PART III. (continued 2)

“As I was to inherit a genteel, independent fortune, my father proposed to breed me up to a learned profession——the Law; rather to invigorate and exercise my intellects, and as a step to rank in the State, than for mere lucrative purposes. I was put to one of the Universities, with an allowance suited to his intentions towards me; and was immediately to have been sent to travel for my further improvement, when an unforeseen accident happened, which completely crushed all my father’s views, dashed the cup of happiness from my lips, and brought me ultimately to that deplorable state in which you have now the misfortune to be joined, along with me.

67“It was but a few months antecedent to my embarking for the Eastern World, that my father, whom I had for some time with sorrow observed thoughtful, studious and melancholy, took me into his study, and, seizing my hand, and looking earnestly into my face, while his countenance betrayed the violent agitation of his mind, asked me emphatically, if I thought I had fortitude to bear the greatest possible calamity? I was horror-struck at his emotion, accompanied by such a question——but replied, I hoped I had. He then asked me, if I had affection enough for him to forgive him if he was the cause of it? I answered, that the idea connected with the word forgiveness, was that which I could never be brought by any earthly circumstance to apply to my father; but begged him at once to disclose the worst to me——as, be it what it might, my misery could not surpass what I then felt from the mysterious manner in which he then spoke.

“He then told me that he was an undone man——that he had, with the very best intentions, and with the view of aggrandizing me, engaged in great, and important speculations, which, had they succeeded, would have given us a princely fortune——but, having turned out, unfortunately, the reverse, had left him little above beggary. He added, that he had not the resolution to communicate his losses to me, until necessity compelled him to tell me all the truth.

“Although this was a severe shock to me, I endeavoured to conceal my feelings from my father, on whose account, more than 68on my own, I was affected, and pretended to make as light of it as so very important a misfortune would justify; and I had the happiness to perceive that the worthy man took some comfort from my supposed indifference. I conjured him not to let so very trivial a thing as the loss of property, which could be repaired, break in on his peace of mind or health, which could not; and observed to him, that we had all of us still enough——for that my private property (which I possessed independent of him, and which, a relation left me) would amply supply all our necessities.

“Having thus endeavoured to accommodate my unhappy father’s feelings to his losses, I had yet to accommodate my own; and began to revolve in my mind what was likely to ensue from, and what step was most proper to be taken in, this dreadful change of circumstances. That which lay nearest to my heart first occurred;——you will readily guess that I mean my Love: to involve her I loved more, far more, than my life, in the misfortunes of my family, was too horrible a consideration to be outweighed even by the dread of losing her. I knew not what to do, and I thought upon it till I became almost enfrenzied——In this state I went to her, and unfolded the whole state of our concerns, together with my resolution not to involve her in our ruin;——when——can you believe it?——the lovely girl insisted on making my fate indissolubly her’s——not, as she said, that she had the smallest apprehension lapse of time or change of circumstance could make an alteration in our affection, but that she wished to give my mind that repose which I might derive from 69security. This I would by no means accede to; and, for the present, we contented ourselves with mutual vows of eternal fidelity.

“As soon as I thought my father’s mind fit for such a conversation, I opened to him a plan I had formed of coming to India, to advance my fortune. His understanding approved of it, but his heart dissented; and he said, that to part with me would give the finishing stroke to his misfortunes: but, as my interest was tolerably good, I represented to him the great likelihood I had of success; and at last, with some difficulty, he consented.

“My next step was to acquaint Miss ——- with my resolution. I purposely pass over a meeting which no power of language can describe!——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 soon, soon bring me to my end.

“Not to detain you with vain efforts to describe all our feelings, I will confine myself to telling you, that after having made every necessary preparation, and divided with my much honoured parents the little property I possessed, I set sail for India, in a state of mind compared with which the horrors of annihilation would have been enviable: the chaos in my thoughts made me insensible to every object but one; and I brooded with a sort of stupid, gloomy indulgence, over the portrait of Miss ——-, which hung round my neck, and was my inseparable companion, till the people who seized me as I came ashore plundered me of it, and thereby 70deprived me of the last refuge for comfort I had left. Oh! monsters! barbarians! had you glutted your savage fury by dissevering my limbs, one after another, from my body, it would have been mercy, compared with depriving me of that little image of her I love! But it is all over, and I shall soon sink into the grave, and never more be blessed with the view of those heavenly features, till we meet in that region where all tears are wiped away, and where, I trust, we shall be joined together for endless ages, in eternal, never-fading bliss!”

LETTER LII.

On the day succeeding that on which the agent of Hyat Sahib had held the discourse with me, mentioned in my last Letter but one, I was again sent for, and brought to the same person, who asked me, whether I had duly considered of the important offer made me by Hyat Sahib, and of the consequences likely to result from a refusal? and he apprised me at the same time, that the command of five thousand men was an honour which the first Rajahs in the Mysorean dominions would grasp at with transport. I told him I was well convinced of the honour such a command would confer on any man but an Englishman, whose Country 71being the object of Hyder’s incessant hostility, would make the acceptance of it infamy——that although I knew there were but too many Englishmen apostates 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 specious, to fly from the standard of their Country, and rally round that of its bitterest enemy——that, for my own part, being of a name ever foremost in the ranks of loyalty and patriotism, and of a family that had hitherto detracted nothing from the honours of that name, such an act of apostacy would be peculiarly infamous in me, and I could view it in no better light than traitorous and parricidal——that, independent of all those claims, which were of themselves sufficient to deter me, I felt within myself a principle, perhaps innate, perhaps inspired by military habit, that forbade my acceding——and, finally, appealed, to the good sense of Hyat Sahib, whether a man who in such circumstances had betrayed his Country, and sacrificed her interests to his own convenienceconvenience, was such a person as confidence could properly be put in.

Notwithstanding these, and a thousand other remonstrances, which I cannot immediately recollect, but which the hazards of my situation suggested, he still continued to press me, and used every argument, every persuasion, that ingenuity could dictate, or hints of punishment enforce, to shake my purpose——but in vain: attachment to Country and Family rose paramount to all other considerations; and I gave a peremptory, decisive refusal.

72Circumstanced as I was, it was impossible for me to keep an accurate journal of the various incidents that passed, or vicissitudes of thought that occurred, during the period of my imprisonment. Indeed, I was scarcely conscious of the length of my captivity, and could not, till I was released, determine exactly how long it had continued. You must therefore content yourself to be told in general terms, that I was repeatedly urged on the subject by fair persuasives: they then had recourse to menace; then they withheld the daily pittance allowed for my support; and at length proceeded to coercion, tying a rope round my neck, and hoisting me up to a tree. All this, however, I bore firmly: if it had any effect, it was to confirm me in my resolution, and call in policy to the aid of honour’s dictates. Every man of feeling or reason must allow, that it was better to die, than live a life of subjection to tyranny so truly diabolical.

Mr. Hall and I, thus drove to the brink of extinction, yet consoled ourselves with the reflection, that those whom most we loved were not sharing our unhappy fate, and were fortunately ignorant of our sufferings; and as I enjoyed perfect good health, hope yet lived within me.

There is a spring, an elasticity, in every man’s mind, of which the owner is rarely, very rarely conscious, because fortunately the occasions seldom occur in which it can be brought to the proof; for, as lassitude is the necessary forerunner of refreshment, so is extreme dejection to the most vigorous exercise of our fortitude. 73So I found it: as the horrors of my situation thickened round me, I felt my spirits increase; my resolution became more firm, my hopes more sanguine——I even began to look forward, and form projects for the future: whole hours amusement, every day and every night, arose from the contemplation of my beloved boy; I in imagination traced his growth, directed his rising sentiments, formed plans for his future success and prosperity, and indulged by anticipation in all the enjoyment which I now trust I shall yet have in his ripened manhood.

Thus we continued for many months, during which no alteration whatsoever took place in our treatment or situation. We heard a thousand contradictory reports of victories gained over the English, and again of some successes on their part: they, however, desisted to press me into their service. The only relief from our sufferings lay in the resources of our own minds, and in our mutual endeavours to please and console one another: the circumstances of aggravation were the necessity of daily bearing witness to the most barbarous punishments inflicted upon wretched individuals under the semblance of justice, and the occasional deprivation of our food, either by the fraud of the Sepoys who attended us, or the caprice or cruelty of their superiors. It is but justice, however, to say, that they were not all alike: some overflowed with mercy, charity, and the milk of human kindness; while others, again, were almost as bad men as the Sovereigns they served. We were not allowed the use of pen, ink, or paper; and very seldom could afford ourselves 74the luxury of shaving, or clean linen: nor were we at all sheltered from the inclemency of the weather, till at length a little room was built for us of mud, which being small and damp, rendered our situation worse than it was before.

The prisoner whom I have already mentioned, as having, in the time of the former Sovereign, held the first office in Bidanore, still continued opposite to me; and he and I at length began to understand each other, and found means, by looks, signs and gestures, to exchange thoughts, and hold an intercourse of sentiments together. From the circumstance of his being a native, and better skilled in the language than me, he had much better intelligence than I could possibly have, and he was always eager to convey to me any circumstance or news that he thought might be agreeable: some messages also passed between us, by means of the Sepoys who had alternately been his guard and mine——for our guards were changed every week.

