LETTER XLVIII.

3. Natives of India, employed sometimes as sailors, sometimes for inferior offices in the army, such as pitching tents, drawing guns, &c.

The vast quantity of salt water I had swallowed, still made me deadly sick in the stomach: however, after some time, I threw it up, and got great relief. I had hardly felt the comfortable effects of this, before I was ordered to march: nine of us, all Lascars except myself, were conveyed to a village at a few miles distance on the sea-side, where we were for the night put into a square place, walled round, open to the inclemency of the weather above and below, and filled with large logs of wood; it blew most violently, and the rain fell in torrents——while not one smooth plank could be found on which to stretch our fatigued and wasted bodies. Thus, naked, sick, exhausted with fatigue and fasting, drenched with wet, and unable to lie down, our misery might besupposedsupposedto be incapable of increase. But, alas! where are the bounds which we can set to human woe?——Thirst, that most dreadful of pains, occasioned by the drenching with salt water, seized us: we begged, we entreated, we clamoured for water; but the inhuman wretches, deaf to the groans and screeches of their fellow-creatures, (for some grew delirious with the agony of thirst), refused them even the cheap and miserable indulgence of a drop of water!

The influence of the mind upon the body has been much insisted on by philosophers and physicians, and I believe will be admitted by all wise men. I was myself, in this instance, a striking proof of it; for, though I had swallowed and thrown up so much salt water, and though my thirst had exceeded any thing I had ever before felt——yet, finding that water was not to be had or expected, I composed my mind to do without it, diverted my thoughts from it by the contemplation of the many other evils which beset me, and passed the night without that horrible agony experienced by the others.

Indeed, a night of more exquisite horror cannot be imagined. The thoughts of being a prisoner toHyder Alli, was, of itself, sufficient to render me completely unhappy: but my utter want of clothes almost put me beside myself; and lying exposed to the open air, where I was glad to sit close to the Lascars to receive a little heat from their bodies, and to hold open my mouth in order to catch a drop of the descending rain, was a state that might be considered as the highest refinement upon misery.

About four o’clock in the morning, a little cold rice was brought us to eat, and water was dug out of a hole near the spot for us; but as all things in this life are good or bad merely relatively, this wretched fare was some refreshment to us. I was then removed to the ruins of a toddy-hut,[4]separated from therest, and a guard set over me. Here I had full room for reflection, and could “meditate e’en to madness.” The whole of my situation appeared before me with all its aggravating circumstances of horror; and to any one who considers it, I believe I will appear that it was hardly possible to fill the bitter cup of calamity fuller. Oh! what were my thoughts! My family bereft of him on whose efforts they were in a great measure to depend for support and protection——you, then a little innocent cherub, appeared to my distracted imagination twining round your mother’s neck, and, in infant clamour, calling your father——while he, in a dreadful captivity, compared with which even a cruel death were mercy, lay wasting, naked and forlorn, perishing with the inclemency of the weather, wanting even food fit for his support, and exposed to the scourge of every petty tyrant that barbarous power might employ to guard him!——Such were my reflections: they were in reason well founded; for there was no probability of my being ever released, as my captivity was unlikely to be known to my Country, or by my friends. In this state I was, when, to my utter astonishment, and to my no less joy, the amiable companion of my shipwreck, Mr.Hall, appeared before me. I scarcely knew how to think his appearance reality, as I understood that the Lascars then along with me were all that were saved from the wreck; and he was, at the time I parted from him, so exhausted both in body and mind, that I thought he would be the last who could escape. He, however,shook me by the hand; and, sitting down, told me that he had given me up for lost, and remained with the vessel until the tide, having ebbed, left her almost dry——that, immediately on getting ashore, and being taken prisoner, he made inquiries about me, and heard that I had been saved——that, finding this, his joy was such as to make him almost forget his own misfortunes——and, exerting all his entreaties not to be separated from me, they had been so far indulgent to him, and had brought him to me, that we might be companions in bondage. He added, that out of eleven Europeans and fifty-six Lascars who were on board; only he and I of the former, and fourteen of the latter, were saved from the wreck, the rest having been drowned in the attempt, excepting some who, overcome with terror, anguish and anxiety, and exhausted with fatigue, had bid a formal adieu to their companions, let go their hold, and calmly and voluntarily given themselves up to the deep.

