PART III. (continued 3)

132

LETTER LX.

Passing through Madura, I arrived at Trichinopoly, where I met Mr. Sullivan, the Resident of Tanjore, who very politely furnished me with a letter to Mr. Hippesley, his Deputy at Tanjore, from whom I received many marks of civility. At that place I had the pleasure of meeting a Gentleman with whom I had been at College, and for whom I had always entertained a great esteem: this was Colonel Fullarton. It is an old maxim, that we should say nothing but good of the dead——“De mortuis nil nisi bonum.” It is not a new maxim, I believe, to avoid praising the living: I am aware of the indelicacy of it; and therefore purposely avoid in this, as I shall in other instances, speaking the full opinion I entertain. To the general esteem in which he was held by all ranks of people in India, I refer you to Colonel Fullarton’s character: it is of such a sort, that I wish to hold it up for your imitation. At a time of life when others have arrived to some perfection in their profession, he made choice of his, and entered for the first time into the arduous military department, with a command for which the training of many years is no more than sufficient to prepare other men. The Minister 133of that day gave him this important charge, underwent the clamours of Opposition for it, and was justified in the event. When the Colonel came to act, so far from being deficient, his whole conduct was distinguished, not less for military talent than courage——while the most fortunate command of temper and captivating address subdued the spirit of prejudice, reconciled the most discordant, and gained him, though a King’s Officer, the esteem, as much of the Company’s as King’s troops. In short, all ranks of people, civil as well as military, whether belonging to King or Company, united in approbation of his conduct——a thing not known before, nor since, but in the person of Lord Cornwallis.

Too much cannot be said of the advantages resulting from a proper command of temper. To promote that in my Frederick, will be attended with little difficulty: on the contrary, my only doubt is, that the placability and mildness of his disposition will too often subject him to imposition. John is, however, of a different temper; there is something in it which requires both admonition and good example to repress within proper bounds: to shew him the beauty as well as use of a mild, cool temper, such instances as Colonel FullartonFullarton may be of weight, and I wish him to reflect upon it. And here I am reminded of a person and a circumstance so exactly in point, that I cannot refrain from noticing them: they convey no inadequate idea of the happiness resulting from a gentleness of nature, and dominion over the mind; and as the person I allude to is dead, I may speak of him 134with the greater freedom in that full strain of praise which his shining virtues deserve.

Of all the men I have ever had the good fortune to know, Sir Archibald Campbell possessed, in the highest degree, that heavenly turn of mind, which not only is at peace with itself, but diffuses harmony and cheerfulness around it. No business, however urgent in occasion, restricted in point of time, or embarrassed with difficulty——no accident, however unexpected, or event, however sinister——none of those innumerable minutiæ which fret and chafe the tempers of other men, ever suspended the cool tenor of his thought even for a moment: nothing shook the serenity of his temper——nothing deranged the presence of his mind: uniform and placid, he in all situations had the full dominion of himself, and in the field it gave him a decided superiority: nor was this felicity of nature confined to his public conduct; it attended him at the domestic enjoyments of the fire-side——at the social board——in the private recesses of his closet; and the very same habit of soul which, in his great public duties, rendered him valuable to his Country, and formidable to her enemies, gained him the admiration and esteem of his friends, the unbounded affection of his family, and the blessing of all his dependants.

An incident that occurred in my presence may serve in some measure to decipher the mind of this admirable man——I shall never forget it. Previously to his going to India, he had exerted his interest to obtain from the East India Company some reward 135for my services; and, a few days before his departure, promised to speak again to Mr. Devaynes, Chairman of the East India Company. I waited on him on the day he was setting off; he was just about to depart, and surrounded by a numerous circle. In the midst of this bustle, and the confusion, one would suppose, inseparable from such a crisis, he recollected his promise——told me Mr. Devaynes had that minute taken leave of him, and he had forgot to mention me, but said that he would write to him on the subject; and, though he was at the instant on the point of moving to the carriage that was to carry him off, sat down, and with that amiable sweetness of manners and happily collected mind so peculiarly his own, wrote a letter for me to Mr. Devaynes——holding conversation, the while, in the most lively, engaging manner, with the persons around him. The conciseness and perspicuity of language in which this letter was couched, will serve to elucidate what I have said——I therefore transcribe it for you:

“St. James’s Hotel, Sept. 30, 17831783.

“Dear Sir,

“I forgot to mention to you this forenoon, and again to repeat my earnest wishes, you would take the case of Mr. Campbell speedily into your consideration. His sufferings were of such a nature, and his services so meritorious, that I am persuaded, upon a fair investigation of both, you will give him your firmest support. I have looked into all his papers; and the testimonies 136of essential services rendered to the Company by him, do him, in my opinion, the highest honour. Unless such merits are recompensed, few will risk every thing, as Mr. Campbell did, to promote the success of the Company’s arms in India: but I trust you will see it in its proper light; and in that hope I shall only add, that whatever acts of kindness you shew to him, will be considered as an obligation conferred on,

“Dear Sir,

Your faithful and most obedient humble servant,

Archibald Campbell.”

“To William Devaynes, Esq.”

Be assured, my dear boys, (for now I speak to John as well as Frederick), that one act of triumph over the temper is worth a million of triumphs over our fellow-creatures, and that the perfect dominion of our mind is more advantageous and laudable than the dominion over Provinces or Nations. The one attaches merely to our corporeal part, and is buried with our dust in the grave: the other follows our immortal part, and passes with it into eternity.

On my leaving Tanjore, Colonel Fullarton honoured me With the care of a letter to Lord Macartney, then Governor of Madras——an extract of which I give you, as it applied to my business particularly:

137“Tanjore, March 20, 1783.

“My Lord,

“I had the honour to write to your Lordship on the 8th by Captain Hallam, who carried from hence very large packets to you. The opportunity of Captain Campbell tempts me to trouble your Lordship, merely to inform you, that all my letters from Bidanore ascribe in a great degree the success of our arms in that quarter, and the romantic Revolution effected there, to the influence he had with Hyat Sahib, and to the proposals of surrender which he suggested, and transacted with the General and Jemadar. I think it necessary that you, my Lord, may know how much the Public is indebted to Captain Campbell, whose good fortune in this affair has only been equalled by his good conduct. He is perfectly acquainted with the state of affairs on the other coast, and has seen and heard much of our transactions here; so that no person can give a more clear or unbiassed view of events.”

I had also the good luck to meet, at Tanjore, Mr. Buchanan, a very near connection of mine, for whom I had long entertained a sincere and warm regard. It has been my misfortune to have been obliged frequently to censure some of my relatives for ill-nature and ingratitude: I never did so without the most painful sensations. When, on the contrary, I am enabled to speak to their honour, I feel a proportionate share of pleasure: I am therefore 138happy in mentioning Mr. Buchanan as a man as amiable in his private as respectable in his public character; but the satisfaction I felt at this meeting was much alloyed by finding him in a very bad state of health.