Projects and hopes of a new kind now began to intrude themselves on my thoughts; and I conceived a design, which I flattered myself was not entirely impracticable, to effect an escape, and even a revolt in the place. A variety of circumstances concurred to persuade me, that the tyranny of Hyder, and his servant Hyat Sahib, was abhorred, though none dared to give vent to their sentiments. I thought I could observe that the native prisoner opposite to me was privately beloved, and might, from the recollection of his former dignities, have considerable influence in 75the place. Several Arcot Sepoys and their Officers (some of them belonging to my own regiment) were also prisoners at large; and withal I recollected, that difficulties apparently more stupendous had been overcome by Englishmen——having often heard it asserted, that there was not a prison in the known world out of which a British subject had not made his escape.

Fraught with those conceptions, I attempted to sound the Officers of the Arcot Sepoys, whether it were not possible for us to effect our escape? So ardent is the flame of Liberty in all men’s breasts, so great is the detestation of human nature to Slavery, that I perceived a manifest willingness in the people about us to join me in an attempt to procure our liberty, or bring about a revolt in the garrison. My heart beat high with the hope; and I began to flatter myself, that the day was not far removed when we should not only bid defiance to our tyrants, but even make them repent the day on which we were cast ashore on their coast.

Having thus distantly sounded all who I thought were likely to concur, upon the practicability of the attempt, and found them, as I conceived, disposed to take share in it, it yet remained to consider of the quomodo——and, after having formed the general outlines of a plan, to lick it into shape. The first of these was a critical consideration: the second required address and management, and was likely to be impeded by the vigilance of the people about, who would not fail to remark, and take the alarm, from any unusual 76intercourse or discourse between us; and without a mutual 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 prospect of success, be determined——nothing, without the most imminent hazard, be attempted. I therefore held various councils with my own mind, and with Mr. Hall, on the subject——most of which were abortive, without at all discouraging us.

At last I began to think of sounding the Bidanore prisoner, ci-devant Governor of the place; and determined, if possible, to bring him into our consultations, as I had before hoped to make him a party in the execution of the project: but while I was settling all this much to my own satisfaction, an event occurred which extinguished all my hopes in that way——of which you shall have an account in my next Letter.

77

LETTER LIII.

Whether the plan which I mentioned in my last was discovered or not, or from what other motive it arose, I have not to this day been able to decide; but so it was, that while my sanguine mind was overflowing with the hope of carrying my project for an escape into effect, Mr. Hall and I were one day unexpectedly loaded with irons, and fastened together, leg by leg, by one bolt. This, as nearly as I can compute, was four or five months before my release. Of all the circumstances of my life, it has made the strongest impression upon my mind: it unexpectedly and suddenly broke down the most pleasing fabric my imagination had ever built. The surprise occasioned by the appearance of the irons, and the precautionary manner in which it was undertaken, was indeed great: still more was I surprised to observe, that the person who was employed to see this put in execution, manifested unusual emotions, seemed much affected, and even shed tears as he looked on: and while the suddenness and cautionary mode of doing it convinced me that some resistance on our part was apprehended, the sorrow which the Officer who superintended it disclosed, portended in my mind a fatal, or at least a very serious issue.

78Unfortunately, poor Mr. Hall had for some time been afflicted with a return of his dreadful disorder, the dysentery; and our being shackled together increased an unconquerable mortification of feelings which he had before undergone, from a delicacy of nature that would have done honour to the most modest virgin, be her sensibility ever so exquisite, or her delicacy ever so extreme——And here, my dear Frederick! I cannot let slip this opportunity of remarking to you, that the man, as well as the woman, who would render himself truly amiable in the eyes of his fellow-creatures, should cultivate delicacy and modesty, as the most captivating of all the moral virtues: from them, heroism derives additional lustre——wit, ten-fold force——religion and morality, the charms of persuasion——and every personal action of the man, irresistible dignity and winning grace. From this unlucky event, I received a temporary depression; and the rapidly increasing illness of poor Hall rendered my situation more than ever calamitous; when, again, my spirits, eagerly prone to grasp at every thing that gave a momentary hope of support, were a little recruited by confused rumours of the English army having made a descent on the Malabar coast: and so powerful is the influence of mind on the animal system, that Mr. Hall enjoyed from the report a momentary alleviation of his malady; but, having no medical assistance, nor even sufficient sustenance to further the favourable operations of Nature, he relapsed again; the disease fell upon him with redoubled fury: a very scanty portion of boiled rice, with a 79more scanty morsel of stinking salt fish or putrid flesh, was a very inadequate support for me, who, though emaciated, was in health——and very improper medicine for a person labouring under a malady such as Mr. Hall’s, which required comfort, good medical skill, and delicate nutritious food. The tea which Hyat Sahib had given me was expended; and we were not allowed to be shaved from the hour we were put in irons, an indulgence of that kind being forbidden by the barbarous rules of the prison: and, to refine upon our tortures, sleep, “the balm of hurt minds,” was not allowed us uninterrupted; for, in conformity to another regulation, we were disturbed every half hour by a noise something resembling a watchman’s rattle, and a fellow who, striking every part of our irons with a kind of hammer, and examining them lest they should be cut, broke in upon that kind restorative, and awoke our souls to fresh horrors.

As it must be much more naturally matter of astonishment that any bodily strength could support itself under such complicated calamities, than that infirmity should sink beneath them, you will be rather grieved than surprised to hear that poor Mr. Hall was now approaching to his end with hourly accelerated steps. Every application that I made in his favour was refused, or rather treated with cruel neglect and contemptuous silence; and I foresaw, with inexpressible anguish and indignation, that, the barbarians would not abate him in his last minutes one jot of misery, and that my most amiable friend was fated to expire under every attendant horror that 80mere sublunary circumstances could create. But that pity which the mighty, the powerful and enlightened denied, natural benevolence operating upon an uninformed mind, and scanty means, afforded us. Hyat Sahib, the powerful, the wealthy, the Governor of a great and opulent province, refused to an expiring fellow-creature a little cheap relief——while a poor Sepoy taxed his little means to supply it: one who guarded us, of his own accord, at hazard of imminent punishment, purchased us a lamp and a little oil, which we burned for the last few nights.

Philosophers and Divines have declaimed upon the advantages of a well-spent life, as felt in articulo mortis; and their efforts have had, I hope, some effect upon the lives of many. To witness one example such as Mr. Hall held forth, would be worth volumes of precepts on this subject. The unfeigned resignation with which he met his dissolution, and the majestic fortitude with which he looked in the face the various circumstances of horror that surrounded him, rendered him the most dignified object I ever beheld or conceived, and the most glorious instance of conscious virtue triumphing over the terrors of death, and the cunning barbarity of Mankind. Were the progress of virtue attended with pain, and the practice of vice with pleasure, the adoption of the former would be amply repaid by its soothings in the dreadful moment, even if it were to accompany us no further. About a quarter of an hour before he died, Mr. Hall broached a most tender subject of conversation, which he followed up with a series 81of observations, so truly refined, so exquisitely turned, so delicate and so pathetic, that it seemed almost the language of inspiration, as if, in proportion to the decay of the body, intellect increased, and the dying man had become all mind. Such a conversation I never remembered to have heard, or heard of. Its effects upon me were wonderful; for, though the combination of melancholy circumstances attending my now critical situation had almost raised my mind to frenzy, the salutary influence of his words and example controuled the excesses of my sensations; and I met the afflicting moment of his departure with a degree of tranquillity, which, though not to be compared to his, has on reflection appeared to me astonishing. This conversation continued to the very instant of his death; during which time he held my hand clasped in his, frequently enforcing his kind expressions to me with a squeeze——while my sorrow, taking its most easy channel, bedewed my face with tears. As he proceeded, my voice was choaked with my feelings; and I attempted once or twice in vain to speak. His hand grew cold: he said his lower limbs were all lifeless, and that he felt death coming over him with slow creeping steps——He again moralized, thanking God with pathetic fervour for his great mercy in leaving him his intellects unclouded, and the organ of communication (the tongue) unenfeebled, that, to the last, he might solace his friend and fellow-sufferer——“Ah! Campbell!” continued he, “to what a series of miseries am I now leaving you! Death in such circumstances is a blessing——I view mine as such; and should think it more so, if it contributed, by awakening those 82people to a sense of their cruelty, to soften their rigour to you: but cruelty like their’s is systematic, and stoops not to the controul of the feelings. Could I hope that you would yet escape from their clutches, and that you would once more press your family to your bosom, the thought would brighten still the moment of our separation: and, oh! my friend! could I still further hope that you would one day see my most beloved and honoured parents, and tell them of my death without wringing their hearts with its horrid circumstances, offer them my last duties, and tell how I revered them——If, too, you could see my ——-, and tell her how far, far more dear than ——-!” Here he turned his eyes toward the lamp, then faintly on me——made a convulsive effort to squeeze my hand——cried out, “Campbell! oh, Campbell! the lamp is going out!” and expired without a groan.

The recital of this afflicting event has called up to my fancy so lively a picture of the scene as it passed with all its horrors——horrors which outstrip all efforts of description, and baffle all power of language——that my feelings are in part renewed, and I find myself incapable of proceeding further at present.

83

LETTER LIV.

