The Marhattas, the most formidable people in Hither India, bordered on the Mysorean dominions, and kept their neighbours, by frequent hostilities, in a continual state of awe——making incursions on their territories, and taking possession, by force of arms, of large portions of their Country: but no sooner had Hyder got the command of the armies of his Country, than he drove back the Marhattas from the Mysorean dominions, which he extended by considerable acquisitions from the Marhatta frontiers; and followed up his conquests with such successful ardour, that he compelled that warlike Nation to respect his Countrymen as their equals, if not superiors, in military achievement. Thus, while he ingratiated himself with his Sovereign and Fellow-citizens by his wisdom, he acquired the admiration of the Soldiery by his personal address and valour; and at the same time, by the severity of his discipline, and the occasional austerity of his deportment, maintained an awe over them, which strengthened his authority without diminishing their affection.
Hyder was therefore now arrived at that point of elevation, beyond which no exertion of mental capacity, if governed by virtue or integrity, could raise him——So far he owed all to genius: but his towering ambition looked higher; and, unrestrained by any principle of religion or morality, he determined to accomplish, at any rate, that which he knew nothing but crime could accomplish. With wicked deliberation he looked forward into the womb of time, and with unparalleled policy arranged the whole system upon which he was to act, when that order of things his penetrating and intuitive genius enabled him to see would naturally arise from each other, should afford him a proper opportunity. Although he was utterly ignorant of books, and of course could derive little benefit from the examples of the great and ambitious men recorded in History, yet, drawing upon the infinite resources of his own mind for[for] information, he adopted the very same means of furthering his views; and foreseeing, that, with an immense army devoted to his interests, few things would be unattainable, he applied himself diligently to model and form that of the King of Mysore to the greatest perfection in discipline, and to render it attached to his person, and subservient to his views, by a skillful mixture of severity and relaxation, toil and reward, danger and applause, which none but a master-hand like his was capable of exactly compounding.
The death of his Sovereign the King of Mysore at length afforded him the opportunity to which he had so long, and with so prophetic an eye, looked forward——and gave him ample room for self-gratulation on the score of his sagacity and prudence.
The Heir in succession to the Throne, being then an infant, the politic Hyder, setting aside all claims of the kindred of the young Prince, took upon himself the guardianship——under the title of Regent assumed the supreme authority——and, though too well aware of the inviolable attachment of the People to their lawful Monarch to put him directly to death, usurped the Throne, and consigned him to imprisonment in Seringapatam, the capital of the Mysorean dominions.
Having thus, by his talents, acquired the possession of the Throne, he gave a large range to the sublimity of his views, and soon displayed the exhaustless resources of his mind in the new office of Governor and Legislator——forming such vast, well-ordered military establishments, and such judicious and salutary civil institutions, as made him blaze forth at once the terror of his neighbours, and rendered him, in the sequel, the most powerful and formidable Potentate in the Hither Peninsula. In carrying on those, his deficiency in letters was supplied by his vigilance and sagacity, sharpened by suspicion: three secretaries executed all his orders in separate apartments; and if, on comparison, they were found to differ, he who committed the error received sentence of death. His natural cruelty made him take the execution of their sentence upon himself not unfrequently: to slice off a head with his own hand, or see it done by others, was a luxurious recreation to the sanguinary Hyder.
The natural sagacity of this great man suggested, that in order to accomplish the extensive objects which his active and ambitious temper held up to his imagination, the introduction of the most perfect military discipline was above all other things necessary; and his judgment informed him that the European was the best. He therefore held out the most tempting allurements to military adventurers, and particularly to those, whether black or white, who had been trained in the service of the English East India Company: he sent emissaries, for the purpose, to all parts of India, with instructions to offer great rewards; and carried this design so far, that whenever accident or war threw persons of that description into his hands, he never failed to detain them, and, if they refused to enter into his service, treat them with the most unpardonable rigour and barbarity; and by these means brought his army to a state of perfection till then unknown to a Black Power. He did not stop there, but determined to establish a Navy——by large offers allured many ship-carpenters and artizans from Bombay——made no inconsiderable progress in constructing dock-yards, and had actually equipped some ships of the line, besides frigates, fitted to encounter European seas. Indeed, he seemed to have carried his views of conquest even to the Polar regions; for it is a fact, that he directed his people, in constructing those vessels, to fit them for encountering seas of ice, or, as he called it, the thick water.
To a man of such ardent ambition and deep penetration, the vast power which the English East India Company had acquired, and were daily acquiring, in the East, could not fail to be an object of jealousy. He conceived a deadly and implacable animosity to the British Nation, which influenced his whole succeeding life, ended only with his death, and was then transmitted to his son Tippoo Sahib, with the exaction of a solemn oath, ever to retain those sentiments.
A coincidence of circumstances, which has seldom occurred in the fortunes of men, tended, at a lucky crisis, to further the bold projects of Hyder; and neither fortune, though extremely propitious to him, nor his own unbounded talents and energetic[energetic] spirit, favoured the execution of them, more than the bungling politics, the ludicrous ambition, and the consequent unjustifiable proceedings, of one of our Presidencies in India——I mean Bombay. Fortunately, the wisdom and moderation of our East India Councils at this day, vindicate the wounded character of the British Nation, and justify me in the remarks I make.
An ambitious and profligate Chief of the Marhatta Tribes——his name, Roganaut Row——had been deposed by the Wise Men of his Country, for having murdered his nephew, in order to usurp the Throne of Setterah. He fled to Bombay, and, by specious promises and other means, prevailed on that Presidency to afford him an asylum, and finally to take up arms in his defence against the united Marhatta States, who at the very time were able to raise an army of three hundred thousand fighting men. Hostilities were first commenced by the English; and by them peace was first proposed. The treaty of Poonah was made, by which it was provided that Roganaut Row should quit Bombay; and by the English the provisions of that treaty were broken——for, in direct violation of it, Roganaut was kept at Bombay. This breach of the treaty led to another; for this crafty and unprincipled Chief made use of it with such address as to persuade that Presidency to attack the Marhattas again:——by magnifying the power of his party among his Countrymen, he prevailed upon them once more to assert his rights; and the Presidency of Calcutta, I am afraid, were induced to join that of Bombay in the plan.
It happened unfortunately, that at this time the Presidency of Bombay was composed of persons the most unqualified, probably, that could be found in any community for offices of such importance. One, particularly, was allowed, by the almost unanimous consent of those who knew his private or public character, to be ignorant, not only of the first principles of Government, but of the ordinary knowledge requisite for a Gentleman; and for situations of moment he was peculiarly disqualified by a fondness for minutiæ, to which he paid more attention than to matters of greater consequence. A temper and intellect of this kind were rendered still more incapable of the enlarged views[views] any Representative of a great Nation in a distant Colony should possess, by a mercantile education and habits, which narrowed even his circumscribed mind, and left him not a sentiment, not an idea, that was not merely commercial. The administration of such men was exactly what might have been expected; and, instead of asserting the dignity of Great Britain, or promoting the advantage of their employers——narrow policy, selfish views, and efforts arising from mistaken notions of conquest, made the whole tissue of their conduct in India.