Before I left Tanjore, I had an opportunity of being eye-witness to that extraordinary and horrid ceremony, the burning of a Gentoo woman with the body of her husband. As this is a point which has occasioned much speculation and some doubt among Europeans, I inclose you an accurate account of the ceremony, as minuted down at the time it happened.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CEREMONY OF THE GENTOO WOMEN BURNING THEMSELVES WITH THE BODIES OF THEIR HUSBANDS.

“This day, ——————, I went to see a Gentoo woman resign herself to be burned along with the corpse of her deceased husband.

“The place fixed upon for this tragic scene, was a small islet on the bank of one of the branches of the river Cavery, about a mile to the Northward of the fort of Tanjore.

“When I came to the spot, I found the victim, who appeared, to be not above sixteen, sitting on the ground, dressed in the Gentoo manner, with a white cloth wrapped round her, some white flowers like jessamins hanging round her neck, and some of them hanging from her hair. There were about twenty 139women sitting on their hams round her, holding a white handkerchief, extended horizontally over her head, to shade her from the sun, which was excessively hot, it being then about noon.

“At about twenty yards from where she was sitting, and facing her, there were several Bramins busy in constructing a pile with billets of fire-wood: the pile was about eight feet long, and four broad. They first began by driving some upright stakes into the ground, and then built up the middle to about the height of three feet and a half with billets of wood.

“The dead husband, who, from his appearance, seemed to be about sixty years of age, was lying close by, stretched out on a bier, made of Bamboo canes. Four Bramins walked in procession three times round the dead body, first in a direction contrary to the sun, and afterwards other three times in a direction with the sun, all the while muttering incantations; and at each round or circuit they made, they untwisted, and immediately again twisted up the small long lock of hair which is left unshaven at the back of their heads.

“Some other Bramins were in the mean time employed in sprinkling water out of a green leaf, rolled up like a cup, upon a small heap of cakes of dry cow-dung, with which the pile was afterwards to be set on fire.

“An old Bramin sat at the North-east corner of the pile upon his hams, with a pair of spectacles on, reading, I suppose, the Shaster, or their Scriptures, from a book composed of Cajan leaves.

140“Having been present now nearly an hour, I inquired when they meant to set the pile on fire: they answered, in about two hours. As this spectacle was most melancholy, and naturally struck me with horror, and as I had only gone there to assure myself of the truth of such sacrifices being made, I went away towards the fort. After I was gone about five hundred yards, they sent some one to tell me they would burn immediately; on which I returned, and found the woman had been moved from where she was sitting to the river, where the Bramins were bathing her. On taking her out of the water, they put some money in her hand, which she dipped in the river, and divided among the Bramins: she had then a yellow cloth rolled partially round her. They put some red colour, about the size of a sixpence, on the centre of her forehead, and rubbed something that appeared to me to be clay. She was then led to the pile, round which she walked three times as the sun goes: she then mounted it at the North-east corner, without any assistance; and sat herself down on the right side of her husband, who had been previously laid upon the pile. She then unscrewed the pins which fastened the jewels or silver rings on her arms: after she had taken them off, she shut them, and screwed in the pins again, and gave one to each of two women who were standing: she unscrewed her ear-rings, and other toys, with great composure, and divided them among the women who were with her. There seemed to be some little squabble about the distribution of her jewels, which she settled with great precision; 141and then, falling gently backwards, pulled a fold of the yellow cloth over her face, turned her breast towards her husband’s side, and laid her right arm over his breast; and in this posture she remained without moving.

“Just before she lay down, the Bramins put some rice in her lap, and also some into the mouth and on the long grey beard of her husband: they then sprinkled some water on the head, breast and feet of both, and tied them gently together round the middle with a slender bit of rope: they then raised, as it were, a little wall of wood lengthways on two sides of the pile, so as to raise it above the level of the bodies; and then put cross pieces, so as to prevent the billets of wood from pressing on them: they then poured on the pile, above where the woman lay, a potful of something that appeared to me to be oil; after this they heaped on more wood, to the height of about four feet, above where the bodies were built in; so that all I now saw was a stack of fire-wood.

“One of the Bramins, I observed, stood at the end of the pile next the woman’s head——was calling to her through the interstices of the wood, and laughed several times during the conversation. Lastly, they overspread the pile with wet straw, and tied it on with ropes.

“A Bramin then took a handful of straw, which he set on fire at the little heap of burning cakes of cow-dung; and, standing to windward of the pile, he let the wind drive the flame from the straw till it catched the pile. Fortunately, at this instant, 142the wind rose much higher than it had been any part of the day; and in an instant the flames pervaded the whole pile, and it burnt with great fury. I listened a few seconds, but could not distinguish any shrieks, which might perhaps be owing to my being then to windward. In a very few minutes, the pile became a heap of ashes.

“During the whole time of this process, which lasted from first to last above two hours before we lost sight of the woman by her being built up in the middle of the pile, I kept my eyes almost constantly upon her; and I declare to God that I could not perceive, either in her countenance or limbs, the least trace of either horror, fear, or even hesitation: her countenance was perfectly composed and placid; and she was not, I am positive, either intoxicated or stupified. From several circumstances, I thought the Bramins exulted in this hellish sacrifice, and did not seem at all displeased that Europeans should be witnesses of it.”

From Tanjore I proceeded to Negapatnam, which had been taken from the Dutch by the Company’s troops, and where Mr. Cochran, an old friend of mine, was Chief.

The communication by land between Negapatnam and Madras being interrupted by the enemy’s troops, I embarked in a vessel, and proceeded thither by sea——Major Johnston, of the Engineers, being also a passenger.

143

LETTER LXI.

Hitherto every step of my journey has been marked by occurrences so unexpected, and accidents so extraordinary, that I should feel some repugnance to relate them, lest my veracity should be called in question, were they not attested by so many living persons of respectability, and by written documents, of authority on record. Were one to consider them merely as the offspring of fiction, they would perhaps have interest enough to catch the attention; but, viewing them as facts, they borrow, from their number and rapid succession, as well as from their singularity, so much of the complexion of imaginary adventure, that the combination cannot, I think, fail to interest your mind as well as your feelings.

Arrived at Nagapatnam, within a short run of Madras, it is natural for you to suppose that adventure was at an end, and that fortune, fatigued by the incessant exertion of her caprice, might have left me to proceed the short residue of my way without further molestation. It fell out otherwise: she had marked me as her game, and resolved to worry me to the last momentmoment; for, as 144we approached Madras, we were chased by a French frigate, and taken near Fort St. George.

This appeared to me the greatest misfortune I had yet met with, and likely to be the most fatal in its consequences. In order to explain this, I must recur to certain circumstances, which, though I was informed of them since my release from Hydernagur, I did not relate to you, because they were no way connected with my narrative till now.