For some time I was lost in grief for the death of Mr. Hall. Though I had long expected it, and might consequently be supposed to have wasted great part of my sorrow in anticipation; yet, having only considered and felt the point before his death merely as it respected him and his misfortunes, a great portion of the calamity remained unconceived: and, now that he was dead, I began for the first time to consider and feel the subject as it concerned myself. Reflection told me, that he was happily relieved from woe, and in a state of bliss——

“After life’s fitful fever, he sleeps well:

——- Nor steel nor poison,

Malice domestic, foreign levy—nothing

Can touch him further!”

But I still remained a prey to perhaps new barbarities, without hope of relief from the old. No partner to share, no social converse to alleviate, no friend to console me under my afflictions, I looked at the body of my friend with envy, and lamented that death had not afforded me, too, a shelter from the cruelties which fate seemed determined to heap upon me.

84It is impossible for me to express to you the agonies of mind I underwent during the rest of the night. In the morning, a report was made to the Commandant, of the death of Mr. Hall; and in about an hour after, he passed me by, but kept his face purposely turned away from me to the other side. I patiently waited for the removal of the dead body till the evening, when I desired the Sepoys who guarded me to apply for its being removed. They returned, and told me that they could get no answer respecting it. Night came on, but there was no appearance of an intention to unfetter me from the corpse. The Commandant was sitting in his Court, administering, in the manner I have before described, justice! I called out to him myself with all my might, but could get no answer from him. Nothing could equal my rage and consternation; for, exclusive of the painful idea of being shackled to the dead body of a friend I loved, another circumstance contributed to make it a serious subject of horror. In those climates, the weather is so intensely hot, that putrefaction almost instantly succeeds death; and meat that is killed in the morning, and kept in the shade, will be unfit for dressing at night. In a subject, then, on which putrefaction had made advances even before death, and which remained exposed to the open air, the process must have been much more rapid. So far, however, from compassionating my situation, or indulging me by a removal of the body, their barbarity suggested to them to make it an instrument of punishment; and they pertinaciously adhered to the most mortifying silence and disregard of my complaints. 85For several days and nights it remained attached to me by the irons. I grew almost distracted——wished for the means of putting an end to my miseries by death, and could not more without witnessing some new stage of putrescence it attained, or breathe without inhaling the putrid effluvia that arose from it——while myriads of flies and loathsome insects rested on it, the former of which every now and then visited me, crawling over my face and hands, and lighting in hundreds on my victuals. I never look back at this crisis without confusion, horror, and even astonishment; and, were it not connected with a chain of events preceding and subsequent to it, too well known by respectable people to be doubted, and too much interwoven with a part of the history of the last war in India to admit of doubt, I should not only be afraid to tell, but absolutely doubt myself whether the whole was not the illusion of a dream, rather than credit the possibility of my enduring such unheard-of hardships without loss of life or deprivation of senses.

At last, when the body had reached that shocking loathsome state of putrefaction which threatened that further delay would render removal abominable, if not impossible, the monsters agreed to take it away from me——and I was so far relieved: but the mortification and injury I underwent from it, joined to the agitation of the preceding week, made a visible inroad on my health. I totally lost my spirits; my appetite entirely forsook me: my long-nourished hopes fled; and I looked forward to death as the only 86desirable event that was within the verge of likelihood or possibility.

One day, my opposite friend (the native prisoner) gave me a look of the most interesting and encouraging kind; and I perceived a more than usual bustle in the citadel, while the Sepoys informed me that they were ordered on immediate service, and that some events of great importance had taken place. From this feeble gleam, my mind, naturally active, though depressed by circumstances of unusual weight, again took fire, and hope brightened with a kind of gloomy light the prospect before me: I revolved a thousand things, and drew from them a thousand surmises; but all as yet was only conjecture with me. In a day or two, the bustle increased to a high pitch, accompanied with marks of consternation: the whole of the troops in the citadel were ordered to march; and the Commandant, and a man with a hammer and instruments, came to take off my irons.

While they were at work taking off my irons, I perceived that they were taking off those of the native prisoner opposite to me also. He went away under a guard: we looked at each other complacently, nodded and smiled, as who should say, “we hope to see one another in happier times not far distant.” But, alas! vain are human hopes, and short and dark is the extent of our utmost foresight! This unhappy man, without committing any sort of offence to merit it, but in conformity to the damnable, barbarous policy of those Countries, was, by the Jemadar’s 87orders, taken forth, and his throat cut! This the Jemadar himself afterwards acknowledged to me——and, what was still more abominable if possible, undertook to justify the proceeding upon the principles of reason, sound sense, and precedent of Asiatic policy.

In order to elucidate the whole of this business, it is necessary for me to recur to events which happened antecedent to this time, but of which, by reason of my situation, I was then entirely ignorant; and as they involve, not only the grounds of my subsequent escape and proceedings, but a considerable portion of historical fact, and some of the material interests of the East India Company, I will be the more particularly careful in relating them, and desire from you a proportionate share of attention——But their importance entitle them to a separate Letter: therefore conclude with assuring you, &c. &c.

88

LETTER LV.

Hyder Alli Khawn, late Nabob of Mysore, and father to the present Tippoo Sahib Sultain, was as extraordinary a man, and perhaps possessed as great natural talents, as any recorded in the page of History. Born and bred up in the lowest ranks of an unenlightened and ignorant People, and to the last day of his life perfectly illiterate, he not only emerged from his native obscurity by the vigour of his mind and body, but became an object of terror and admiration to surrounding Potentates. Early initiated in the habits and inured to the toils of a military life, he rose, by the gradual steps of promotion, to a rank which afforded an opportunity of displaying his capacity and prowess: he soon obtained the command of that army in which he had once served as a common soldier, and immediately demonstrated that the sublimity of his mind was formed to keep pace with his extraordinary elevation.

The Marhattas, the most formidable people in Hither India, bordered on the Mysorean dominions, and kept their neighbours, by frequent hostilities, in a continual state of awe——making incursions on their territories, and taking possession, by 89force of arms, of large portions of their Country: but no sooner had Hyder got the command of the armies of his Country, than he drove back the Marhattas from the Mysorean dominions, which he extended by considerable acquisitions from the Marhatta frontiers; and followed up his conquests with such successful ardour, that he compelled that warlike Nation to respect his Countrymen as their equals, if not superiors, in military achievement. Thus, while he ingratiated himself with his Sovereign and Fellow-citizens by his wisdom, he acquired the admiration of the Soldiery by his personal address and valour; and at the same time, by the severity of his discipline, and the occasional austerity of his deportment, maintained an awe over them, which strengthened his authority without diminishing their affection.

Hyder was therefore now arrived at that point of elevation, beyond which no exertion of mental capacity, if governed by virtue or integrity, could raise him——So far he owed all to genius: but his towering ambition looked higher; and, unrestrained by any principle of religion or morality, he determined to accomplish, at any rate, that which he knew nothing but crime could accomplish. With wicked deliberation he looked forward into the womb of time, and with unparalleled policy arranged the whole system upon which he was to act, when that order of things his penetrating and intuitive genius enabled him to see would naturally arise from each other, should afford him a proper opportunity. Although he was utterly ignorant of books, and of 90course could derive little benefit from the examples of the great and ambitious men recorded in History, yet, drawing upon the infinite resources of his own mind forfor information, he adopted the very same means of furthering his views; and foreseeing, that, with an immense army devoted to his interests, few things would be unattainable, he applied himself diligently to model and form that of the King of Mysore to the greatest perfection in discipline, and to render it attached to his person, and subservient to his views, by a skillful mixture of severity and relaxation, toil and reward, danger and applause, which none but a master-hand like his was capable of exactly compounding.

The death of his Sovereign the King of Mysore at length afforded him the opportunity to which he had so long, and with so prophetic an eye, looked forward——and gave him ample room for self-gratulation on the score of his sagacity and prudence.

The Heir in succession to the Throne, being then an infant, the politic Hyder, setting aside all claims of the kindred of the young Prince, took upon himself the guardianship——under the title of Regent assumed the supreme authority——and, though too well aware of the inviolable attachment of the People to their lawful Monarch to put him directly to death, usurped the Throne, and consigned him to imprisonment in Seringapatam, the capital of the Mysorean dominions.

Having thus, by his talents, acquired the possession of the Throne, he gave a large range to the sublimity of his views, and 91soon displayed the exhaustless resources of his mind in the new office of Governor and Legislator——forming such vast, well-ordered military establishments, and such judicious and salutary civil institutions, as made him blaze forth at once the terror of his neighbours, and rendered him, in the sequel, the most powerful and formidable Potentate in the Hither Peninsula. In carrying on those, his deficiency in letters was supplied by his vigilance and sagacity, sharpened by suspicion: three secretaries executed all his orders in separate apartments; and if, on comparison, they were found to differ, he who committed the error received sentence of death. His natural cruelty made him take the execution of their sentence upon himself not unfrequently: to slice off a head with his own hand, or see it done by others, was a luxurious recreation to the sanguinary Hyder.

