by the small domes, leaves no space to walk, but all round over the principal wall; from hence I observed that there never had been a parapet wall, and that only some of the domes had been terraced, with a coat of about one foot thick; this leads me to think that the finishing hand has never been given to this building, which idea is confirmed by observing also that the inside of these domes are only of rough brick, as if intended to retain a coat of plaster, which has never been applied; for surely so much pains would not have been bestowed on the outer wall, and these domes, which evidently were to be an ornament to the interior building, left intentionally in so rude a state; moreover, had the outside ever been finished, it is probable the terrace, though broken up by the jungle which now occupies the whole roof, would still have remained in rubbish; but there is no appearance of the kind, nor is it at all probable that any body would have been at the necessary pains and expense to remove it: I should therefore suppose it never had existence, and that the building has never been finished. There is here also a very large Diggee, which compared with the other, said to contain 360 beegahs, I should suppose equal to three hundred, that is, nearly one-fourth less; but of the two buildings, I esteem this latter infinitely more worthy of attention. Thus, having seen all the sights, I turned my thought and steps towards my boat, which I did not reach until near four o'clock in the afternoon, having been on foot from half past eleven in the forenoon, and most of the time exposed to a hot sun and brick pavement. I arrived at the ghaut just time enough to bathe before the tide made, and have the pleasure to tell you that I have neither lost time nor health by the excursion; I regretted not having a companion, not so much on account of the solitude, as that, among such a variety of objects worthy of attention, and questions which naturally arise from them, an individual does not embrace the whole; and though I hope I have left nothing material unnoticed, I am, nevertheless, apprehensive that much may have escaped me. THE 22ND APRIL 1790. The only account we have been able to procure of affairs at Madras since our last is contained in the following: Extract of a letter from Madras, April 3rd, 1790. Tippoo is still going on with his formidable and mysterious preparations for an attack on the Travancore lines; he is now within fifty yards of the ditch, with five large batteries, one of which would be sufficient to make a breach in twenty-four hours. "His Majesty's Ship the Phoenix,' Captain Byron, has taken some of Tippoo's cruisers, and, what may be of material injury to his operations, a vessel laden with gunpowder. He has sent his prizes into Tellicherry. "The Crown' and 'Perseverance' were expected to arrive there daily with the 'London' and 'Indiamen' with stores, but we have not heard whether any troops are on board, though it is reported that the Bombay Army is coming down as soon as possible. "The number of bullocks that were lately perceived grazing near Tippoo's tents are no longer discernible, which has strengthened the suspicion that he had moved off with great part of his army to some other quarter, originating in a report to that effect; but a deserter had come into the Rajah's, who declares that Tippoo visits the batteries daily; it is, however, suspected he may have been sent purposely to deceive us into that opinion. "The dilatory manóuvres of Tippoo before the Travancore lines, and his having laid waste the Dindigul country, strongly mark the present agitation of his mind, and the dread which he must necessarily feel from reflecting on his situation, surrounded on every side with enemies, unallied, and on the point of being attacked in the heart of his dominions by the most powerful European force ever known in India." THE 22ND APRIL 1790. Theatre. We are very happy to perceive the Revenge announced for Thursday next for the benefit of Mr. Battle, who well deserves the patronage of the public. Captain S. has, we understand, with great good nature, undertaken to play the character of Zanga, a part which will afford that gentleman ample opportunity of displaying his theatrical abilities. The Revenge very justly ranks amongst the first of our Tragedies, and from the excellent manner in which, we venture to pronounce, it will be acted on the present occasion, cannot fail to attract a numerous audience, independently of the liberality of the Settlement, which is never solicited in vain. THE 6TH MAY 1790. The Madras Dawk of the 20th ultimo arrived in town yesterday, in fourteen days and a half, which is uncommonly expeditious. THE 6TH MAY 1790. Extract of a letter from Trichinopoly, dated April 16th, 1790. "Letters came in from the Travancore Lines late last night, which report the happy tidings of a successful sally upon Tippoo's works by the Nairs in the pay of the Rajah; these desperate people fell upon the Mysorians with their sharp knives, and committed great slaughter; upon retreating, a large body of Tippoo's troops closely pursued them up to the ditch, when the Nairs to a man turned upon them of a sudden, and again occasioned great havock; near a thousand of the enemy were killed upon the spot, and Tippoo sent a flag of truce with a requisition to bury the dead. For some days past, the Mysorians have been busily employed in filling up the ditch with fascines, but the Travancorians, fearless of all danger, removed the materials as fast as they were thrown in. Tippoo cannot prevail upon his people to storm, and so much is he exasperated that, a few days ago, he put to the most cruel death some of his own people venturing to give an opinion upon the impracticability of subduing the