Monsieur Suffrein, the French Admiral, having a number of British prisoners in his possession, whom he found it extremely inconvenient to support, made a proposal for an exchange——which, from some failure in the conveyance, or ambiguity in the terms of the correspondence, was neglected.

The motives or accidents which gave rise to this neglect have never been completely developed; and perhaps the Admiral himself, Sir Edward Hughes, and Lord Macartney, were the only persons who knew the bottom of that transaction. In such cases, however, the ignorance of fact is generally supplied by conjecture; and men have presumed to censure unequivocally on the mere hypothetical suggestions of their own imaginations. Candour, however, in such a case, where it could not speak with certainty, would speak with caution. An Historian, particularly, should steer clear of party rancour, and not suffer the prejudice or malignity which misled himself, to go down to and mislead posterity. Where positive proof is wanting, if we are obliged to decide, 145we must judge by analogy and inference; and in the case now before us, we have little but the characters of the persons concerned to guide us in our decision.

Of the horrid catastrophe which succeeded the neglect of exchanging prisoners, it is hardly possible that any one but Monsieur Suffrein himself could have had a conception. To suppose, that, under such an impression, our leading men would have hesitated to prevent it, would be to suppose their intellects weak, and their hearts corrupt and inhuman. I fancy it will be difficult to fasten on Lord Macartney either the one or the other; for he was wise and humane: those whom the disappointment of unreasonable expectations, or the malevolence of party, have induced to suspect his Lordship’s heart, have been forced by his conduct to revere his talents; and the breath of calumny has never touched the humanity of Sir Edward Hughes. Whatever their motives, therefore, may have been——reason, conscience, and candour, must acquit them of the consequences. It should be recollected, too, that Monsieur Suffrein’s character was a very probable security, in the mind of men of sense and honour, against any act of horrid inhumanity: his conduct as an Officer had made a new æra in the Naval History of France: his talents and courage might be compared, without disadvantage, to those of the best of our British Admirals; and he had exhibited marks of uncommon generosity to those whom the chance of war had thrown into his hands. It would therefore have been 146something more than prescience to have presupposed what actually happened; and I declare most solemnly, that the inference I draw from the whole information I have had on the subject is, that, calamitous though the event was, it attaches no positive guilt on any of the parties concerned. The fact is plainly this: The French Admiral having no place on the coast where he could secure his prisoners, and grieving, as he himself subsequently wrote to Mr. Hastings, to see the unhappy men, who had been six or seven months at sea, dying of the scurvy, delivered over the prisoners, to the number of above three hundred, to Hyder. Their fate afterwards was such as it would harrow up your soul to hear related.

Take the whole of the circumstances into one glance, and see what my feelings must have been on finding myself once more a prisoner. Hyder Alli, who was, when compared with the worst Despots of the European World, a monster, must yet be considered, when put in comparison with his successor Tippoo, mild and merciful. Hyder, from policy and hypocrisy, shewed some lenity to the prisoners who fell into his hands. Instances are known where British captives have broke through the crowd that surrounded him into his presence for protection——when he has hypocritically feigned anger, threatened the persons who had treated them ill; reprobated severity, and sent them off satisfied for the present. Tippoo, on the contrary, was so perfectly savage, that cruelty seemed to be, not only the internal habit of 147his soul, but the guide of all his actions, the moving principle of his policy, the rule of his public conduct, and the source of his private gratification. Like the tyger which, Buffon tells us, kills the whole flock before he begins to feed, every appetite of his yielded to the more urgent calls of barbarity; and while one drop of blood remained unspilled, one agony uninflicted, one tear unshed, the natural appetites of Tippoo stood suspended, and the luxuries of life courted his enjoyment in vain. Like the hyena which Thompson calls the fellest of the fell, the fury of his nature was neither to be controuled by resistance, nor assuaged by blandishments. Aloof from the general order of the workings of Providence, he stands a single instance, in which the Omnipotent has presented a glowing living picture, ALL SHADE: not one ray breaks in, to relieve the gloomy aspect of the piece; but, distinct from the whole human race, of him alone it may be said, that he never yet disclosed, even for a moment, one spark of virtue.

From barbarity so inflexible to those taken in the ordinary chance of war, what could I expect if I fell again into his hands——I who had been the instrument of one of his chief Governors’ defection——who had, by my negociations, contributed to deprive him of a Province, and, what perhaps might have had greater weight with him, robbed him of the gratification of a long harboured revenge, by putting his enemy Hyat Sahib under the protection of the Company? Diabolical vengeance never perhaps met with a subject of such sublime enjoyment, as the torturing of 148me would have been to this monster. Couple this, then, my Frederick, with the fears of Suffrein’s doing by me as he had already done by the other English prisoners——and guess what my terror and consternation must have been at falling into the hands of the French!

Having struck our colours to the French frigate, the Captain ordered us to follow her, and steered to the Northward. We obeyed him for some time: at length night fell; and, a fresh and favourable breeze fortunately aiding the attempt, we put about, ran for Madras, and luckily dropt anchor safely in the Roads. In the escapes I had hitherto had, there was always some disagreeable circumstance to alloy the pleasure arising from them——In this instance, my joy was pure and unqualified; and I looked forward with a reasonable hope that the worst was all over.

Here I found Lord Macartney Governor, struggling to support the credit of the Company, and directing their affairs through such embarrassments and difficulties as made the most wise and temperate despair of success. So arduous an undertaking as the Government of Madras then was, has rarely occurred; and a more successful final accomplishment is not to be instanced. In the incessant conflicts to which he was exposed, he maintained his post with inflexible firmness and unabated energy of mind——and, in the most trying circumstances, discharged his important duty with zeal, integrity and wisdom. The strict discharge of the duty he owed to his Country, raised clamours against him among 149an interested few in India; but the united applauses of all parties, on his return to England, stamped currency on his fame, and has broken the shafts of detraction.

LETTER LXII.

After so many hazards and hardships as I had undergone, it was a most pleasing reflection to find myself in a society composed of my oldest professional connections, and warmest and sincerest friends: but this was a happiness I could not long enjoy; for, being charged with a mission from Hyat Sahib to the Governor-General and Supreme Council, I was constrained to proceed to Bengal, and accordingly set sail for Calcutta, which I reached in little more than a week, without encountering any accident, or meeting a single occurrence, worth the relation. Upon my arrival there, Sir John Macpherson, who was in the Supreme Council, gave me a kind invitation to live at his house, and presented me to Mr. Hastings, with whom I entered into a negociation on behalf of Hyat Sahib, which will appear by the following letters:

150LETTER TO WARREN HASTINGS, ESQ.

“Calcutta, May 3, 1783.

“Honourable Sir,

“Indisposition has put it out of my power, since the first day after my arrival here, to have the honour of paying you my respects, and of laying before you, for the information of the Board, the objects of my mission to your superintending Government.

“As these objects are of public importance, and as ill health may prevent me, for some time longer, from having the honour of waiting upon you, I take the liberty to beg your attention to this address.

