to me, I endeavoiired to' conceal my feelings from my father, on whofe account, more,than i a ou' on my own, I was afFe6ted, and pretended to make as light of it as lb very important a misfortune would juftify ; and I had the hap-pine^ to perccivc that the worthy man took fome comfort from mv fuppofed indifference. 1 conjured him not to let fo very trivial a thing as the lofs of property, which could be repaired, break in on his peace of mind or health, which could not; and obferved to him, that we had all of us ftill enough—-for that my private property (which I pofTefled independent of hir», and which a relation left me) would amply fupply all our neceflities.. " Having thus endeavoured to accommodate my unhappy father's feelings to his lofles, I had yet to. accommodate my own ; and began to revolve in my mind what was likely to'enfae from, and what ftep was moft proper to be taken in, this, dreadful change of circumftances. That which lay neareft to my heart firft occurred; —you will j'eadily guefs that 1 mean my Love : to involve her I; loved more, far more, than my life, in the misfortunes of my family, was too horrible a confideration to be outweighed even bv the dread of lofing her. I knew not what to do, and 1 thought upon it till I became almoftenfrenzied—-Inthisftate I W£nt to her, and. unfolded the whole ftate of our concerns, together witli ray refolu-tlon not to involve her in our ruin when—can you believe it ?—, the lovely girl infixed on making my fate indiflblubly her's—not, as Ihe faid, that fhe had the fmalleft apprehenfion lapfe of time or change; of clrcumHance could make an alteration in our affeč^ion, but that (he wifhed to give my mind that repofe which 1 might derive frona. fecurity^ fccurity. This I would by no means accede to ; and, for the pre-feut, we coutented ourfelves with mutual vows of eternal fidelity. " As foon as I tliought my father's mind fit for fuch a converf-ation, I opened to him a plan I iiad formed of coming to India, to advance my fortune. His underftanding approved of it, but his heart diflented; and he faid, that to part with me woiüd give the finifhing ftroke to his misfortunes ; but, as my intereft was tolerably good, I reprefented to him the great likelihood I had of fuc-cefs and at lall, with fome difficulty, he confented. " My next ftep was to acquaint Mifs-- with my refolu- tion. I purpofely pafs over a meeting which no power of language can defcribe !—then how can I ^--Oh ! Campbell, the remembrance of it gnaws me like a vulture here," (and he put his hand upon his heart, while the tears rolled down his cheeks), " and will foon, foon bring me to my end. " Not to detain you with vain efforts to defcr-ibe all our feelings, I will confine myfelf to telling you, th^t after haying made every neceffary preparation, and divided with my much honoured parents the little property I pofTeiTed, I fet fail for India,, in a ftate of njind compared with which the horrors of annihilation would have been enviable : the chaos in my thoughts made me inlt;nfible to every object but one; and 1 brooded with a fort of ftupid, gloomy indulgence, over the portrait of Mifs-, which hung round my neck, and was my infeparable companion, till the people who feized me as I came afhore plundered me of it, and thereby ■> deprived deprived me of the laft refüge for comfort I had left. Oh! moti-ftersi barbarians! had you glutted your favagc fury by dllTevering my limbs, one after another, fi*om my body, it waidd have been mercy, compared with depriving me of that little image of her I love! But it is all over, and I ihall fbon fink into the grave, and never more be blefled with the view of thofe heavenly features, till we meet in that region where all tears are wiped away, and where, I truft, we fhall be joined together for endlefs ages, in eternal, aiever-fading blifs!" LETTER LII. On the day fucceeding that on which the agent of Hyat Sahib had held the difcourfe with me, mentioned in my lafl: Letter but one, I was again fent for, and brought to the fame perfon, who alked me, whether I had duly confidered of the important offer made me by Hyat Sahib, and of the confequences likely to refult from a refufal ? and he apprifed me at the fame time, that the command of five thoufand men was an honour which the firft Rajahs in the Myforean dominions would grafp at with tranfport. I told him I was well convinced of the honour fuch a command would confer on any man but an Englifhman, whofe Country behig being the obječl of Hyder's iuceflant hoftllity, would make the acceptance of it infamy—that although I knew there were but too many Engliftimen apoftates to their Country, I hoped there were but few to be found in India willing to accept of any emoluments, however great, or any temptations, however fpecious,, to fly from the ftandard of their Country, and rally round that of its bittereft enemy—that,, for my own part, being of a name ever foremoft in the ranks of loyalty and patriotifm, and of a family that had hitherto detra6ted nothing from the honours of that name, fuch an ačl: of apoftacy would be peculiarly infamous in me, and I could view it in no better light than traitorous and parricidal— that, independent of all thofe claims, which were of themfelves fufficient to deter me, I felt within mylelf a principle, perhaps innate, perhaps infpired by military habit, that forbade my acceding—and, finally, appealed to the good ienfe of Hyat. Sahib, whether, a man who in fuch circumftances had betrayed his Country, and facrificed her interefts to his own confcience, was fuch a perfon as confidence could properly be put in., Notwithftanding thefe, and a thoufand other remonftrances,., which I cannot immediately recoiled, but which the hazards of my fituation fuggefled, he ^HI1 continued to prefs me, and ufed: every argument, every pcrfuafion, that ingenuity could dix^late, or Wnts of punifliment enforce, to fliake my purpofe—but in vain: attachment to Country and Family rofe paramount to all. other coufidexations; and 1 gave a peremptory, decifive refulhl. Circum- Circuinftanced as I was, it was Impoffiblc for me to keep itii accurate journal of tlie various uicldents that pafled, or viciflitude^ of thought that occurred, during the period of my imprifonment. Indeed, I was fcarcely coiifclous of the length of my captivity, and could not, till I was releafed, determine exactly how long it had continued. You miifh therefore, content yourfelf to be told in general terms, that I was repeatedly urged on the llibjefl.by fair perfuafives: they then had recourfe to menace; then they withheld the daily pittance allowed for my fupport ; and at length proceeded to coercion, tying a rope round: my neck, and hoifting me up to a tree. All this, however, I bore firmly : if it had any effečl, it was to confirm me in my refolution, and call in poUcy •to the aid of honour's didlates. Every man of feeling or reafon muft allow, that it was better to die, than live a life of lubječlion to tyranny fo truly diabolical. Mr. Hall and I, thus drove to the brink of cxtiuäioii, yet confoled ourfelves with the reflection, that thole whom moft we loved were not iharing our unhappy fate, and were fortunately ignorant of our fufFerings; and as I enjoyed perfeä good health, hope yet lived within me. There is a fpring, an elafticity, in every man's mind, of whj^h the owner is rarely, very rarely confcious, becaufe fortunately the occafions feldom occur in which it can be brought to the proof; for, as laffitude is the neceflary forerunner of refrefhment, fo is extreme deječlion to the moft vigorous exercife of our fortitude. So So I teünd it: as the horrors of my fituatiire: whole hours amnfement, every day and every niglu, arofe from tlie contemplation of my beloved boy; I Ml imagination traced his gro'n-th, dircfted his rifing fentimcnts^ formed plans for his future flicccfs and profperity, and'incfulged by anticipation in all the enjoyment which I now tiTift I fliall yelf have in hia ripened manhood. • Thirs we continued' for many months, during which no altera-^ tion whatfoever took place in our treatment or fituation. We hearth a thaufand contradictory reports of vičtorits gained over the Englifli,' and again of fbme fucccfles'on their part: rhey, however, defiiled to pcefs me into their fervlce. The only relief from our iufferings liiy in the refources of our'own minds, and' in our mutual endeavours to pleale and confole one another : the circumftances of aggravation were the neceffity of diiily bearing witnefs to the moft'barbarous punifhments inflit^led" upon metchöd individual's under the femblanc'd of juftice, and'the occafitmal deprivation of our fotid, either by the fi-aml of die Sepoys who attended us, or the' raprice or cruelty of their fuperiots.' It is but juftice, however, to%, that they were not^ all alike: fome overflowed with mercy, charity, and the milk of human kindnefs; while others, again, were almoft as bad men as the So\x>reigns they fetved. We were nor allowed the ule of pen, int, or paper; and very fcldbm could afford our- K I'clvcs felves the luxury of fhaving, or clean linen: nor were we at all lhelterc4|fi'Q[vi the inclemency of the weather, till cit length a little room was built for us of mud, which being fmall and damp, r,endered our ütuation worfe than it was before. . The prifoner whom I have already mentioned, as having, in the time of the former Sovereign, held the firft ojffice in Bidanore, llill continued oppofite to me ; and he and I at length began to underhand each other, and found means, by looks, figns and gef-tures, to exchange thoughts, and hold an intercourfe of fentiments together. From the circumftance of his being a native, and better Ikilled in the language than me, he had much better intelligence than I could poffibly have, and he was always eager to convey to me any circumftance or news that he thought might be agreeable: Ibme meiTages alio paffed between us, by means of the Sepoys who had alternately been his guard and mine-;~for our guards were changed every week. Projeds and hopes of a new kind now began to intrude them-felves on my thoughts; and I conceived a defign, which I flatteredi' myfelf was not entirely impradicable, to efFeft an efcape, and even a revolt in tKe place. A variety of circumftances concuri'ed to perfuade me, that the tyranny of Hyder, and his fei-vant Hyat Sahib, was abhorred, though none dared to give vent to-their fentiments. I thought I could obferve, that the native pri-foner oppofite to me was privately beloved, and might, from the recoikčliou of his former dignitits, have confiderable influence in: the the place. Several Arcot Sepoys and their Officers (rome of them belonging to my own regiment) were alfo ^rlfoners at large ; and withal I recoiledted, that difficulties apparently more ftupendens had been overcome by Englifhmen—having often heard it af--ferted, that there' was not a prifon in the known world out of wliich a Britifh fubjeft had not made his efcape. Fraught with thofe conceptions, I attempted to found the Officers of the Arcot Sepoys, whether it were not poflible for us to effeft our efcape ? So ardent is the flame of Liberty in all men's breafts, fo great is the deteflation of human nature to Slavery, that I perceived a manifeft willitignefs in the people about us to join me in an attempt to procure our liberty, or bring about a revolt in the garrifon. My heart beat high with the hope; and I began to flatter myfelf, that the day was not far removed when we fhould not only bid defiance to our tyrants, but even make them repent the day on which we were caft afhore on their coafl;. Having thus diftantly founded all who I thought were likely to concur, upon the prafticability of the attempt, and found them, as I conceived, difpofed to take fhare in it, it yet remained to confidcr of tlie quomodo—^n^, after having formed the general outlines of a plan, to lick it into fhape. The firft of thefe was a critical con-fideration: the fecond required addrefs and management, and was likely to be impeded by the vigilance of the people about, %vho would not fail to remark, and take the alarm, from any unK 2 ufuai ufual intercourfe or dlfcourfc between us; and without a mutunl communication of thoughts, and full deliberation by all parties concerned, as well as knowledge of the fort and its 'different gates, nothing could, with any profpečl of fuccefs, be determined-nothing, without the moft imminent hazard, be attempted. I therefore held various councils with'my own mind,'and with Mr. Hall, on the fubječt—moft of which were abortive, without at all difcou raging us. At laft I began to 'think of founding the Bidanore priibner, ci-'dcvasJ Governor of the place; and determined, if pofflble, to brhig him into our confiiltations, as I had before hoped to make him a party in the execution of the proječl: but while'] was fettling all this much to my own latisfačtion, an event occurred which extinguifhed all my hopes in that way—of whld-i you fliall have an account in my next Letter. ' LETTER LIII. JI ' I Whether the pilan- which I mentioned in my lafl: was difcovered or not, or fi'om what other motive it arofc, I have not to this day been able to decide; but fo it Was, that while my fanguine mind was overflowing with the hope off carrying my proječt for an efcape into effečt, Mr. Hall and I were one day nnexpcfledlj loaded with irons, and ftiiliened togethei', leg by leg, by one bolt. This, as nearly as I can. compute, was four or £ve months before my releafe. Of all the circnmiVxinces of my life, it has made the ftrongeft inipreflion ^pon my mind; it unexpe6tedtyaiid fiaddenly broke down the mofft pleafing fabric my imagination had ever buitt. The fui^rife occafioned by the appearance of the irons, and' the precautionary manner in whidh it was undertaken, was indeed great r ftill more was I furprifed to obferve, that