V 
of Candy. 269 
and for my own part, although I was well convinced of the 
dexterity of those who wielded them, yet I could not help 
expecting every moment to come in for my share of chas- 
tisement. 
The civil and military establisliment of Candy is adjusted to 
the despotic form of its government, and promotion and ap- 
pointment of all sorts depend wholly on the pleasure of the 
prince. The institution of casts, however, is preserved invio- 
lable, and officers of a certain rank must always be chosen out 
of a certain class. White men rank with the highest. The 
regular troops, or standing army, do duty in the interior, and 
are kept near the person of the king, while the defence of the 
frontiers is entrusted to the adjoining inhabitants, who compose 
a sort of militia, and are obliged to keep constant watch over 
the entrances into the country. The various officers under the 
king have various privileges according to their rank. 
The highest officers of state are the Adigars, or prime minis- 
ters. They are two in number, and may be said to share all 
the power of the court between them. I have already men- 
tioned the causes which render the power of the present chief Adi- 
gar so formidable ; but even at other times these officers have af- 
forded much cause of fear and jealousy to the monarch. To coun- 
teract any dangerous designs which their too preponderating in- 
fluence might inspire, it is the policy of the king to appoint 
the two Adigars of different dispositions and opposite factions, 
and thus prevent an union which might overwhelm him. The 
distractions which these jarring interests must always produce, 
and the constant and anxious attention which the kins must 
bestow in preserving a balance between them, form part of the 
miseries entailed on a despotic monarch}^ which cailnot sub- 