The natural sagacity of this great man suggested, that in order to accomplish the extensive objects which his active and ambitious temper held up to his imagination, the introduction of the most perfect military discipline was above all other things necessary; and his judgment informed him that the European was the best. He therefore held out the most tempting allurements to military adventurers, and particularly to those, whether black or white, who had been trained in the service of the English East India Company: he sent emissaries, for the purpose, to all parts of India, with instructions to offer great rewards; and carried this design so far, that whenever accident or war threw persons of 92that description into his hands, he never failed to detain them, and, if they refused to enter into his service, treat them with the most unpardonable rigour and barbarity; and by these means brought his army to a state of perfection till then unknown to a Black Power. He did not stop there, but determined to establish a Navy——by large offers allured many ship-carpenters and artizans from Bombay——made no inconsiderable progress in constructing dock-yards, and had actually equipped some ships of the line, besides frigates, fitted to encounter European seas. Indeed, he seemed to have carried his views of conquest even to the Polar regions; for it is a fact, that he directed his people, in constructing those vessels, to fit them for encountering seas of ice, or, as he called it, the thick water.

To a man of such ardent ambition and deep penetration, the vast power which the English East India Company had acquired, and were daily acquiring, in the East, could not fail to be an object of jealousy. He conceived a deadly and implacable animosity to the British Nation, which influenced his whole succeeding life, ended only with his death, and was then transmitted to his son Tippoo Sahib, with the exaction of a solemn oath, ever to retain those sentiments.

A coincidence of circumstances, which has seldom occurred in the fortunes of men, tended, at a lucky crisis, to further the bold projects of Hyder; and neither fortune, though extremely propitious to him, nor his own unbounded talents and energeticenergetic spirit, 93favoured the execution of them, more than the bungling politics, the ludicrous ambition, and the consequent unjustifiable proceedings, of one of our Presidencies in India——I mean Bombay. Fortunately, the wisdom and moderation of our East India Councils at this day, vindicate the wounded character of the British Nation, and justify me in the remarks I make.

An ambitious and profligate Chief of the Marhatta Tribes——his name, Roganaut Row——had been deposed by the Wise Men of his Country, for having murdered his nephew, in order to usurp the Throne of Setterah. He fled to Bombay, and, by specious promises and other means, prevailed on that Presidency to afford him an asylum, and finally to take up arms in his defence against the united Marhatta States, who at the very time were able to raise an army of three hundred thousand fighting men. Hostilities were first commenced by the English; and by them peace was first proposed. The treaty of Poonah was made, by which it was provided that Roganaut Row should quit Bombay; and by the English the provisions of that treaty were broken——for, in direct violation of it, Roganaut was kept at Bombay. This breach of the treaty led to another; for this crafty and unprincipled Chief made use of it with such address as to persuade that Presidency to attack the Marhattas again:——by magnifying the power of his party among his Countrymen, he prevailed upon them once more to assert his rights; and the Presidency 94of Calcutta, I am afraid, were induced to join that of Bombay in the plan.

It happened unfortunately, that at this time the Presidency of Bombay was composed of persons the most unqualified, probably, that could be found in any community for offices of such importance. One, particularly, was allowed, by the almost unanimous consent of those who knew his private or public character, to be ignorant, not only of the first principles of Government, but of the ordinary knowledge requisite for a Gentleman; and for situations of moment he was peculiarly disqualified by a fondness for minutiæ, to which he paid more attention than to matters of greater consequence. A temper and intellect of this kind were rendered still more incapable of the enlarged viewsviews any Representative of a great Nation in a distant Colony should possess, by a mercantile education and habits, which narrowed even his circumscribed mind, and left him not a sentiment, not an idea, that was not merely commercial. The administration of such men was exactly what might have been expected; and, instead of asserting the dignity of Great Britain, or promoting the advantage of their employers——narrow policy, selfish views, and efforts arising from mistaken notions of conquest, made the whole tissue of their conduct in India.

Blinded by the plausible insinuations of Roganaut, and stimulated, as I have already observed, by a lust for conquest, which would have been unjustifiable even in an hereditary Despot, but which 95were peculiarly vicious and ridiculous in a body of Merchants who were themselves subjects, the East India Company’s Servants again determined to support, by force of arms, that most atrocious murderer: and with the contemptibly inadequate force of four thousand men, encumbered with an unwieldy train of baggage and servants for the accommodation of finikin voluptuous Officers, and led by two doughty compting-house champions (Carnac and Mostyn), with Colonel Egerton as Military Assistant rather than Commander, they set out, to encounter the whole torrent of the Marhatta force, and conduct Roganaut to Poonah.

Had Roganaut advanced at the head of his own partizans only, the Chiefs of the Marhatta Nation might possibly have taken different sides of the question, and left between them a breach for his arms or intrigues to make an entrance fatal to the general cause of the Country: but the assaults of a foreign army——an army of interested peculating strangers, as the Company’s troops then were——an army of avowed natural enemies, professing a different religion, entertaining different political principles, and formed by Nature of a different complexion——roused and united them in one common cause, and compressed discordant interests, which had been for time immemorial at irreconcilable variance, into one compact body of resistance, which, as it became more firm from the strokes of hostility, could not, in the nature of things, be subdued; in the same manner as the unjustifiable confederacy 96of Kings against France lately united all the conflicting parties of that Country—converted twenty-seven millions of People, male and female, into one compact armed force——rendered them not only invincible at home, but terrible abroad——and finally, has enabled them to bestride, Colussus like, the universe.

LETTER LVILVI.

The approach of the British Troops with Roganaut caused great alarm at Poonah; and the Ministers there sent to offer terms, which were contemptuously rejected. They then determined to save, by prowess, those rights which they could not preserve by justice or negociation——and took the field with such great force, that their menacing enemies found it expedient to consider of a retreat. The faithful Roganaut, finding his plans baffled, sent privately to Scindiah, the Marhatta Chief, proposing to him to attack the English, and promising in that case to join him with his part of the army: his perfidy, however, being discovered, the English Commanders began to retreat, carrying him along with them. They were, however, surrounded, and reduced to make the most abject concessions——offering a carte-blanche to Scindiah as the price of a retreat: but that august Chief nobly disdained 97to take advantage of their situation, and contented himself with terms which justice should have exacted from them, even if necessity had not compelled their acceptance. The restoration of Salsette, and of the other conquests made by the Company’s troops during the preceding hostilities, and the delivery of Roganaut’s person into the hands of the Marhattas, were among the provisions. Roganaut was delivered up: two hostages were taken for the remaining part of the treaty; and the harrassed remains of the English army were permitted to return to Bombay.

Roganaut having found means to escape, reached Surat; and the Company’s Chiefs refused to comply with the provisions of the treaty: notwithstanding which, the noble Marhatta dismissed the hostages, and prepared for a more manly revenge than that which could be wreaked on two defenceless individuals. General Goddart, who had been sent with an army from Bengal, was commissioned to negociate for a pacification: but Scindiah making the delivery of Roganaut into his hands an indispensable preliminary, the negociation was broken off, and both parties determined to refer the controversy to the decision of the Sword.

Every thing seemed to conspire to chastise the rashness and folly of our Indian Councils. The difficulties in which our American contest had involved the Nation, were reported with exaggeration in India, and gave additional firmness to our enemies in that quarter. The restless and intriguing spirit of the Court of Versailles found its way with Monsieur St. Lubin to the shores 98of Indostan, and so powerfully worked upon the mind of Hyder, that he entered into a treaty with France against England, and brought the strength of both into the most formidable combination that ever was made in that Country, to root out the power of Great Britain from the East.

Thus, by the depraved politics of the Councils of a petty Settlement, were the important interests of Great Britain in India, and the lives and properties of all its servants in that quarter, at once exposed to the fury of three formidable hostile powers——the Marhattas, Hyder and the French.

I will not entangle my narrative with a detail of the various military operations which arose from this confederacy: they were in general disastrous to the English, whose power there was preserved from utter annihilation by the energetic Councils of Mr. Hastings, the unexampled courage, of our troops, and the unparalleled abilities and gallantry of the veteran Sir Eyre Coote. That part which applies to my present narrative, is the only part I think it necessary to detail; but I wish you to inform yourself of all of them fully, by an attentive perusal of the different histories of that war.

In order to relieve the Carnatic, which was suffering under the ravages of a formidable victorious army, who had not only cut off a great part of our forces on that coast, but affronted our army even at the walls of Fort St. George, descents upon the coasts of Malabar were planned, in order to make a diversion: and 99General Mathews, in January 1783, landed, with a small army under his command, at a place called Rajamondroog——took Onore, and several forts; and being joined by other troops, which, under the command of Colonel Humbertson, had done considerable services to the Southward, and were now commanded by Colonel Macleod, marched from Cundapore, with an army consisting of twelve hundred Europeans and eight battalions of Sepoys, towards Hussaingurry Ghaut, a pass that leads over these immense mountains which divide the Peninsula, running North and South from Persia to Gape Comorin. After surmounting obstacles that would have discouraged a less enterprising Commander, and for which I refer you to his own Letter, inclosed herewith,^[8] he mounted the Ghaut, carrying every thing before him with the fixed bayonet; and reached, within a short march of Hydernagur, the place where I was confined. Those operations were undoubtedly much facilitated by the death of Hyder Alli, which happened while I was in prison, and which drew the attention of Tippoo Sahib to affairs of more immediate importance than the defence of the Malabar forts.

