ADVERTISEMENT.

The Events related in the following Pages, naturally became a frequent subject of conversation with my Children and my Friends. They felt so much satisfaction at the accounts which I gave them, that they repeatedly urged me to commit the whole to paper; and their affectionate partiality induced them to suppose, that the Narrative would be, not only agreeable to them, but interesting to the Public. In complying with their solicitations, I am far from being confident that the success of my efforts will justify their hopes: I trust, however, that too much will not be expected, in regard to literary composition, from a person whose life has been principally devoted to the duties of a Soldier and the service of his Country——and that a scrupulous adherence to Truth will compensate for many blemishes in style and arrangement.

CONTENTS.

PART I.

LETTER I. Page1.

Introductory.

LETTER II. Page5.

Ridiculous Effects of Ignorance, exemplified in a whimsical Story of two Dublin Aldermen.

LETTER III. Page10.

Author’s Motives for going to India. Melancholy Presentiments. Caution against Superstition. Journey to Margate. Packet. Consoled by meeting GeneralLockharton board. Lands at Ostend.

LETTER IV. Page15.

Short Account of the Netherlands. Conduct of the Belgians. Ostend described. Wonderful Effects ofLibertyon the Human Mind, exemplified in the Defence of Ostend against the Spaniards.

LETTER V. Page20.

Caution against using Houses of Entertainment on the Continent kept by Englishmen. Description of the Barques. Arrives at Bruges. Gross Act of Despotism in the Emperor. Imprisonment ofLa Fayette.

LETTER VI. Page27.

Description of Bruges. Reflections on the Rise and Decay of Empires. Chief Grandeur of the Cities of Christendom, consisted in Buildings, the Works of Monkish Imposture and Sensuality. Superstition a powerful Engine.

LETTER VII. Page33.

Opulence of the Bishop of Bruges; Cathedral. Church of Notre Dame. Vestments ofThomas a Becket. Extraordinary Picture. Monastery of the Dunes. The Mortification of that Order. A curious Relic.

LETTER VIII. Page40.

Passage to Ghent. Cheapness of Travelling. Description of Ghent Cathedral. Monastery of St. Pierre.Charityof the Clergy.

LETTER IX. Page47.

Description of two brazen Images, erected in Commemoration of an extraordinary Act of Filial Virtue. Journey from Ghent through Alost to Brussels.

LETTER X. Page52.

General Review of Austrian Flanders.

LETTER XI. Page58.

Short Description of Brussels. Royal Library. Arsenal. Armour of Montezuma. The Enormities committed under the Pretext of Christianity, by far greater than those committed by the French in the Frenzy of Emancipation.

LETTER XII. Page65.

Brussels continued. Churches, Chapels, Toys, Images and Pictures. A Host, or Wafer, which was stabbed by a Jew, and bled profusely. Inns excellent and cheap.

LETTER XIII. Page72.

General Remarks on the People of the Netherlands. Account of the EmperorJosephthe Second. Anecdote of that Monarch. His Inauguration at Brussels. Burning of the Town-House. Contrasted Conduct of the Belgians toJosephon his Arrival, and after his Departure. The detestable Effects of Aristocracy.

LETTER XIV. Page82.

Liege. Constitution of the German Empire. Tolerant Disposition ofJosephthe Second, occasions a Visit from His Holiness the Pope, who returns to Rome in Disappointment. Situation of the present Emperor. Reflections on the Conduct of Russia and Prussia to Poland.

LETTER XV. Page90.

Luxury of the Bishop of Liege. Reflections on the Inconsistency of the Professions and Practice of Churchmen, particularly theNolo Episcopari, which Bishops swear at their Instalment. Advantages of the Study of the Law in all Countries. Liege, the Paradise of Priests. SirJohn Mandeville’s Tomb.

LETTER XVI. Page96.

Aix-la-Chapelle. A bit of Earth in a Golden Casket. Consecration of the Cathedral, by an Emperor, a Pope, and three hundred and sixty-five Bishops. Their valuable Presents to that Church.

LETTER XVII. Page102.

