with the offer of a worthless Fort at Devicottah induced more than a hundred Europeans and five times that number of sepoys to help him in his designs. If a failure can be complete, theirs was such, for Captain Cope who went with Sahujee was looked upon as disgraced, and a second expedition was organized to retrieve his reputation. That was the year 1749:-a great year for India and for Verelst. He was to meet a young man whose position hitherto had not been equal to his own, but whose future was destined to be much brighter. Ensign Clive emerged from his duels with gamblers and responsibility in brawls, to take his Lieutenancy and go out with Major Lawrence's expedition, albeit he had been one of Cope's unsuccessful party. The issue of the second attack was more in unison with the nation who made it, and young Clive begged for and won the honor of leading the forlorn hope. He was nearly swept away by a Cavalry charge as he advanced to the bottom of the breach, and thirty out of the thirty-four Europeans who accompanied him, fell. But one of that four, in soldier's clothes and with a disguised name, second only to his brave companion who led the small band, inciting on the sepoys who were bold that day, and cheered by the sight of Lawrence's whole European battalion following quickly up in the rear, unconscious of the perilous position in which the platoon soon afterwards found itselfwas Harry Verelst, who in the fervour of his quenchless hope for distinction had thrown off the character of Civilian and become a fearless and valuable Volunteer in the Corps of which the boy Clive was one.

Flushed with half realized desires, young Verelst saw through the smoke, and din, and carnage of the marshy slopes of Tanjore, a road, royal too it seemed, to the undefined heights of his strange aspirations. He detected in his fellow soldier Clive, promises of conspicuous services, nor were his suspicions shaken when he saw Major Lawrence ask advice and counsel-and what is more-take it, from the future hero of Plassey.

Harry Verelst was however compelled to return to his old duties and resign the sword for the pen. It no doubt was a struggle at first, but in working out the great scheme which was nearest his heart, he learnt to think no sacrifice of personal gratification a trial or an error. He was thus a silent looker on upon the affairs of the Carnatic, unable to do otherwise than admire the distinguished bravery and acuteness of the French Military and Civil authorities. Dupleix was a wonder and a study for him; D. Auteuil was the same. The former had given both a "Nizam to the Deccan, and a Nabob to the Carnatic, and he lost no time in extracting from the cir'cumstances glory to France, and to himself and his brother

'officer's enormous profit.

The new Nizam and Nabob paid him a visit at Pondicherry, where he entertained them 'with more than oriental pomp and was honored by them as their benefactor. He was declared Governor, under the 'Souhbadar, of all India from the Krishna to Cape Comorin. Authority was given to him above that of Chunda Sahib, and he was appointed to the high honor of being Commander of 'seven thousand horse. The only Mint henceforth permitted in 'the Carnatic was to be at Pondicherry. Of the treasures which 'the Viceroys of the Deccan had accumulated, a large portion was 'transferred to the coffers of France; and Dupleix received, as his own share, two hundred thousand pounds in coined money, 'besides jewels and robes of silk and tissue of inestimable value. In fact there seemed to be no limit to his gains. He was the 'absolute ruler of thirty millions of people. No favors could be 'procured from the Government except at his request; no access 'could be obtained, by petition or otherwise, to the Nizam un'less through his intercession."

Could all this be real,—was a question Verelst repeatedly asked himself as he read the stories over, in his dusky room in Writers' Buildings. Dupleix was surely of preturnatural stature, and the exploits of Charlemagne were nothing to the victories with which Verelst's too heated brain was bedazzled.*

In the midst of all this, Clive became a Captain and in the importance which now began to hedge him in, in its small divinity, he persuaded the Presidency to do certain acts which pleased the young soldier's fancy. He asked for Arcot the capital of Chunda Sahib, and straightway came Europeans and sepoys, and five Field pieces. That day at Arcot was perhaps the dreariest one upon which a battle was ever fought. But, the invisible artillery of the heavens, the incessant blue streaks of deadly fluid shooting athwart the sky, the deluge of rain, the darkness, the awful gathering of several hundreds of human beings met under the clouded canopy of nature, intent on mortal conflict, were

"When Clive marched back with his victorious army towards Fort St. David, he passed a Town which Dupleix in the pride of his first successes had founded and called after his own name. It was built round about a monumental column, the four fronts of which were designed to sustain tablets on which in four different languages, the exploits of the founder of the French empire in the East were about to be inscribed. Clive justly regarding this as much more than a display of mere personal vanity, caused both town and column to be levelled with the earth. He knew too well the susceptible nature of the Indian temperament not to perceive that such a memorial was as likely to bind the native princes to French interests as victory itself; and he resolved that they should never have it in their power to say that an English General and his army saw, yet passed it by untouched."-Gleig's Life of Clive.

turned by Clive to his own account and benefit, and the British standard soon floated above the citadel. Clive's force was then about two hundred and fifty men, and no sooner had he taken the Town than the enemy, reassured by fresh reinforcements, rallied their strength, and returned with seven thousand troops officered to some extent by Frenchmen, and endeavoured to regain the place. The siege, which lasted fifty days, is not excelled in British bravery by any other on record. The enemy retired, followed by Clive who then received reinforcements, and during the pursuit the English recovered Conjeveram which had been garrisoned by the French.

As our thoughts and actions are invariably shaped by the individuals around us, and impregnated with the same atmosphere, so the moulding which Verelst was receiving was as promising as even he could have wished in his own most sanguine moods.

The limits and purposes of this Article forbid us touching even upon the most important events of the next few years. The unparalleled extravagances of Dupleix aroused at last the interference of his own countrymen, and the great flood of sunshine in which he had walked for years, while it played around his brow like a halo, faded away as quickly as it had burst into existence, and Dupleix followed his monumental Town into oblivion.