the perforn who was employed to fee this put in excctrtionj manifefled un-ufual emotions, feemed mvich affe6led,. and even fhed teara as he looked on r and while the fuddennefs and cautionary mode of doing'it convinced me thatfome refiftence on ow part was apprehended, the fbrrow which tlie Officer who fuperintended it dtfcloftd,. portended in niy mind a fatal^ x)r at Icafl: a ver}' ferioiis ifiTtie. Unfortunately, poor Mr. Hall had for fome time been afiličted with a return of his dreadful diforder, the dyfentery; and our being fhackled together increafed an ■unconquerable mortification of feelings which he had before undergone, from a delicacy of nature that would have done honour to the moft modeft virgin, be her fenfibility ever fo exquifite, or her delicacy ever fo extreme— And here, my dear Frederick ! I cannot let Hip this opportunity of remarking to you, that the man, as well as the woman, who would render himfelf truly amiable in the eyes of his fellow-creatures, fhould cultivate delicacy and modelly, as the moft captivating of all the moral virtues : from them, heroilin derives additional luftre—wit, ten-fold force—religion and morality, the charms of perfuafion—and every perfonal ačtion of the man, irrefiflible dignity and winning grace. From this unlucky event, I received a temporary depreflion; and the rapidly increafmg illnefs of poor Hall rendered my fituation inore than ever calamitous; when, again, my fpirits, eagerly prone to grafp at every thing that gäve a momentary hope of fupport, were a little recruitcd by confufed rumours of the Englilh army having made a defcent on the Malabar coafl: and fo powerful is the influence of mind on the animal fyftem, that Mr. Hall enjoyed from the report a momentary alleviation of his malady; but, having no medical afliftance, nor even fufficient fuflenance to further the favourable operations of Nature, he relapfed again,; the difeafe fell upon him with redoubled fury: a very fcanty portion of boiled rice, with a more more fcanty morfel of ftiuking fait filh or p\itrid flefh, was a very inadequate fupport for me, who, though emaciated, was. in health —and very improper medicine for a perfon labouring under a malady fuch as Mr. Hall's, wluch required comfort, good medical ikill, and d^icate nutritious food. The tea which Hyat Sahiu had gj.ven me was expended ; and we were not allowed to be fiiaved from the hour we were put in irons, an indulgence of that kind being forbidden by the barbarous rules of the prifon ; and, to refine upon our tortures, fleep, " the balm of hurt minds," was not allowed us uninterrupted; for, in conformity to another regulation, we were difturbed every half hour by a iioife fomething relembling a watchman's rattle, and a fellow who,. flrlHing every part of our irons with a kind of hammer, and examining thera left they (hould be cut, broke in upon, that kind reftorative, and. awoke our fouls to frefli horrors. As It muft be much more naturally matter of aftonifhment that, any bodily ftrength could fupport itfelf under fuch complicated calamities^ than, that infirmity Ihould fink beneath them, you will be rather grieved than furprifed to hear that poor Mr. Hall was now approaching to his end with hourly accelerated fteps.. Every application that I made in his favour was refufed, or rather treated \\^ith cruel ^legleil and contemptuous filence and 1 forefaw, with inexprefTi-ble anguifli and indignation, that the barbarians would not abate him in his laft minutes one jot of mifery, and that my moft amiable friend was fated to expire under every attendant horror that mere. mere fubLuiiary clrciiJEwftanc«could create. Butthat pitr wiaich the migfity, tlie powerful and enlightened denlctl, natural benevolence operciting upon an uninformed: mind^ aid. fcanty means, affgrded us. Hyat Sahtb, tliie powerful, the weal'th^fthe CisJ-vernor of a great and opulent province, refui'ed to an espiring fd-low-creature a little cheap relief-—while a poor Sepoy taxed his little means to fupply it: one who guarded us, of his own accord, at hazard of imtninent punifhment, purchafed us a lamp and a litrfc oU, which we burned for the laft- few nights. Philofophers atjd' Divines have declaimed upon the atlvantages of a well-lpent life, as felt in articulo mortis ; and their efforts have had, I hope, Ibme efFeft upon the lives of many. To wit-nelš one example fuchas Mr. Hall held- forth, would he worth volumes of precepts on this fubječt. The unfeigned relig-nation with which he met his diflblution, and the majei^iic fortitude with which he looked in the face the various cirGumftances of horror that furrounded' him, rendered him the mofl: digrtified ofeječl I ever beheld or conceived', and the moft glorious inftance of coiaibious virtue triumphing over the terrors of death, and" the cunning: barbarity of Mankind". Were the progrefs of virtue attendbd' with pain, and the pračVice of vice with pleafure, the atloption of tlie former would be amply repaid'by' its foothings in the dreadful' mo*, ment, even if it were to accompany us no further. About tr quarter of an hour before he died, Mr. Hall broached^ a moff tender fubječl of coiwerfation, which he followed up with a'feries of v of obfcrvafipns, fo tjulv reiuicd, löcxquilkcly turned, io (ie|icatc uad ib pathetic, that k 1'eenied alniofl the lausruaoic of inrplrafioM, •"' • / . ' r ...... ■ °;' . •nij.'ioii . if, ill jpr^p.ortion to the dcca^- of tlic b^ody, intellect iucrcafcd, and the dvin^ man had'become all mind. Such a couvcrfatioii I ^ I' I 1 I I , f- ' . ■ never remembered jto have heard, or heard of. Its effečts upon fii^c were wonderful for, though the combination of mclfincholy cir.cumflaiices attending my now critical iituation hadalmofl: raifed I , . o J ■ i, ]I -,-(- ■ my mind to frenzy, tlie fiilutary influence of his words and exam: ' If 'I i' .[' ' pie controuled the exce/Tes of my fenfations ; and 1 met the afftitt- ' ' ' ' i i t ■ ing moment of his departure wjth a degree of tranquillity, which, though not to be compared to his, has on irefleä:ion appeared to ,me aftonifliing. This convei;fation continued to the very infant of his death ; during which time he held my hand clafped in his» freqviently enforcing his kind expreflions to me with aTjjueeze-— W'hilc my forrow, taking its mprt eafy channel, bedewed my facc with tears. As he proceeded, my voice M'as chpakcd with my feelings ; aijid I attempted oncc or twice in vaiu _to ,lpeak. His hand grew cold: he faid his lower limbs were all lifelefs, and that he felt death coming over him with flow creeping fteps—He again morahzed, thanking God with pathetic fervour for his great mercy in leaving him his intellects unclouded, and tlie organ of commu-xiieation (the tongue) unenfcebled, that, to the laft, he might Iblace his friend and fellow-fufferer—" Ah ! Campbell !" continued he, " to what a feries of miferies am I now leaving you ! t)cath in fuch circutnftanccs is a bleHing—I view mine as iuch; and fliould tliink it more li), if it contributed, by awakening thole J. people people to a fenfe of their cruelty, to fofteii their rigour to you: but cruelty like their's is fyftematic, and ftoops not to the controul of the feelings. Could I hope that you would yet' efcape from their clutches, and that you would once more prefs your family to your bolbm, the thought would brighten ftlll the moment' of our reparation : and, oh ! my friend! could I ftillfurther hope that you would one day fee my moil: beloved and honoured parents, and tell them of my death without wringing their hearts with its horrid circumftances, offer tlicm my laft duties, and tell how I revered them—If, too, you Wild (ee my ^-, aiid'tell her how far, far more'dear thaiV-——^ !" He'^ he'turned his eyes toward the lamp, then' faintly on'nic—made a convulfive effort to fqueeze my hand —crieä out, " CampbeiIi/! dh, Campbell! the. lamp is goings mit!" arid expired without a'groan. TheVecital of this affllftlng'event has called up to my fiMicy foi lively a pl6iure of the Iceue as.it pafled with all its horrors-—liorrora which outftrip all efforts of defcriptidii, and baffle nil power of , p ■ language—that my feelings are in paVt renewed, and 1 find myfelf incapable of proceeding further at' prefent. .f Ii . . I I t ' ■ ; ■ : .1: ■ ■ V - I c. 'i LETTER LETTER LIV. Lor fome time I was loft in grief for the death of Mr. Hall. Though I had long expefted it, and might confequentl)' be fuppofed to have wafted great part of my forrow in anticipation ; yet, having only confidered and felt the point before his death merely as it refpečted him and his misfortunes, a great portion of the calamity remained unconcelved : and, now that he was dead, I began for the firft time to confider and feel the fub-ječi as it concerned myfelf. Reflečlion told me, that he was happily relieved from woe, and in a ftate of blifs— " After life's fitful fever, be fleeps well: --Nor fteel nor polfon, > . " Malicc domeftic, foreign levy—nothing " Can touch him further !" But I ftill remained a prey to perhaps new barbarities, without hope of relief from the old. No partner to ftiare, no focial convcde to alleviate, no friend to confole me under my afflictions, I looked at the body of my friend with envy, and lamented that death had not afforded me, too, a fhelter from the cruelties which fate Teemed determined to heap upon me. L ^ It if,' It is impolRble for me to cxpreis to you the agonies of mind 1 luidervvent during the reft of the night. In the moniing, a report was made to the Commandant, of the death of Mr. I Iali. ; and in about an hour after, he pafTed me by, but kept his face purpofcly turned away from me to the other lide. I patiently waited for the < removal of the dead body till the evening, when I defired the Sepo) s ^ ' who guarded me to apply for its being removed. They I'cturjied, and told me that they could get no anfwer relpeč^ing it. Night came on, but there was no appearance of an-intention to unfetter mc from the corpfe. The Commandant was fitting in his Court, adminiflering, in the manner I have before deicribed, jußice! •' ■ I • * I called out to him m} felf with all my might, but could get no an- 4.' Iwcr from him. Nothing could equal my rage aiid conllernatlon ; for, exclulive of the painful idea of being lhackled to the dead body of a friend I loved, another circumftance contributed to make it a ferious fubječl of horror. In thofe climates, the weather ia fo in-tenfely hot, that putrefačlion almoft'mftantly fucceeds death ; and meat that is killed in the morning, and kept in the thade, will be unfit for drefling at night. In a fubjeft, then, on which putrefa6>ioii had made advances even before death, and which remained expofed to the open air, the procefs mufl have been much more rapid. ,,S0' far, however, from compafTionating my fituation, or indulging mc by a removal of the body, their barbarity fiiggefted to them to. make it an inftrument of punifhment; and they pertinacioufly adhered to the mofl: mortifying filejice and diiregard of my complaints. For For fcveral d^ys and nighty it remained attached to me by the Irons^ I grew almoll: diftraded—wiflied for the means of putting an ^nd to my miferies by death, and could not move \vithout witneiTiiig fome'new ftage of putrefcence it attained, or breathe without inhaling the piitvid effluvia that arofe from it—while myriads of flies and Ic^athfome infečls refted on it, the former of which every now and then vlfited me, crawling over my face and hands, and ligliting In hundreds on my victuals. I never look back at thii "crifis without confufion, Tiorror, and even aftonifliment; at^d, were it not connefted with a chain of events preceding and llibfe-'quent to it, too.-weH known by rcfpec^able people to be doubted, ■and too mnch interwoven with a part of the hiilory of the laft war in India'to adnTi't of doxibt, I üiould not only be afraid to tell", but abforutely doubt myfclf whether the whole was not the illufion of a dream, rather than credit the poiiibility of niy enduring fuch unhcard-of hardfhlps without lofs of life or deprivation of fenfes. At laft, when the body"had reached that Ihocking loathfome ftate of iputrefiičlion' which threatened'that further delay would render removal abominable, if not impoffilile, the monfters agreed to take it away from me—and I was fo far relieved : but the mor-'tification and Injury 'I underwent from it, joined to the agitation of the preceding'week, made a vifible inroad on my health. I totally loft my Ipirits; my appetite entirely'forfook me: 'my long-tjiourlfhed hopes fled; and ^Hooked forward to'death as>the only ' ' dcfirahlc- ridlrablc event that was within the verge of likelihood or poffi-bility. One tl;iy, my oppofite friend (the native priloner) gave me a look of the moft interefting and encouraging kind; and I perceived a more than ufual buftle in the citadel, while the Sepoys informed me that they were ordered on immediate fcrvlce, and that fome events of great importance had taken place. From this feeble gleam, my mind, naturally ačlive, though deprefled by circumflances of unufual weight, again took fire, and hope brightened with a kind of gloomy light the proipečl before me : I revolved a thoufand things, and drew from them a thoufand fur-mifes ; but all as yet was only conječture with me. In a day or two, the buftle increafed to a high pitch, accompanied with marks of confternation : the whole of the troops in the citadel were ordered to march ; and the Commandant, and a iTian with a hammer and inftruments, came to take off my irons. While they were at work taking ofF my irons, I perceived that they were taking off thofe of the native prifoner oppofite to me alfo. He went away under a guard: we looked at each other complacently, nodded and fmiled, as who Ihould fay, " we hope to fee one another in ^happier times not far diftant." But, alas ! vain are human hopes, and (hort and dark is the extent of our utmoft forefight! This unhappy man, without committing any fort of offence to merit it, but in conformity to the damnable, barbarous policy of thofe Countries, was, by the Jemadar's orders, orders, taken forth, and his throat cut! This the Jemadar him-felf afterwards acknowledged to me—and, what was ftill more abominable if poffible, undertook to juftify the proceeding upon the principles of reafon, found fenfe, and precedent of Afiatio policy. In order to elucidate the whole of this bufinefs,. it is necefUirj for me to recur ta events, which liappened antecedent to this time,, but of which, hy reafou of my fituation, 1 was then entirely ignorant ; and as. they involve, not only the grounds of my fubfe-quent efcape and proceedings, but a confiderable portion of hii-toj-ical fačl, and'fijme of the material iaterefts of the Eafl India Company, I will be^ the more particularly ^arcful in relatli^ them, and. dt?fn:e frtHH yon a proportionate lhare of attention—-But their importance entitle them to afeparate I^ctter: therefote conclude with aflTuring you^ &.c., n, . .y , LETTKR ( 88 ) •.niil chü čiij i f j:rj ^wirll ..ni -l :uj ■'•socri llifi r.c\7 om oi .v.ijil:. k fcLii.v/'ioJiij U / 1» Jij; joifj^ Jf' T T ■ i In o/i fii lf ... .