Juliers. Reflections on Religious Persecution. Cologne. Church of St. Ursula. Bones of eleven thousand Virgin Martyrs. Church of St. Gerion. Nine hundred Heads of Moorish Cavaliers. Reflections on the Establishment of Clergy, and the Superiority of that of Scotland.

LETTER XVIII. Page109.

Cologne continued. Strange Ambition of Families to be thought Descendants of the Romans. Story of LordAnsonand a Greek Pilot. Bonne. Bridge of Cæsar. Coblentz. Mentz. Frankfort.

LETTER XIX. Page115.

Frankfort described. Golden Bull. Augsburgh. Manufactory of Watch-Chains, &c. Happy State of Society arising from the tolerant Disposition of the Inhabitants.

LETTER XX. Page121.

Augsburgh continued. Adventure in the Convent of Carmelites. A good Friar.

LETTER XXI. Page128.

Tyrol Country. Story of Genii leading the EmperorMaximilianastray.InnspruckInnspruck.

Tyrol Country. Story of Genii leading the EmperorMaximilianastray.

InnspruckInnspruck.

LETTER XXII. Page134.

Tyrolese. Innspruck. Riches of the Franciscan Church there. One Mass in it sufficient to deliver a Soul from Purgatory. Hall. Curiosities at the Royal Palace of Ombras. Brisen. Valley of Bolsano. Trent.

LETTER XXIII. Page140.

Description of the Bishopric of Trent. Obvious Difference between Germany and Italy. Contrast between the Characters of the Germans and Italians. Council of Trent. Tower for drowning Adulterers. Bassano. Venice.

LETTER XXIV. Page146.

General Description of Venice, and Reflections on the Venetians.

LETTER XXV. Page154.

Concubinage more systematically countenanced in Venice than London. Trieste. Loss of Servant and Interpreter. Sail for Alexandria. Zante.

LETTER XXVI. Page160.

Adventure at the Island of Zante. Alexandria. The Plague, and an Incursion of the Arabs. Pompey’s Pillar, Cleopatra’s Obelisk, &c. Island of Cyprus. Latichea. Aleppo.

PART II.

LETTER XXVII. Page 1.

Description of Aleppo.

LETTER XXVIII. Page10.

Short Account of the Turkish Constitution and Government.

LETTER XXIX. Page19.

Account of Turkish Constitution and Government continued. Moral Character of the Turks.

LETTER XXX. Page25.

Prejudices of Christian Writers, and their Misrepresentations of the Turkish Morals and Religion. Vindication of the latter.

LETTER XXXI. Page33.

Vindication of the Turks continued. Description of a Caravan, Page 40.Account of Ceremonies used by Pilgrims at Mecca, Page 48.

Vindication of the Turks continued. Description of a Caravan, Page 40.

Account of Ceremonies used by Pilgrims at Mecca, Page 48.

LETTER XXXII. Page51.

Aleppo continued. Frequent Broils in the Streets.

LETTER XXXIII. Page59.

Aleppo continued. Coffee-houses. Story-tellers.

LETTER XXXIV. Page66.

Aleppo continued. Puppet-shews. Raraghuze, or Punch, his Freedom of Speech and Satire.

LETTER XXXV. Page74.

Disagreeable Adventure, which occasions a sudden Departure from Aleppo.

LETTER XXXVI. Page83.

A Plan of Travelling settled. Tartar Guide. Departure from Aleppo.

LETTER XXXVII. Page92.

Description of Tartar Guide. His Conduct. Arrival at Diarbeker. Padan Aram of Moses. Scripture Ground. Reflections. Description of the City of Diarbeker. Whimsical Incident occasioned by Laughing. Oddity of the Tartar.

LETTER XXXIX. Page107.

Strange Traits in the Tartar’s Character. Buys Women, ties them up in Sacks, and carries them 50 Miles. Reflections on the Slave Trade. Apostrophe to the Champion of the oppressed Africans.

LETTER XL. Page115.

Extravagant Conduct of the Tartar, which he afterwards explains satisfactorily. Extraordinary Incident and Address of the Tartar, in the Case of Santons.

