14 
LIVES OF THE MOGHUL EMPERORS. 
It is clear, from various passages in these memoirs, 
that the notion of absolute dominion was scarcely 
ever absent from the prince’s thoughts ; and there 
can be no doubt that from his earliest years he was 
preparing himself for empire. Even at this period 
of his life some instances of sovereignt}^ which he 
exercised rendered him an object of respect and fear 
to his youthful followers. Having upon one occasion 
been informed that a wolf had carried off a sheep, the 
young despot commanded that the shepherd should 
be brought before him. Sternly upbraiding him with 
his negligence, he ordered him to be severely punished 
on the spot. — Upon another occasion, one of his re- 
tainers had been detected stealing cattle. He in- 
stantly commanded that the culprit should be im- 
paled ; and no intercession could prevail upon him to 
remit the severity of this cruel sentence. He thus 
became the terror of all his dependants ; and it was 
this stern influence, and the awe in which he was 
held, that directed his thoughts to conquest. His 
growing ambition was roused by the ascendency he 
had acquired over a few daring spirits, as eager as 
himself to be involved in those exciting deeds which 
eventually lead to power. 
The act of justice exercised by Timur upon his 
guilty retainer was the immediate cause of revealing 
to the prince the secret of his strength, and of con- 
firming him in his determination to seek for glory 
in the acquisition of dominion. The parents of the 
criminal who had been impaled for robbery, thinking 
the punishment of their son extreme, at once threw 
off their allegiance, and publicly protesting against the 
unjustifiable application of that power with which their 