['-.i '-h . 1.7 d' : . 1 !•-> 1} - ^ .: '' ■ .tilji j J ■ 1( . I. , ' tlvD^r^Ai-rir 'Rhawx, late Nnlx)b. of Mviiirc, and *fktber'tö1;lie preleitt Tippoo Sahiu Sul-TAjn,! was as extraordinary, a'inaii, and'perhaps p -> i ' 'twill not entaiigle rny mirrative with a'detail of the varioua-A^ilitary^ op brat ions which arofei from this confederacy : they were' ihi'^eneral diläftrons;'to the Englifli'^ wHofe power there was pi-c-. ig him, that I Ihculd never forget the klndncfs he fliewed me on that occafion, and that in my confcience I imputed all the fufferings I had undergone whoiiy ito orders which he had been obliged to execute, and not to any want of liumanity in himfelf» Here I perceived the clouds which had overfpread his countenance begin gradually to difperfe, and with the greater confidence pro-reeded to fay, that if he would condefcend to give me a patient hearing, and not take my boldnefs amiis, I would venture to intrude upon him with my advicc^ At this he flared at me with a look of furprife—paufed—then faid, that he authorifed me to fpeak whatever I pleafed—continuing, in a tone of gentle melancholy, " But of what ufe can your advice be to me now?" Having thus obtained his permiflion, 1 began by complimenting him on his great talents and temper in governing—on his fidelity, zeal and attachment to Hyde r—and on the mild and beneficent ufe which he was acknowledijed to have made of the unbounded power vefted in him by that great Prince, which was the more extraordinary, confidering how many examples he had to juftify him in a contrary pračlice. I reminded him, however, that circumflances were at, prefent widely different from what they ^hc) then were—tliat he had now got a very ditFercnt Sovereign to ferve—that he had no longer the tender father (for fo Hydkk might have been confidered to him), but Tippoo Sultan, now the mafler, once the rival, whofe meafures he had always op-pofed, againft whom he had once laid a moft ferious charge, and who, coiafidering the firmnefs of his nature, could not be reafon-gibly fuppofcd to have forgiven hlra; and I halted, that ^^'hatevcr external appearance of regEwd Tippoo might from the political neceflity of the moment affume, his temper, and the fpirit of Afiatic policy, were too well known to have a doubt remaining, that fo far from continuing him (Hyat) in the fame power and authority which he enjoyed during the life of his father Hyder, he would, on the contrary, proceed againft him with rigour and cruelty. Here I perceived the Jemadar involuntarily nodding his head in a manner which, though not intended for my obfervation, denoted internal aiTent; and was convinced that I had exailiy fallen in with the current of his own thoughts. No wonder, iwdeed, they fhould be his fentiments; for they had long been the fentiments of all perfons who had knowji the circumftances of the Nabob's family. Having, therefore, gone as far on that point as I conceived to be neceflary to awaken the mind of Hvat to the prccarionfnefsi or rather danger of his fituatlon with Tippoo, I painted to him, in the ftrongeft colours I was mafter of, the humanity, the fideh'tv, O 2 the the bravery and generofity of the Eiiglifh, which, I fald, were fa uuivcrlall)" uckiiowledged, that even their worfl enemies bore tel-timoiiy to them : and I aflured him,, that if, infleadof making aa iinavaiUng oppofition to liiem, lie would throw himfelf with confidence lipon their protedtion, and heconic their friend, he would not only be continued in his ftation, power and authority, and fup-ported as heretofore, but be made a much greater man, with ftill greater fecurity, than ever he had been before. This was the general fcope of my argument with him ; but there were many more which fuggeftcd themfelves at the time, though I cannot now remember them. 1 enforced them with all the power I had : they were fupported by the acknowledged cha-račler for generofity of the Enghfh, and ftill more by Hyat's apprehenfions of Tippoo ; and they had their efFed. Thafc very night he authorifed me to go to the Brltifli General; and, though he would not commit himfelf by fending propofals in writing, he confented to receive them from the General, and promifed to wait for my return till day-light the next morning—adding, that if 1 did not appear by that time, he would go off with his family and treafure to fome other place, and fet the town, powder-magazine and ftore-houfes on fire, leaving a perfon of dlftinguilhed character to defend the citadel or inner fort, which, was ftrong, with a deep ditch, and mounted with many pieces of cannon, and fend immedjate intelligence to an army of fix thoufand horfe and one thoufand infantry» who were at tliat time on their road from Seringa- Seritigapatam, to haften their progrefs, and make them advance with all pollible rapidity; and he furtherobferved, that as Tipp o o himlelf would come to the immediate proteftion of his Country, and, if once come while the English army remained in the open field, would give them caufe to repent their temerity,. tli„re WILS no time to be loft. Accompanied, by a perfbn who liad officiated as interpreter between the Jemadar and me, and whofe good offices and influence with Htat, which was very great, I had been previoufly lucky enough to fecure, I fet off at ten o'clock at night, on horfeback, to the Britifti army. My companion was in high fpirits when we fet out from the fort; but as we proceeded, he exprefled great apprehenfion of being fhot in approaching the camp, and earneftly entreated me to deep at a choreltry, which lay in our way, till morning. His terror muft have been great indeed, to induce him to make fuch a propofal, as he knew very well that we had pledged ourfelves to be back before dawn next day, I rallied him upon his fears, and endeavoured to perfuade him there was not the fmalleft danger, as I knew how to anfwer the outpofts, when they fliould challenge us, in iiich a manner as to prevent their firing. As we advanced'to the camp, however, his trepidation increafed; and when we approached the fentries, I was obliged to drag him along by force. Then his fears had very nearly produced the danger he dreaded, (the almoft invariable effedi of cowardice); for the fentry next to us, hearing the ruftling noife, kt' let ptf bis'plccc, and was retreating when I had the goudfortiine to make him hear me. M^ companion, alarmed at the noife of tlie tnulquet, fell do\vn in a paroxyfm of terror, from which it was fome time before he was completely recovered. The fentry who had fil ed, coming up, condučted us to a place where other fentricä were ported, one of w hom accompanied us to a guard, from whence we were brought to the grand guard, and by them con-du6led to the General. LETTER LVIII. I was no lefs pleafed than furprifed to find, that the Commander of this gallant and fuccefsful little army was General Mathews—an old friend of my father's, and a perfoix with whom I had lerved in the Cavalry foon after I entered the fer-vice. When I arrived, he was fafl: afleep upon the bare ground in a choreltry. His Dubalh, whofe name was Snake, recoU lečted me immediately, and was alniofl: as much frightened at my appearance at fir ft, as my interpreter companion was at the fhot of the fentry ; for it was full five months fince my hair jand beard had been both (haved at the lame time, durijig which period a comb had never touched my head; I had no hat—no ftockings— ftockings—was clad in a pair of very ragged breeches, a fliirt which was fo full of holes that it refembled rather a net than a web of cloth, and a waiftcoat which had been made for a « man twice my fize—while my feet were defended from tlie ftones only by a pair of Indian flippers. Snake, as foon as he was able to conquer his terror, and ll:op the loquacious cfTufions of aftonifliment, brought me to the General, whom I found faft afleep. We awoke him with great difficulty, and, on his difco-vering me, exprefTed great pleafure and furprife at fo unex-/ pečted a meeting ; for, though he had heard of my imprifonment at Bidanore, he did not exped to have had the plealüre of my company fo foon. Having ftated to the General the nature and obječl of my miffion, and related to him what had happened in the fort, he inftantly faw the. great advantages that muft accrue from fuch an. arrangement—entered into a full but fliort difcuffion of the bufinefs—fettled with me tlie plan to be purfued in either cafe of Hyat Sahib's acceding to or diflenting from the terms he pro-pofed to offer ;. and in leiü than an hour after my arrival, I was-difpatched back to the fort in the General's palanquin, with a cowl from him, fignifying tVat the Jemadar Hyat Sahib's power and influence fhould not be leffeued, if he Ihould quietly furrender up the fort. Before my departure, the General exprefTed, in the warmefl: terms, his approbation of my condučl; and added, that confidering the importance of the fort, the ex- tcnfivc tcnrive influence of Hyat Sahib, and the advantages that might be derived from his experience and abilities, coupled with the enfeebled'"Hate of his army, the benefits of^llich a negociation 4'arcely admitted of calculation. Notwlthftanding the very flattering circumftances with which iny prefent purfuit was attended, I could not help, as I returned to Mydernagvir, finding lome uneafv fcnfations, arifing from the immediate nature of the bufinefs, and from my knowledge of the faithlefs difpofition of AfiaticS, and the little difficulty they find in violating any moral principle, if it happens to clalTi with their intereft, or if a breach of it promifes any advantage. I confidered that it was by no means impoliible, that fome refolution adverfe to my proje6l might have been adopted in my abfence, and that the Jemadar's policy might lead him to make my deftrudion a fort of propitiation for his former offences, and to fend me and the cowl together to Tippoo, to be facrillced to his refentment. Thefe thoughts, I own, made a very deep impreffion on my mind— but were again cfiaced by the reflečfion, that a laudable meafure, once begun, ought to be perfevered in, and that the accomplifhing a plan of fuch importance and incalculable public utility, might operate ftill further by example, and produce confequences of which it was impoflible at the prefent to form a conception. Thofe, and a variety of fuch fuggeftions, entirely overcame the fcruples and fears of the danger; and I once more entered the fort of Hydernagur. At tliis time the Britifh troops were, by detaching tacliing a part with Colonel Macleod, to get round the fort» and attack it in rear, and, by death and ficknefs, reduccd to left-than four hundred Europeans and feven hundred Sepoys, witliout vhich prevailed in the fort—collected the Arcot Sepoys, who, to the number of four hundred, were prifoners at large—ported them at the gates» powder-magazines, and other critical fituations ; and, having taken thefe and other precautions, went out to the General, who, according to the plan conccrted between us, had pufhed on with the advanced guard; and, conducing hirn into the fort with hardly an attendant, brought him ftraight to the Jemadar's pre-fence while he yet remained in a ftate of indecifion and terror. General Mathews, in his firft interview witli the Jemadiir, did every thing to re-affure him, and confirmed with the mofi: folemn alTeverations the terms of the co\^'l; in confequence of which, the latter acceded to the propofitions contained in it, and the P Britifh Britifh Coiovirs for the fuft time waved upon the walls of the chief fort of the Country of Bldanore. Having thus contributed to put this important garrifon,. with all its treafures, which ccrtainly were immenfe, into the hands of the Company, without the lofs of a fingle man, or even the ftrik-ing of a fiiigle blow, niy exviltatioii was inconceivablc ; and, much though r wanted money, 1 can with truth aver, that avarice had tKit even for an inftant the Icafl; fhare in my fenfatioiis. 