LETTER XLI. Page123.

Explanation of the Affair by the Santons. Bigotry. Reflections.

LETTER XLII. Page130.

Arrives at Mosul. Description thereof. A Story-teller. A Puppet-shew. The Tartar forced to yield to Laughter, which he so much condemned. Set out for Bagdad. Callenders—their artful Practices.

PART. III.

LETTER XLIII. Page1.

Arrives at Bagdad. Whimsical Conduct of the Guide. Character of the Turks. Short Account of Bagdad. Effects of Opinion. Ruins of Babylon. Leaves Bagdad. Attacked by Robbers on the Tigris.

LETTER XLIV. Page11.

Arrives at Bassora. Account of that City. Leaves it, and arrives at Busheer. More Disappointments. Bombay. Goa. Gloomy Presentiments on leaving Goa. A Storm.

LETTER XLV. Page19.

Shipwreck.

LETTER XLVI. Page25.

The same.

LETTER XLVII. Page31.

Made Prisoner by some ofHyder Alli’sTroops. Humanity of a Lascar. Hardships. Meets a Friend. Mr.Hall.

LETTER XLVIII. Page38.

Mr.Hall’s Misery aggravated by the Loss of a Miniature which hung at his Bosom. Sent under a Guard up the Country.

LETTER XLIX. Page45.

Arrives at Hydernagur, the Capital of the Province of Bidanore. Brought before the Jemadar. Committed to Prison.

LETTER L. Page55.

History ofHyat Sahib. Called upon to enter into the Service ofHyder, and offered a Command. Peremptorily refuses. Another Prisoner, a Native. Court of Justice. Tortures and Exactions. Mr.Halldeclining fast.

LETTER LI. Page63.

Mr.Hall’s affecting Story.

LETTER LII. Page70.

Pressed to enter into the Service ofHyder Alli. Refusal. Threatened to be hanged. Actually suspended, but let down again. Still persists in a Refusal, and determined to undergo any Death rather than enter. Projects a Plan to excite a Revolt, and escape.

LETTER LIII. Page77.

Project to escape defeated. Laid in Irons. Intolerable Hardships. Death of Mr.Hall.

LETTER LIV. Page83.

Melancholy Situation. Cruelty. Released from Prison. Account ofHyder, and East Indian Politics in general.

LETTER LV. Page88.

East Indian Politics continued.

LETTER LVI. Page96.

Account ofHyder, and Indian Politics continued. GeneralMathews’s Descent on the Malabar Coast. Mounts the Ghauts. Approaches towards Hydernagur. Author’s Delight at getting into the open Air. Delivered by an unexpected Encounter from his Guards.

LETTER LVII. Page103.

Returns to the Fort, and proposes to the Jemadar to give it up to the English. Proceeds to the English Camp.

LETTER LVIII. Page110.

Meeting with GeneralMathews. Returns to the Fort with a Cowl. Delivers it to the Jemadar. Leads GeneralMathewsinto the Fort, and brings him into the Presence of the Jemadar. English Flag hoisted. Vindication of GeneralMathewsfrom the Charge of Peculation.

LETTER LIX. Page118.

Sets off for Bengal. Cundapore. Unable to proceed. Letter from GeneralMathews. Proceeds in an open Boat for Anjengo. Stopped by Sickness at Mangalore. Tellicherry. Anjengo. Travancore. Dancing Girls. Palamcotah. Madura. Revolt ofIsif Cawn.

LETTER LX. Page132.

Trichinopoly. Tanjore. Burning of Gentoo Women with the Bodies of their Husbands. Negapatnam.

LETTER LXI. Page149.

Leaves Negapatnam. Taken by a French Frigate. Horrible Reflections.Suffrein.Character ofTippoo Sahib. Escape. Arrives at Madras.

Leaves Negapatnam. Taken by a French Frigate. Horrible Reflections.

Suffrein.Character ofTippoo Sahib. Escape. Arrives at Madras.

LETTER LXII. Page149.