I have thus digressed from the straight path of my narrative, in order to explain to you the occasion of the extraordinary revolution that so suddenly took place in the fort, which I stated to you in my last Letter but one——You will therefore look back to the conclusion of that Letter, from whence I again take up my narrative.

100I was utterly at a loss to conjecture what this so sudden resolution to release me and my opposite fellow-prisoner meant. I endeavoured to get some explanation of it from the persons about me; but all I could at the time collect was, that the Jemadar had directed me to be taken out of irons, and ordered me to appear before him. I walked out of the citadel with two or three men who had got charge of me: it was a delightful afternoon; and my sensations on once more revisiting the open air——at again viewing the vast expanse of the firmament above, and the profusion of beauties with which Nature embellished the earth beneath——were too blissful, too sublime, for description. My heart beat with involuntary transports of gratitude to that Being from which all sprung; and I felt that Man is, in his nature, even without the intervention of his reason, a being of devotion. For an hour of such delight as I then experienced, a year of imprisonment was, I thought, hardly too dear a price. Those exquisite sensations insensibly led my heart to the most flattering presages: the animal spirit appeared to have, in correspondence with the body, shaken off a load of chains; and as I walked, along, I seemed to tread on air.

As we proceeded forward, we found, at some distance from the fort, an open dooly, into which, the guards forcibly crammed me; and I was carried off, still attended by the same men. As we went along, they gave me to understand that Hyat Sahib, the Jemadar, was at a place ten or a dozen miles distant from 101Bidanore. I thought it within myself a most extraordinary circumstance, and was at a loss to conjecture for what purpose he required my presence there. Perhaps, thought I, it is to deliver me personally into the hands of Tippoo——perhaps to send me to Seringapatam. Suspense whetted my curiosity; and impatience to know my fate, set my mind afloat upon a wide sea of conjecture. Still, however, my senses acknowledged a degree of pleasure indescribable——I inhaled the fresh air with greediness, and, as I snuffed it in, said to myself, “Well, well——at the worst, this will enliven my spirits, and lay up a new stock of health and vigour, to enable me to endure with manhood whatever other sufferings the barbarians, into whose hands I have fallen, may have in store for me.”

When we had got about a mile from the fort, we met a person attended by three others, all on horseback. He was a man of considerable rank in that Country, and I recollected to have seen him at the Jemadar’s Durbar, where he had manifested a favourable disposition towards me, looking always graciously, and nodding to me, which, considering my circumstances and his, was not a little extraordinary. The moment he recognized me, he leaped from his horse, apparently in great agitation: then turning to the guards, ordered them to leave me immediately——saying at the same time that he would be answerable for the consequences. They seemed at first to hesitate, whether they would obey him or not; but on his shaking at them his sword, which was all along drawn in his 102hand, and smeared with blood, and repeating his orders a second time in a firm and decisive tone of voice and manner, they all ran off.

As soon as we were alone, he revealed to me, that he had all along known who I was——had most heartily pitied my sufferings, and privately entertained the most anxious wishes to serve me, but could not venture to interfere——the least jealousy, when once awakened, being there always followed up by summary vengeance. He then mentioned his name, informing me that he was the son of a Nabob near Vellore, whose dominions had been wrested from him by force, and united to the Carnatic; that his family had received great favours from my father, in return for which he felt himself bound to do me every service in his power; but that, having been, after the misfortunes which befel his family, taken into the service of Hyder, and holding then a place of consequence under him, he was disqualified from demonstrating his gratitude and esteem in the way he wished: he added, he had just come from the summit of the Ghauts, where he left the English army posted, after their having beat the Circar troops, and carried all the strong works which had been erected for the defence of the passes, and were deemed from their situation impregnable; that the Jemadar, Hyat Sahib, had gone thither to encourage the troops, and animate them to one grand effort of resistance, and would remain there till the succeeding day——Here he stopped, and seemed much agitated; but, recovering himself soon, said, in a 103solemn and alarming manner, “This day I heard Hyat Sahib give orders to bring you before him, in order that he might satiate his revenge by your death! How happy am I in having an opportunity to rescue you! I will carry you back with me, therefore, to Bidanore, and place you in a state of security with my family.”

LETTER LVII.

Such unprecedented generosity affected me sensibly. To run such a hazard as he must have incurred, merely from a principle of gratitude for services so remote in both time and person, was more than we could hope to find even among Englishmen, who boast of their superior justice and generosity——but in a native of Indostan, where the tide of human feeling runs rather low, was astonishing. As well as my limited knowledge of the language of the Country enabled me, I endeavoured to make him a suitable acknowledgment: in such a cause, dullness must have become eloquent; and I lamented that my deficiency in the language prevented my giving vent to the extreme fullness of my heart. He seemed, however, to be satisfied with my meaning; and I was just on the point of returning with him to Hydernagur, when we were suddenly startled by the Jemadar’s music, which 104was soon afterwards succeeded by the appearance of his guards advancing towards us at some distance. He seemed confounded and alarmed——lamented, in warm terms, his incapacity to serve me——and, pointing, to a path which wound through a wood that lay on either side of the road, directed me to strike into it immediately, saying, that by following that route, I should certainly fall in with the British army. He then rode away, and I followed his advice, and proceeded for some time through the wood without interruption; for, though I did not implicitly believe the assertion that Hyat Sahib meant to have cut me off, I deemed it prudent to avail myself of the opportunity which offered to effect my escape, apprehending a worse fate than death, namely, being sent prisoner to Seringapatam.

Finding myself fairly extricated, I began to examine my situation, and to reflect on the different conversions which had passed between Hyat Sahib and me, and on his conduct previous to my being put in irons. I recollected the information I had from time to time received, touching the Jemadar’s disposition, Hyder’s death, Tippoo Sahib’s character and avowed hatred of Hyat, and the nature of the inhabitants. I moreover took into consideration, that my strength was impaired, and my constitution undermined; and that my prospects in India, in point of fame or emolument, could only be promoted by some extraordinary exertion, or some hazardous enterprise. The result of the whole was a determination on my part to return back to the fort, 105and venture an attempt to persuade the Jemadar to offer proposals for an accommodation to General Mathews, and to make me the instrument of his negociation.

In pursuauce of this determination, I returned; and at about six o’clock in the evening re-entered the fort, and proceeded to the palace of the JemadarJemadar, where, desiring an audience, I was admitted. At the very first sight of him, I could perceive in his appearance all the mortification of falling power. He received me with a gloomy countenance, in which there was more of thoughtful sadness than of vindictive fury. After a minute’s silence, however, he said to me, “Well, Sir! you have heard, I suppose, that the English army are in possession of the Ghauts, and doubtless know that the customs of this Country authorise my proceeding against you with the utmost rigour.” Here he paused for a few moments——then proceeded thus: “Nevertheless, in consideration of your family——in consideration of the regard I have for a long time conceived for you, from observing your conduct, and strict adherence to truth in answering all my questions, and still more on account of the sufferings which you have sustained with fortitude, I will allow you to escape: haste you, then, away——fly from this fort directly——begone!” Then waving his hand as a signal for me to depart, averted his face from me, and looked another way.

I thought that that this was a very favourable opportunity for my intended purpose, and entreated him to hear me, while I said a 106few words of perhaps more moment to him than to myself. He again turned towards me; and, nodding assent, while his eye bespoke impatient curiosity, I proceeded——And, first, I expressed, in the strongest terms I was able, the high sense I entertained of the favourable reception I met with when I first came to the fort; assuring him, that I should never forget the kindness he shewed me on that occasion, and that in my conscience I imputed all the sufferings I had undergone wholly to orders which he had been obliged to execute, and not to any want of humanity in himself. Here I perceived the clouds which had overspread his countenance begin gradually to disperse, and with the greater confidence proceeded to say, that if he would condescend to give me a patient hearing, and not take my boldness amiss, I would venture to intrude upon him with my advice. At this he stared at me with a look of surprise——paused——then said, that he authorised me to speak whatever I pleased——continuing, in a tone of gentle melancholy, “But of what use can your advice be to me now?”

Having thus obtained his permission, I began by complimenting him on his great talents and temper in governing——on his fidelity, zeal and attachment to Hyder——and on the mild and beneficent use which he was acknowledged to have made of the unbounded power vested in him by that great Prince, which was the more extraordinary, considering how many examples he had to justify him in a contrary practice. I reminded him, however, that circumstances were at present widely different from what 107they then were——that he had now got a very different Sovereign to serve——that he had no longer the tender father (for so Hyder might have been considered to him), but Tippoo Sultan, now the master, once the rival, whose measures he had always opposed, against whom he had once laid a most serious charge, and who, considering the firmness of his nature, could not be reasonably supposed to have forgiven him; and I hinted, that whatever external appearance of regard Tippoo might from the political necessity of the moment assume, his temper, and the spirit of Asiatic policy, were too well known to have a doubt remaining, that so far from continuing him (Hyat) in the same power and authority which he enjoyed during the life of his father Hyder, he would, on the contrary, proceed against him with rigour and cruelty.

Here I perceived the Jemadar involuntarily nodding his head in a manner which, though not intended for my observation, denoted internal assent; and was convinced that I had exactly fallen in with the current of his own thoughts. No wonder, indeed, they should be his sentiments; for they had long been the sentiments of all persons who had known the circumstances of the Nabob’s family.