4. A small temporary hut, wheretoddy(a liquor extracted from the cocoa-nut tree) is sold.

I here took occasion to remark to him, what I have already said to you, that thousands lose their lives for want of perseverance, fortitude, and courage, to preserve them——Had the English Purser collected courage enough to hold fast till the tide ebbed, he might have been safe on shore as we were, as he was superior to either of us in bodily strength.

“Ah! my friend!” said he, shaking his head despondingly——“is he worse where he is? I doubt whether death is not far preferable to our present prospects.”

“Come, come,” said I, perceiving he was melancholy, though I myself laboured under all the horrors he expressed——“come, let us not think; all will yet be well: I foresee it will; and you must know I have something of the prophet in my nature——perhaps the second sight.” I then told him my presentiments on leaving Goa, which much astonished him——still more when I acquainted him with the formal acts I had done in consequence thereof, by Mr.Henshaw’sadvice, and with his privity.

In fact, our joy at meeting was reciprocally great, and in some respect cheered us for the time under all our miseries in hand, and the dreary prospect of those yet to come.

Perceiving that he stood as much in need of relief as I did when the Lascar relieved me by dividing his cloth, I took mine off, tore it in two, and gave him half of it: you may well conceive our misery from this, if other circumstances were wanting; that such a thing as a rag of linen, not worth six pence, was a very material accommodation to us both.

Your Letter, occasioned by the account of my shipwreck and subsequent disaster, gave me, my amiable boy! as great pleasure as those disasters gave me pain. Your account, too, ofJohn’sbursting into tears on the reading of it to him, had almost a similar effect upon myself: and I trust in the Almighty Disposer of Events, that that excellent turn of mind will be so fashioned by the education I give you, as to make it the source of boundless gratification and true greatness (by which I mean goodness) here, and of never-fading felicity hereafter. You say you cannot account for it, but you found more happiness at my escape, than misery at my misfortunes. I hail that circumstance as the strongest mark of perfect excellence of disposition. A great Moral Philosopher has laid it down as a maxim, that it is the surer mark of a good heart to sympathise with joy than with sorrow; and this instance only comes in aid of that opinion of you which my fond hopes have always nourished.

At the same time I must declare to you, that my pleasure at escaping shipwreck was by no means as great as the agony my mind underwent at the prospect now before me was poignant. Ihave already said; and indeed with truth, that I should have with much greater pleasure embraced death: I, who had been already some years in India, and had opportunities of hearing, as well from my Father as from other Officers in the Service, what the disposition of the Tyrant in whose power I had now fallen was, knew too well the horrors of my situation to feel anything like hope. The unmerciful disposition ofHyder, and all those in authority under him, and the cruel policy of the Eastern Chiefs, making the life of any one, particularly a British prisoner, at the best a precarious tenure, I did not know the moment when death might be inflicted upon me with perhaps a thousand aggravating circumstances: and at all events, the affairs which demanded my presence in India so very importunately as to urge me to all the fatigues and hardships of a passage over land, were, of themselves, sufficient to make my mind uneasy; but the abject state of want and nakedness in which it seemed I was likely to remain, struck a deep and damp horror to my heart, and almost unman’d me.

Mr.Halland I, however, endeavoured with all our might to stem the headlong torrent of our fate——Melancholy preyed deeply and openly upon him, while I concealed mine, and endeavoured to cheer the sinking spirits of that noble youth, who, I perceived, was the prey rather of extreme sensibility than feebleness of mind. All the horrors of shivering nakedness, though, to a mind delicate like his, and a person reared in the lap of luxury, sufficiently goading, appeared as nothing when compared with oneloss he had sustained in the depredations with which shipwreck is constantly followed up. In the cruel suspense between life and death, which I have already described, previous to my getting on shore, this amiable young man had secured and treasured next his heart, as the inseparable companion of his fate, a miniature portrait of a young Lady: it hung round his neck, and was, by the unfeeling villains who seized him on his landing, taken away. This cruel deprivation was an incessant corrosive to his mind——the copious source of anguish to his heart——the hourly theme of the most pathetic, afflicting exclamations. “Had I,” he would cry, “oh! had I had but the good fortune to have gone to the bottom while yet it hung about my neck, I should have been happy: but now, separated from the heavenly original, and bereft of the precious image, what is life? what would be life were I yet sure of it? What pleasure, what common content, has the world left for me? None——oh! none, none! Never shall this heart again know comfort!”