Passage to Bengal. Negociation forHyat Sahib. Mr.Hastings. SirJohn Macpherson. Hear fromMacauley, SirJohn’s Secretary, of the Servant I lost at Trieste. Jagranaut Pagoda. Vizagapatnam.

LETTER LXIII. Page167.

Masulipatam. Arrives at Madras. Determines to proceed onHyat’s Business to Bombay. Reaches Palamcotah. Takes sick. Recovering, crawls to Anjengo, and thence to Bombay. Resolves to return again to Madras. Adventure with a young Lady. Surat. China. Bath. Conclusion.

ERRATA.

PART I.P. L.9. 2.Forshroud, readshrewd.24. 2.Forle berque, readla barque.30. 3.Forconquerous, readconquerors.40. 1.Forberque, readbarque.41. 15.Forberque, readbarque.138. 18.ForI, readIt.147. 14.Forprospect, readappearance.156. 18.ForSucz, readSuez.162. 15.Forreget, readregret.165. 15.Forexporium, reademporium.PART II.P. L.16. 18.Forsnow, readstorm.16. 7.Forports, readparts.21. 10.Forrolling, readbailing.24. 4.Afterto, insertbe.30. 2.ForI, readIt.71. 17.Forconscience, readconvenience.90. 3.Foror, readfor.108. 24.Forone, readten.122. 1.Forshewed, readshewn.129 19.ForTroop, readCompany.

PART II.P. L.16. 18.Forsnow, readstorm.16. 7.Forports, readparts.21. 10.Forrolling, readbailing.24. 4.Afterto, insertbe.30. 2.ForI, readIt.71. 17.Forconscience, readconvenience.90. 3.Foror, readfor.108. 24.Forone, readten.122. 1.Forshewed, readshewn.129 19.ForTroop, readCompany.

AJOURNEY TO INDIA, &c.

JOURNEY TO INDIA, &c.

PART I.

AJOURNEY TO INDIA, &c.

JOURNEY TO INDIA, &c.

My dear Frederick,

The tenderness of a fond father’s heart admonishes me, that I should but poorly requite the affectionate solicitude you have so often expressed, to become acquainted with the particulars of my journey over land to India, if I any longer withheld from you an account of that singular and eventful period of my life. I confess to you, my dear boy, that often when I have endeavoured to amuse you with the leading incidents and extraordinary vicissitudes of fortune which chequered the whole of that series of adventures, and observed the eager attention with which, young though you were, you listened to the recital, the tender sensibility you disclosed at some passages, and the earnest desire youexpressed that “I should the whole relate,” I have felt an almost irresistible impulse to indulge you with an accurate and faithful narrative, and have more than once sat down at my bureau for the purpose: but sober and deliberate reflection suggested that it was too soon, and that, by complying with your desire at such a very early period of your life, I should but render the great end that I proposed by it abortive, frustrate the instruction which I meant to convey, and impress the mere incident on your memory, while the moral deducible from it must necessarily evaporate, and leave no trace, or rather excite no idea, in a mind not sufficiently matured for the conception of abstract principles, or prepared by practice for the deduction of moral inferences.

I am aware that there are many people, who, contemplating only the number of your days, would consider my undertaking this arduous task, and offering it to your reflection, even now, premature: but this is a subject on which I have so long and so deliberately dwelt, which I have discussed with so much care, and examined with such impartiality, that I think I may be acquitted of vanity, though I say I am competent to form a judgment on it. The result of that judgment is, that I am determined to indulge you without further delay; and I trust that you will not, on your part, render it an empty indulgence, but, on the contrary, by turning every circumstance to its best use, by converting every feeling which these pages may excite in your heart into matter of serious reflection, and by making everyevent (as it happens to deserve) an example to promote either emulation on the one hand, or circumspection and caution on the other, justify me in that opinion of you on which I found this determination.

