This was the period when another crisis had arisen in the great political drama of Indian history, and again, to save the situation, another great Englishman entered the field. What Clive had won, it was the duty of Warren Hastings to hold and make sure. He had not only to stem the warlike onrush of a man like Hyder Ali but he had to counterplot and play successfully the wily stratagems of native intrigue. He saved the Company from bankruptcy and made the path of English government safe and possible in India, yet he ended sadly, harried to death by the bitterness of his enemies at home, and the proud head, which overawed the East, bowed in heart-break in his native land.
Of Warren Hastings it has been truly said as regards these closing years of persecution and bitterness:
“His life, his heroism, his proud reserve and confident assurance that all his failings and faults arose from a single-minded desire to carry out the intentions of his time, are summed up in the words by which he declared his own vindication and his accuser’s condemnation:
“‘I gave you all, and you have rewarded me with confiscation, disgrace and a life of impeachment.’”
This terrible fighting gave evidence of the high regard in which Schwartz was held by both combatants. It is perhaps not surprising that the English whose cause he had served so well in a diplomatic mission should be glad to give him every advantage, but it is remarkable that a tyrant like Hyder Ali should give orders to his officers “to permit the venerable padre to pass unmolested and to show him respect and kindness, for he is a holy man and means no harm to my government.”
The death of Hyder Ali in 1782 did not end the war. His son Tippoo, exceeding his father in cruelty and vindictive oppression, was inspired to retrieve his reverses and carry the conflict against the English to the bitter end. For a time, however, the tide of war was against his arms and, the French troops having left him on the declaration of peace in Europe, the English Commander Fullerton was advancing upon Mysore itself, when he was stopped by the half hearted policy of the Madras Government, who had received from Tippoo a request for peace. Once more in their difficulty an appeal was made, this time by Lord Macartney, to Schwartz, that he should accompany the commissioners on their visit to Tippoo’s camp, to which, for the same just reasons as before, he agreed. At the same time he pointed out in plainest terms the folly of stopping Colonel Fullerton when he had an enemy at a disadvantage, and forecasted further trouble, if indeed it did not render his mission futile. In his conversation with this brave officer he fully sympathised with him in the disappointment and greatly regretted the step that had been taken.
In writing to the Madras Government Colonel Fullerton in a very handsome manner acknowledged the value of the service of the missionary.
“On our second march we were visited by the Rev. Mr. Schwartz whom your Lordship and the Board requested to proceed as a faithful interpreter between Tippoo and the commissioners. The knowledge and the integrity of this irreproachable missionary have retrieved the character of the Europeans from imputations of general depravity.”
The attempt to reach Tippoo in accordance with Lord Macartney’s wishes was frustrated by the turning back of Schwartz for some unknown reason, whether it was because, unlike his father, Tippoo, in his desire to insult an Englishman, did not hesitate to show disrespect to this aged missionary, or because he did not mean to confer until the district of Mangalore was in his possession. Schwartz said that he would have been very glad to have helped to make peace but he was thankful he was spared the strain for he was far from well, and when a further request was made he felt justified in declining it. Though he could not go himself he prayed earnestly that the commissioners might be guided aright in their interview with this violent man. He also sees behind all this what a tragedy of misery, sin and cruelty is going on.
“I entreat God to bless them,” he says, “with wisdom, resolution and integrity, to settle the business to the welfare of this poor country. But alas! We ourselves are so divided—one pulls one way, the other quite a different one. When one considers all, high and low, rich and poor, rulers and those that are ruled, one is struck with grief and a variety of passions. What blindness, insensibility, and obstinacy, greediness, and rapaciousness. A thousand times I think with myself: ‘Good God, must all these people die—must they all give a strict account of their lives—must they all appear before the tribunal of Jesus, the mediator and judge? How little do they mind their end, and the consequences of their lives?’”