During this period Verelst became intimately acquainted with Mr. Holwell* a Company's servant who held a high appointment and who before long was to enter the Council. He and Verelst saw with mutual fears and suspicions the unwise election of Aliverdi's grand-nephew to succeed his Uncle as Viceroy, under the title of Suraj-ud-Dowlah. Though very young the grand nephew had already abandoned himself to all the vices of his time, and his unfitness to rule Bengal was only equalled by his ungovernable hatred of the English. He commenced his tyrannous reign by depriving his relatives of all the wealth which they had amassed during his Uncle's administration, and drove the latter's finance minister to Calcutta. Under the pretext of indignation at the English refusing to send the fugitive back, Suraj-ud-Dowlah resolved to march against the Town. There was every inducement for a man of his irresistible avarice to take this step, for

* John Zephaniah Holwell was born at Dublin in 1711. He was educated for the medical profession. He elected however a different line of life, and came out to India in 1732 as a clerk in the service of the East India Company. Mr. Holwell was not a person of brilliant genius or fine accomplishments, but he was a valuable public officer and was greatly esteemed by all who knew him well, either in public or private life, and by all who knew how to appreciate a masculine and generous nature.-Major D. L. Richardson.

fabulous rumours of wealth in Calcutta continually reached his

ears.

His demands were preposterous, and naturally being refused, he prepared an attack, and put it into execution. His ta-k was more difficult than he had imagined and he was twice repulsed with great slaughter. But the Fort did not contain powder enough for three days and the third attack was successful.

Roger Drake the younger, then Governor, in a moment of deep self-scrutiny discovered that he was a Quaker and must take no part in the unjust horrors of war; acting up to the tenets of his peaceful persuasion, he beat a hasty retreat with the ladies,-who had taken refuge in the Fort,-and took possession of one of the ships. It was the metallic maxim of "every man for himself," and Roger Drake was delirious with alarm. One hundred and forty-six persons were left behind, so precipitate was his retreat, and their expectations of mercy or even humane treatment were very small. Three days previous to Mr. Drake's discovery, Mr. Holwell had sent for his friend Verelst, and advised him to remain at the Fort. He took the advice, and on the afternoon of the 20th June 1756 the two friends found themselves, with the others of the captives, on a melancholy march to the Black Hole.

It was not a Hole nor was it black. Many a Bishop's son has slept away a night's loss of liberty in a drearier apartment. The only objection to it was that it could not hold a hundred and forty-six people without a disastrous loss of life. It was not probable that Mr. Verelst who passed the night there would ever forget the likeness of his prison house, and he described it to his relatives as an ordinary "round-house" twenty feet in diameter with several small openings for ventilation. But had it been roofless the results would in all probability have been the same. The victims were crushed in at the point of the bayonet. When night fell, as well it might upon that scene of misery, the dense heat and poisonous effluvia drove many of the prisoners mad, and they died screaming with agony, and for very want of space, the corpses could not sink to the ground. There was little hope for the mercy

* In Major D. L. Richardson's admirable little work published by him on the morning of the first centennial commemoration of the " Black Hole" calamities, and eulogised by Macaulay, he says.-" The pestilential steam and stench from both the dead and the living, became now so overpowering that when Mr. Holwell turned his face for an instant from the window he felt his only chance of life was in maintaining his post there. But his position, though much envied by some of his fellow sufferers, was attended with extreme discomfort. For several hours he sustained the SEPTEMBER, 1860. B

which the survivors begged frantically for, as the only living beings near them were the guard who had placed them in confinement. When the morning dawned upon that sickly crew, one hundred and twenty-three had travelled beyond the bar which separates life and death.

Judging from what we know of such extreme cases of suffering, we would scarcely expect a very impartial statement from any of the survivors of the "Black Hole" calamities, but Mr. Verelst, of whose character in this as in other estimable respects many men are yet to speak, always gave it as his opinion that Suraj-ud-Dowlah was comparatively innocent of this atrocious massacre. "His orders were, secure them for the 'night, and further directions could not be expected. The horrors of that imprisonment must be laid at the feet of his officers.” But we read that the "tyrant's behaviour to the few survivors when brought before him next day showed that he cared as little for the past as he experienced anxiety about the future. They were cast into more airy prisons, and fed upon grain and water. This done, he wrote a pompous letter to his nominal sovereign at Delhi, in which he boasted of having extirpated the English out of Bengal; and, leaving a garrison in Fort William with strict orders that no European should be permitted to settle in the neighbourhood, he gave up the town of Calcutta to plunder and marched back with the bulk of his forces to his own capital."*

weight of a heavy man who fixed his knees on his back. Another man had seated himself on his shoulder. He could not relieve himself entirely of either of his burdens, though he frequently dislodged the man ou his shoulder by a sudden movement, and by driving his knuckles into his ribs. The man on his back was immoveable, like that terrible incubus, the old man of the sea, on the back of Sinbad the Sailor.

Mr. Holwell kept his mouth moist by sucking the perspiration from his shirt sleeves, and caught at the large drops that now fell from his head and face like heavy rain. Mr. Lushington, one of the few survivors,-probably then without a shirt of his own-being one of those who had stripped themselves, said he owed his own life to his having robbed Mr. Holwell of a portion of his perspiration. By eleven o'clock about a third of the prisoners had been relieved by death. Many of the remainder became delirious. It was like a scene in Bedlam. They cursed both God and man; with blind presumption they called upon their Maker to behold the sufferings that he had put them to, and vehemently demanded instant death, as if it were an unquestionable right which was tyrannically and unjustly held from them. They did their utmost by vehement abuse to provoke the guards outside to put an end to their agonies, by firing through the bars. But these brutal wretches held up torches to the windows and laughed with inhuman merriment at their maniacal exclamations and contortions."

*Gleig's Life of Clive.