'Tis true, the coufciouliiefs of my I'ervices affured ixie of a reward; but how that reward was to accrue to me, never once was the fubječl; of my, Gontemplation—much lefs did I think of availing myfelf of the inftant occafion to obtain it. How far my delicacy on the occa-iion may be cenlured or approved, I cannot tell; but if I got nothing by it, I have at leaft the confolation to refledl: that I cfcapcd calumny, which was with a moft unjuftifiable and unfpar-ing hand lavifhed on,others. The General, it is true, promifed that I fliould remain with him till he made fome arrangements; «ndhvat Sahib offered, on his part, to make mo, through the General, a handfome prefent. The General, however, fuddenly bccame diffatisfied with me; and I neither got Hyat Sahib's prefent, nor ever received even a rupee of the vaft fpoil found there. Here I thijik it a duty incumbcnt on me to fay. fomething of General Mathews, and, while I deplore the unfortunate turn in his temper, which injured me, and tarnilhed iu feme meafure his gpod good qualities, to refcue him from that unmerited obloquy whick the ignoranti the interefted and the envious have thrown upon his fame. Light lie the aflies of the dead, and hallowed be the turf that pillows theiheadof a Soldier! General Mathews was indeed a Soldier—was calumniated too; and although he did not ule me as I had reafon to hope he would, I will, as far as I can, refcue his fame from grofs mifreprefentation. - An extravagant love of fame was the ruling paffion of General Mathews : it was the great end of all his purfuits; and while^ in his military profeffion, he walked with a firm pace towards it,, Jiejloft.his time, diftortedhis progrefs, and palüed his own efforts, by a jealous vigilance and envious oppofition of thofe whom he found taking the fame road, whether they walked befide him, or panted in feeble effort behind. This was, Iiis fault; it was doubtlefs a great alloy to his good qualities,: but it has been punilla^d with rigour difproportionate to the ofience^ Thofe who perfonally felt his jealoufy, took advantage of his melancholy end to traduce him, and magnify every mole-hill of error iiito,a^mountalu of prime, ItidS uninanly in any one—indeed it -traduce ^t)ie .Soldier who has fallen^in the Service ofrhis; Coui^tpy ; but it is berefy in,^ S.okUebto do fo. ■ No fooner did theibuz2,,(jf jGalumny gveH as mihtary talents, particularly by the Duke of Cumberland, »uiider whom he ferved m the war in iQermany as a fubalterii Officer, in fo much that His Royal High-nels had his pičlure drawn. It was to him the Company were ..firft indebted for the introdučlion of perfei^l military difcipline into their army in India. In the various relations in which he flood, whether domeftic or public, as the fubjeft, the citizen, tlie father, or the friend, he was lb uniformly excellent, that the fliafts of malevolence, which the befl: and wifeft of men have but too often felt, feldom reached him ; and he may juflly be reckoned amongfV that very fmall number of created beings, of whom fcarcely any one had the audacity to fpeak ill. Upon my firft arrival in India, I was put under his command, and lived in Iiis family—when, inftead of deporting himfelf towards me with that referve and aufterity which rank and reputation like his, coupled with the circumftaiace of his being my uncle, might in fome, fort have juflified, he took me into his confidence, treated me with the greateft afFeftion, and a£ted rather as the brother and the equal, than as tlie parent and fuperior; and thus his gentle admonitions had more efFečt in reftraining the fallies of youth, and impetuofxty of my temper, than the four, unpalatable documents of a fupercilious preceptor 9Duld poflibly have had. The wonderful effečts of this happy temper in fwaying the ftubboru difpofition of headftrong youth, was exemplified in another inftance—of which, fuice I am on the fubječl, I will inform you. yöu. Mrl' Dupres, then Governor of Madras, wrote to him «bout a young Gentleman, in the following words: « My dear Colonel, " In the lift of Officers appointed to yotir garrifon, you will ** fee the name of-. This young man (nephew to " Mrs. Dupres), with abilities that might render him coiifpicuous» " I am forry to fay, ftands in need of a ftričl hand. All the fe-»' vour I have to requefl; of you is to Ihew him no favour: keep him rigidly to his duty ; and, if he requires it, rule him with a rod of iron. Should his future condu6t meet your appro-" bation, it is unneceflary for me to alk it, as you are always ready to fliew kindnefs to thofe who merit it," The peculiar ftyle of this letter made fuch an imprefTion on my memory, that I am able to give the exa£l words. Colonel Campbell, however, took his own unalterable method, mild* nefs—treated the young Gentleman in fcich a manner as to raife in him n corifcioufiiefs of his dignity as a man, the firft and beft guard againft mifcondu6t—and appointed him to the grenadier troop. The refult was anfvverable to his expcftatrons; ftrr the voung' man's condu61, both as an Officer and a Gentleman, waS fuch in the fcquel as to reflect L-redit on hinifelf and his family ; and his very honourable and hopeful career was laft terminated by a cannon-ball at tlie Hege of Tatijorc. R If ; the veneration in which T fhali ever hold this moft dear and refpefted relative admitted of increafe, it would certainly feceivc it from the contraft I am every day obliged to draw between him and the wretched buttcyßies w ho fometimes flutter round us under tlie name of Men: for, how can 1 help contrafting his inflexible courage, united to angelic mildnefs, with the, infolence of lilly-livered H€(5tors, who, confcious of the moft abjedt cowardice, Uaie to give an infult, and bafely Ikiilk from honeft refentment beneath the arm of the Law !—fellows who, like Bobadil in the play, can kill a whole army with the tongue, but dare not face a pigmy in the field!—and, while they want the prudence to reftrain the torrent of effeminate inventive, have patience enough to bear a kicking, or a box in the ear!—who blufter and vapour to hide the trembling limb and poltrooti afpe£l, as children whiftle in the dark to brave the ghofts they dread ! Beware of all fuch wretches as you would fhun plague or peftilence, I hope you do not imagine that I have fo little common, fenfe or philanthropy as to cenfure thofe who^ from phyfical caufes or conftitutional delicacy, are averle to conteft: No, no—I do affure you, on the contrary, that my obfervation leads me to think fuch men, though flow to quarrel, and inofFenfive in condučl:, ai e very gallant when honour or duty demai^d from them a conqueft over their weaknels^ I have, in my time, feen fuch men at firft the fport, and at laft the terror of your bluftering bullies; and I have always thought, that in. fuch a triumph over their feelings,, they had more true merit than ( -iSi ) riian men conftitwtiondly courageous: the latter haa hla valour ill cö'mmon with the mere animal; the other pofTefles the valour of fentiment. I mean that moil ignominious of all beings, who, prodigal in offexice, yet relu<5tanl in reparation—who, hoping to iind fome perfon paffive as thcmielves over whom to triumph, Jiazard the giving of an infult, with the malignant view to gaf-conade ovei- him'if he fol}inits-"»ndi if he refents, to wreak the \vhole vengeance of »üpcMi feira. In fociety with fuch men, there is no fafety^ för they leave you only the cafual alternative to choofe between ihame and ruiu. Him who: fubmits, they call poltroöii; and iiini who refeuts, they fleece' in form of Law, There are others who, to bring their fellow-creatures down ta their own brave the cxecratioiis of Mankind, and thž vcngeance-of Heaven: foch harpies do cxifl:, who, though bold ■enough to infi^t, are tame eiiongh to receive chaftifcment without refiftance? and, though tame enough' to fmbmit to chaftifement, ^re fo furioufly vindi£iive' as to proclaim thsir lhame, their cowardice, perhaps in the face of an open Court, in order to glyt their revenge by the pillage of their adverfary's pcrfc. Let fuch inert enjoy the fruits of their machinations, if thej caw—To tlieir own feelitigs I confign them ; for I can wifh a villain uo grcater curfe than the company of his own conscience, nor a poltroon a more poigna-nt-ßing tban"tha¥' which the cowtempt o£ Mankind inflicts upon him. L E T TER LX. P a s s i n o through Madura, I arrived at Trichiiiopoly, ■where I met Mr. Sullivan, the Refident of Tatijore,,who,very politely furniihed me with a letter to Mr. Hippesley> his Deputy at Tanjore, from whom I received many marks of civihty. At that place I had. the plealure of m^eeting a Gentleman with whom 1 had been at College,^and for whom. I, had always entertained a. great efteem; this was CoIqikI Fullarton. , It is aa old maxlm^ that, we. fliould fay nothing but good of. the dead— De mojntuis nil nifi bonum." It is not .a n^ew maxim, I, believe, to avoid praifing the living: I am aware of the indelicacy of it.; and therefore, purpofely avoid in this, as I fhall in other In-ftancas, fpeakirvg the full opinion I. entertain. To the general cfteera in which he was held^by allrajiks of people in India, I refer you to Colonel Füllart.on's charačler:: it is of fuch a fort,, that I willi to hold it up for your imitation. At a time of life when others have arrived to fome perfečtion in their profejffion, he made, choice of his, and entered for the firft time into the arduous mili-llary department, with a command for which the training of .many, years is no more tliiin fufficient to prepare othei" men. The Mi- niÜer niflcrof that day'gave him thisiimportant charge, underwent the clamours of Oppofition for it, and was juftified in the event. When the Colonel came to ačt, ib far from being deficient, his ' whole condudt was diftlnguiihed, not lefs for military talent than courage—while the rnofl fortunate command of temper and cap* tivating addrefs fubdued'tbe fpirit of prejudice, reconciled the moil difcordant, and gained himy^though a Jiing's Officer,, the- efteem, as much of the Company's as King^& troops. In Ihort, i all ranks of people, civil as. well as military, whether belonging to King or Company, united i in approbation, of his condučl—a thing not known before, nor iincc, but .in the perfon of liord Cornwai;lisi Too much cannot be.faid of the advantages rcfulting from .a proper command. o£ temper.' To promote that in-ray Frederick, will be ^attended 'with little difficulty :-on the'contrary, my only doubt: is,., that the placability and mildnefs of his difpofition will too Giften fubječl him to impofition...j JoH,N is, however, of a differcut temper ;.;there is fomcthing in it. which requires both admonition and good example to reprefs within proper bounds : to fhew him the: beauty as well as ufe of. a .mild, cool temper, fuch iuftances as Colonel Flu,lar:ton may be of weight, and I wiöi him to reflečl upon lt.. And here T am reminded of a perion and a circumfliance fo exactly in point, that I cannot.refrain from noticing them: they convey no inadequate idea of-the happinefB refulting I from a gentlenefs of nature, and dominion over'the loind.v and as the perfon I allude to is dead, I may fpeak of him. \vith. ^Tltllr the greater freedom in that foil ftraiu of praiie AN'hich lili iijiiiiog virtues tlefervc. ■ ■ č;; ' Öfaäll the meh I have ever had'tlic good fortune to know, Sin Ar6hibald Campbell poflefled, in the highefl: degree, that heavenly tmu of mhid, which not only is at peacc with itfelf, i)ut difFofes harmony and cheerfulnefs around it. No bufinefs, however urgent in occafion, jrcftriä:ed la point of time, or embar-raifed With difficulty-.—iio accident, however unexpeöed, or event, 'liowever finiftcr"-iione'of thofe innumerable minutias which fret and chafe the terapers of other men, ever fii^nded the cool tenor of iiis thought even for a mon:ient: nothing ihook the ferenity of his temper—nothing deranged the prefence of his mind: uniform and placid, heiin ail lituations had the full dominion of himfelf, and in the. field it gave him ä. decided fuperiority: nor was this felicity of nature confined to his public condučl; it attended him at the domeftic enjoyments-of the fire-fide—at the fecial board— in the private.Teceffes of his clofet; and the very fame habit of foul which, ini his great pubhc^ duties, r£ndered him valuable to his Country, and formidable to her enemies, gained him the admiration and efteem of/hie friends, the unbounded affedion of his family, and th-e bleffing of; all his dependants. An incident that occurred in my prefence may ferve in fbme meafure to decipher the mind ofi this a.dmirable. man—I fhall never forget it. Pjevioufly to his going to India, he had exerted iiis dntereft to obtain from the Eait India Company fome reward for -for my fervices; and, a few days before ^his departure, promifcd to fpeak again tx> Mr. Devaynes, Chairman of the Eaft India Company. I waited on him on the day he was fetting off; he was jufl about, ,to depart, and furrounded by a numerous circle, in the midft of this buftk, and the confufiou, one would ■fuppofe, iufeparable from fuch a crifis, he recolle6led his promife— told me Mr. Devaynes liad that minute taken leave of him, and he had forgot to mention me, but faid that he would write to him on the fubječt; and, though he was„at the inftant on the point of moving to the carriage that was to carry him off, fat down, and with that amiable fvveetnefs of manners and happily colle6led mind fo peculiarly his own, wrote a letter for me to Mr. Devaynes—holding couverfation, the while, in the raoft lively,, engaging manner, with the perfons around him. The concifenefs and perfpicuity of language in which this letter was couched, will fervo to elucidate what I have faid—I therefore tranfcribe it for you : ^ " St. James''s Hotel, Sept: m, 11^5, Dear Sir, " 1 forgot to mention to you this forenoon, and again to repeat « my carneft wilhes,. you would take the cafe of Mr. Campbell " fpeedily into your confideration. His fufferings were of fuch a. ** nature, and his fervices fo meritorious, that I am perfuaded, " upon a fair inveftigation of both, you will giVe him your firmeft* « fupport, 1 have looked i^to all his papers; and the teftimonies ^ •"•of ^ m ) ■ » • • of efTcntial fervlces Tendered to the Company by him, do lüm, In my opinion, the hjgh'eft hönour. Unlefs fuch merits are rc-compcnfed, few wilf rifk every thing, as Mr. Campbell