“The great Revolution in favour of the India Company upon the West side of India, and to which I had the happiness of being in some little degree instrumental, has been certainly brought about by the zeal and spirit of General Mathews; but that Officer ascribes to the orders and supplies of your Government the principal merit of the undertaking: he looks to the same Government for support in the arrangement which he has made, and may make, for the security of the conquered Province.

“The hurry in which I left him, and his anxiety for my speedy communication of his successes, gave no time for a formal communication to the Governor-General and Council, of the particulars 151of his successes, and of the arrangements which he wished to be adopted. He wrote a short account of the first to the Presidency of Fort St. George; and gave me a public letter to the Commander in Chief of the Military Establishment of that Presidency to which I particularly belong, in attestation of the services I rendered in the negociation between him and the Governor of Bidanore, for the surrender of that Capital and Province. A copy of that letter I have the pleasure to lay before you.

“As I was charged with a particular commission from Hyat Sahib, the Manager of the Bidanore Province, to the Governor-General and Council, as appears by his letter, which I had the honour of presenting to you, General Mathews gave me, in verbal instructions, and memorandums written in his own hand, the particulars of what he wished me to represent to your Government: he gave me, besides, short notes of introduction to two of the Members of Government, whom he knew personally——referring them to me for an account of his situation, and, allowing me, I believe, more credit than I deserve, for the share I had in contributing to his final acquisition of Bidanore without drawing a sword.

“It would be tedious, and more fit for the detail of conversation than of a public address, to inform you of the various steps that led to the surrender of the Capital and Province of Bidanore. I had had several conferences with Hyat Sahib before Hyder’s death, and endeavoured to suggest to him the advantage 152which would arise to him From a revolt in favour of the Company. My efforts in these conversations ended ultimately in the most rigorous distress to myself: I was put in irons, and remained so for four months, in a situation only of existence, without any hopes of ever escaping. When General Mathews had stormed the Ghauts, Hyat Sahib sent for me, and, after various struggles, and much indecision, agreed to my proceeding to the English camp; and I conducted General Mathews, almost unattended, into Bidanore. Hyat Sahib at length agreed to submit: but as, in his various conversations with me before and after that event, he made a very particular distinction between the Government of Bombay and the chief Government of the English in Indostan, so he proposed that I should immediately depart, after he had given up the place and all the forts of the Province, with a letter to you, to obtain your sanction to me to his arrangements with the English General.

“These arrangements were not even clearly defined before my departure; and so anxious was he for my speedy arrival at Calcutta, that he only gave me the general propositions that are contained in his letter.

“Permit me here to observe, that it is by the treatment which Hyat Sahib meets with, that the other Chiefs of Hyder’s Country will estimate the advantage of abandoning the interests of Tippoo Sahib, or will confirm their dependence 153upon him. Tippoo was prevented by his father from all intercourse with the Governors of his Provinces, or any interference in country affairs; so that those left in charge at his father’s death are strangers to him, and are men to whom he has little attachment. He is, besides, considered to be of a cruel disposition. His father was cruel upon a political principle: he is thought to be so from nature.

“The unfortunate differences about money which arose in General Mathews’s camp, and of which you will probably hear from the Presidency of Bombay, took up much of the General’s time, and may have retarded his operations: however, his success in the reduction of Mangalore gives a security to his conquests. The revenues of the Bidanore Province are about twenty lacks of pagodas per annum.

“The particular situation of the Capital merits attention. It is placed in a valley of considerable extent in circumference: according to the best observation I could make, there is an ascent to it, from all sides, of near seven miles: it can only be approached by four roads, which are cut among the hills, and which were judiciously fortified with great pains by Hyder: woods, to the depth of many miles, are a frontier round its skirts; and where these admitted a passage, Hyder took the precaution to plant bamboos and thorns—so that I have little fear but that General Mathews will be able to defend these passes; and as for provisions, and military stores of all kinds, that were found 154in Bidanore, of the latter particularly, what, according to General Mathews’s own declaration, would equip nine such armies as his.

“Cundapore is the next sea-port to Bidanore, and is distant about fifty miles: Mangalore is distant about a hundred miles. The road leading from Mangalore joins with that from Cundapore, where the ascent of the hills commence: another road from Bidanore leads to Seringapatam, and a fourth into the Marhatta Country.

“It was from the lower Country, along the sea-coast, between Onore and Mangalore, which is watered by many rivers, and is the best cultivated Country I ever saw, that Hyder got the greatest part of his provisions for his army in the Carnatic; and, independent of the advantages which the Company have gained by the acquisition of these Countries, the consequent losses of the Mysoreans are immense, and such as will disable them from assisting the French in the Carnatic.

“It becomes not an Officer of my rank to make any observations that relate to the conduct of the different Governments of my Employers; but I am obliged to observe, in justice to Hyat Sahib’s declaration to me, that he will not rely upon any arrangement made in his favour by the Governor and Council of Bombay, unless he has a speedy answer to his letter from this Government. He has requested me to return with that answer, and with the sanction of the Governor-General 155to the cowl given to him by General Mathews. Though I am worn down by my sufferings in prison, and my health can scarcely enable me to be carried by land, I am ready to undertake this service; for I know it is the greatest I may ever have it in my power to render to the Company and to my Country.

“My return to the other coast with a favourable answer to Hyat Sahib, will be the signal to other Chiefs to throw off the yoke of Tippoo; and if Colonel Long has made any progress in the Coimbatore Country, or that General Matthews has not been too severely pressed by Tippoo, I may arrive upon the other coast in time to be of real use to the Company.

“I know, Honourable Sir, the liberal and great system of your administration: I will not, therefore, point out any little circumstances about the footing upon which I should return to Hyat Sahib, or remain upon the other coast. I wish only to be rewarded by my Employers as I am successful; and I shall leave it to your goodness, and to your distinguished zeal for the public propriety, to give me any instructions for my conduct, or to charge me with any advices to General Mathews, as you may think proper.

“I hope you will pardon this long and irregular address, and honour me by communicating any part of it that you may think worthy of communication to the Gentlemen of the Council.

“I have the honour to be, &c. &c.

“Donald Campbell.”

156“P. S. When you are at leisure, and I am able to have the honour of attending you, I would wish to communicate to you a more particular detail of my conversation with Hyat Sahib——what General Mathews’s hopes of support from this Government were, and the future plans he then meditated——and my ideas of the measures that should be pursued by the Presidency of Fort St. George, to support General Mathews, and improve the advantages he has gained.

“To Warren Hastings, Esq.

Governor-General of Bengal.”

LETTER FROM HYAT SAHIB, ALLUDED TO IN THE FOREGOING.

(Usual Introduction.)