I remember, that when, at an early age, I entered upon that stage of classical education at which you are now, at an earlier age, arrived——I mean, the Æneid——I was not only captivated with the beautiful story of the Hero, in the second Book, but drew certain inferences from parts of it, which I shall never forget, and which afterwards served to give a direction to the growth of my sentiments on occasions of a similar nature: above all, the filial piety of Æneas made a deep impression on my mind, and, by imperceptibly exciting an emulation in my bosom, augmented considerably the natural warmth of my affection and respect for my father. It is under the recollection of this sensation, and a firm persuasion that your heart is fully as susceptible of every tender impression, and your understanding as fit for the reception of useful history, as mine was then, that I overlook your extreme youth, and write to you as though you were an adult. If there be a thing on earth of which I can boast a perfect knowledge, it is myFrederick’s heart: it has been the object of my uninterrupted study almost since it was first capable of manifesting a sensation; and, if I am not very much mistaken in it indeed, the lively interest he feels in the occurrences of his father’s life, is the result, not of idle curiosity, but unbounded filial affection. Such an amiablemotive shall not be disappointed in its end; and while I discharge the duty of a parent in gratifying it, I shall be encouraged and sustained under my labours by the sanguine expectation, that he will derive from my exertions the most solid advantages in his future progress through life. As those advantages are expected also to extend to my dear boyJohn, whose tender years disqualify him from making the same immediate reflections on the various subjects as they occur, myFrederickwill perceive that it becomes his duty, not only as a good son, but as an affectionate brother, to assist and enforce them upon his mind, to explain to him the difficulties, and furnish him with his reasonings and inferences on them, so as that they may make, as nearly as possible, equal impressions on the heart and understanding of both.

“Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum:”

And though few have the felicity to be warned by other men’s misfortunes or faults, because they seldom make deep impressions on their feelings, I am convinced that my sufferings and errors, as they will interest myFrederick’s heart, and gratify his curiosity, cannot fail to enlarge his understanding, and improve his conduct.

I am my dearFrederick’s,&c.D. C.

I am my dearFrederick’s,&c.

D. C.

Having, in compliance with your reiterated solicitations, determined to give you a narrative of my journey to the East Indies, and the singular turns of fortune which befel me there, I think it necessary, on reflection, to prepare you still further for the reception of it, by proposing certain terms to be fulfilled on your part; and as, in my last, I told you that I expected you, and, with your assistance, your brother, to turn my relation to a more useful account than the gratification of mere idle curiosity, by letting the moral deducible from my errors and misfortunes strike deep and take root in your mind——so there are other things, which, though not so extremely important, are too weighty to be neglected; to which I desire to direct your attention.

I believe you must have already perceived, that the wellbeing of yourself and your brother is my first——I might, perhaps, without trespassing much upon truth, say, my only object in life; that, to the care of your education, and the cultivation of your mind, I exclusively devote my time and my thoughts; and that, to insure your future happiness, I would sacrifice every thing Ihave a right to dispose of, and risk even life itself. The time, I trust, is not far distant, when your brother will be as well qualified to understand this as you are now——when both will feel alike the important duty it enforces on you——and when your only emulation will be, who shall produce the most luxuriant harvest to reward the labours I have taken——to reward yourselves.

In order, therefore, on my part, to give every thing I do a tendency to the great object of my wishes, and induce you, on your’s, to contribute your share to it, I shall give you, as I proceed in my narrative, a topographical description of the various Countries through which I shall have occasion to conduct you, and, as concisely as may be, an account of their manners, policy, and municipal institutions, so far as I have been able to collect them; which I hope will serve to awaken in you a thirst for those indispensable parts of polite education, Geography and History. I expect that you will carefully attend to those sciences, and that you will not suffer yourself, as you read my Letters, to be carried away by the rapid stream of idle curiosity from incident to incident, without time or disposition for reflection: you must take excursions, as you go along, from my Letters to your Geographical Grammar and your Maps——and, when necessary, call in the aid of your Tutor, in order to compare my observations with those of others on the same places, and by those means to acquire as determinate an idea as possible of their local situation, laws, and comparative advantages, whether of Nature or Art. You will thus enable yourself hereafter to consider howSociety is influenced, and why some Communities are better directed than others.

Here I must observe to you, that as Geography is a science to which rational conversation, as supported by Gentlemen of breeding and education, most frequently refers, the least ignorance of it is continually liable to detection, and, when detected, subjects a man to the most mortifying ridicule and contempt.