did, •to promote the fvlccefs of the Company's arms in India: but 1 " trüft yöu will fee It in its proper light; and in that hope I ftiall only add, that whatever afts of kindnefs you fliew ta him, will be cbnfidered as an obligation conferred on, ' ' « DEAI^ SIH, " Your faithflil and moft obedient humble fervant, ' ' " Archibald Campbell." To William Dsvaynes, Efq." Be aflured, my dear boys, (for now I fjieak to John as weil as Frederick), that one ačl of triumph over the temper is worth a million of triumphs over our fellow-creatures, and that the per-fe6l dominion of our mind is more advantageous and laudable than the dominion over Provinces or Nations. The one attaches merely to our corporeal part, and is bvirled with our dufl: in the grave : the other follows our immortal part, and pafles with it iiito eternity. On my leaving Tanjore, Colonel Fullarton honoured me with the .care of a letter to Lord Macartn-ey, then Governor of Madras—an extract of which I give you, as it applied to my liufinefs particularly-: Tanjore^ « Tmijore, March 20, 17R5, Mi' Lord, « I had the honour to write"to your Lordlhip on the Btli by Captaiu Hallam, who carried from hence very large packets to you. The opportunity of Captain Campbell tempts me to " trouble your Lordfiiip, merely to inform you, that all my let" ters from Bidanore afcribe m a great degree the fuccefs tlf our ** arms in that quarter, and the -Revolution effected there, to the influence; he' had-with'Hyat Sahib, und to the propofals of furrender which he fuggefted, and tranfačted with the Ge" neral and Jemadar. I think it neceffary that you, my Lord, " may kiww how much tl>e Public is .indebted to Captain. " Campbell, whofe good fortune in tliis .affair has only , Before I left Taujoye, 1 had an opportunity of being eye-wit-iiefs to tllat extraordinary and horrid ceremony, the burning of a Gentoo woman wltli the body of her hiilband. As this is a point which has occafioned much fpeculation and fonic doubt an>ong Europeans, I inclofe you an accurate account of the ceremony, as minuted down at the time.it happened. , i . . I ji I description of the cekemony of the gentoo women burning themselves with the bodies of their husbands. ^ ''' " This day,--, I went to fee a Genteo woman refign herielf to be burned along with the corpfc of her deceafed hulband. " The place fixed upon for this tragic fceiie, was a fmall ifiet on the bank of one of the branches of the rivci" Cavery,' about a mile to the Northward of the fort of Tanjope. " When I came to the fpot, I fouad the vlčlini, who appeared to be not above fixteen,. fitting on the ground, drcfled in the Gentoo manner, with a white cloth wrapped round her, fbme white flowers like jelTamins hanging round her neck, and fomc of them hanging from her hair. There were, about twenty women women Utting ou their hams round her, hoUlliig a white handkerchief, extended horizontally over her head, to ifl^ade her from the fun, which was exceffively hot, k being then about noon. « At about twenty yards from where fhe was fitting, and facing Jier, there were feveral Bramins buly in conftručllng a pile with billets of fire-wood I the pile was abo-ut eight feet long, and four broad. They firft began by driving fome upright ftakes into the ground, and then built up the middle to aboiat the height of three fcset and a Half with billets of wood. " The dead hufcand, who, from his appearance, Teemed to be about fixty years of age, was lying clofe by, ilretched out on a bier,' made of Bamboo canes. Four Brajiiins walked in pro-ceffion three times rovmd the dead body, £rft in a direftron ■contrary to the fun,' and afterwards other three times in a direc-' tion with the fun, all the while muttering incantations; and at each round of circuit they made, they untwifted, and immediately again twifted up the fmall long lock ßf hair which is left unHiaven at the hack of their heads. Some other Bramins \^'erc in the meari time employed In iprinkling water out of a green leaf, rolled up like a cup, upon 51 fmall heap cakes of;dry cow-dung, wiifh which tlie pile wh? afterwards to be iet on fire. ** An old Braminiiit at tlic Niirrli-eafl: .corner of the pile upon his ba;i-m, wi^ a .pair-of fjiefl.arlcs on, reading:, •! Juppole, tlu" .Shafter, or Čhcir Scriptures, from n :lini)k ccunj>ofcd of Cajan lea\ et).' S 2 ila\-ujg tc Having been prefcnt now uearly an hour, I inquired whem they meant to fet the pile on fire: they aiilwcred, in about two hours. As this fpet^lLicIc was niofl niehuicholy, and iiaturally flruck me wit)» Iiort or, and as I had only gone there to alture. myfelf of the trut/f cf 'fuch facrtßccs being tnucic, I went ;tway towards the fort. After \ wa^. goue about five hundred yards, they fent Ibme. one to tell m,c they would bum immediately ou which I returned; and fouini the woman had been moved from where flic was fitting to the ri\ er, v/here the Bramins were bathing her. Oil taking her out of the water, they put fome money in her hand, which flie dipped in.the river, and divided among the Bramins: (he had then a.ydJow cloth rolled, partially round her. They put fame led. colour» about tJie fize of a fixpencc, on the centre of her forehead, and rubbed Ibmething that appeared to me to be clay. She was then led to the pile, round which .fhewalked .three times as the fun goes : ih^ then mounted it, at,the North-caft. corner» without-, any afiiilauce; and fat herfelf down on the right fide of her hulband, who had been previoufly laid upoii the pile. She then unfcrewed the pins which-faftenedthe, jewels or filver rings Oil her arms: after Ihe had,taken them off,, flie fhut them, and fcrewed iii the pins again, and gave one to each ,of two women who were landing; flie unfcrewed her, ear^rings,^andother toys, with great compofiire, and divided them, among the women .who were with her. There feemed to be fome little fquabble about the diftributiou of her jewels, wliich Ihe fettled witli great preči Hon J cifioii; and then, falling gently backwards, pulled a fold of the yellow cloth over her face, turned her breaft towards her hufband's fide, and laid her right arm over his breaft; and in this pofture ihe remained without moving. " Juft before flie lay down, the Bramins put föme riec in her lap, and alfo fome into the mouth and on the long grey beard of her hulband : tJiey then .fprinkled< fome water on the head, breaft and feet: of both, and tied them gently together round the middle with a-flender bit of rope: they tlien railed,,as it. were, a little"^ wall'of wood lengthways on two fides of the pik, fo as to raife it above the level of the bodies; and then put crofs pieces, fo as to prevent the billets of wood from prefiiiig oii them; they then poured on the pile, above where the woman lay, a potful of fomething that appeared to m« to be oil-;; after this they heaped on more, wood, to the height of about four feet above where the: bodies were built in fo, that, all I now liiw w^s a ftack of fijre-wood.. " One of the Bramins, I obferved, {lood at the end of the pile next the woman's head-—was -calling to her through the in-terftices of the woodv and laughed fevernl times during ttas con-verfation. Laftly, they avetfpread the pile' with .wcfr ftraw, and-ried it on with ropes.. A Bramin. then took a handful of ftraw, which he fet on fire at the little heap of burning cakes of cow-dung ; and, ftand--ing to windward of the pile, he let the wind drive the flame fron» the ftraw till It catched the pile. • .Fortu»ately, at this in- flant,. ( 14g ) ftaiit, tlic ^villd roič much higher than It had been any part of tlie day; and in au inftant the flames pervaded the whole pile, and it burnt with great fury. I lifteneda few feconds, but could not diftinguin-i any flu ieks, which might perhaps be owing to my tieinf then to windward. In a very few minutes, the pile bccame a heap of afhes. During the whole time of this procefš, wliich Lifted froui firft to lafl above two hours before we loft fight of the woman by her being l>uilt up ill tJie middle of the pile, I kept my eyes almoft coiiftantly upon her; and J dcclare to Go d that I could not perceive, either in her countenance or limbs, the leaft trace of either horror, fear, or even hefitation; her countenance wai perfectly compofed and placid; and flie was not, I am pofitivc, «ither intoxicated ot ftupificd. Froiia feveral circumftances, 1 thought the ßramins exulted in this hellifii lacrifice, and did not feem at all dilpleafed that Europeans /hould be witnefles of it." From Tanjore I proceeded to Negapatiiam, vi'hich had beea taken from the Dutch by the Company's troops, and where Mr. Cochran, an old friend of mine, was Chief. The communication by land between Ncgapatnam and Madras being Interrupted by the enemy's troops, I embarked ui a veflel, and proceeded thither by fea—Major Johnston, of the Engineers, being alfo a poflenger. LETTER LXI. Hitherto evei^ flep of my journey has been marked by occurrences fo unexpe6led, and accidents fo extraordinary, that 1 Ihould feel fome repugnance to relate them, left my veracity Ihould be called in queftion, were they not attefted by fo many living perfons of refpeftability» and by written documents of authority on record. Were one to confider them merely as the offspring of fiflion, they would perhaps have intereft enough to catch the attention; but, viewing them as fafts, they borrow^ from their number and rapid fucceilion^ as wcU as from their Angularity, fo much of the complexion of imaginary adventure, that the combination cannot, I think, fail to intereft your mind as well as your feelings. Arrived at Nagapatnam, within a fhort run of Madras, it is natural for you to luppofc that adventure was at an end, and that fortune, fatigued by the inceflknt exertion of her caprice, might have left me to proceed the ftiort refidue of niy way without further moleftation. It fell out other^vife: fhe had marked me as her game, and rcföLved to worry me to the lafl: monent; for, a» we Tvc T.pptrra^ched Madras, wc were cliafed by a French frigate, stud ■rtaken near Fort St. George. This appeared to me the greateft misfortune 1 had yet met •\vjth, and likely to be^the moft fatal iu its coufequenccs. Iti order to explain this, 1 niuO; recur to certain circuniftances, which, though I was informed of them fince my releafe from Hydernagur, 1 did not relate to you, becaufe they were no vva\ {x>juie£ted with my narrative till now, Monfieur SuFFREiN, the French Admiral, having aaumber, of Britifh prifoners in his pofleflion, whom he found it extremely inconvenient to fupport, made a propofal for an exchange—-which, from lome failure in the jcoji-vcyance, .or ambi_guity in the termi üfthe.con:efpondence, was negleded. The motives or accidents which gave, rife to this -ne^e£l Jiavc never been completely developed ; and perhaps th£ Admiral lilm-felf, Sir Edward IIugijes, and Lord Macartwey, were the only perfons who Jcnew the battom of that traijfaftion. In fuch cafes, however, the ignorance of faft is generally fupplied by conječture ; and men liave prefumed to cenfure unequivocally on the mere hypothetical fuggeftions of their own imaginations. Candour, however, in fuch a cafe, where it could not ipeak with certainty, would fpeak with caution. An Hiftorian, particularly, ftiould fteer clear of party rancour, and nqt fuffer the prejudice or malignity which mifled himfelf, to go down to and miflead pofte-rity. Where pafitive proof is wanting, if we are obliged to decide. ci'dc,. we niuH: judge by analogy and inference; and m the caft now before us, we have little but the chnraiiers of the perlbus couoemed to guide us in our decifion. Of the horrid cataftrophe which iucceeded the negleä of exchanging prifohers, it is hardly pollibk that aiiy one but Mon-fieur .SuFFREiN himfelf could have had a conception. To fuppofcj that, under fuch an irapreffioii, our leading men would have hefitated. to; prevent it, would be to fuppofe their intellefls weak, and their hearts cornipt and inhuman, I fancy it will be difficult to faften on Lord Macartney either the one or thc; öther; for he was wife and humane ^ thofe whom the diiapr pointmeat of unreafonable expedations, or the naalevoience of party, have induced to lu(pe£t his Lordfhip's heart, have been forced by his conduči to r-ever« his talents; and the breath of calumny has .never touched the humanity of Sir Edward Hughes^ Whatever their,motives, therefore, may have been— reafon, confcience, and candour, muft acquit them vh'eh he has hypocritically feigned anger, threatened the perfons who had, treated them ill,, reprobated feverity, and fent therrt ofF fatkfied jbr the prefent, Tippoo, on tlie contrary, was fo perfeftly fa-that cruelty-ieemed to be, not only the internal habit of hir- Iiis fiuul, jbut the guide, of.his a6lions,)the moving principle of Iiis policy, the rule of, his public condučl:, aiid the iburce of his private gratification. oLike the tygcr which, Buffon tells us, kills -the whole Iflockl before he begins to feed, every appetite of his yielded to the more urgent calls of barbarity; and while one drop idf jblüod renjained urifpilled, one agony uninfli^led, one tear unfiled, the natural appetites of Tippoo,flood fufpended, and the luxuries.of Jife.courted his enjoyment in vain. ' Like the hyena ,which'Thompson calls the felled of the fell, the fury of his nature was nditKer to be c-ontioüled by refinance, nor afiuaged by blandifliments. t Aloof from the general order of the workings of Providence, he ftands a fingle inftance, in which the Omnipotent has prefented a glowing living picture, all shade : not one ray breaks in, to relieve the gloon^y afpod of the piece; Iwt, diftind from the whole humaa race, of him aloHe it may be faid, that he never yet difclofed, even for a moment, one fpark of virtne. From barbarity ib' iiiflexible to thofe taken in the ordinary chance of war, what could I exped if I^fell again into hishands— I who had been the itiftrument of one of his chicf Governors* defe£hon—who liad, by my negociations, contributed to 'deprive him of a Province, atid, what perhaps' nii'ght have had greater weight with him, roblied him of the gratification of a long harboured revenge, by putting his enemy Hvat Sahib under the protedtion of tiie Company ? Dialiolical vengeance never perhaps met with a fubjed of fuch fublime enjoyment, as the torturing of To me "sne I would have been to this monflcr. Couple this» then, my FitjEDiRicK, with the fears of SurFREiK*s doing'by me as lij jÄttcl already done by thp'other EngUfh -prifoners^—and guefs What jirfyl terror and coiifteriatiDii muft Have bcch at Jfalliiig into tiic JmiXd&rQf tiie Frencj:iIt! ' " j i.'