In

dress 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. 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 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 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 of 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 adtniration 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, 1785.

"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 investi"gation of both, you will give him your firmest support. "I have looked into all his papers; and the testimonies

<< as

of essential services rendered to the Company by him, "do him, in my opinion, the highest honor. Unless "such merits are recompensed, few will risk every thing, 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 honored 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 honor to write to your lordship on the 8th "by Captain Hallam, who carried from hence very large "packets to you. The opportunity of Captain Camp"bell tempts me to trouble your lordship, merely to in"form 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 in"fluence 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

(6 you, my lord, may know how much the Public is in"debted 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 ingrati'tude: I never did so without the most painful sensations. When, on the contrary, I am enabled to speak to their honor, 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