70 
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
CHAPTER so to do : they are also allowed to view the parade, and to hear the 
hands of music belonging to the troops in garrison. 
May 20, &c. The apartment most commonly used by Tippoo was a large lofty 
of the Sul- hall, open in front after the Mussulman fashion, and on the other 
uin. three sides, entirely shut up from ventilation. In this he was wont 
to sit, and write much; for he was a wonderful projector, and was 
constantly forming new systems for the management of his do- 
minions, which, however, he wanted perseverance to carry into ex- 
ecution. That he conceived himself to be acting for the good of 
his subjects, I have no doubt; and he certainly believed himself 
endowed with great qualities for the management of civil affairs; 
as he was at the pains of writing a book on the subject, for the in- 
struction of all succeeding princes : his talents in this line, however, 
were certainly very deficient. He paid no attention to the religi- 
ous prejudices of the greater part of his subjects ; but every where 
wantonly destroyed their temples, and gloried in having forced 
many thousands of them to adopt the Mussulman faith. He never 
continued long on the same'plan; so that his government was a 
constant succession of new arrangements. Although his aversion 
to Europeans did not prevent him from imitating many of their 
arts ; yet this does not appear to have proceeded from his being 
sensible of their value, or from a desire to improve his country ; 
it seems merely to have been done with a view of showing his sub- 
jects, that, if he chose, he was capable of doing whatever Euro- 
peans could perform : for although he made broad-cloth, paper 
formed on wires like the European kind, watches, and cutlery, yet 
the processes for fnaking the whole were kept secret. A French 
artist had prepared an engine, driven by water, for boring cannon; 
but so little sensible was the Sultan of its value, that he ordered 
the water wheel to be removed, and employed bullocks to work the 
machinery. One of his favourite maxims of policy was, to over- 
throw every thing that had been done in the Raja's government ; 
and in carrying this into practice, he frequently destroyed works 
