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 of 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 Fullarton[Fullarton] 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 with 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 for 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, 1783[1783].
“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 of 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:
“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 happy 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 women 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.
“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; and 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, the 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.