I did every thing I could to console him, and, as far as I could, prevent him from dwelling on those gloomy subjects. Our conversations were interesting and pathetic; but, alas! the picture, at every pause, chased away the slight impressions of the preceding converse: no sufferings of the body could countervail that loss——no consolation mitigate it; and amidst the horrid reflections which unparalleled calamity imposed upon his mind, the loss of thatone dear relic rose paramount to all——and as every thought began, so it ended, with the picture.

For some days we lay in this place, exposed to the weather, without even the slender comfort of a little straw to cover the ground beneath us——our food, boiled rice, served very sparingly twice a-day by an old woman, who just threw a handful or more of it to each upon a very dirty board, which we devoured with those spoons Nature gave us.

At the end of that time, we, and, along with us, the Lascars, were ordered to proceed into the country, and drove on foot to a considerable distance, in order to render up an account of ourselves to persons belonging to Government, authorised to take it. It was advanced in the morning when we moved, without receiving any sort of sustenance; and were marched in that wasting climate eight hours, without breaking our fast; during which time we were exposed alternately to the scorching heat of the sun and heavy torrents of rain, which raised painful blisters on our skin: we had often to stand exposed to the weather, or to lie down, under the pressure of fatigue and weakness, on the bare ground; then wait an hour, or more, at the door of some insolent, unfeeling monster, until he finished his dinner, or took his afternoon’s nap; and when this was over, drove forward with wanton barbarity by the people who attended us.

You, myFrederick! who only know the mild and merciful disposition of the People of Great Britain, where government,religion, and long habit, have reduced charity and benevolence so completely to a system that they seem to be innate principles of the mind, can have no conception of a People who will not only look upon the worst human afflictions with indifference, but take a savage delight in the miseries of their fellow-creatures, even where no possible advantage can be reaped from their inhumanity, and where the only reward they can propose to themselves for their cruelty is the pleasure of contemplating human sufferings.

Such, sorry am I to say it, is the disposition of some parts of the East Indies that I have been in: and although those parts under the dominion of Great Britain owe their emancipation from the most galling yokes to the English——and though, under their auspices, they live in a state of greater happiness than ever they did, and greater freedom even than Britons themselves——yet such is the wicked ingratitude of many of them, such the inflexible animosity arising from a contradictory religion, that the death or suffering of an Englishman, or any misfortune that may befal him, often serves only as matter of sport or amusement to them. It would be well if it rested there——but unfortunately they are worse again; for in general they have the like coldness and indifference, or indeed, to speak more properly, the like aversion, to each other’s good; and the same diabolical principles of selfishness and treachery pervade the greater number in those vast regions, almost boundless in extent, and almost matchless in fertility.

Two days after this, we were moved again, and marched up the country by a long and circuitous route, in which we underwent every hardship that cruelty could inflict, or human fortitude endure——now blistered with the heat, now drenched with the rain, and now chilled with the night damps——destitute of any place but the bare earth to rest or lay our heads on, with only a scanty pittance of boiled rice for our support——often without water to quench our thirst, and constantly goaded by the guards, who pricked us with their bayonets every now and then, at once to evince their power, entertain the spectators, and mortify us. We arrived at Hydernagur, the metropolis of the province of Biddanore——a fort of considerable strength, mounting upwards of seventy guns, containing a large garrison of men, and possessed of immense wealth.

It was about two o’clock in the morning when we arrived at Biddanore: the day was extremely hot, and we were kept out under the full heat of that broiling sun till six o’clock in the evening, before we were admitted to an audience of the Jemadar, or Governor of the place, without having a mouthful of victuals offered to us after the fatiguing march of the morning.

While we stood in this forlorn state, a vast concourse of people collected about, and viewed us with curiosity. Looking round through those who stood nearest, I observed some men gazing at me with strong marks of emotion, and a mixture of wonder and concern pourtrayed in their countenances. Surprised to see such symptoms of humanity in a Mysorian Indian, I looked at themwith more scrutinizing attention, and thought that their faces were familiar to me. Catching my eye, they looked at me significantly, as though they would express their regard and respect for me, if they dared; and I then began to recollect that they were formerly privates in my regiment of cavalry, and were then prisoners at large withHyder.