Having, therefore, gone as far on that point as I conceived to be necessary to awaken the mind of Hyat to the precariousness, or rather danger of his situation with Tippoo, I painted to him, in the strongest colours I was master of, the humanity, the fidelity, 108the bravery and generosity of the English, which, I said, were so universally acknowledged, that even their worst enemies bore testimony to them: and I assured him, that if, instead of making an unavailing opposition to them, he would throw himself with confidence upon their protection, and become their friend, he would not only be continued in his station, power and authority, and supported as heretofore, but be made a much greater man, with still greater security, than ever he had been before.

This was the general scope of my argument with him; but there were many more which suggested themselves at the time, though I cannot now remember them. I enforced them with all the power I had: they were supported by the acknowledged character for generosity of the English, and still more by Hyat’s apprehensions of Tippoo; and they had their effect. That very night he authorised me to go to the British General; and, though he would not commit himself by sending proposals in writing, he consented to receive them from the General, and promised to wait for my return till day-light the next morning——adding, that if I did not appear by that time, he would go off with his family and treasure to some other place, and set the town, powder-magazine and store-houses on fire, leaving a person of distinguished character to defend the citadel or inner fort, which was strong, with a deep ditch, and mounted with many pieces of cannon, and send immediate intelligence to an army of six thousand horse and tenten thousand infantry, who were at that time on their road from 109Seringapatam, to hasten their progress, and make them advance with all possible rapidity; and he further observed, that as Tippoo himself would come to the immediate protection of his Country, and, if once come while the English army remained in the open field, would give them cause to repent their temerity, there was no time to be lost.

Accompanied by a person who had officiated as interpreter between the Jemadar and me, and whose good offices and influence with Hyat, which was very great, I had been previously lucky enough to secure, I set off at ten o’clock at night, on horseback, to the British army. My companion was in high spirits when we set out from the fort; but as we proceeded, he expressed great apprehension of being shot in approaching the camp, and earnestly entreated me to sleep at a choreltry, which lay in our way, till morning. His terror must have been great indeed, to induce him to make such a proposal, as he knew very well that we had pledged ourselves to be back before dawn next day. I rallied him upon his fears, and endeavoured to persuade him there was not the smallest danger, as I knew how to answer the outposts, when they should challenge us, in such a manner as to prevent their firing. As we advanced to the camp, however, his trepidation increased; and when we approached the sentries, I was obliged to drag him along by force. Then his fears had very nearly produced the danger he dreaded, (the almost invariable effect of cowardice); for the sentry next to us, hearing the rustling noise, 110let off his piece, and was retreating when I had the good fortune to make him hear me. My companion, alarmed at the noise of the musquet, fell down in a paroxysm of terror, from which it was some time before he was completely recovered. The sentry who had fired, coming up, conducted us to a place where other sentries were posted, one of whom accompanied us to a guard, from whence we were brought to the grand guard, and by them conducted to the General.

LETTER LVIII.

I WAS no less pleased than surprised to find, that the Commander of this gallant and successful little army was General Mathews——an old friend of my father’s, and a person with whom I had served in the Cavalry soon after I entered the service. When I arrived, he was fast asleep upon the bare ground in a choreltry. His Dubash, whose name was Snake, recollected me immediately, and was almost as much frightened at my appearance at first, as my interpreter companion was at the shot of the sentry; for if was full five months since my hair and beard had been both shaved at the same time, during which period a comb had never touched my head; I had no hat——no 111stockings——was clad in a pair of very ragged breeches, a shirt which was so full of holes that it resembled rather a net than a web of cloth, and a waistcoat which had been made for a man twice my size——while my feet were defended from the stones only by a pair of Indian slippers. Snake, as soon as he was able to conquer his terror, and stop the loquacious effusions of astonishment, brought me to the General, whom I found fast asleep. We awoke him with great difficulty, and on his discovering me, expressed great pleasure and surprise at so unexpected a meeting; for, though he had heard of my imprisonment at Bidanore, he did not expect to have had the pleasure of my company so soon.

Having stated to the General the nature and object of my mission, and related to him what had happened in the fort, he instantly saw the great advantages that must accrue from such an arrangement——entered into a full but short discussion of the business——settled with me the plan to be pursued in either case of Hyat Sahib’s acceding to or dissenting from the terms he proposed to offer; and in less than an hour after my arrival, I was dispatched back to the fort in the General’s palanquin, with a cowl from him, signifying that the Jemadar Hyat Sahib’s power and influence should not be lessened, if he should quietly surrender up the fort. Before my departure, the General expressed, in the warmest terms, his approbation of my conduct; and added, that considering the importance of the fort, the extensive 112influence of Hyat Sahib, and the advantages that might be derived from his experience and abilities, coupled with the enfeebled state of his army, the benefits of such a negociation scarcely admitted of calculation.

Notwithstanding the very flattering circumstances with which my present pursuit was attended, I could not help, as I returned to Hydernagur, finding some uneasy sensations, arising from the immediate nature of the business, and from my knowledge of the faithless disposition of Asiatics, and the little difficulty they find in violating any moral principle, if it happens to clash with their interest, or if a breach of it promises any advantage. I considered that it was by no means impossible, that some resolution adverse to my project might have been adopted in my absence, and that the Jemadar’s policy might lead him to make my destruction a sort of propitiation for his former offences, and to send me and the cowl together to Tippoo, to be sacrificed to his resentment. These thoughts, I own, made a very deep impression on my mind——but were again effaced by the reflection, that a laudable measure, once begun, ought to be persevered in, and that the accomplishing a plan of such importance and incalculable public utility, might operate still further by example, and produce consequences of which it was impossible at the present to form a conception. Those, and a variety of such suggestions, entirely overcame the scruples and fears of the danger; and I once more entered the fort of Hydernagur. At this time the British troops were, by detaching 113a part with Colonel Macleod, to get round the fort, and attack it in rear, and, by death and sickness, reduced to less than four hundred Europeans and seven hundred Sepoys, without ordnance.

When I delivered the cowl to the Jemadar, he read it, and seemed pleased, but talked of four or five days to consider of an answer, and seemed to be wavering in his mind, and labouring under the alternate impulses of opposite motives and contradictory passions. I saw that it was a crisis of more importance than any other of my life——a crisis in which delay, irresolution, or yielding to the protractive expedients of Hyat, might be fatal. To prevent therefore, the effects of either treachery or repentance, I took advantage of the general confusion and trepidation which prevailed in the fort——collected the Arcot Sepoys, who, to the number of four hundred, were prisoners at large——posted them at the gates, powder-magazines, and other critical situations; and, having taken these and other precautions, went out to the General, who, according to the plan concerted between us, had pushed on with the advanced guard; and, conducting him into the fort with hardly an attendant, brought him straight to the Jemadar’s presence while he yet remained in a state of indecision and terror. General Mathews, in his first interview with the Jemadar, did every thing to re-assure him, and confirmed with the most solemn asseverations the terms of the cowl; in consequence of which, the latter acceded to the propositions contained in it, and the 114British Colours for the first time waved upon the walls of the chief fort of the Country of Bidanore.

Having thus contributed to put this important garrison, with all its treasures, which certainly were immense, into the hands of the Company, without the loss of a single man, or even the striking of a single blow, my exultation was inconceivable; and, much though I wanted money, I can with truth aver, that avarice had not even for an instant the least share in my sensations. ’Tis true, the consciousness of my services assured me of a reward; but how that reward was to accrue to me, never once was the subject of my contemplation——much less did I think of availing myself of the instant occasion to obtain it. How far my delicacy, on the occasion may be censured or approved, I cannot tell; but if I got nothing by it, I have at least the consolation to reflect that I escaped calumny, which was with a most unjustifiable and unsparing hand lavished on others. The General, it is true, promised that I should remain with him till he made some arrangements; and Hyat Sahib offered, on his part, to make me, through the General, a handsome present. The General, however, suddenly became dissatisfied with me; and I neither got Hyat Sahib’s present, nor ever received even a rupee of the vast spoil found there.

Here I think it a duty incumbent on me to say something of General Mathews, and, while I deplore, the unfortunate turn in his temper, which injured me, and tarnished in some measure his 115good qualities, to rescue him from that unmerited obloquy which the ignorant, the interested and the envious have thrown upon his fame. Light lie the ashes of the dead, and hallowed be the turf that pillows the head of a Soldier! General Mathews was indeed a Soldier——was calumniated too; and although he did not use me as I had reason to hope he would, I will, as far as I can, rescue his fame from gross misrepresentation.