The ingeniousGeorge Alexander Steevenshas, in his celebrated Lecture upon Heads, given a most ludicrous instance of this species of ignorance, in the character of a Citizen, who, censuring the incapacity of Ministers, proposes to carry on the War on a new plan of his own. The plan is, to put the Troops in cork jackets——send them, thus equipped, to sea——andland them in the Mediterranean: When his companion asks him where that place lies, he calls himfool, and informs him that the Mediterranean is the Capital of Constantinople. Thus, my dear son, has this satirist ridiculed ignorance in pretenders to education; and thus will every one be ridiculous who betrays a deficiency in this very indispensable ingredient in forming the character of a Gentleman. But a story which I heard from a person of strict veracity, will serve more strongly to shew you the shame attendant on ignorance of those things which, from our rank, we are supposed to know; and as the fear of shame never fails to operate powerfully on a generous mind, I am sure it will serve to alarm you into industry, and application to your studies.

During the late American War, about that period when theKingofFrancewas, so fatally for himself, though perhaps in the end it may prove fortunate for the interests of Mankind, manifesting an intention to interfere and join the Americans, a worthy Alderman in Dublin, reading the newspaper, observed a paragraph, intimating, that in consequence of British cruisers having stopped some French vessels at sea, and searched them, France had takenumbrage! The sagacious Alderman, more patriotic than learned, took the alarm, and proceeded, with the paper in his hand, directly to a brother of the Board, and, with unfeigned sorrow, deplored the loss his Country had sustained, in having a place of such consequence asUmbrageravished from it!——desiring, of all things, to be informed in what part of the worldUmbragelay. To this the other, after a torrent of invective against Ministers, and condolence with his afflicted friend, answered that he was utterly unable to tell him, but that he had often heard it mentioned, and of course conceived it to be a place of great importance; at the same time proposing that they should go to a neighbouring Bookseller, who, as he dealt in Books, must necessarily know every thing, in order to have this gordian knot untied. They accordingly went; and having propounded the question, “what part of the globeUmbragelay in?” the Bookseller took a Gazetteer, and, having searched it diligently, declared that he could not find it, and said he was almost sure there was no such place in existence. To this the two Aldermen, with a contemptuous sneer, answeredby triumphantly reading the paragraph out of the newspaper. The Bookseller, who was ashrewdshrewdfellow, and, like most of his Countrymen, delighted in a jest, gravely replied, that the Gazetteer being an old edition, he could not answer for it, but that he supposedUmbragelay somewhere on the coast of America. With this the wise Magistrates returned home, partly satisfied: but what words can express their chagrin when they found their error——that the unlucky Bookseller had spread the story over the City——that the newspapers were filled with satirical squibs upon it——nay, that a caracature print of themselves leading the City-watch to theretaking of Umbrage, was stuck up in every shop——and finally, that they could scarcely (albeit Aldermen) walk the streets, without having the populace sneer at them about thetakingofUmbrage!

Thus, my child, will every one be more or less ridiculous who appears obviously ignorant of those things which, from the rank he holds in life, he should be expected to know, or to the knowledge of which vanity or petulance may tempt him to pretend.

I am sure I need not say more to you on this subject; for I think you love me too well to disappoint me in the first wish of my heart, and I believe you have too much manly pride to suffer so degrading a defect as indolence to expose you hereafter to animadversion or contempt. Remember, that as nothing in this life, however trivial or worthless, is to be procured without labour——so, above all others, the weighty and invaluable treasures of erudition are onlyto be acquired by exertions vigorously made and unremittingly continued.

“Quid munus Reipublicæ majus aut melius afferre possumus quam si juventutem bene erudiamus.”——Thus said the matchlessTully. If, then, the education of youth interests so very deeply a State, can it less powerfully interest him who stands in the two-fold connection of a Citizen and Parent? It is the lively anxiety of my mind, on this point, that obliges me to procrastinate the commencement of my narrative to another Letter, and induces me to entreat that you will, in the mean time, give this the consideration it deserves, and prepare your mind to follow its instructions.

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