I was not less surprised that those poor fellows should recognise me in my present miserable fallen state, than affected at the sympathetic feeling they disclosed. I returned their look with a private nod of recognition; but, seeing that they were afraid to speak to me, and fearing I might injure them by disclosing our acquaintance, I forbore any thing more. The guilty souls of despotic Governments are perpetually alive to suspicion: every look alarms them; and alarm or suspicion never fails to be followed up with proscription or death.

Men, when in the fullness of power and pride of office, very seldom give themselves time to reflect upon the instability of human greatness, and the uncertainty of earthly contingencies. When, invested with all the trappings of authority, I commanded the regiment to which those poor fellows belonged, I would have thought that he spoke wildly indeed who would have alledged that it was possible I could ever become an object of their pity——that I should stand naked and degraded before them, and they be afraid to acknowledge me: but, though I should have thought so then, it was yet some comfort to me, when that unfortunateevent did come to pass, to reflect, that, when in power, I made such use of it as to excite emotions in their bosoms of affection and respect. Did the tyrant and overbearing insolent Chiefs consider this, and govern themselves by its instructions, they would go into the field with the consoling reflection, that no gun would be levelled at their head except that of the common enemy——a thing that does not always happen.

Had we been made prisoners of war in battle against an enemy, there is no law of Nature or Nations, no rule of reason or principle of equity, that could palliate such treatment as that which we now received: but, cast by misfortune and shipwreck on their shore, we were entitled to solace and protection. The worst wretches who hang out false beacons on the Western Coasts of England, to allure ships to their destruction, would not be cruel without temptation; and, if they did not expect to gain some profit by it, would rather decline knocking their fellow-creatures in the head: but those barbarians, without any profit but what a malignant heart derives from the miseries of others, or any pleasurebut what proceeds from their pain, exercised upon us the most wanton cruelty. Compared with such treatment, instant death would have been an act of mercy to us; and we should have had reason to bless the hand that inflicted it.

Mortifications of one sort or other——the incessant torturing of the mind on the rack of suspense——the injuries to the animal system, occasioned by constant exposure to the weather, and the want of food——all conspired to reduce me to the dimensions and feebleness of a skeleton. I had grown daily weaker and weaker, and was now nearly exhausted, and quite faint; while, on the other hand, my amiable companion in affliction was reduced by a dysentery, which attacked him soon after our shipwreck, and which the torments of his mind, the want of medicine and comfortable food, and, above all, the alternate violent changes from profuse perspiration in walking to chilling cold at night, had increased to such an alarming degree, that he was obliged to be carried the two last days journey:——In this state, we appeared to each other as two spectres hanging over the brink of the grave: and in truth, perceiving, the rapid progress he was making to his dissolution, I was affected to a degree, that, while it really exasperated my own worn-down state, deprived me of all attention to the rapid decline I was falling into, and almost entirely engrossed my care. In my progress through life, I have had occasion to try several men, and have found among them many who were every thing that a good heart could wish to find: but this young Gentleman had at once so much suavityand spirit——such gentleness and fortitude——his sufferings (those of his mind, as well as those of his body) were so exquisite, and he bore them with such meekness, tempered by such uninterrupted good humour, and concealed and managed with so much delicacy, that I do not transgress the bounds of truth when I say I never met one who so entirety interested my feelings, and attached my friendship so unalterably, upon principles of instinctive impulse as well as reason. Impelled by the irresistible claims he had upon my approbation and esteem, I entered with all the warmth, of a brother into his sufferings, and can assert with truth that they constituted the severest trials I underwent during my whole imprisonment.

While we stood in the court, waiting to be brought before the Jemadar, we presented at spectacle that would have wrung pity, one would think, from the heart of a tiger, if a tiger was endued with reflection. At length we were summoned to appear before him, and brought into his presence. I had made up my mind for the occasion——determined to deport myself in a manly, candid manner——and to let no consideration whatsoever lead me to any thing disgraceful to my real character, or unworthy my situation in life; and, finally, had prepared myself to meet, without shrinking, whatever misfortunes might yet be in store for me, or whatever cruelties the barbarous disposition or wicked policy of the Tyrant might think proper to inflict.

On entering, we found the Jemadar in full Durbar.[5]He was then occupied with the reading of dispatches, and in transacting other public business. We were placed directly opposite to him, where we stood for near an hour, during which time he never cast his eyes towards us: but when at last he had concluded the business in which he was engaged, and deigned to look at us, we were ordered to prostrate ourselves before him: the Lascars immediately obeyed the order, and threw themselves on the ground; but I contented myself with making a salam, in which poor Mr.Hall, who knew not the Eastern manner as I did followed my example.

