He told many stories to the advantage of this Prince,
who certainly was one of the wisest that Hindostan
could boast; and amidst great crimes, perpetrated
to gratify his ambition, displayed many instances
of princely generosity, and, what was a
little more surprising, of even-handed justice.
On one occasion, shortly before Barak El Hadgi
left Madras, he visited the Doctor, and partook of
his sherbet, which he preferred to his own, perhaps
because a few glasses of rum or brandy were usually
added to enrich the compound. It might be owing
to repeated applications to the jar which contained
this generous fluid, that the pilgrim became more
than usually frank in his communications, and not
contented with praising his Nawaub with the most
hyperbolic eloquence, he began to insinuate the influence
which he himself enjoyed with the Invincible,
the Lord and Shield of the Faith of the
Prophet.
``Brother of my soul,'' he said, ``do but think
if thou needest aught that the all-powerful Hyder
Ali Khan Bahauder can give; and then use not the
intercession of those who dwell in palaces, and wear
jewels in their turbans, but seek the cell of thy
brother at the Great City, which is Seringapatam.
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