An extravagant love of fame was the ruling passion of General Mathews: it was the great end of all his pursuits; and, while, in his military profession, he walked with a firm pace towards it, he lost his time, distorted his progress, and palsied his own efforts, by a jealous vigilance and envious opposition of those whom he found taking the same road, whether they walked beside him, or panted in feeble effort behind. This was his fault; it was doubtless a great alloy to his good qualities: but it has been punished with rigour disproportionate to the offence. Those who personally felt his jealousy, took advantage of his melancholy end to traduce him, and magnify every mole-hill of error into a mountain of crime. It is unmanly in any one——indeed it is——to traduce the Soldier who has fallen in the service of his Country; but it is heresy in a Soldier to do so. No sooner did the buzz of calumny get abroad, than thousands of hornets, who had neither interest nor concern in the affair, joined in it. The malignant, who wished to sting merely to get rid of so much of their venom——and the vain, who wished to acquit a reputation for knowledge of Asiatic affairs at the expence 116of truth——united together, and raised a hum which reached Europe, where the hornets (I mean Authors), under the less unjustifiable impulse of necessity, took it up, and buzzed through the medium of quartos and octovos so load, that public opinion was poisoned; and the gallant Soldier who, for the advantage of England, stood the hardest tugs of war, and at last drank the poisoned cup from the tyrant hands of her enemy, was generally understood to be a peculator, and to have clandestinely and dishonestly obtained three hundred thousand pounds.

On this assertion I put my direct negative. It may be said, however, that this is only assertion against assertion——True! Sorry should I be to rest it there: my assertions are grounded on such proofs as are not to be shaken——proofs on record in the Office of the Presidency of Bombay.

As soon as Hydernagur was taken possession of, Hyat Sahib immediately issued orders to the forts of Mangalore, Deokull, Ananpore, and some others in that Country, to surrender to the British arms. Some obeyed the mandate; but those three resisted, and were reduced by General Mathews. Rendered incautious by success, our army became less vigilant, and Tippoo retook Hydernagur; and, in direct breach of the capitulation, made the garrison prisoners, treated them with a degree of inhumanity which chills the blood even to think of, and forced General Mathews to take poison in prison!

117Mean-time Hyat Sahib, with whom the General had got into disputes, arrived at Bombay, and laid a charge against him, which he, being in the hands of Tippoo, could not controvert, or even know. And what was the charge? The whole extent of it was his (Mathews’s) having got two lacks of rupees, and a pearl necklace, as a present——a sum, considering the country and the circumstances, not at all extraordinary, but which is completely vindicated by the General’s Letter to the Court of Directors, dated at Mangalore, the 15th of March, 1783; in which he states the present, and requests permission to accept it. This, as I said before, is on record, and was translated by Mr. Sybbald, who was then Persian interpreter at Bombay. The Letter I allude to, you will see in the Appendix. In short, General Mathews had his faults, but an unjust avarice was not amongst them.

118

LETTER LIX.

Having, in my last Letter, said as much as I thought justice demanded in defence of General Mathews, against the charge of peculation, I am now to speak of him as his conduct touched me. He was, as I have already mentioned, an old friend of my father’s, and an intimate of my own: I had reason, therefore, to expect from him, according to the usual dispositions and manners of men, if not partiality, at least friendship; and in such a case as I have related, where my services gave me a claim to notice, it was not unreasonable to suppose that he would have been forward to promote my interest, by stating my services in such a manner as to call attention to them. He had, however, some disagreeable discussions with his Officers; and seeing I was on a footing of intimacy with Colonel Humbertson, and still more with Major Campbell (he who so ably and gallantly defended Mangalore against Tippoo’s whole army and six hundred French), and finding me extremely zealous and importunate to have his arrangement with Hyat Sahib adhered to, he became displeased, and, though he himself had determined that I should remain with him, changed his mind, and ordered me away at an hour’s 119notice——many days sooner than he had originally intended to send off any dispatches. He moreover occasioned my losing a sum of money, and on the whole paid less attention to my interest than the circumstances of the case demanded.

In the evening of the day on which he determined on my departure, I set off with his dispatches to the Governments of Madras and Bengal, and reached the most distant of our posts that night. From thence I had thirty miles to Cundapore, a sea-port town upon the Malabar coast, taken by us from the enemy. During this journey, which was through the Country of Tippoo Sahib, I had only six Sepoys to conduct me: yet, such was the universal panic that had seized all classes and distinctions of people at the progress of the British arms in that quarter, I met only a few scattered Sepoys, who were so badly wounded I presume they were unable to travel——the villages throughout being completely abandoned by all their inhabitants.

The sudden change of diet, which physicians tell us, and I experienced, is dangerous, from bad to good, as well as the reverse, conspiring with the mortification I felt at seeing things going on so very contrary to what I wished, and what I had reason to expect, had a most sudden and alarming effect upon my constitution; and I was seized on the road with the most excruciating, internal pains, which were succeeded by a violent vomiting of blood. At length, with great difficulty, I reached Cundapore, where the Commanding Officer, and all about him, did every 120thing in their power to afford me assistance and comfort under my miseries, which increased every hour rapidly. I felt as if my inside was utterly decayed, and all its functions lost in debility: at the same time my head seemed deranged——I could scarcely comprehend the meaning of what was said: lifting up my head was attended with agonizing pain; and if I had any power of thought, it was to consider myself as approaching fast to dissolution. I had the sense, however, to send to General Mathews, to acquaint him with my indisposition, and utter inability to proceed with his dispatches. To this I received the following Letter:

“Bidanore, Feb. 3, 1783.

“Dear Campbell,

“I am sorry to hear that you have been unwell. Should your indisposition increase, or continue, so as to render you unable to pursue your journey with the necessary expedition, I beg that you will forward the Letters to Anjengo by a boat, with directions to Mr. Hutchinson to send them per tappy^[9] to Palamcotah, and so on to Madras.

“I shall hope to hear of your recovery, and that you’ll have gone to sea.

“Your’s very truly,

Richard Mathews.”

121The receipt of this Letter induced me, bad as I was, to make one other exertion; and I resolved, though I should die on the way, not to leave any thing which, even by malicious construction, could be made a set-off against my claims: I therefore hired an open boat to carry me along the coast to Anjengo, and set out with every prospect of having the virulence of my disorder increased, by being exposed in an uncovered vessel to the damp of the night air, and the raging heat of the sun in the day, and of being arrested by the hand of death in my way. By the time I had got down the coast as far as Mangalore, my complaints increased to an alarming height; and I became speechless, and unable to stand. Fortunately there happened to be a Company’s vessel then lying at anchor off that place, the Captain of which had the goodness to invite me to remain on board with him, strenuously advising that I should give up the thoughts of proceeding immediately on my voyage to Anjengo, which I could not possibly survive, and to forward my dispatches by another hand. The Surgeon of the ship joining the Captain in opinion that I could not survive if I attempted it, and my own judgment coinciding with their’s, I at length consented, and remained there.

Tranquillity, kind treatment, and good medical assistance, produced, in the space of two or three weeks, so material a change in my health, I was in a condition to avail myself, at the expiration of that time, of a ship bound to Anjengo, and which offering the additional inducement of touching at Tellicherry, determined me to take my passage in her. When I arrived at Tellicherry, 122and during my stay there, the great attention shewnshewn me by Mr. Freeman, the Chief of that place, and the comforts of his house, restored me to a great share of health and spirits——And here a very singular circumstance occurred.

One day a vessel arrived; and perceiving a boat coming on shore from her, Mr. Freeman and I walked down to the beach, to make the usual inquiries——such as, where she came from? what news she brought? &c. &c. As soon as the boat touched the shore, a Gentleman leaped out of it, whose person seemed familiar to me: upon his nearer approach, I discovered that it was Mr. Brodey, a Gentleman who had been kind enough to take upon him the office of my Attorney, upon my leaving India some years before——not my Attorney in the ordinary acceptation of that word, but a liberal and disinterested friend, who obligingly undertook the management of my affairs in my absence, without the smallest hope of advantage, or rather under circumstances which served as preludes to further obligations. I was certainly pleased and surprised to see him; but his astonishment to see me amounted almost to a distrust of his eye-sight: he had received such indubitable proofs of my death, that my sudden appearance on his landing, at the first rush of thought, impressed him with the notion of a deceptio visus. My identity, however, was too positive for resistance; and his wonder melted down into cordial satisfaction, and congratulations on my safety. He then took out a pocket account-book, in which, for security against accidents, he kept 123accounts-current, written in a brief manner——and shewed me mine, settled almost to the very day, upon which was transcribed a copy of a letter he had received, and which he thought was a testimony of my death. So, cutting out the account, and presenting it to me, he expressed, in the most cordial and handsome manner, his joy that it was into my own hands he had at last had an opportunity to deliver it. This Gentleman is now in this Kingdom, and too well known for me to describe him. Suffice it to say, that in England, as well as in India, he has always enjoyed the esteem and respect of all his acquaintances, to as great an extent as any other person I know.

I again embarked to proceed on my voyage, and had hardly got on board when a ship dropped anchor along side of us, in which Captain Campbell of Comby, a very near connection of mine, was passenger. On hailing one another, he heard that I was on board, and immediately was with me. Those who sincerely love each other, and whose hearts confess the fond ties of consanguinity, can alone conceive what our mutual pleasure was at meeting so unexpectedly in so remote a corner of the world. He was then on his way to join the army. This amiable young man now reposes in the Bed of Honour at Mangalore! He fell, after having distinguished himself in the very gallant defence made by that place against the whole force of Tippoo. With regret we parted; and in due time I arrived at Anjengo without any accident befalling me, which was rather extraordinary.

124Leaving Anjengo, I set out for Madras, designing to go all the way by land——a journey of near eight hundred miles. I accordingly struck through the Kingdom of Travancore, whose Sovereign is in alliance with the English; and had not long entered the territories of the Nabob of Arcot, before Major Macneal, an old friend of mine, and Commandant of a fort in that district, met me, preceded by a troop of dancing girls, who encircled my palanquin, dancing around me until I entered the Major’s house.