5. Court.

As soon as this ceremony was over, the Jemadar (who was no other man than the famousHyat Sahibthat has made some noise in the history of that war) began to question me. He desired to know, who I was?——what my profession was?——what was the cause and manner of my approaching the country ofHyder Alli?——To all those questions I gave answers that seemed to satisfy him. He then asked me, what news I had brought with me from Europe?——inquired into the state of the army, and number of recruits dispatched in, the ships of that season——was minute and circumstantial in his questions respecting the nature and success of the war in Europe——and examined me closely, touching the resources of the East India Company. I saw his drift, and was cautious and circumspect in my answers, and at the same timecontrived to speak with an air of candour that in some sort satisfied him.

Having exhausted his whole string of questions, he turned the discourse to another subject——no less than his great and puissant Lord and Master,Hyder, of whom he had endeavoured to impress me with a great, if not terrible idea——amplifying his power, his wealth, and the extent and opulence of his dominions——and describing to me, in the most exaggerated terms, the number of his troops——his military talents——his vast, and, according to his account, unrivalled genius——his amazing abilities in conquering and governing Nations——and, above all, his many amiable qualities, and splendid endowments of heart, no less than understanding.

Having thus, with equal zeal and fidelity, endeavoured to impress me with veneration for his Lord and Master, and for that purpose attributed to him every perfection that may be supposed to be divided among all the Kings and Generals that have lived since the birth ofChrist, and given each their due, he turned to the English Government, and endeavoured to demonstrate to me the folly and inutility of our attempting to resist his progress, which hecomparedcomparedto that of the sea, to a tempest, to a torrent, to a lion’s pace and fury——to every thing that an Eastern imagination could suggest as a figure proper to exemplify grandeur and irresistible power. He then vaunted of his Sovereign’s successes over the English, some of which I had not heard of before, and did not believe; and concludedby alluring me, that it wasHyder’sdetermination to drive all Europeans from Indostan, which he averred he could not fail to do, considering the weakness of the one, and boundless power of the other. This part ofHyat Sahib’sdiscourse is well worth your remembering, as it will serve to make a very diverting contrast with his subsequent conduct.

After having expended near half an hour in this manner, he called upon me to come over near him, and caused me to seat myself upon a mat with a pillow to lean upon——encouraged me, by every means he could, by the most gentle accents, and the most soothing, mollifying language, to speak to him without the least reserve——exhorted me to tell him the truth in every thing we spoke of——and hinted to me, that my falling into his hands might turn out the most fortunate event of my life.

I was at a loss to what motive to attribute all those singular marks of indulgence; but found that he had learned whose son I was, and knew my father by reputation from the prisoners, our Sepoys, who were now prisoners at large here: and as rank and office are the chief recommendation in the East, as well as elsewhere, or rather much more than any where else, the sagaciousHyat Sahibfound many claims to esteem and humanity in me as the son of a ColonelCampbell, which he never would have found in me had I been the son of a plain humble farmer or tradesman in England.

After a full hour’s audience, in whichHyat Sahibtreated me with distinguished marks of his favour, considering my situation, he dismissed me with the ceremony of beetle-nut,[6]rose-water, and other compliments, which are in that country held as the strongest marks of politeness, respect, and good-will.

Leaving the Durbar, I was led to the inner fort or citadel: and the officious zeal of those about me, unwilling to let me remain ignorant of that which they conceived to be a most fortunate turn in my affairs, gave thecoup de graceto my miseries as I went along, by congratulating me on the favourable opinion which the Jemadar had formed of me, and intimating at the same time that I would soon be honoured with a respectable command inHyder’sservice.

If I was miserable before, this intimation entirely destroyed the last remnant of peace or hope. I was determined to die a thousand deaths sooner than serve any State hostile to Great Britain——but still more a Tyrant, whose country, nature and principles I detested, and could never think of without the greatest horror; and I judged, that if such an offer should be made, and I refused it, my life would fall a sacrifice to their rage and disappointment, or at least I should live a life of imprisonment, and never more behold country, family, friends, connections, or any thing that I valued in life.