“I have directed the affairs of the Soobeh of Hydernagur for some years past, on the part of the Navvaub Hyder. When lately attacked by the victorious forces of the English under the command of General Mathews, I opposed him, and fulfilled my duty in every respect; but seeing the superior fortune and force of the English, and receiving proposals for peace from General Mathews, by these circumstances, but more especially by the persuasions of Captain Campbell, the son of Colonel Campbell, who was formerly at Chinaputtan, I was induced to come to terms, and delivered up to General Mathews 157the treasury, property, stores and keys of the forts of this Country. If I had been disposed, I had it in my power to have appropriated this collected wealth to other purposes; but, from a regard to the high fortune of the King of England, and the uprightness and integrity of the English People, I have included myself in the number of your servants, and have determined, with the utmost sincerity and purity of heart, to serve you well and faithfully. By the blessing of God, under your auspices, my endeavours towards the well and full performance of my duty shall be ten-fold greater than heretofore; and as General Mathews intends to proceed to Seringputtam, your loyal servant will assist, to the utmost of his ability and power. You will be fully informed on this subject by Captain Campbell. Honour, and favour, and reward, must flow from you.

“From the time of your first establishment in this Country to the present period, the engagements of the English have been sacredly performed and adhered to; nor have they been wanting in their protection of the honour and dignity of the Surdars of Bengal, and other places. I hope, from your favour and benevolence, that you will issue your commands to General Mathews, to favour me with all due kindness and attention. I have taken shelter under the shadow of your benevolence. Captain Campbell has shewn me great kindness so this respect, and, by encouraging me to hope for your favour, 158has led me to become your servant. You will be fully informed of the state of affairs in this quarter by Captain Campbell’s letters.

“Written on the 25th of Suffur, A. H. 1197.”

A true copy,

J. P. Auriol, Sec.”

LETTER TO WARREN HASTINGS, ESQ.

“Calcutta, May 25, 1783.

“Honourable Sir,

“Some time ago, I did myself the honour of writing to you, on the subject of my mission from Hyat Sahib to this Government.

“It is with pleasure I now understand that you have come to the resolution of sending an answer to his letter. I cannot help delivering it as my opinion, that a decided and avowed protection granted to him from this Government, will be productive of great public utility: but should you, and the other Gentlemen of the Council, think proper to decline this, from motives best known to yourselves, and of which I shall not pretend to judge, I beg leave humbly to represent, that the sooner Hyat Sahib’s letter is acknowledged, the more satisfactory it will be to him, and the more efficacious in its probable good consequences.

159“I am ready and anxious to proceed immediately to the other coast with the answer to Hyat Sahib, and shall take the liberty of hoping that you will give me instructions to remain some time with him, that he may have an opportunity of transmitting, through me, any communication that he may wish to establish with this Government. I have the pleasure to inform you, that that Presidency to which I particularly belong, have granted me their consent to be employed in the final arrangement of the Bidanore treaty, should your Board think proper to choose me as a fit person; and they have further unanimously done me the honour to approve of my conduct in the commencement of this business.

“With respect to the appointmentsappointments you may judge right to allow me, I trust entirely to your own ideas of propriety. I wish for nothing more than what is sufficient to defray the expences of such a journey, and to enable me to maintain that character in a situation of this kind which is requisite to promote the public good.

“I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect,

Honourable Sir,

Your most faithful and most obedient servant,

Donald Campbell.”

160After some delay, I received instructions, together with a letter from Mr. Hastings for Hyat, with which I set off in order to deliver it into his own hands, as follows:

LETTER TO CAPTAIN DONALD CAMPBELL.

“Sir,

“I have it in command from the Honourable the Governor-General and Council, to transmit you the inclosed answer from the Governor-General to the letter which you brought from Hyat Sahib, the Fousdar of Bidanore, to this Government, upon the occasion of his surrendering that Country to the Company. As you propose to return to Bidanore, the Board request that you will deliver this answer in person to Hyat Sahib, with assurances from them of every protection and support which the eminent services rendered by him to the Company give him so good a right to expect, and which they have it in their power to grant; and you will acquaint him, that they have further agreed to recommend him in such terms to the Honourable the Court of Directors, as may encourage him to hope for every attention from their justice.

“Considering the great importance of the acquisition of Bidanore to the Company, its proportionable disadvantage to the enemy, and the magnitude of the object to be obtained by holding out every possible incitement and encouragement 161to the Managers of the Mysore Country, to throw off a new and unsettled dependence on the enemy’s Government, in order to obtain a more secure and beneficial tenure from the Company’s possession, the Board are the more readily inclined to afford this early return to the advances of Hyat Sahib, in the hope that it will inspire him with fresh confidence in the English Government, and rivet his attachment to it.

“It will be at your option, either to return immediately with Hyat Sahib’s answer to the Governor-General’s letter, if you shall deem it of sufficient consequence to require it, or to remain with him, if you conceive that your residence there for any time will be more conducive to the public interests; but, in either case, you are desired to report the particulars of your reception and proceedings to this Government, with any other information which you may think it useful for them to know.

“I am, Sir,

Your most obedient, humble servant,

J. P. Auriol, Sec.

Fort William, May 29, 1783.”

It would be unpardonable in me to let this occasion pass without expressing the high sense I entertain of Mr. Hastings’s politeness, and Sir John Macpherson’s kindness and hospitality during my stay at Calcutta. As to Mr. Hastings, in his public 162capacity, it would be presumptuous and injudicious to say much, as he now stands for the judgment of the highest Tribunal in this Country. My own observation leads me to consider him as a man of sound, acute and brilliant talents, and of a vast and comprehensive mind——of manners sociable, amiable, meek and unaffected——and of a disposition truly benevolent. His superior knowledge of the political interests of Indostan, and particularly of the affairs of the East India Company, has never been questioned; and, if the suffrage of the People of India may be allowed to decide, his conduct as Governor-General, though, like every thing human, intermixed with error, was, on the whole, great and laudable——for I declare I scarcely ever heard a man in India, Native or European, censure him, although he was often the subject of conversation with all persons and in all companies in the East.

The social virtues of Sir John Macpherson are so well known, that it would be superfluous to notice them. The same friendship and hospitality I experienced in his house, has been shared by many, who are not backward in doing him ample justice on that head. But his conduct during his short administration can be known only by those who make the political concerns of India a subject of studious attention. To enter into a detail of his various wise regulations for the restoration of the Company’s affairs, would be destructive of the end I propose, which is, by a concise and simple summary of the whole, to render a fair picture 163of his administration so clear as to be understood by any person, however ignorant he may be of the politics of that Country, and so brief as not to discourage the reading of it.

