ART. VII. A Narrative of Events which have recently occurred in the Island of Ceylon, written by a Gentleman on the spot. 8vo. pp. 73. London. Egerton, 1815.

cy

TH HERE is perhaps no passage in the history of our oriental poliwhich exhibits so strong a contrast to the ostensible principles of our conduct in Europe, as the short and successful war described in these pages. While we were exhausting every phrase of indignation against the aggressions of France, the proceedings of our own viceroys in the East, generally afforded examples of the very defects which we ascribed to the enemy; and it must also be admitted, that their talents, both in the cabinet and in the field, never failed to secure those advantages which for so many years made us envy the enterprizes of the French government. At the present moment, while we are protecting the Bourbon dynasty, and all other legitimate rulers, upon the principle of supporting hereditary right, without much regard to merit, our Indian governors are acting upon the very opposite principle, calling hereditary sovereigns to account for their misconduct, and dethroning them for maltreating their own subjects. The tract before us is understood to come from high authority; and the story of the Kandian war is told in it with so much clearness, and in such good plain language, that we have much satisfaction in following the narrative.

The contest arose in the following manner. Our unfortunate attack in 1803, had failed from being premature. The tyranny of the King, though intolerable, had not yet lasted long enough to spread a spirit of insurrection through his people; but, intoxicated with his success on that occasion, he had given vent to all his passions and caprices; and many partial rebellions in consequence broke out. The period seemed approaching when the natives generally might be expected to rise against him, and solicit our interposition in their behalf. This crisis was hastened by the following occurrence. Early in the year 1814, the first Adikar, or prime minister, who was also governor of a province, was summoned to Court, to answer some charge made against him. He prudently declined, from an accurate knowledge of the process of impeachment in that country, which is considerably shorter, and more efficacious than in this. His province rose and joined his standard; he immediately opened a communication with General Brownrigg, offering to surrender his district to us; but this was prudently declined, as the measure seemed still somewhat premature. The proceedings taken by the Legitimate Monarch' of Kandy, upon this oc

casion, are worthy of notice; they were in the nature of what we term in England the process to compel an appearance, though not precisely the same in form. They were as follows.

It would be difficult to mark the character of the savage king in a stronger light than is exhibited in the steps which he took on the defection of the Adikar. The family of this Chief, who, agreeably to the custom of the court, had been detained as hostages for his good conduct, were instantly singled out by the King as the victims of his indiscriminating revenge; and the cruelties exercised on them present a dreadful picture of horror and disgust.-The mother and five children, the eldest of whom was a lad of eighteen, and the youngest an infant at the breast, were bound, and led into the market-place. The infant was torn from the arms of its mother; and its head being severed from its body, the parent was compelled to pound it in a mortar. The others were murdered in succession, the eldest being reserved for the last victim: and this scene of wanton and savage butchery was crowned by what every feeling mind will contemplate as an act of supreme, though unintentional mercy, the sacrifice of the mother herself. p. 3, 4.

The reader will naturally be desirous to learn the subsequent history of this unhappy man ;-and the following passage conveys it in a manner at once simple and touching.

The slaughter of his family appears to have subdued for a time the natural energy of the Adikar's character, and to have induced a torpor of action which was at this season the ruin of his cause. His followers, disheartened by the inactivity of their Chief, were soon routed by the King's troops; and after an ineffectual resistance of a few days duration, the Adikar fled into the British territories, and implored an asylum from the government.

The protection he asked, however, was afforded in the most cautious manner, and every measure was resorted to, which a government, scrupulous of giving umbrage to a neighbouring power, could have adopted. The public reception which he courted was refused; and it was not until he had resided for some time in Colombo, that General Brownrigg acceded to his proposal of being favoured with an interview at his Excellency's country-house.

The interest excited on both sides by so extraordinary a scene as that of a Kandian Chief, who had resided the whole of his life in his native mountains, presenting himself before a British Governor, and imploring protection and succour, may be easily imagined. The forlornness of his condition derived additional claims to sympathy from the overwhelming force of his domestic afflictions; and these were claims which, he might well know, would find a powerful advocate in the breast of that governor from whom he sought all the relief and consolation which could yet be afforded him. He was received with the most distinguished kindness and respect, and was so affected with the novelty of his situation, and the unwonted kindness of a superior, that, regardless of the forms of introduction, he

burst into tears. As soon as he was composed, the Governor soothed him with promises of favour and protection. The Adikar replied, that he looked to his Excellency as his father; that he had been deprived of all the natural ties of relationship, and trusted that the favour he solicited of being allowed to call the Governor and Mrs Brownrigg his parents would not be denied him. It was a strong, but natural mode of expressing what he felt; and his gratitude at finding his request assented to, was unbounded.

The astonishment of this Chief at all he beheld may be easily conceived. The romantic beauty of the house, situated on a rock overhanging the sea, an element of which he had entertained such confused ideas, but which he had never till now perfectly seen, struck him most forcibly. After looking minutely at the furniture of the house, he approached, cautiously, the pillars of the verandah, and gave himself entirely up to the admiration which the novelty of the scene before him could not fail to inspire. A ship, which was. passing at the moment, was a fresh object of wonder; and, when it was explained to him, he said he had heard of such things, and was happy to have enjoyed the opportunity of witnessing what he now saw. Being asked if this was the first time he beheld the sea, he said he had occasionally obtained a very distant and imperfect view of it from a high mountain; but the largest piece of water he had ever approached was a lake in the Kandian country, the extent of which he described by looking and pointing through the two pillars of the verandah, the opening between which commanded but a partial view of the ocean before him. p. 4-7.