6. An aromatic nut which the East Indians chew: it is warm and astringent, and considered by them a great restorative.

That night the Jemadar sent me an excellent supper, of not less than six dishes, from his own table; and although I had been so long famishing with the want of wholesome food, the idea of being enlisted in the service ofHyderstruck me with such horror, that I lost all appetite, and was scarcely able to eat a mouthful. Mr.Halland I, however, were separated from the Lascars, who were released, and forced to work.

Notwithstanding the favourable intentions manifested towards me by the Jemadar, as I have already mentioned, no mark of it whatsoever appeared in our lodging. This consisted of a small place, exactly the size of our length and breadth, in the zig-zag of one of the gates of the citadel: it was open in front, but covered with a kind of a shed on the top; and a number of other prisoners were about us: each of us was allowed a mat and pillow, and this formed the whole of our local accommodations. Upon my remarking it, we were told, that in conformity to the custom of the Circar,[7]we must be treated so for some time; but that our accommodations would afterwards be extended; and made more agreeable to our wishes: even this was better than our situation since we landed.

In addition to this luxury, we were allowed to the value of four pence halfpenny a day for our maintenance; and a guard of Sepoys was put over us and a few more prisoners, one of whom was directed to go and purchase our victuals, and do such like offices for us.

7. Country or Province.

This guard was changed every week——a strong mark of the suspicious and wary tempers of those people, who could fear intrigues and cabals between wretched prisoners like us and their soldiers.

In two or three days after this,Hyat Sahibsent for me, treated me with great kindness, gave me some tea, and furnished me with two or three shirts, an old coat, and two pairs of breeches, which were stripped from the dead bodies that were thrown ashore from the wrecks——every thing that was saved from it being sent to Bidanore. At this interview he treated me with great respect——gave me, besides the articles already mentioned, thirty rupees——and, upon my going away, told me that in a few days a very flattering proposal would be made to me, and that my situation would be rendered not only comfortable, but enviable.

It is impossible for me to express to you, my dearFrederick! the horror I felt at the idea of this intended proposal——for I knew but too well what it meant. It was the source of bitter misery to my mind: nevertheless, I determined to resist every effort that should be made, whether blandishment, intreaty, or menace——to lay down my life itself, though in obscurity, with honour——and to carry along with me, go where I would, the consciousness of having done my duty.

I have in the course of my life met with many people, who, under the plausible pretext of liberality and greatness of mind, have called themselves Citizens of the World, and declared thatthe Country where they lived, be that what Country it might, was their’s, and demanded their allegiance and protection: but I have always shrewdly suspected, that such men act from a consciousness of being outcasts of their own Country——and, scorned and rejected by their fellow-citizens, would retaliate by affecting to deny their natural attachment. There are men who neither love father, mother, sister, brother, or connection: such, however, are, thankGod! very thinly sown in this world; but, except it be a few such unnatural people, I am convinced that there is no one whose heart does not confess the patriotic passion, and burn with a flame, more or less ardent, of love for his Country. My predilections that way are naturally strong, and I am now happy to reflect that I evinced them by the most unequivocal proofs: had I not, I were indeed, in my own opinion, fit for any punishment, however ignominious; and to all such as lift their arms against their Country, as to Parricides, I will say, in the words of the Poet,

“Never pray more—abandon all remorse:On horror’s head, horrors accumulate;Do deeds to make Heaven weep—all earth amaz’d;For nothing can’st thou to damnation add,Greater than that.”

“Never pray more—abandon all remorse:

On horror’s head, horrors accumulate;

Do deeds to make Heaven weep—all earth amaz’d;

For nothing can’st thou to damnation add,

Greater than that.”

