90 



MODERN HISTORY. 



[Part VI. 



A.D. fortress of Vellore.^ The proclamation of tlie Viceroy 

 l8lo. j-gcalled tlie massacre of 1803 as one of the many 

 causes of the war, and on the 2nd Marcli, 1815, a solemn 

 convention of the cliiefs assembled in the audience 

 hall of the palace of Kandy, at which a treaty was con- 

 cluded formally deposing the Idng and vesting his 

 dominions in the Britisli Crown ; on condition that 

 the national rehgion should be maintained and pro- 

 tected, justice impartially adnmiistered to the people, and 

 the chiefs guaranteed in their ancient pri\ileges and 

 powers. Elieylapola, who had cherished the expectation 

 that the crown would have descended to his own head, 

 bore the disappointment with dignity, declined the offers 

 of high office, and retired with the declaration that his 

 ambition was satisfied by being recognised as " the Friend 

 of the British Government." 



Happy as this consummation appeared, the tranquillity 

 which ensued was but transient ; before two years the same 

 people who had invited the Enghsli as deliverers rose in re- 

 behion to expel them as intruders. Xor is this anomaly, 

 strange as it may seem, without explanation. With 

 the mass of the population the king was less odious than 

 the chiefs who were " the real tyrants of the country ; " ^ 

 and as these were stiU to be maintained in aU their 

 dangerous powers, the people, even whilst the cannon 

 were thundering salutes in honom- of the \'ictoiy, exlii- 



A.D. 



1816 



^ A curious account of the capture 

 of tlie king, and his demeanour after 

 his deposition^ is contained in a pam- 

 phlet published in 1815, under the 

 title of "^ Narrative of Events 

 which have recenthj occurred in Cey- 

 lon, -nritten by a Gentleman on the 

 spot; London, Egerton, 1815." From 

 the identity of tlie materials with 

 those in the xxvth ch. of the History 

 of Ceylon, by Piulalethes, the two 

 statements appear to have been 

 wi-itten by the same person, and evi- 

 dently by one who was present in 

 Colombo whilst the occuiTeuces he 



describes were in progi'ess. One re- 

 mark which the king made is worth 

 recording: " Your English governors," 

 he said, " have one advantage over 

 us kings of Kandy — the}' have coim- 

 cillors near them who never allow 

 them to do anj-thing in a passion ; 

 but, unfortunately for us, the of- 

 fender is dead before our resent- 

 ment has subsided."— P. 180. The 

 king died at ^'eUore, 30th Januar\-, 

 1832. 



2 Sawyer's 3IS. Notes mi the Con- 

 quest of Kandy ; Marshall, p. 70. 