The tyrant having wreaked his vengeance upon his own subjects, thought proper to begin upon those of the British Government, and seized ten peaceable inhabitants of a frontier village; carried them to Kandy, where, without even a charge against them, he mutilated them in so shocking a manner, that seven died upon the spot, and the rest came back in a state well calculated to awaken the indignation of their fellow-subjects. General Brownrigg was however compelled, by the unfavourable season of the year, and the expectation of reinforcements from Madras, to proceed very slowly in his measures of retaliation; and the proclamation which he issued, wisely recommended to the Kandians to continue their present intercourse, but stated nothing which was likely to implicate them in any of his future proceedings, so as to draw down upon them prematurely the vengeance of their despot. Such, at least, we conceive to have been the tenor of this document; for the one referred to in the Narrative, as Appendix A, by some mistake is not to be found; the proclamation there inserted is the one upon commencing hostilities. At length the preparations being completed, the army marched on the 9th of December, having been previously assured of cordial cooperation from the

inhabitants. The whole force did not exceed three thousand men, and the General put himself at their head. Before setting out, he issued a proclamation, stating the grounds of the invasion. These are, undoubtedly, not the irruption of a Kandian force into our territory, mentioned in the outset, because that happened long after the expedition was prepared, and when it was on the very eve of marching-but the conduct of the King towards our subjects and his own. The following passages deserve the reader's best attention: he will be pleased to bear in mind, that they refer to the conduct pursued by a legitimate hereditary sovereign towards his people.

But it is not against the Kandian nation that the arms of his Majesty are directed; his Excellency proclaims hostility against that tyrannical power alone, which has provoked, by aggravated outrages and indignities, the just resentment of the British nation, which has cut off the most ancient and noble families in his kingdom, deluged the land with the blood of his subjects, and, by the violation of every religious and moral law, become an object of abhorrence to mankind.

For securing the permanent tranquillity of these settlements, and in vindication of the honour of the British name; for the deliverance of the Kandian people from their oppressions; in fine, for the subversion of that Malabar dominion which during three generations has tyrannized over the country, his Excellency has resolved to employ the powerful resources placed at his disposal. p. 56.

Thus was a war commenced, of which at least one very prominent object was avowed to be the punishment of intolerable tyranny, and the delivery of a people from the oppressions of an arbitrary and cruel, but a rightful sovereign. Under such

auspices, and for purposes like these, the army advanced; the proclamation was circulated every where among the people; read with avidity, and met with a cordial reception. The enemy hardly showed himself in the field, and scarcely disputed the more tenable passes; the little resistance he made, was easily overpowered, and measures were taken for preventing the King's retreat. He, on his part, appears to have been lulled into security by the means usually adopted with persons of his profession. For a long time, he would not believe that we intended to invade his territory; his flatterers had persuaded him, that the British Government never would recover the fatal campaign of 1803.' And when a messenger brought intelligence of our army having actually passed the frontier, His Most Kandian Majesty was pleased to direct, in reply, that his head be forthwith struck off. In like manner, another informant was rewarded for an account of our further progress, by being impaled alive. Notwithstanding this vigorous conduct and brave

disbelief of his danger, however, some symptoms appeared, which must have given the Royal mind reason to suspect that all was not in a satisfactory state.' One appearance, well known in all courts, was truly ominous ;-a minister of state suddenly changed sides, and went over to the English camp. The Noble Lord (as we should term him) carried with him his orders, and much valuable property. This movement operated as a signal to lesser folks; and the ratting (to use an European expression for an instinct inherent in the species, and common to all nations) became general. A slight difficulty occurred here, which is exactly of a piece with what happens upon similar accasions in our part of the world.

No arrangement of offices could be concerted at this stage of the enterprize; but it was felt that if Molligodde was received with the honours of a Dessave, he could not afterwards be deprived of them. A slight diplomatic distinction obviated all jealousy, and contented both parties. It was observed that the honours belonged to the insignia of the Dessavony, and not to the Dessave-that the act of surrender should be attended with all possible state-and that Molligodde must in consequence march in with his full honours; but having deposited the rolls and banner, he would of course no longer look for the same ceremonies on taking leave, but would retire with only the honours of an Adikar, to which Eheilapola had no kind of objection.

In this little question of etiquette, there was something characteristic of the manners of the Kandian court; but in substance the point was a natural one, and its discussion was conducted with politeness and liberality. Molligodde, of his own accord, proposed, in retiring from the audience of reception, to pay a visit to Eheilapola, which was agreed to; and the few particulars that are known of the interview are truly affecting: The visiter introduced himself with an exclamation that he was a ruined man. "What then am 1?" said Eheilapola. Distressing recollections attached to this question, and both the chiefs burst into tears.' p. 19, 20.

The Monarch, seeing himself deserted by all but his nearest relations, to avoid being surrounded, precipitately left his capital, which was entered by our troops upon the 14th February. The first objects that presented themselves, were the remains of persons impaled; and they met a poor English soldier, who had been taken in 1803, and survived the massacre. His adventures would fill a volume, says our author; and we are glad to find that there is an intention of publishing them. We do not therefore dwell upon them in this place, but proceed with the Narrative. A great part of the females and treasures of the tyrant were soon captured; and, at the expiration of four days, our troops succeeded in taking the monster himself. The fl