On the evening of that day on which the JemadarHyat Sahibhad honoured me with an audience, given me clothes and money, and informed me that a proposal, which he called flattering, would be made to me, I was sent for to attend, not at the Durbar, but at the house of a man high in office. As I expected to meetHyat Sahibhimself, and trembled at the thoughts of his expected proposition, I was surprised, and indeed pleased, to find that it was with one of his people only I was to have a conference. This man, whose name I now forget, received me with great kindness, encouraged me, made me sit down with him, and began to speak ofHyat Sahib, whom he extolled to the skies, as a person endowed with every great and amiable quality; informing me at the same time, that he was possessed of the friendship and confidence of his Master,Hyder Alli, in a greater degree than any other person——Tippoo Sahib, his own son, not excepted: he then gave me the private history ofHyat——saying, that he was born a Gentoo Prince, of one of the provinces of the Malabar coast, which had fallen beneath the irresistible arms ofHyder, and had been by him annexed to the vast Mysorean Empire.Hyat, he said, was then only a boy of eleven or twelve years of age, of a most promising genius, and a quickness of mind unusually met with in one of those tender years.Hyder, who was in all respects a man of unrivalled penetration, thought he saw in the boy that which, if properly cultivated, would turn out of vast use to a State; and as, in all Mahomedan Governments, unconnected, isolated boys, oft-times slaves, are bred up in the Seraglio to succeed to the great offices of the State,Hyderadopted the boy, had him made a Mahomedan, and, in fact, treated him as if he had been the issue of his own loins, and brought him up with all the affection and tenderness of a fond parent. I am the more particular in stating this part ofHyat’shistory to you, as some respectable Historians, deceived by erroneous report, have said that he was the illegitimate offspring ofHyder. The Sultan, however, was not disappointed in the expectations he had formed; forHyat Sahibhad, in zeal, fidelity and attachment, as well as in intellectual faculties and talents for governing, even surpassed the warmest hopes of his Master.

Having given me this concise account of the Jemadar, he proceeded to inform me, that the Arcot Sepoys, whom I have before mentioned to you, had discovered toHyat Sahibwho I was, given him a full account of my family, and informed him that I had commanded a regiment of cavalry in the service of the Nabob of Arcot, together with a corps of infantry and artillery attached to it. In consequence of this report,Hyat Sahib, he said, hadinterested himself very warmly in my favour, and expressed an anxious desire to render me a service.

Thus far the discourse pleased me. Nothing was said in it to give me alarm; on the contrary, I indulged a hope, that, knowing my rank, and the rank of my father, he would no longer entertain a hope of my entering into the service ofHyder, and, for the time I was to be imprisoned, treat me with suitable indulgence. But I flattered myself too soon; or, as the old saying is, “reckoned without my host.”

When he had finished his history ofHyat Sahib, which he overcharged with fulsome panegyric, he told me, with a face full of that triumphant importance which one who thinks he is conferring a great favour generally assumes, that it was the intention ofHyat Sahib, for and on behalf of his master the Sultan, to give me the command of five thousand men——an offer which he supposed I could not think of declining, and therefore expected no other answer but a profusion of thanks, and strong manifestations of joy on my part.

It is not possible for me to describe to you my dismay at this formal proposal, or pourtray to you the various emotions that took possession of my breast. Resentment had its share——the pride of the Soldier, not unaccompanied with the pride of Family and Rank, while it urged me to spurn from me such a base accommodation, made me consider the offer as a great insult. I therefore paused a little, to suppress my feelings; and then told him my firm resolution,never to accept of such a proposal; and upon his expressing great astonishment at my declining a station so fraught with advantage, I laid down, in the best manner I could, my reasons; and I must say, that he listened to all the objections I started with great patience; but, in the conclusion, said he had little doubt of finding means to overcome my reluctance.

He dismissed me for the present, and I returned to my prison, where I related to my companion, Mr.Hall, every thing that passed between us: we canvassed the matter fully, and he agreed with me, that it was likely to turn out a most dreadful and cruel persecution. It was on this occasion that I first felt the truth of the principle, that persecution never fails to be subversive of its own end, and to promote that which it is intended to destroy. There is, in the human mind, an innate abhorrence of compulsion; and persecution always gives new strength and elasticity to the soul; and at last, when strained to its utmost extent, makes Man surmount difficulties which at first seem to be beyond the reach of humanity.

Piqued by the idea of persecution, I began to feel a degree of enthusiasm which I was before a stranger to: I looked forward, with a kind of gloomy pleasure, to the miseries that brutal tyranny might inflict upon me, even to death itself; and already began to indulge the exultation of martyrdom. “No,” said I, “my dearHall! never will I tarnish the character of a British Soldier——never will I disgrace my blood or my profession——never shall anact of mine sully the pure fame of my revered Father——never shall any sufferings of mine, however poignant, or worldly advantage, however seductive, tempt me to do that which his noble spirit would regard with horror or contempt. I may, and I foresee I must be miserable; but I never will be base or degenerate!” Indeed, I had wrought myself up to such a pitch of firmness, that I am persuaded the most exquisite and refined cruelties which the ingenuity of an Iroquois Indian could have inflicted on my body, would have been utterly incapable of bending the stubborn temper of my mind.

