can neither write nor read, his numerous secretaries dare not, upon any consideration, deceive him; and, indeed, if any of them were so inclined, they would find it almost impossible to elude his vigilant caution; and they are well aware that a sword is always suspended, even by a hair, over their heads, so often as they enter his palace. So watchful is he over his fate, that no person can obtain the smallest intelligence of his motions, by applying to any, even the most lowly of his subjects. No man who speaks of him to strangers considers himself safe. A total silence upon all political matters prevails throughout his dominions. He has the earliest and best notice of every transaction, even of the most minute which occurs; and has Halcarras at every court and town of any consequence in India; and also maintains secret spies to hover about the tents of all travellers who may be passing through his realms, in order to pry into their manœuvres, and learn the object of their journey. The eldest son of this renowned usurper, Hyder Ally, is named Tippoo Saheb, and is to succeed him, in all his mighty possessions. His second son, the Sultan Currim, also shares much of his confidence, and is equally with his elder brother, a brave and experienced general. I am very much concerned at the present war, between the English and this powerful Nabob; for I am much afraid, that if it is not speedily terminated, it will be attended with the most fatal consequences to your possessions in India. The Carnatic, which was, but a very short time ago, a source of vast wealth, and was the parent and nurse of industry, is now entirely ruined; and even the dominions of Hyder are laid waste, and depopulated.-War, that infernal scourge of mankind, now rages throughout the world. The eastern and western hemispheres, the old and the new world, are torn and rent by her dread alarums, and almost every nation presents a scene of blood and devastation. How ardently do I long, but dare not hope, for that glorious period, when the implements of destruction shall be driven into ploughshares, and turned into pruning hooks; and once more to behold, ere I lay my weary limbs at rest, the boundless ocean enlivened and whitened o'er by the proud sails of commerce, instead of displaying the guly ensigns of death, which now wave their destructive banners throughout the seas. I view these portentous convulsions of the world in a very different light from that in which a proud usurper, or aspiring prince, beholds them. These, by hurling the thunderbolts of war, rolling the clouds of destruction, and crying ruin and devastation o'er all the land, hope to build upon the annihilation of innocent thousands, the superstructure of earthly grandeur and permanent power. But I, who have calmly considered the precarious tenure on which man can properly build, during this, his state of probation, and been convinced how flimsy the thread of his existence is here below, cannot but lament that misconception of the true ends of life these infatuated mortals have formed. Had they ever tasted of that heaven which perpetually exists in the virtuous and intellectual mind, they would no longer act in direct opposition to the dictates of their consciences, the will and command of their great Creator, and to the only means of obtaining present and eternal happiness. As to myself, I am a citizen of no particular petty spot of earth, I consider the whole world as my garden and mine inheritance, and regard all mankind as my brethren; and before I finish this, my mortal career, I ardently wish to behold every man eating the fruit of his own vine, and dwelling in peace under the shade. of his own fig-tree. At this period of the narrative Abdallah remained silent, for now the sable curtain of night was drawn over the reposing landskip, and the unwholesome vapours of darkness, reminded us of pitching our tents, and preparing for repose. "Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne, "And let her prophecy be soon fulfill'd: "Fate! drop the curtain; I can lose no more." |