It would be difficult to give you an adequate notion of those dancing girls. Trained up from their infancy to the practice of the most graceful motions, the most artful display of personal symmetry, and the most wanton allurements, they dance in such a style, and twine their limbs and bodies into such postures, as bewitch the senses, and extort applause and admiration where in strictness disapprobation is due: nor is their agility inferior to the grace of their movements——though they do not exert it in the same skipping way that our stage dancers do, but make it subservient to the elegance, and, I may say, grandeur, of their air. They are generally found in troops of six or eight, attended by musicians, whose aspect and dress are as uncouth and squalid, as the sounds they produce under the name of music are inelegant, harsh and dissonant. To this music, from which measure as much as harmony is excluded, they dance, most wonderfully adapting their step to the perpetual change of the time, accompanying it with amorous songs, while the correspondent action of their body 125and limbs, the wanton palpitation and heaving of their exquisitely formed bosoms, and the amorous, or rather lascivious expression of their countenance, excite in the spectators emotions not very favourable to chastity. Thus they continue to act, till, by the warmth of exercise and imagination, they become seemingly frantic with ecstacy, and, sinking down motionless with fatigue, throw themselves into the most alluring attitudes that ingenious vice and voluptuousness can possibly devise.

That such incitements to vice should make a part of the system of any society, is to be lamented: yet, at all ceremonies and great occasions, whether of religious worship or domestic enjoyment, they make a part of the entertainment; and the altar of their gods, and the purity of the marriage rites, are alike polluted by the introduction of the dancing girls. The impurity of this custom, however, vanishes in India, when compared with the hideous practice of introducing dancing boys.

The Major, after having entertained me in the most hospitable manner, accompanied me to Palamcotah, to the house of Doctor Dott, who lived in a generous and hospitable style. I had once had an opportunity of evincing my good disposition to this Gentleman, when he was most critically situated; and the reception he gave me demonstrated, that he then retained a lively sense of my conduct to him.

Leaving Palamcotah, I continued my route through Madura. This Country is rendered remarkable by the revolt of the famous 126Isif Cawn, who made a bold and well-conducted attempt to erect himself into the Sovereignty of that Province, independent of the Nabob of the Carnatic, in whose service he was: and as the affair occurs to my thoughts, I will, for your information, notwithstanding its being unconnected with my story, digress into an account of it. As soon as the revolt of Isif Cawn was known, General Monson, an Officer of great military skill and personal merit, went against him at the head of the King’s and Company’s troops, and invested the fort of Madura, in which that rebellious Chief was posted. The General made a practicable breach, and, in storming, was beat back with great slaughter by Isif; and the setting in of the monsoons immediately after, retarded the further operations of our army against the place; and in the interim, peace having been concluded between the Courts of St. James’s and Versailles, the King’s troops were withdrawn.

On the recal of the King’s troops, an army of Company’s troops was formed, to proceed against Madura, in order to reduce this gallant turbulent rebel to subjection; and the renowned General Lawrence being rendered incapable of actual service, and obliged to remain at the Presidency by extreme age and infirmity, the chief command devolved upon my father by seniority: he headed the expedition; and, after overcoming innumerable difficulties thrown in his way by the inventive genius and enterprising spirit of Isif Cawn, again made a breach, which was deemed practicable by the chief engineer, now Sir John Call. An assault 127was made with no better success than the former; for our army was again repulsed with incredible slaughter: more than two thirds, I believe, of our European Officers, were among the killed or wounded; and the death of Major Preston, second in command, a man endeared to the army by the possession of every advantage of person, heart and talents—an active, intrepid and able Officer—aggravated the calamities of the day.

If, impelled by my feelings, or tempted by remembrance of the past, I sometimes digress from the direct path of my narrative, my Frederick will accompany me, not only with patience, but I dare say with pleasure: I cannot refrain, therefore, from mentioning a memorable occurrence during that siege, not only as it is somewhat extraordinary in itself, but as it relates to a very near and dear connection. Colonel Donald Campbell, who then commanded the Cavalry, received no less than fourteen sword-wounds and a musquet-ball in his body—yet continued doing his duty with such cool intrepidity, that brave soldiers who were witnesses to it, expressed the utmost astonishment: upon being requested to quit the field, he replied, that as his family were provided for, he had nothing to fear; and as it was very unlikely his life could be saved, he would not deprive his Country of any advantage that might be derived from his exertions for the short residue of it, but continue to the last moment at his duty. With all this firmness and magnanimity, he was gentle, good-humoured, modest and unassuming; and was admired for his great 128personal beauty, as well as military talents, particularly by the Duke of Cumberland, under whom he served in the war in Germany as a subaltern Officer, in so much that His Royal Highness had his picture drawn. It was to him the Company were first indebted for the introduction of perfect military discipline into their army in India. In the various relations in which he stood, whether domestic or public, as, the subject, the citizen, the father, or the friend, he was so uniformly excellent, that the shafts of malevolence, which the best and wisest of men have but too often felt, seldom reached him; and he may justly be reckoned amongst that very small number of created beings, of whom scarcely any one had the audacity to speak ill. Upon my first arrival in India, I was put under his command, and lived in his family——when, instead of deporting himself towards me with that reserve and austerity which rank and reputation like his, coupled with the circumstance of his being my uncle, might in some sort have justified, he took me into his confidence, treated me with the greatest affection, and acted rather as the brother and the equal, than as the parent and superior; and thus, his gentle admonitions had more effect in restraining the sallies of youth, and impetuosity of my temper, than the sour, unpalatable documents of a supercilious preceptor could possibly have had.

The wonderful effects of this happy temper in swaying the stubborn disposition of headstrong youth, was exemplified in another instance—of which, since I am on the subject, I will inform 129you. Mr. Dupres, then Governor of Madras, wrote to him about a young Gentleman, in the following words:

“My dear Colonel,

“In the list of Officers appointed to your garrison, you will see the name of ——-. This young man (nephew to Mrs. Dupres), with abilities that might render him conspicuous, I am sorry to say, stands in need of a strict hand. All the favour I have to request of you is to shew him no favour: keep him rigidly to his duty; and, if he requires it, rule him with a rod of iron. Should his future conduct meet your approbation, it is unnecessary for me to ask it, as you are always ready to shew kindness to those who merit it.”

The peculiar style of this letter made such an impression on my memory, that I am able to give the exact words. Colonel Campbell, however, took his own unalterable method, mildness——treated the young Gentleman in such a manner as to raise in him a consciousness of his dignity as a man, the first and best guard against misconduct——and appointed him to the grenadier companycompany. The result was answerable to his expectations; for the young man’s conduct, both as an Officer and a Gentleman, was such in the sequel as to reflect credit on himself and his family; and his very honourable and hopeful career was at last terminated by a cannon-ball at the siege of Tanjore.

130If the veneration in which I shall ever hold this most dear and respected relative admitted of increase, it would certainly receive it from the contrast I am every day obliged to draw between him and the wretched butterflies who sometimes flutter round us under the name of Men: for, how can I help contrasting his inflexible courage, united to angelic mildness, with the insolence of lilly-livered Hectors, who, conscious of the most abject cowardice, dare to give an insult, and basely skulk from honest resentment 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 restrain the torrent of effeminate invective, have patience enough to bear a kicking, or a box in the ear!——who bluster and vapour to hide the trembling limb and poltroon aspect, as children whittle in the dark to brave the ghosts they dread! Beware of all such wretches as you would shun plague or pestilence. I hope you do not imagine that I have so little common sense or philanthropy as to censure those who, from physical causes or constitutional delicacy, are averse to contest: No, no——I do assure you, on the contrary, that my observation leads me to think such men, though slow to quarrel, and inoffensive in conduct, are very gallant when honour or duty demand from them a conquest over their weakness. I have, in my time, seen such men at first the sport, and at last the terror of your blustering bullies; and I have always thought, that in such a triumph over their feelings, they had more true merit 131than men constitutionally courageous: the latter has his valour in common with the mere animal; the other possesses the valour of sentiment. I mean that most ignominious of all beings, who, prodigal in offence, yet reluctant in reparation——who, hoping to find some person passive as themselves over whom to triumph, hazard the giving of an insult, with the malignant view to gasconade over him if he submits——and, if he resents, to wreak the whole vengeance of Law upon him. In society with such men, there is no safety; for they leave you only the casual alternative to choose between shame and ruin. Him who submits, they call poltroon; and him who resents, they fleece in form of Law. There are others who, to bring their fellow-creatures down to their own level, brave the execrations of Mankind, and the vengeance of Heaven; such harpies do exist, who, though bold enough to insult, are tame enough to receive chastisement without resistance; and, though tame enough to submit to chastisement, are so furiously vindictive as to proclaim their shame, their cowardice, perhaps in the face of an open Court, in order to glut their revenge by the pillage of their adversary’s purse. Let such men enjoy the fruits of their machinations, if they can——To their own feelings I consign them; for I can wish a villain no greater curse than the company of his own conscience, nor a poltroon a more poignant sting than that which the contempt of Mankind inflicts upon him.