The place in which we were lodged was situated in a way not very favourable to our feelings. Just within sight of it, the Commandant of the citadel held a Court——by him yclep’d a Court of Justice——where the most mocking, barbarous cruelties were hourly exercised——most of them for the purpose of extorting money, and compelling the discovery of hidden, or suppositious hidden treasures. Indeed, five sixths of those who suffered were of this description; and the process pursued was as artful as barbarous: they first began with caresses, then proceeded to examination and cross-examination, thence to threats, thence to punishment, and, finally, to the most cruel tortures.

Directly opposite to us, was imprisoned an unfortunate person, who had for years been a close captive, and the sport and subject of those enormities. He was a man once of the highest rank in the Country where now he was a prisoner: for a series ofyears he had been Governor and sole Manager of the whole province of Bidanore. This was during the reign of the last Rana, or Queen, whose family had been Sovereigns of the Country for time immemorial, tillHydermade a conquest of, and annexed it to his other usurpations. Unfortunately for him, he was supposed to have amassed and secreted enormous treasures, in consequence of which he had already undergone the fiery ordeal of torture several times. He was supposed to have produced, from first to last, about fifteen lacks of pagodas; and then, in the course of eighteen months, was degraded gradually, from the high respect in which he was at first held, down to a most abject state——threatened, flogged, punished in a variety of ways, and, finally, put to the most cruel tortures. I myself saw him treated with the highest degree of respect, and afterwards brought to the lowest stage of misery and humiliation. One thing, however, I must not forget, is the fortitude with which he and all of them bore their punishment: it was truly heroic——indeed, beyond all belief. Nothing could surpass it, except the skill and inventive ingenuity which the barbarians exhibited in striking out new modes of torture. My soul sickened with horror at the sight: the amiableHallcould worse support it than his own miseries, and lost all that fortitude, in his feeling for others’ misfortunes, which he displayed in so unbounded a share in his own: and often, very often, we found the rigour and severity of our own situation utterly forgotten in our anguish and sympathy for the sufferings of others. Never shallI forget it: never shall I think without horror of the accursed policy and wicked tyranny of the Eastern Governments, where every sense of humanity is extinguished, and Man, more merciless than the tiger, riots in the blood of his fellow-creatures without cause.

Mr.Hall, notwithstanding the various sufferings both of mind and body which he had undergone, began to recruit, and get a little better; and this circumstance, of itself, diffused a flow of spirits over me that contributed to my support. We consoled each other by every means we could devise——sometimes indulging in all the luxury of woe——sometimes rallying each other, and, with ill-dissembled sprightliness, calling on the GoddessEuphrosyneto come with her “quirps and cranks, and wreathed smiles:” but, alas! the mountain nymph, sweetLiberty, was far away, and the Goddess shunned our abode. We however began to conceive that we might form a system for our relief, and, by a methodical arrangement, entrench ourselves from the assaults of grief: to this end, we formed several resolutions, and entered into certain engagements——such as, never to repine at our fate,if we could——to draw consolation from the more dreadful lot of others,if we could;——and to encourage hope——hope that comes to all; and, on the whole, to confine our conversation as much as possible to subjects of an agreeable nature: but these, like many other rules which we lay down for the conduct of life, were often broken by necessity, and left us to regret the fallibility of all human precautionary systems.

The youth and strength of Mr.Hallwas to the full as adequate as mine to the support of any personal hardship: his intellectual powers were excellent, his temper incomparable, and his fortitude unparalleled; yet could I see, that something more than appeared upon the surface wrought within him, and gnawed his heart with hidden pain. United as we were by sentiment, as well as by parity of suffering, I felt for him too deeply, not to have an interesting curiosity to know what it was that preyed upon his mind: we had now been, months together, fellow-sufferers; and I thought myself not without some claim to his confidence——I told him so, and desired him to impart to me his story; which he, with his accustomed suavity and condescension, agreed to——assuring me that it was not such a story as could requite the trouble of hearing it, or interest any one but himself, or some very warm friend indeed: such, however, he added, he took me to be; and, as such, would tell it to me. I think it, however, worth relating, and will give it to you in his own words; and, though it be very short, must defer the relation to another Letter.

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