-■jm, •/!( . i ■ ' ' -r::r Havitig ifliuck oui' coloui-s to the,French frigate^ the Captain ^jle^^id to follow; her, rand fleered to the Northward. We >ibc).4d him for fom^. time; at length night fell; aiid, a. freikrand ^youiafek breeze fbrtuniitel)^ aiding the attempt,, we put about, ^an and luckily dropt anchor fafely iu the Roada-. In ^he elcapes-I hjtd liitherto hadj there was always fomc, difagreeable ■circumllance to alloy t^e pleafure arifnig from them—In this in-ilanccy m.y joy waa pure and unqualified; and I looked forward -with a r^onable hope that the wQfft Was all o.vep» . ' ^ J Here ! found Lord MACAatifEY Governor, ftruggling to^lupi-port the credit of the Company,, and direčiing ^eir affairs through luch embarraffments and difficulties- as made the moft wife, and temperate defpair of fucGefs* So arduous ati undertaking: as the Governmejit of Madras then was, has rarely occurred; and a jnore fuccefsful final accomplifhment is not to be inflaiiced. In the inqeflknt confličis to which he was^expofed, he maintained; his pofl with inflexible firmuefs and unabated energy of mind—andj in the moft trying circimiflances, difchargcd his important duty with zeal, Integrity aiid wifdom. The ftričl difcharge of the iüty he owed to his Country, raifcd clamours-againft him among aDi an interefted few in India; but the united applaufes of all parties, on his return to England, ftamped currency or his fame^ and has broken the fhafts of dctraČlion. .. ,' ' -. 'I ■j[) '' .'i JV? ZJ^iI fUJ^.'i- i'lbnl iT,j:a "io " I'l J .~r! c'č^ ;A.<"' ^'' ^ ^ LETTER, LXn. .. i _t - \K> . - ; .-J I, , ...-vt-O liiücjul-'ijüv oJ iR.FtUn: ■ oiJu ■ i After fö many barrels and hardfhips as I had undergone, it was a moftv plcafing refleftion to find myfelf in a fociety compofcd of my oldefl: profeflional connedtions^. and warmeft and fincereft friends: but this was a happinefs 1 could not long enjoy; for, being charged with a mi/Goo. frfjm Hyat Sahib to the Governor-General and Supreme CovinciJ, 1 was öenftrained/to proceed to iBengaly and accordingly fet fail s for. Calcutta, r which I reached in little more than a week, without' encountering any accident, or meeting a fingle occurreiice,. worth the relation.I Upon my arrival there, Sir John Macpherson,^ who wasia the Supreme Council;! gave me a kind invitation to,live at his houfe, and prefcnted me to Mr. Hastings, with whom I entered into a iiei gociatlon on behalf of Hyat Sahib, which' will appear by the follo.wing letters t j' ' i ;ofi' ^jn un ■ii"'.1 ■ =: .ut* ; ■ ^-^^LEfTE-H. i!;, K; v..hwjjlqqfj bojii'ij mi ; L:;!!.:"!;»^!"!! . ' - ' ' ■ J J . : . 4 'J il.. J' . ' « Calcutta, May S, 178Ö. " Honourable Sir, " Indlfpofition has put it out of my power, fince the firfi; day " after my arrival"here, to have the honour of paying you my » I - • ^ \ ' " refpečls, and of laying before you, for the information of the " Board, the objeds of my miffion to your fupcrintending Government. " As thefe objects are of puhlic importauce, aad as ill health may prevent me, for fome time longer, fromJiaving the honour " X)f waiting, upon _Mou, I take I the> liberty to beg your attention to " Chisaddreß. • i' i ' : ^ Ji . > " ;The great Revcdution in favour of the India .Company upon " the jWefl: fide of India,' and to which I had the happinel's of being " irifomelittle degreeinftrumental,has been certainly brought about " ;by the zeal and fpirit of, General Mathjews ; but that Officer ** afcribes to the i orders and fupplies of your Government the " jirincipal merit. of the vindertaidng : he looks to the fame Go-vermnent for fupport in the arrangement which he has made, and may make, for the fecurity of the conquered Province. U' The hurry m which I left him, and his anxiety for my Jtpeedy ** communication of his fuccefles, gave no time for a fornialcommu-^ nication to the Governor-General and Council, of the particulars " of " of his fuccefTes, and of the arrangements which he wifhed to " be adopted. He wrote a fliort account of the firft to the Prefi* " deacy of Fort St. George; and gave me a public letter to the " Cmnmander in Chief of the Military Eftablifhment of that " Prefideiicy to which I particularly belong, in atteftation of the " fervices I rendered in the negociatiou between him and the Go" veruorof Bidanore, for the furrender of that Capital and Pro" vince, A copy of that letter 1 have the pleafure to lay before you; " As I was charged with a particular commiffion from Hyat " Sahib, the Manager of the Bidanore Province, to the Gover-" nor-General and Council, as appears by his letter, wliich I had thehöööurof prefenting to you. General Ma.thews gave mej, " in verbal iiiftručlions, and memorandums written in Iiis- own. '* hand, the' particulars of what he wished me to reprefent to youn Government: he gave^ me,, befides, fliort notes of iutrodučlioa " to two of the Members of Go-vfernm^nt, whom he knew per" fbnally—nefersing them to me for aii account of his fixation, " and allowing me, I believe, more credit than I deferve, for the fhare 1 had in. contributing to his. final, acq^ition of Bidanore " without drawing a fword.. " It would be tedious, and more fit for the detftU of converfa-" tion than of a public addrefs, to inform you of tlie various fteps ^ that led to the lurrender of the Capital and Province of Bida-" nore., I had had feveral conferences with. Hyat Sahib before " Hyder's death, and: endeavoured to fuggeft; to him the ad van:* tage tttge wtiich -would üfife to him-from a revolt m favoiii- of the « Company. My efforts in thefe converfations «iided ultimately « in the moft rigorous diftrefs to myfelfi' 1 'was put in irolis, and « remained ib for four months, in a fituation only of eJiiftence, " Without any hopes of ever efcaping. 'When General Ma" tUEWS had ftormcd the Cfliauts, Hyat Sahib feut for me, " and, after varkws ftruggles, ahd much iiideciiion,'agreed to my proceeding to the 'Engliih calmp; and I conducted General « Mathews, almoft unattended, into Bidanore. Hyat Sahib ut length agreed to lühmit: but as, In his various converfations " with me before and after that event, he made a very particular " diftinttion between the Government of Bombay and the chief Government of the Englifh in Indoftan, lb he propolöd that I ** (hould immediately depart, after he hatl given up the place and' " all the forts of the Province, with a letter to you, to obtain " your fanot even clearly defined before my " departure ; and fo anxious was he for my fpeedy arrival at Calcutta, that he only gave me the general propofitions that are « contained in his letter. ' " Permit m« here to obferve, that it Is by the treatment " which Hyat Sahib meets with,> that the other Chiefs of " Hyder's Country will eftimate the advantage of abandoning the intereßs of Tippoo Sawib, or will confirm their dependence " upon " upon him. Tipp o o was prevented by his father from alliiv-tercourle with the Governors of lus Provinces, or any inter« fercnce in country affairs; fo that thofe left iu charge at his fiither's deatJ:! are ftrangers to Him, and are men to whom ha « häfe little attachment. He is, befides, confidcrednto beef a clut^ difpofition. His father was cruel upon a political principle he is thought to be fo from nature. " The unfortunate^ differences about. moiäey which arofe in " General Mathews's camp, and of whicbi you Avill probably « hear from the Preiideucy of Bombay, took, up much of the »'General's time, andi.may have retarded his operations4 haw-""ever, his fuccefs in the reduftion'of Mangalore .gives a fecurity " to his conquefts. The revenues of the Bidanore Proviiice avc " 'about twenty lacks of pagodae per annum, « The particular fituation of die Capital merits attention. It " is placed in a valley of confiderable extent in circumfei ence : " according to the befl obfevvation I could make, there is ait afcent to it, from all fides, of near feveii miles : it can only be ap" proached by four roads, which are cut among the hills, and wliich " were judicloufly fortified with great pains by Hyder .: woods, " to the depth of many miles, are a frontier found lu fkirts.; and where thefe admitted a pafllige, Hyder took the precaution t® plant bamboos and thorns—lo that I have litde fear but ihat ^ General Mathews will be able to defend thefe paffes; aiuJ m for provifiou';, and military .fiores of all kinds, that Wjcre found I / « JÄ " iii'Bictanore, of the latter particularly, what, according to Ge" neral Mathews's own declaration, would ^ equip uine fuch »> armies as his, i •. : I Cundapore is the next fca-port to Bidanore; and is diftant " about fifty miles': Mangalore is diftant about a hundred miles. " 'Tb^ road leading from Mangalore joins with that from Cunda-" pore, ^vhere the afcent of the hills commence: another, road " from Bidariore leads to Scringapatani, jand a;, fourth into the " Miirhatta Country. ' r . . ^ l-. " It was from the lower Country, along the fca-coaft, be** t ween Ortore and Mangalore, wliich is watered by many " rivers, and is the beft cultivated Country I ever faw, that " Hvder got the greatell: part of his provifions for his arm^y ia " the Carnatic; and, independent of the advantages which the " Company have gained by the acquifition of thefe Countries, the " confequent lofles of the Myforeans are immenfe, and fuch as will difable them from affifting the French in the Carnatic. It becomes not an Officer of my rank to make any obferv-" ations that relate to the condučl of the different Governments of my Employers; but I am obliged to obferve, in juftice to Hyat Sahib's declaration to poe, that he will not rely upon ** any arrangement made in Iiis favour by the Governor and " Council of Bombay, unlefs he has a fpeedy anfwer to his letter " from this Government.. He has requeued mc to returp with that anfwer, aiid with the fan<5iion of the Governor-Gejieral to « tO the cowl given to him by General Mathews. Though I am worn down by my fufferiiigs in prifon, and my liealth can " fcarcely enable me to be carried by land, I am ready to undertake this fcrvice; for I know it is the greateft I may ever have " it in my power to render to the Company and to my Country. " My return to the other coaft with a favourable anf\frer td " HTf at,Sahib, will be the fignal toother Chiefs to throw off the " yoke of Tipp o o ; and if Colonel Long has made any progrefs " in the Coimbatore Country, or that General Mathews has not " been too feverely preffed by Tip poo, I may arrive upon the other coaft in time to be of real ufe to the Company. " I know, Honourable Sir, the liberal and great fyftem of your adminiftration: I will noti therefore, point out any little cir-" cumftances about the footing upon which I fliould return to « Hyat Sahib, or remain upon the other coafl. I wifli only to " be rewarded by my Employers as I am fuccei'sful; and I Uiall leave it to your goodnefs, and to your diftinguifhed zeal for " the public propriety, to give me any inftručlions for my con" dučt, lor to charge me with any advices to General Mathews, " as you may think proper. ■' " I hope you will pardon this long and irregular addrefš, and honour me by communicating any part of it that you may tliiitk « tvorthy of communication to tlie Geatleraen of the Cuvncik " I have the honour to be, &:c. &c. " DorfALD Campbell," V 2 " P. S, \ ' When you arc at lelfure, and If am able to have thft hönoiW of attending youj I would wifh to commmikate to.you " a pai'tictikr tlctail of my convörlation with Hyat Sahib---What General Atiikws';; hopes of iVippbrt frotu this Govern" niciit wei'e, anil ttLä. futwre planž he. theiH meditated--Jand rriy id^afeof the meailircs that flioiikl be purftied by ithe Prefidency " »of Ff)Kt tSti Geofge', to liipport Geheral Mathews, and^im-provp the ad vantages he has gained. • ' : ' ' ■ '{ '' " lo U'an-en Ha tm^s^ hfrj. ■ r/ -/l t ■ .f US: -b- v'. ( iV f » " Governor-K^eneral of Bengal. , ■ I' . ' . .rit ■ . ■! |.