TIPPOo's CHARACTER. 125 



however, that while Hyder entered on his career unable to 

 read or write, and remained always a stranger to these pri- 

 mary elements of human knowledge, Tippoo, amid the most 

 active cares of government, retained the habits and charac- 

 ter of a man of letters. He read and wrote almost inces- 

 santly, carried on an extensive correspondence, and became 

 the historian of his own exploits. Yet the adoption of 

 hasty and superficial theories, in preference to the practical 

 good sense which had guided his predecessor, led him often 

 into crude and rash innovations, which were followed by 

 disastrous consequences. The absolute indifference with 

 which the subject of religion was viewed by Hyder, though 

 marking a degraded state of moral feeling, induced him in 

 his administration to adopt the wise measure of general tol- 

 eration. Tippoo's mind, on the contrary, was occupied, 

 and almost engrossed, by his Mussulman zeal, which be- 

 came the chief source of his crimes and follies. He fan- 

 cied himself a sort of militant apostle, who was to spread 

 his faith over the world. Combining this design with his 

 projects of ambition, he waged sacred wars on every side ; 

 against the Nazarene English, against the Bramin Mahrat- 

 tas, against the pagan and licentious nayrs. Ultimately, 

 as we have seen, he sank into the most childish supersti- 

 tion, calling not only upon the Mohammedans, but the 

 persecuted Hindoos, to practise their arts of divination. 

 After the capture of Seringapatam, when his repositories 

 were searched, along with treaties, state-papers, and politi- 

 cal correspondence, there was found a record of his dreams 

 and their interpretation, of which Colonel Beatson has pre- 

 served some curious specime'ns. At one time, when he was 

 threatened with an invasion of the Mahrattas, he dreamed 

 that a young man came up and accosted him, who in the 

 course of conversation proved to be a female. Hence he 

 sagely inferred that his enemy, who at first had a manly 

 and formidable appearance, would in battle prove no better 

 than women. On another occasion, when he was about to 

 make war with the native Christians, he was favoured with 

 a vision of a cow and a calf, the former resembling a tiger 

 in aspect and fierceness ; it had a slight motion in its fore- 

 legs, but no hind-legs. Tippoo resolved to kill this cow, but 

 awoke before he accomplished his purpose. Hence, how- 

 ever, he thought himself entitled to infer, that he would 



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