The Arbiter of others' fate A Suppliant for his own! Is it some yet imperial hope That with such change can calmly cope Or dread of death alone? To die a prince—or live a slave— He who of old would rend the oak, The Roman, when his burning heart He dared depart in utter scorn Of men that such a yoke had borne, Yet left him such a doom! His only glory was that hour The Spaniard, when the lust of sway Cast crowns for rosaries away, A strict accountant of his beads, His dotage trifled well: Yet better had he neither known A bigot's shrine, nor despot's throne. ? But thou-from thy reluctant hand Too late thou leav'st the high command All Evil Spirit as thou art, It is enough to grieve the heart To see thine own unstrung; To think that God's fair world hath been The footstool of a thing so mean ; And Earth has spilt her blood for him, And Monarchs bowed the trembling limb, Fair Freedom! we may hold thee dear, Thine evil deeds are writ in gore, If thou hadst died as honour dies, Weighed in the balance, hero dust To all that pass away; But yet methought the living great To dazzle and dismay; Nor deemed Contempt could thus make mirth Of these, the Conquerors of the earth. And she, proud Austria's mournful flower, How bears her breast the torturing hour? Must she too bend, must she too share Thou throneless Homicide? If still she loves thee, hoard that gem, 'Tis worth thy vanished diadem! Then haste thee to thy sullen Isle, Thou Timour! in his captive's cage That spirit poured so widely forth- Or like the thief of fire from heaven, Foredoomed by God-by man accurst, And, if a mortal, had as proudly died! There was a day-there was an hour, Unsated to resign Had been an act of purer fame Through the long twilight of all time, But thou, forsooth, must be a King, Where may the wearied eye repose Whom envy dared not hate, Bequeathed the name of Washington, LORD BYRON. THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH IN SOUTHERN INDIA. PART I. THE man who first saw that it was possible to found an European empire on the ruins of the Mogul monarchy was Dupleix. His restless, capacious, and inventive mind had formed this scheme at a time when the ablest servants of the English Company were busied only about invoices and bills of lading. Nor had he only proposed to himself the end. He had also a just and distinct view of the means by which it was to be attained. He clearly saw that the greatest force which the princes of India could bring into the field would be no match for a small body of men trained in the discipline and guided by the tactics of the West. He saw also that the natives of India might, under European commanders, be formed into armies, such as Saxe or Frederic would be proud to command. He was perfectly aware that the most easy and convenient way in which an European adventurer could exercise sovereignty in India, was to govern the motions, and to speak through the mouth of some glittering puppet dignified by the title of Nabob or Nizam. The arts both of war and policy, which a few years later were employed with such signal success by the English, were first understood and practised by this ingenious and aspiring Frenchman. The situation of India was such that scarcely any aggression could be without a pretext, either in old laws or in recent practice. All rights were in a state of utter uncertainty ; and the Europeans who took part in the disputes of the natives confounded the confusion by applying to Asiatic politics the public law of the West, and analogies drawn from the feudal system. If it was convenient to treat a Nabob as an independent prince, there was an excellent plea for doing He was independent in fact. If it was convenient to So. |