| ' 1 letter from hyat sj^hib, al^l.uded to in the foreqoingi, ,1 i '., . ; tl: (Ufual IntroJuČlion.) , 1; ]'i 'I" I have direčlcd the affairs of the Sbobeh of Hydernagurifor ibme years paft^ on the part of the Navvauh HydBr. When " lately attacked by the vidorious-forces of the Englifh under the command of General Mathewsv I oppofed'him^ and fulfilled " my duty in every refpečt; but feeing the fuperior fortune and " force of the Englifh, and receiving propofals for peace from " General Mathews» by tliefe circumftances, but more efpeci-" ally by the perfuafions of Captain Campbell, the Ton of Co»" lonel Campbell, who was formerly at Chinaputtan, I was ^ bduced to come to terms, and delivered up to General MAr « the.wk « THEWS the treafüry, property, ftores and keys of the forts of this Country. If I had beerii, difpofed, I had it in my power to " have appropriated this colleded M'ealth to other purpofes ; but, " from a regard to the high fortune of the King of England, " and the uprightnefs and integrity of the Enghfh People, I hava " included mylelf in the number of your fervauts, and have de" termined, with the xitmofi: fmcerity and purity of heart, to ferve you well and faithfully.. By the blefiing of God, under « YOur aufpices, my endeavours towards the well and full per" formauce of my duty fliall be ten-fold greater than heretofore ;. " and as General Mathews intends to proceed to Seringputtam, " vour loval fervant will aflift, to the iitmofl; of his ability and " power. You will be fully informed on this fubjed by Captain " Campbell. Honour, and favour, and reward, mufi: flow from " you- . . ' ";,Frora the time of your firft eftablifhraent in this Country to " the prefent period, the engagements of the Englilh have been " facredly performed and adhered to ; nor have they been want" ing in their protečlion of ,the honour, and dignity of the Sur" dars- of Btngal, i'-i^d other places. I hope, from your favour " and benevolence, that you will iflue your commands to Gene" ral Mathews, to favour me with all duekindnefs and atten-" tion. 1 have taken fhelter under the fliadow of your bencvo-•■'jlence. Captain Campbell has ihewn me,great kindnefs in this refpeä, and, by encouraging me to hope for your favour, " hai C täü y " has led me to becöme j^our fervant, ;f,You will be fully uvfwiaicU « of the ftate of affairs iu this quarter by Captaiii C a mp bell " letters, « Written on the 25th of Suftur, A, H. 1197," , ^ , , " A true copy, « J. P. Auriol, i.etter to warren hastings, esc^ [, ' " Calcutta, May 25, 1783. " Honourable Sir, " Sonie time ago, 1 did myfelf the honour of writing to you, " on the fubječt of my miffion from Hyat Sahib to this Go" vernment. " It is with pleafure I now underfland that you have come to " the refolution of fending an anfwer to his letter. I cannot help " delivering it as my opinion, that a decided and avowed' protec-" tion granted to him from this Government, will be produčlive '" of great public utility: but ■ 'U '1il.> , . ( . . ■( . .r ' ih fUild !i|y/ j/rtij ** letter TO CAPTAIN DONALD CAMPlJELI., .i' , < Il »» M i .■: . > - .hirddh " " brR, 11' ,■-■.■ J . . . '■ ill' ■ " I have it hi command from the Honourable the ^Ooyeraor- " General and Council, to tranfmit you the inclofed fuifwer froiu - - ■ • ' i -...-■! 11 " the Governor-General to the letter which you brought froiu " Hyat Sahiu, the Foufdar of Bidaiwre, to this Government,. " upon the occafion of his furrendering that Country to the " Company, As you propofe to return to Bidanore, the Board ** requeil that you will deliver this aiifwer in perfoa to Hyat " Sahib, with afTurances from them of every protečlioii and " fupport which the emiJient fervices rendered by him to the " Company give him fo good a rigJit to exped, and which they " have it in their power to grant; and you will acquaint him, " that they have further agreed to recommend him In fuch terms ** to the Honourable the Court of Direčiors, as may encourage him to hope for every attention from their juftice. " Coufidering the great importance of the acquifttion of Bi" danore to the Company, Its proportionable difadvantage to " the enemy, and the magnitude of the obje6t to be obtained " by holding out every pofiible incitement and encouragement " to ^ to tlie Managers of the Mjfore Count:) , to throw ofFa new and " unfettled dependence on the enemy's Govemnient, in order to obtain a more fecure and beneficial tenure from the Company's " poUeffiou, the Board arc tlie more readily inclined to a/Ford this " early return to the advances of Hyat Sahib, in the hope " that k will infpire him with frefh confidence iu the Englifh " Government, and rivet his attachment to it. It will be at your option, either to return immediately with Hyat Sahib's anfwer to the Governor-General's letter, if you ** fliall deem it of fufficient confequence to require it, or to re" main with him, if you conceive that your refidcnce there for ** any time will be more conducive to the public interefts; ^but, U\ either jcafe, you are defired to report the particulars of your " reception and proceedings to this Goverjiment, with any other information which you may think it ufeful for them to know-« lam, Sir, Your mofl obedient, humble fer^'ant, " J. P. Auriol, " For/ IFilliam, May 29, I'SS." It would be unpardonable in me to let this occafion pafs, without cxpreffiiig the high fenfe I entertain of Mr. Hastings's politenefš, and Sir John Macpherson's kindnefsandhofpitality» »luiiiig my ftay at Calcutta. As to Mr. Hastings, in his public X capacity. ^apaaty^ it would be prcfuniptuous and injudicious to fay muclx, as lie now ftands for the judgment of the highefl: Tribunal in this Country. jMy own ohfci-\'atlon leads mc to confider hini as -a man of found» acute and brilUant talents, and of a vafl: and com^ |irelicnfivc mind—-of manners ibciable, amiable, meek and un-affečkd—and of a difpofition truly benevolent. Hi.s fuperior knowledge of the political interefts of Indoüim, and particularly of the affairs af the Eafl: India Company, has never been queftion-ed ; and, if the iufFrage of tlie People of India may be allowed to decide, his condučt as Governor-General, though, like every thing human, intermixed -with error, was, on the whole, great and laudable—for I declare I fcarcely ever heard a man in India, Native or European, ccnfure him, although he was often the fub-jeft of cojivcriation M'ith all perfons and in all cbmpa!\les in the Eaft. The fociiii virtues of Sir John JMacpiiehson arc fo well known, that it would be fuperfluous to notice them. The fame friendlhip and hofpitality t experienced in his houfe, has been. Iliared by many, who are not backward in doing liini ample juftice on that head, l^ut Ms condučl during his fliort adminiftratioii can be known only by thofe who make the political conccrns of [ndia a fubječl; of ftudious attention. To eiiter into a detail of his various wife regulations for the reflroration of tlie Company's atFairs, would be deilručtive of the end I propoi'e, which is, by coucife and fimple fummary of the whole, to render a fair picture of of his admhiiflratJon fo clear as to be iintlei ftood by any pct fon, however ignorant he may be of the politics of that Country, and ib brief as not to dilcourage the reading of it. Sir John Macpherson took the reins of Government into his hands on the firfl: of February, 1785. He found the Company's revenues din:ilnifhed, and their expenditure increafed, by the continual claims of Proprietors, Direčlors, and Minifters, to a ihare in the patronage of Mr. Hastings—and a public debt accumulating to an enormous, amount. He therefore faw the ne-ceiRty of putting in pra6llce every expedient poffible, and trying every experiment that the ftate of the Country fuggefted, as likely to promote an increafe of the revenue, a diminution of the public expenditure, and a liquidation of the debt. He, therefore, •on the fourteenth day of his adminiftration, commenced a reform, which he continued with indefatigable zeal and induftry t(j introduce through the various departments of Government—and, -beginning with bimlelf, difchargcd his body-guards. WJiilc he was thus employed in India, the Company and Parliament in England «were unremittingly engaged in coniidering ani! molding into fhape a fyöem of reform alli); and, extraordinary as it niav appear, the faft is, that the fagaclty of Mr. Majcpiierson had adopted by anticipation, and aftualiy reduccd to praclice, the identical Ipeculative reforms which the I'ai liament and Conipaiiv were proceeding upon in England - and the general plan of reform which pafied the Court of Dirc^iora on th^ jcicventli X 2 April, April, 17S5J 'iJi^ achially carried into execution by Sk John Macpherson in Bengal, in the months of February» March aiid April, 1785. He macic arrangements for the diffu-fionof knowledge—eftablifhed the fettlement of Puio Penang, or Prince of Wales's Hlaad—fettled the Bank of Calcutta oa a firm balis---regulated the markets—and, by a plan of his own conception, feciired the Company from the accuftomecl fraudulent com-politions with Zemindars, by bonding their balances, and making the bonds cancelable only by the Court of Directors. la fine, he introduced and carried into effedt a fyftem of reform which had a moft fudden and falutary eftečt on the Britifh affairs in India ; aiid in an adminifliration of only eighteen months, he had the felicity to perceive the fruits of Iiis wifdom and induflry maturitig—to receive that beft of earthly rewards, the eftecm and applaufe of his Fellow-citizens—and to be honoured by the beft of Sovereigns with the dignity of a Baronet. While 1 was at Sir John Macpherson's houfe, I happened, in converfation one day with Mr. Macauley, Sir John's Secretary, to be talking over Ibme part of my adventures; and found to my aftonifhment, that he had, in his route to India, accidentally hired the very fervant whom I had loft at Triefte by fending ^him for letters to Venice; and Mr. Macauley affured me, that he found him pofieffed of all the good qualities I had expelled to meet in him : but the poor fellow had died before my arrival at Calcutta, to my great mortification and difappointment. As. As the feafon In which I was to leave Calcutta was very un-favounible for a voyage by lea, and the coaft thereabouts is one of the moft iiihofpitable in the world, I fet off by land for M dras, and in my way had an opportunity of furveying tliat curious and grotefque monument of loperftitious folly, called the Jagrauaut Pagoda. It is an immenle, barbarous ftradure, of a kind of pyramidal form, embelllfhed with devices cut in ftonc-work, not more fingular than difgufting. Chrirtian Idolators, in forming types and figures of divine beings, always endeavour to reprefeiit them with perfonal beauty, as proportionate to their divine nature as human (kill can make it. Thofe Pagans, on the contrary, in forming their idols, caft out every veftige of beauty— every thing that, by the confent of Mankind, is luppofed to convey pleafing fenfations; and, in their place, fubftitute the mofl: extravagant, unnatural deformity, the moft loathfome naftinefs, the mofl difgufting obfcenity. It is not in language to convey an adequate idea of their temples and idols; and if it was, no pur-pofe could be anfwered by it, only the excitement of painful and abominable fenfations. To keep pace with the figures of their idols, a chief Bramin, by fome accurfed artificial means, (by herbs, I believe), has brought to a moft unnatural form, and enormous dimenfions, that which decency forbids me to mention ; and the pure and fpotlefs women, who from infancy have been fliut up from the fight of men, even of their brothers, arc brought to ( i(5(> ) to kifš this ilifgufling nad misfhapen monftcr, under the pre-pollercnis belief that it promotes fecundity. , , In this Pagoda ftands the figure of Jagranaut, (their god under Brama); and a fightly figure it is truly [—nothing more than a black ftone, in an irregular pyramidal form, having two nch diamonds in the top by way of eyes, and a nofc and mouth painted red. For this god, five hundred Priefts are daily employed in boiling food, which, as he leldom eats it, they doubtlefs convert to their own uie in the evening. ■ i ' 1 flopped at Vizagapatnam for a few days with Mr. Kussel, who wa« Chief of that place. His ftyle of living was lb exaäly -timilar to that of an elegant family reading at their country-houle in England, that I fuit myfelf more happy and c(3mfortable than T had been fince my afrival in India; and that happincfs was much increalcd by meeting Mr. Maxton, who was married to Mr. Rus s el's daughter. This Gentleman iiiid I had, when mere boys, been ftiipmateii oji our firft going <)ut to India ; a warm friendfliip tank place between us, which' has met with no interruption, but rather increaled from lapfe of. time, and greater habits of intimacy. To fee u man whom I fo entirely eftccmed, in ^flc-ffion of the moft perfeü domeilic felicity^ and forrounded by fl number of amiable conaeftions and friends, was to me a fubjedt öf the moft pleafuig contempluEjca. 11 LETTER LXIIT. Licavixü Vizagapatam, I took mv route along tfic ci>afl:, and arrived at Mafulipatam, where I heard aimours of the unfortunate fate of General Mathews. This threw fuch a damp upon my ipirits, that aH the ,hofpitalLty and kindnefs of Mr. Daniel, the Chief, could fcarcely raife me from defpondence;. and on my arrival at Madras, T found the vi'hole amply com-firmed. As Hyat Sahib's affair yet remained unfettled, and I conh-tlered myfelf in a degree pledged to obtain him fome fatisfačtion for his fervices in furrendering the Province of Bidanore, and to fulfil ray engagements with him and the Supreme Council, I determined to proceed to Bombay, notvvithftanding the difafter of General Mathevv's, which had entirely criifhed all my private pro-fpečts in that quarter, and to co-operate with Hyat Sahib in iuch meafurcs as might) et remain to us for promoting the public good. I left Madras, therefore, and profecuted my journey without any material interruption until 1 readied Palamcotah, where the cl"^;grin arifing from ray various diiappointmeats, co-operating with fatigue and climate, threw me into a fit of ficknefs, which coiifined me to to my bed for üvc or fix weeks. Upon recovering a little, 1 criiwlcJ on to Aujeugo, where, at the houfc of Mr, Hutchinson, the Refident, (who treated me with cordial kindncfs), I waited for an opportunity of getting to Bombay, and during that time laid in a ftock of flrength and fpirits: at length a Europe fhip touching at Anjengo on her way to Bombay, I obtained a palTiigc, (and proceeded. At Bombay I fountl H v at Sahib, it having been deemed expedient to iend him away from Bidanore on the approach of Tippoo with his army, where I recei\'ed from him a confirmation of what I have flated refpcäing General Mathexvs receiving only two lacks of rupees and a necklace. And now, aü peace m'as negociating between iis and Tippoo, and my remaining on the Malabar coaA could be of little ufe, I determined to return to the Carnatie- And here I have an incident to add to the many difagreeable occurrences of my life, in which, with intentions the .moft imaoceiit, 1 was made thefubje^^ of obloquy and unmerited fcandal. Juft at the time I was leaving Bombay, u young Lady, the daughter of a pcrfon formerly of high rank in India, and now a Aleinber of Parliament, but whofe name it would be ufeleß to mention, wiflied to return to the Carnatic ; and I, at tl^ requeft of herfelf, and another Lady with whom (he lived, unguardedly iook charge of her during the journey. Before our departure, 1 refle.