LETTER L.
On the evening of that day on which the Jemadar Hyat Sahib had 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 meet Hyat Sahib himself, 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 of Hyat 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 of Hyat——saying, that he was born a Gentoo Prince, of one of the provinces of the Malabar coast, which had fallen beneath the irresistible arms of Hyder, 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, Hyder adopted 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 of Hyat’s history to you, as some respectable Historians, deceived by erroneous report, have said that he was the illegitimate offspring of Hyder. The Sultan, however, was not disappointed in the expectations he had formed; for Hyat Sahib had, 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 to Hyat Sahib who 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, had interested 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 of Hyder, 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 of Hyat 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 of Hyat 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 dear Hall! never will I tarnish the character of a British Soldier——never will I disgrace my blood or my profession——never shall an act 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.