Sir John Macpherson took the reins of Government into his hands on the first of February, 1785. He found the Company’s revenues diminished, and their expenditure increased, by the continual claims of Proprietors, Directors, and Ministers, to a share in the patronage of Mr. Hastings——and a public debt accumulating to an enormous amount. He therefore saw the necessity of putting in practice every expedient possible, and trying every experiment that the state of the Country suggested, as likely to promote an increase of the revenue, a diminution of the public expenditure, and a liquidation of the debt. He, therefore, on the fourteenth day of his administration, commenced a reform, which he continued with indefatigable zeal and industry to introduce through the various departments of Government——and, beginning with himself, discharged his body-guards. While he was thus employed in India, the Company and Parliament in England were unremittingly engaged in considering and molding into shape a system of reform also; and, extraordinary as it may appear, the fact is, that the sagacity of Mr. Macpherson had adopted by anticipation, and actually reduced to practice, the identical speculative reforms which the Parliament and Company were proceeding upon in England; and the general plan of reform which passed the Court of Directors on the eleventh of 164April, 1785, had been actually carried into execution by Sir John Macpherson in Bengal, in the months of February, March and April, 1785. He made arrangements for the diffusion of knowledge——established the settlement of Pulo Penang, or Prince of Wales’s Island——settled the Bank of Calcutta on a firm basis——regulated the markets——and, by a plan of his own conception, secured the Company from the accustomed fraudulent compositions with Zemindars, by bonding their balances, and making the bonds cancelable only by the Court of Directors. In fine, he introduced and carried into effect a system of reform which had a most sudden and salutary effect on the British affairs in India; and in an administration of only eighteen months, he had the felicity to perceive the fruits of his wisdom and industry maturing——to receive that best of earthly rewards, the esteem and applause of his Fellow-citizens——and to be honoured by the best of Sovereigns with the dignity of a Baronet.

While I was at Sir John Macpherson’s house, I happened, in conversation one day with Mr. Macauley, Sir John’s Secretary, to be talking over some part of my adventures; and found to my astonishment, that he had, in his route to India, accidentally hired the very servant whom I had lost at Trieste by sending him for letters to Venice; and Mr. Macauley assured me, that he found him possessed of all the good qualities I had expected to meet in him: but the poor fellow had died before my arrival at Calcutta, to my great mortification and disappointment.

165As the season in which I was to leave Calcutta was very unfavourable for a voyage by sea, and the coast thereabouts is one of the most inhospitable in the world, I set off by land for MadrasMadras, and in my way had an opportunity of surveying that curious and grotesque monument of superstitious folly, called the Jagranaut Pagoda. It is an immense, barbarous structure, of a kind of pyramidal form, embellished with devices cut in stone-work, not more singular than disgusting. Christian Idolaters, in forming types and figures of divine beings, always endeavour to represent them with personal beauty, as proportionate to their divine nature as human skill can make it. Those Pagans, on the contrary, in forming their idols, cast out every vestige of beauty——every thing that, by the consent of Mankind, is supposed to convey pleasing sensations; and, in their place, substitute the most extravagant, unnatural deformity, the most loathsome nastiness, the most disgusting obscenity. It is not in language to convey an adequate idea of their temples and idols; and if it was, no purpose could be answered by it, only the excitement of painful and abominable sensations. To keep pace with the figures of their idols, a chief Bramin, by some accursed artificial means, (by herbs, I believe), has brought to a most unnatural form, and enormous dimensions, that which decency forbids me to mention; and the pure and spotless women, who from infancy have been shut up from the sight of men, even of their brothers, are brought 166to kiss this disgusting and misshapen monster, under the preposterous belief that it promotes fecundity.

In this Pagoda stands the figure of Jagranaut, (their god under Brama); and a sightly figure it is truly!——nothing more than a black stone, in an irregular pyramidal form, having two rich diamonds in the top by way of eyes, and a nose and mouth painted red. For this god, five hundred Priests are daily employed in boiling food, which, as he seldom eats it, they doubtless convert to their own use in the evening.

I stopped at Vizagapatnam for a few days with Mr. Russel, who was Chief of that place. His style of living was so exactly similar to that of an elegant family residing at their country-house in England, that I felt myself more happy and comfortable than I had been since my arrival in India; and that happiness was much increased by meeting Mr. Maxton, who was married to Mr. Russel’s daughter. This Gentleman and I had, when mere boys, been shipmates on our first going out to India: a warm friendship took place between us, which has met with no interruption, but rather increased from lapse of time, and greater habits of intimacy. To see a man whom I so entirely esteemed, in possession of the most perfect domestic felicity, and surrounded by a number of amiable connections and friends, was to me a subject of the most pleasing contemplation.

167

LETTER LXIII.

Leaving Vizagapatnam, I took my route along the coast, and arrived at Masulipatam, where I heard rumours of the unfortunate fate of General Mathews. This threw such a damp upon my spirits, that all the hospitality and kindness of Mr. Daniel, the Chief, could scarcely raise me from despondence; and on my arrival at Madras, I found the whole amply confirmedconfirmed.

As Hyat Sahib’s affair yet remained unsettled, and I considered myself in a degree pledged to obtain him some satisfaction for his services in surrendering the Province of Bidanore, and to fulfil my engagements with him and the Supreme Council, I determined to proceed to Bombay, notwithstanding the disaster of General Mathews, which had entirely crushed all my private prospects in that quarter, and to co-operate with Hyat Sahib in such measures as might yet remain to us for promoting the public good. I left Madras, therefore, and prosecuted my journey without any material interruption until I reached Palamcotah, where the chagrin arising from my various disappointments, co-operating with fatigue and climate, threw me into a fit of sickness, which confined me 168to my bed for five or six weeks. Upon recovering a little, I crawled on to Anjengo, where, at the house of Mr. Hutchinson, the Resident, (who treated me with cordial kindness), I waited for an opportunity of getting to Bombay, and during that time laid in a stock of strength and spirits: at length a Europe ship touching at Anjengo on her way to Bombay, I obtained a passage, and proceeded.

At Bombay I found Hyat Sahib, it having been deemed expedient to send him away from Bidanore on the approach of Tippoo with his army, where I received from him a confirmation of what I have stated respecting General Mathews receiving only two lacks of rupees and a necklace. And now, as peace was negociating between us and Tippoo, and my remaining on the Malabar coast could be of little use, I determined to return to the Carnatic. And here I have an incident to add to the many disagreeable occurrences of my life, in which, with intentions the most innocent, I was made the subject of obloquy and unmerited scandal.

Just at the time I was leaving Bombay, a young Lady, the daughter of a person formerly of high rank in India, and now a Member of Parliament, but whose name it would be useless to mention, wished to return to the Carnatic; and I, at the request of herself, and another Lady with whom she lived, unguardedly took charge of her during the journey. Before our departure, I reflected upon the difficulties and impropriety of this step, and 169communicated my ideas to the Ladies, who, instead of listening to the objections I started, pressed me to fulfil my promise: I consented, purely from principles of politeness and good-nature. During the course of our journey, she unfolded to me, of her own accord, certain acts of cruelty and injustice she had suffered from her father, at the instigation of her mother-in-law, with a story of her innocence having fallen, and her reputation having been destroyed, by a connection of the Lady under whose charge she was, and who for that reason had pressed her departure with me; and added, she was so disgusted with India, that she determined to quit it; and entreated me to assist her in the accomplishment of her wishes. I disapproved, in the most unqualified terms, of her project——gave her the best and most disinterested advice——and, through the whole disagreeable business which was imposed upon me, acted merely with a view to her honour and happiness; and several of the most respectable people in Palamcotah, where she passed some time, and at Madras, where she afterwards resided, could attest the delicacy of my conduct towards her, as well as the concern and interest I took in every thing that was likely to be of advantage to her.