£ted upon the difficulties and impropriety of this ftep, and com- cüuulluaicated my ideas to the Ladies, who, Inftead of lifteiiing to the obječtioiia I ftarted, prefied me to fulfil aiy piomife: I coa-fented, purely frein principles of politenefs and good-nature, Düring the courle of our journey, flie unfolded to me, of her own accord, certaui ačt-s of cruelty and injuftice ihe had fufFered from her father, at the inftigation of her mother-in-laiv^ with a ftory of her innocence having fallen, and her reputation having been deftroyed, by a connečlioii of the Lady uiader whofe charge Ihe was, and who for that reafon had prefled her departure with me; and added, Ihe was lo dilgufted with India, that (he determined to quit it; and enJtrcated me to affill: her in the accomplifhment of her wiihes, I difapproved, in the moll unqualified terms, -of her proječt—gave her the beft and moft difuiterefted advice—and, through the whole difagreeable bufuiefs which was impofed upon me, afted merely with a view to her honour ;md happinefs; ;ind feveral of the moft refpe^l-able people in Palamcotah, whejce ilxe pafled fome time, and at Madras, where ihe aftcrwardSj refkJed, could atteft the delicacy of my condu^l towards her, as well ai tlie concern and intereft I took in every thing that was likej\ to be of atlvaiUao-e to her. Tills is a fair flatemcjit of the matter ; and yet, on acctmjnt of It, .1 was moft iijfiimoudy fcand;diüed ; and tlie Icandal rfached even the. ears of my father, ^vhüfl1, however, I loon fctiificd oii :hat head. But that Vi hich flung me to the accompany him there. I availed myfelf of the opportunity ; and, as we went all along through the rivers, had an opportunity of feeing more of the Countiy than many of the Europeans who vifit that Country. With the obfervations which I made in tlic courfe of this excurfiou and rny refidence at Canton, I would furnilh you, but that Lord Macartney's Embafly is juft returned from that Country; atid there is every reafon to hope that he, or föme of the Geatlemen who attended him, and who poflefs fupe-rior abilities and more ample materials, will favour the Public with a much more perfect account than mine could poflibly be. While I remained at panton, a very difagreeable rupture took place between the Factory and the Chinefe. An Englilh fliip lying at Wampoa, in Ikluting, lhattered a Chinefe boat; by which accident, two men in it were much hurt with the ipllnters, and one of them died of his wounds foon after. The matter was clearly explained to the Mandarins; and they ieemed to be fatisfied that it was merely an accident. A few, days after, the Supercargo of the fhip was forcibly feized, and carried into the city: the Council met, and determined to fend for the Sailors from the fhlps; and in the evening after dark, fifteen or fixteen boats, with four or five hundred men, attempted, in an irregular manner, to come up to Canton—were fired upon by the Chinefe boats and forts in paffing, and, with a few men wounded, were compelled to retreat. Nothing could furpafs the cojifternatiou and iiKlecifiOH-Qf the I Council; Cduncil; an4 after the moft humiliating language, they were obliged to appeafe the Chincfe, and fettle the affair by giving up the gunner of the fliip to their refentment. On the 2gth December, 1784, I embarked in the Ponfborne Eaft-Indiainan, Captain Hammet, in which I had come from Madras to China; and, after a tolerable voyage of five months and two days, got 011 board a fllhing-boat off Falmouth, and was put on Ihore there, having been exačtly four years and five days from England. Such was my impatience to fee you, that I wrote from Falmouth for you to meet me at Bath. We arrived there the fame day; and never in my life did I experience fach tranfport as in firft: preiling you to my bofom ; I found you all that my heart could wifti; and I muft, in juftice to my opinion, aver, that not one aftion of yeur life has tended fuice to give me a moment's pain : on the contrary, I have every reafon to be fatisfied that my fanguine hopes of you will be realized. The turn of your thoughts and adions have been vigilantly watched and clofcly examined by me ; and from your affečiion to myfelf and your mother, your gentle deportment to my domeftics, your franknels and candour with your brother and fchool-fellovvs—even from your fondnels for your favourite dog Pompey, and frequent filent contemplations of the etchings of his countenance, I have drawn the mofl: pleafing prefages of purity and innocence of heart, fweetnels of temper, and refined honour and generofity. If it pleafes God to fpare your your life, iiiid Hreagthcn your conftitution, I Ihull ftill be thchup-pleft of men, notwithl}anding the inroad made upon my feelings by the hardfliips and afflidions I had undergone, of which many aroie from unavoidable accident, and iome from malignant and uanatural perfecution, ariiiiig from bale envy, dictated by cowardly revenge, I do not wilh you to know who the wretches are ; I only wifh you to know that fach deteftable paffions do exifh in human nature—that, warned bj their wickedneis to me, you may, in your progrefs through life, be cautious, temperate and guai^ded. Another thing 1 am anxious to imprefs upon the mind, particularly, of your brother John, is the danger of a warm, impetuous temper. Many of the hazards and difficulties of my life arofc from the predominance of a fiery fpirit, and an ungovernable, miftaken ambition. A fino;le inftance will ierve to fliew it. o 'I • ^ When I was under the command of Captain, afterwards General Mathews, in his regiment of Cavalry, being cantoned at a place called Tuckolam, in the neighlxiurhood of extenllve woods, I information was brought us that wild bulls infeftcd the neighbouring villages, and had killed fome people : we prepared to entcjr the wood, and deftroy, if poffible, thofe ferocioii;? animals, which had become the terror and deftničlion of the contiguous country. The origin of tht)fe wild herds was this—From time immemorial, a religious cuftom had prevailed among the Pagan inhabi-tantSj of offering a calf to the wood upon the accompliihment of ( n? ) ^ any favourite purpofe, fuch as the fafe delivery of his wife, or the obtaining an employment, &cc. In procefs of time, thofe calves bred, and became ntmaerous and incredibly fierce. Independent of protecting the defencelefs natives, it was in itfelf a moft inter-efting kind of hunting. The mode of doing it was this—A large party, well mounted, galloping in a body up to a great flock, and marking out the flerceft champioji of the whole, attacked him with fwords and piftols. One day, a bull which was wounded, and thereby rendered more fierce, though not lefs vigorous, got ported in feme thick buihcs, in iuch a manner as to be approached only in front: a whim of themoft extravagant kind came into my head, fuggefted by vain-glory and youthful fire—-I thought it ungenerous for fo many to attack him at once ; and, wifliing to have the credit of fubduing him, 1 difinounted from my horfe, and attacked him with a pike : I foon, however, had caufe to repent this rafh and unwarrantable Ilep ; it had nearly been fatal to me— for the bull foon threw the pike into the air, and, had it not been for the very gallant exertions of my Brother Officers, who rode in upon him, and refcucd me at the moment that the brute's horns had touched'my coat,*! muft have been killed. An Indian Officer, who was in my troop, particularly diftingui/hed himfelf, at the imminent hazard of his life, the bull having toiled his horfe ' O and himfelf to a diftance from his horns. At this time I was but eighteen years of age, and had not the judgment to reflect, that Z if if I liad been killed, my fate would be attended with i oiily pity or Tcorn for my folly; whereas, had I Succeeded, the whok reward of my danger would have been tlie ufelefs applaufe of ibme joungfters, Idle and inconfiderate as myfelf—while my raflinefs would have been reprobated by every man whofe good opinion was worth enjoying. One or two people who were pre-fent at tlie time, are now living in great repute in England. Wc fucceeded, however, in driving thofe wild cattle into the interior reccffes of the wood, dividing the flefli of thofe we killed among: fuch of the poor Sepoys as would eat it, and thereby rendered ef^ fential fervice to the contiguous villages. Often when I have heard, in cofFee-houfes and play-houles, Tome of our fporting Iparks boafting of their prowefs over a timid hare or a feeble fox, I could not help recollečting with refpečl the hunters of India, who chafe the deftruftive monfters of 'the foreft—the boar, the tyger, the hyena, the bull, or the buffalo ; and, while they fleel the nerves, animate the courage, and, by habitual deeds of pith, fit themfelves for war, render elTential fervice to their fellow-creatures, and fave the lives and property of thoulands. Such greatnefs of fpirit, under the controul of good fenfe, and the diredtion of prudence, muft render a man refpečtable—but, if not managed with difcretion, leaves a man no other praife than that of a magnanimous madman. Take every opportunity, my dear Frederick, of inculcating thele preccpts precepts in the vuind of your brother: the natural warmth of his, temper often, makes me fearful of the mifchievous confequences which I have myfelf too often experienced—though, I thank God, it never ftimulated me to revenge, or to a premeditate intention of injuring any one. I have already faid more than once, that I have a moft perfect convi<5tion your amiable dilpofition will enfure to you the love of Mankind ; but it will at the fame time fubjeft you to many impo-fitions—to guard againft which, a great fhare of fternnefs isfome-times neceffary: there is, hefides, a certain degree of fortitude abfolutely requilite to 'give luftre to a gentle difpofition ; without it, meeknefs is thought timidity—modefty, weaknefs—and. the charming mildnefs of the forgiving heart, abufed as the pitiful re-fource of abječl apprehenfion and a mean fpirit. There are times, therefore, when the wickednefs of men,, and the cuftoms of the world, make it neceffary to lay afide the lamb, and affume the lion. Europe at this moment prefents an awful and alarming crifis. In a neighbouring Country, the condučt of the higher claffes of fociety has produced a dreadful convulüon; focial order has been fubverted, and the ftability of property annihilated : all reafoning from the hiftory of former times is found inapplicable to the prefent: the fyftem of warfare itfelf has undergone a revolution; and no man is able to fay from pofitive inference, " Thus will it be to-morrow." Our infular fituation, thank God! proZ 2 teasi tc(?ts us: and the precarious footing upon which civil order and property ftand iti mofl: Couiitries on the Continent, make our fl^Eite in England enviable. The time is neverthclels pregnant with extraordinary event; and you are now approaching that age at which men ihould be ready to ačl at the call of their Country, It is therefore fitting for you to make fuch things the fuhjcd: of frequent contemplation—to habituate your mind to the meeting of danger, fo as to be ready, at a moment's warning, to lay down your life, if necelTkry, for the good of ) oui' Country ; for, after all, my Frederick, what avails it whether we die in this way or in that ?*—to die with honour and a good conlcience, iä all. Let prejudice be laid afide—and who, poflefTed of common fenie, could hefitatc a moment to prefer deatli in the field, to death 'with the lo:rthfoinc aggravation of fickneis, the crocodile tears of pretended friends, and the painful emotions and lamexitations of thofe who really love us ? ' . ' ! ■ . . ' ■ Finally, I muft obfervc, that ät the time I left India,-the affairs of the Britifh Nation wore fo very lowering an arpe£t, all pcrfons acquainted with our concerns there, alIo\ved nothing büt a long ferles of wife meafuresj' with the beft efficient fervants- to execute them, could relcue the Company from ruin.' I am happy in being able now to {late. Without the poflibility of con-tradičlion, that the clouds which menaced us in that quarter have lince been gradually difiipating beneath'the meäiurcs of the Boarö of of ČoNTROiri,, under the direction of Mr. Dund as ; and are at laft entirely dilperfed by the glorious adminiftration of Lord CoRNWALLis, whofe wifdom in the Cabinet tended no lefs to the fecurity, than his mihtary talents, juftice and moderation, to the honour, of Great Britain in the Eaft. The choice of fuch a perfon for the Government of India, reflects credit on His Majesty's Councils," and evinces that the paternal carc and folicitudc of our amiable Sovereign extend to the moft remote part of the Empire. KND OF PART HI. l/iE ; gAftkuCI .T'T^ io.noifeub. ai J rjbui/ ,juofiTKoD >> iü xioiJßjJi^iiifil^ij tjmioig ^dt-vd bilio^Jiti vJ^iljxia ilüi elsi on I>ob/'33 JDmdßO jdJ ni ijioi^v/fg^JUje.v/^iroD yioiJ^ivibcinfuiE »RtokJ 'Ciciiliai iütl iiwij odi ;o aoiofl^-jJT .iicH »dJ m VI.taxi^H -r/.-ijiO V) orit f fM Xi0 jrJjTO žftafluT \q Jfütxumvot) ^dJ lol jc^JÜ iiLiii adi Sij^^J E^'^nivo I.'.'iu ^^IbrinoO d'TTSTiAK ^iot hnoir - r-Ji^jtavcS 'jldiiimc-1140'.o l^u^i-silo"^ .. , ;r ' ' .aiiioiCI sib ho lijjq^ i .-iT T''tv*fir:«Q ay.4