Rajah." The above account, which we believe to be authentick, confirms the opinion we entertained in our last Gazette, that the conflict between Tippoo and the brave Nairs would be bloody and doubtful. The superiority is now decidedly with the latter, and, what may seem of greater importance, there appear evident marks of disgust and revolt amongst Tippoo's troops. We shall not now be thought too sanguine in concluding that the present campaign will put a successful termination to the war, for, if Tippoo has spent near four months in fruitless attempts against the Rajah of Travancore singly, what resistance can he be supposed capable of making to the combined forces of the English, the Mahrattas, and the Nizam? THE 6TH MAY 1790. The Madras Government has drawn on Bengal for twenty lakhs of Rupees, at the exchange of 410 Arcot Rupees for 100 pagodas, at thirty days' sight; considering the largeness of the sum, the terms are favorable to Government. THE 6TH MAY 1790. The Governor General in Council has, we understand, come to the very important resolution of taking into the immediate charge of Government, the collection of the Gunge, Bazar, Haut, and other duties, generally denominated Sayer, throughout the Provinces as well in the Zemindaries, Talooks, and other lands termed Malgoozaree, or paying revenue to Government, as in the Altumghas, Aymas,* Jageers, and other Lakhiraj lands exempted from the payment of the publick revenue. The many vexatious and oppressive exactions experienced whilst these collections were made by the land-holders, and the proved insufficiency of prohibitory regulations to prevent the same whilst the power of levying any duties was left to the land-holders, rendered the resumption of this privilege of Government indispensably necessary, and the most important advantages may be expected from it. THE 6TH MAY 1790. The Calcutta Theatre is not an object of equal criticism. When excellence calls for praise, we are bound, in justice as well as gratitude, to give it; but when there is no ground for praise, though justice may demand impartiality, gratitude, for the disinterested endeavour to please, forbids the avowal of dissatisfaction. In the late performance of the Revenge, the representative of Alonzo appeared to us alone entitled to the eulogium due to eminence, and the well known talents of Mr. P. render it unnecessary to say more regarding him than that he played as usual, and exhibited the character he now assumed with the same success as he did that of Zanga on a former occasion, when the public were gratified by seeing the two conspicuous parts of this play filled by him, and our Indian Roscius now absent. The piece of music after the play was well received, as was also the song from Hafiz,† translated by Sir William Jones, though it certainly derived no advantage from the tune to which it was sung. In the Irish Widow, the lady, who before gave so much satisfaction, was again eminently successful. Her vivacity, just conception of the character, and exact representation of it, deserved and received general * NOTE.-Most Indian residents are aware that the latter part of these projects, or the resumption of Lakhiraj lands, was delayed, from one cause or another, for nearly 40 years from the above date. The song was no doubt the well known Taza-ba-Taza. applause. Of her coadjutors, old Kecksey, Bates, and Thomas can alone be distinguished for success in any degree equal. To the remainder, we can only return our thanks for their desire to entertain us. THE 3RD JUNE 1790. To Mr. Nemo alias Old Servant the Second. SIR,-Your remarks in the Journal of the 15th instant being dispassionate, and appearing to have been written in defence of a friend and fellow-servant, I owe a short reply to you as well as myself; but much having been already said on the subject, you must excuse my being concise. I declare to you I am no Collector; that I am, as I state myself, a Junior Servant; and that I have no knowledge of any author, living or dead, having used the passage which you are pleased to point out, as a proof that I ramble into the fields of quotation ridiculed by the Old Boy. The random shot (as you justly term it) of your ally has not therefore hit the butt; and the whimsical circumstance you have been at the trouble of relating is totally inapplicable. You may profess it appears to you, good Mr. Nobody, there was no satire in your friend's remark, that "the Directors were induced to the impolitic measure of relinquishing an annual revenue of fifteen lakhs deceived by fashionable dreams," and that he was innocently merry with some Collectors when he observed "they spoil much paper, waste much time, &c.," ascribed to them "Utopian wanderings, the sad effects of an itch to write, and a sickly imagination replete to indigestion, &c.," and added "thus much of their own time is consumed, which might be far more beneficially spent in doing something;" and you have given some proof that your professions are sincere, for a paragraph of my letter, wherein I expressly distinguished a prejudiced from a very old servant, has appeared to you to imply that all the old servants (your facetious designation of them, Old Boys, might be misconstrued if used by me) "are a parcel of dunces, who left England without education, and have remained in India till they have acquired all the absurdity and worse prejudices of the natives," which evinces the degree of your discernment; and by exhibiting clearly what is within the compass of your discriminating powers, shows how far things may appear to you different from their general appearance to others, without any impeachment of your candour. No one condemns the weak-sighted man for not seeing objects plainly; nor the blind man for not seeing them at all. |