This is a fair statement of the matter; and yet, on account of it, I was most infamously scandalized; and the scandal reached even the ears of my father, whom, however, I soon satisfied on that head. But that which stung me to the quick was the conduct of some of my own relations, (who, if they even could not 170justify or approve, ought at least to have been silent), in becoming the most virulent of my detractors——though, when the character of those very relations had on former occasions been reflected upon, I stood up and defended them at the imminent hazard of my life. Such conduct appeared to me most atrocious; for, whether from affection, selfishness, or pride, I always strenuously supported my relations, if I heard them traduced in their absence——and, when I was not able to justify their proceedings, at least suppressed the conversation. To a man who had uniformly acted so, were there even no reciprocation of family affection, mutual justice demanded different treatment from that I experienced, which could have sprung only from depravity of heart, poverty of intellect, and the most abject meanness of spirit. And what is remarkable on this, as well as on other occasions, those who had been under the greatest obligation to my father and myself, were the most inveterate.

On the death of my father, looking over his papers in the presence of the Deputy Sheriff of Argyll, and three other Gentlemen, we met with a letter on the subject from the young Lady’s father to mine, reflecting in a gross manner on my character. I directly wrote to that Gentleman, explaining the whole affair, and demanding justice to be done to my reputation. Upon an ecclairecissement of the matter, he wrote to me a complete apology, acknowledging that he had acted on that occasion through misrepresentation, and had too easily given credit to ill-founded reports; and 171saying, that as the letter in question had, by the perusal of the Deputy Sheriff and other Gentlemen, in some measure become a matter of public notoriety, he thought it incumbent on him to make that apology, and to express his sincere regret for any detriment I might have sustained, by his yielding unguardedly to a sudden impulse of passion, caused, as he was then perfectly convinced, by misinformation.

Thus was my character at once cleared of a calumny which the industrious villany of a few had contrived to propagate through every spot of the earth where I was known.

This story may serve as an instructive lesson to you, my Frederick, to avoid, in the very first instance, any connection with women that in the probable course of things can lead to private acts of confidence: they are at best indiscreet——tend, as in this case, to make a man a dupe——and never fail to lead to scandal and reproach. You will also, from the letter of the Lady’s father, found eight or ten years after it was written among my father’s papers, see the impropriety and hazard of committing your thoughts incautiously to paper. I have known it frequently, as in this instance, end in mortification and regret.

Before quitting entirely the Malabar coast, I took a trip to Surat, which amply repaid me for my trouble. It surpasses any part of India for extent and variety of commerce, for populous streets and suburbs, and for a continually moving scene of opulence. 172For a more minute account of it, I refer you to the Abbé Raynal, who, though not generally accurate, is so elegant, that you will be able, from his description, to form a lively conception of the place, and its singular customs.

Here I was received in a very friendly manner by Mr. Seton. And indeed I may now once for all declare, that at every place where I stopped, and every post I passed, from my leaving England till my return, I experienced the most kind and liberal reception, and the most assiduous attention: my wants of every kind, whether of vessels, boats, guards of Sepoys, letters of introduction, &c. being supplied by anticipation, I had scarcely occasion to make a request, or express a wish; nor was the attention shewn to the public service less than that which was manifested for my private convenience. To kindness so truly consolatory as it then was to me, I never look back without sentiments of unbounded gratitude and unfeigned acknowledgment.

My journeys by land in India after my shipwreck, independent of long voyages by sea, amounted to more than three thousand miles. After getting back to Madras, my health being materially injured, I resolved to return to England: but, having seen almost all the Company’s possessions, I felt a curiosity to see China, and determined to make that my way. To render this route more agreeable to me, Lord Macartney, in addition to his other favours, gave me the following handsome letter of introduction 173to Mr. Pigou, the Company’s chief Supercargo at Canton:

“Fort St. George, July 23, 1784.

“Sir,

“This letter will be dilivered to you by Captain Donald Campbell, of this Establishment——a Gentleman who has signalized himself on many occasions, but more particularly by his ability and address in accomplishing the surrender of the fort of Bidanore, at which place he had been long a prisoner. His ill state of health contracted there, renders a voyage to China, perhaps to Europe, absolutely necessary. Should he remain any time at your Settlement, I shall be much obliged to you for any attention and civility shewn to him; and I shall be happy, on any occasion you may afford me, of returning your polite attention to an Officer of so much merit as Captain Campbell, and of proving how much I am,

“Sir,

“Your most obedient and most humble servant,

“Macartney.”

“To William Henry Pigou, Esq.”

I had also a letter to Mr. Freeman, another Supercargo there; by whom, as well as by Mr. Pigou, I was treated with great politeness: and Mr. Freeman being obliged to leave Canton, 174and go to Macao, for the recovery of his health, invited me to accompany him there. I availed myself of the opportunity; and, as we went all along through the rivers, had an opportunity of seeing more of the Country than many of the Europeans who visit that Country. With the observations which I made in the course of this excursion and my residence at Canton, I would furnish you, but that Lord Macartney’s Embassy is just returned from that Country; and there is every reason to hope that he, or some of the Gentlemen who attended him, and who possess superior abilities and more ample materials, will favour the Public with a much more perfect account than mine could possibly be.

While I remained at Canton, a very disagreeable rupture took place between the Factory and the Chinese. An English ship lying at Wampoa, in saluting, shattered a Chinese boat; by which accident, two men in it were much hurt with the splinters, and one of them died of his wounds soon after. The matter was clearly explained to the Mandarins; and they seemed to be satisfied that it was merely an accident. A few days after, the Supercargo of the ship was forcibly seized, and carried into the city; the Council met, and determined to send for the Sailors from the ships; and in the evening after dark, fifteen or sixteen boats, with four or five hundred men, attempted, in an irregular manner, to come up to Canton——were fired upon by the Chinese boats and forts in passing, and, with a few men wounded, were compelled to retreat. Nothing could surpass the consternation and indecision of the 175Council; and after the most humiliating language, they were obliged to appease the Chinese, and settle the affair by giving up the gunner of the ship to their resentment.

On the 29th December, 1784, I embarked in the Ponsborne East-Indiaman, Captain Hammet, in which I had come from Madras to China; and, after a tolerable voyage of five months and two days, got on board a fishing-boat off Falmouth, and was put on shore there, having been exactly four years and five days from England.

Such was my impatience to see you, that I wrote from Falmouth for you to meet me at Bath. We arrived there the same day; and never in my life did I experience such transport as in first pressing you to my bosom: I found you all that my heart could wish; and I must, in justice to my opinion, aver, that not one action of your life has tended since to give me a moment’s pain: on the contrary, I have every reason to be satisfied that my sanguine hopes of you will be realized. The turn of your thoughts and actions have been vigilantly watched and closely examined by me; and from your affection to myself and your mother, your gentle deportment to my domestics, your frankness and candour with your brother and school-fellows——even from your fondness for your favourite dog Pompey, and frequent silent contemplations of the etchings of his countenance, I have drawn the most pleasing presages of purity and innocence of heart, sweetness of temper, and refined honour and generosity. If it pleases God to spare 176your life, and strengthen your constitution, I shall still be the happiest of men, notwithstanding the inroad made upon my feelings by the hardships and afflictions I had undergone, of which many arose from unavoidable accident, and some from malignant and unnatural persecution, arising from base envy, dictated by cowardly revenge. I do not wish you to know who the wretches are: I only wish you to know that such detestable passions do exist in human nature——that, warned by their wickedness to me, you may, in your progress through life, be cautious, temperate and guarded.

Another thing I am anxious to impress upon the mind, particularly, of your brother John, is the danger of a warm, impetuous temper. Many of the hazards and difficulties of my life arose from the predominance of a fiery spirit, and an ungovernable, mistaken ambition. A single instance will serve to shew it. When I was under the command of Captain, afterwards General Mathews, in his regiment of Cavalry, being cantoned at a place called Tuckolam, in the neighbourhood of extensive woods, information was brought us that wild bulls infested the neighbouring villages, and had killed some people: we prepared to enter the wood, and destroy, if possible, those ferocious animals, which had become the terror and destruction of the contiguous country. The origin of those wild herds was this——From time immemorial, a religious custom had prevailed among the Pagan inhabitants, of offering a calf to the wood upon the accomplishment of 177any favourite purpose, such as the safe delivery of his wife, or the obtaining an employment, &c. In process of time, those calves bred, and became numerous and incredibly fierce. Independent of protecting the defenceless natives, it was in itself a most interesting kind of hunting. The mode of doing it was this——A large party, well mounted, galloping in a body up to a great flock, and marking out the fiercest champion of the whole, attacked him with swords and pistols. One day, a bull which was wounded, and thereby rendered more fierce, though not less vigorous, got posted in some thick bushes, in such a manner as to be approached only in front: a whim of the most extravagant kind came into my head, suggested by vain-glory and youthful fire——I thought it ungenerous for so many to attack him at once; and, wishing to have the credit of subduing him, I dismounted from my horse, and attacked him with a pike: I soon, however, had cause to repent this rash and unwarrantable step; it had nearly been fatal to me——for the bull soon threw the pike into the air, and, had it not been for the very gallant exertions of my Brother Officers, who rode in upon him, and rescued me at the moment that the brute’s horns had touched my coat, I must have been killed. An Indian Officer, who was in my troop, particularly distinguished himself, at the imminent hazard of his life, the bull having tossed his horse and himself to a distance from his horns. At this time I was but eighteen years of age, and had not the judgment to reflect, that 178if I had been killed, my fate would be attended with only pity or scorn for my folly; whereas, had I succeeded, the whole reward of my danger would have been the useless applause of some youngsters, idle, and inconsiderate as myself——while my rashness would have been reprobated by every man whose good opinion was worth enjoying. One or two people who were present at the time, are now living in great repute in England. We succeeded, however, in driving those wild cattle into the interior recesses of the wood, dividing the flesh of those we killed among such of the poor Sepoys as would eat it, and thereby rendered essential service to the contiguous villages.

Often when I have heard, in coffee-houses and play-houses, some of our sporting sparks boasting of their prowess over a timid hare or a feeble fox, I could not help recollecting with respect the hunters of India, who chase the destructive monsters of the forest——the boar, the tyger, the hyena, the bull, or the buffalo; and, while they steel the nerves, animate the courage, and, by habitual deeds of pith, fit themselves for war, render essential service to their fellow-creatures, and save the lives and property of thousands. Such greatness of spirit, under the controul of good sense, and the direction of prudence, must render a man respectable——but, if not managed with discretion, leaves a man no other praise than that of a magnanimous madman. Take every opportunity, my dear Frederick, of inculcating these 179precepts in the mind of your brother: the natural warmth of his temper often makes me fearful of the mischievous consequences which I have myself too often experienced——though, I thank God, it never stimulated me to revenge, or to a premeditate intention of injuring any one.

I have already said more than once, that I have a most perfect conviction your amiable disposition will ensure to you the love of Mankind; but it will at the same time subject you to many impositions——to guard against which, a great share of sternness is sometimes necessary: there is, besides, a certain degree of fortitude absolutely requisite to give lustre to a gentle disposition; without it, meekness is thought timidity——modesty, weakness——and the charming mildness of the forgiving heart, abused as the pitiful resource of abject apprehension and a mean spirit. There are times, therefore, when the wickedness of men, and the customs of the world, make it necessary to lay aside the lamb, and assume the lion. Europe at this moment presents an awful and alarming crisis. In a neighbouring Country, the conduct of the higher classes of society has produced a dreadful convulsion: social order has been subverted, and the stability of property annihilated: all reasoning from the history of former times is found inapplicable to the present: the system of warfare itself has undergone a revolution; and no man is able to say from positive inference, “Thus will it be to-morrow.” Our insular situation, thank God! protects 180us: and the precarious footing upon which civil order and property stand in most Countries on the Continent, make our state in England enviable. The time is nevertheless pregnant with extraordinary event; and you are now approaching that age at which men should be ready to act at the call of their Country. It is therefore fitting for you to make such things the subject of frequent contemplation——to habituate your mind to the meeting of danger, so as to be ready, at a moment’s warning, to lay down your life, if necessary, for the good of your Country; for, after all, my Frederick, what avails it whether we die in this way or in that?——to die with honour and a good conscience, is all. Let prejudice be laid aside——and who, possessed of common sense, could hesitate a moment to prefer death in the field, to death with the loathsome aggravation of sickness, the crocodile tears of pretended friends, and the painful emotions and lamentations of those who really love us?

Finally, I must observe, that at the time I left India, the affairs of the British Nation wore so very lowering an aspect, all persons acquainted with our concerns there, allowed nothing but a long series of wise measures, with the best efficient servants to execute them, could rescue the Company from ruin. I am happy in being able now to state, without the possibility of contradiction, that the clouds which menaced us in that quarter have since been gradually dissipating beneath the measures of the Board 181of Controul, under the direction of Mr. Dundas; and are at last entirely dispersed by the glorious administration of Lord Cornwallis, whose wisdom in the Cabinet tended no less to the security, than his military talents, justice and moderation, to the honour, of Great Britain in the East. The choice of such a person for the Government of India, reflects credit on His Majesty’s Councils, and evinces that the paternal care and solicitude of our amiable Sovereign extend to the most remote part of the Empire.

END OF PART III.

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