RUNJEET SINGH, CHIEF OF LAHORE. Ir the revolutions of barbarians have neither the importance nor the historical relations of civilized countries, they are at least more frequent, and their perpetrators as blood-thirsty. When man has thrown aside the ties of religion and morality which bind him to society, he exhibits, in an awful manner, the horrors of unrestrained passion; and, whether he be savage or civilized, his motives for action are the same, as well as their consequences. Ambition and the lust of power prompt men to rebel they unite under the guidance of some one powerful mind, the possessor of which sways the rebels to his own will, and by them serves his own purposes. Such a man is Runjeet Singh, the present Chief of Lahore, whose history is altogether extraordinary, as well as that of the individual who mainly contributed to place that Indian chief in his present powerful position. The facts which we are about to detail are we believe quite new to English readers they are obtained from the French newspapers of a few years back, and their authenticity is probably unquestionable. In the extensive continent of Asia, towards the thirtieth degree of North latitude, and between British India and Persia, there is a country, concerning which little is known, although it is extensive, rich, and has a large and industrious population. The form of this country is that of a delta, by the junction of the rivers Indus and Sutledge: the north of this country is bounded by part of the Himalayah mountains; the population is warlike and enterprising, and the country is called the kingdom of Lahore. About forty years ago Lahore had no existence as a kingdom. A number of petty princes, who lived by pillage and rapine, but independent of each other, divided among themselves the provinces of this beautiful country. They were constantly engaged in mutual war, and conquering and being conquered in quick succession, the peaceful arts could find neither introduction nor encouragement amid the horrors of this rude warfare. This rich country, therefore, situated so admirably between two great empires, in the centre of a vast continent, with numerous navigable streams, and natural frontiers, was torn with internal dissensions, and incapable of assuming any political importance, for want of some tie which would unite its discordant elements; for want, in fact, of a chief, or even of a usurper, who could conquer the whole of the country, and govern it when conquered. At the present time this country has a chief, who has blended into one kingdom all the dissentient states which formerly composed it. This country is now a kingdom with about twenty millions of inhabitants it has a considerable and well-disciplined army, numerous founderies and arsenals, a regular government, finances in a flourishing state, and its importance is such that it is the friend and ally of the British government in India.* This kingdom owes its origin and its present state of wealth and power chiefly to two of those extraordinary men who from time to time appear among the scenes of human affairs, and so materially influence the condition of mankind. One of these men is Runjeet Singh, King of Lahore and Cachmire, the conqueror of all the petty sovereign princes who formerly harassed the whole country between the Indus and the Sutledge; the other is a Frenchman, * See Malte-Brun's Universal Geography, vol. iii., p. 52. About two years ago General Allard visited his native country, bringing with him his wife, a native of Lahore, and his children, for the purpose of placing the latter under proper tutors, so as to be educated in the religion of their fathers, and according to the customs of civilized Europe. While at Paris the general had an interview with the editor of the Journal des Débats, and communicated to him the following particulars : General Allard is about fifty years old, of the middle size, of a handsome figure: the expression of his face is mild but dignified; his language is short and precise, his voice agreeably modulated, his discourse modest. He wears a long white beard and mustachios. His hair is gray, but his whole external appearance indicates the vigour of a mature age: his eyes are bright and piercing: he is devoted to the military profession, and seems formed for command. General Allard was formerly attached to the staff of Marshal Brune. He quitted France at the downfall of Napoleon, with the intention of going to the United States of America, and had already paid for his passage on board one of the frigates of the Union, when he met with an Italian officer, who, like himself, was about to seek his fortune in a foreign clime, and was induced by the Italian to give up his American trip, and go into Egypt. He did so; and met with but a cold reception from the Pacha, and no employment. He then went into Persia, and at Ispahan he was heartily welcomed by the Abbas-Mirza, who conferred upon him the title of colonel, and treated him as such he promised him the command of a regiment, but failed in his promise. Fortunately for Allard there was at the court of Ispahan an old king of Cabul, whose brother had usurped his throne and deprived him of his sight: this king, an experienced old man, told Allard that in Cabul he would be sure of welcome and employment. Cabul is situated between Persia and the principality of Cachmire. Allard went there, and found in fact that there was a king who could well appreciate the services of an European officer. But scarcely was Allard established in Cabul, when he learnt that there dwelt, two hundred leagues further on, a skilful and bold chief, who was employing all his energies and resources in founding a kingdom. This was the kind of chief that Allard desired to serve he went therefore to Lahore, and found Runjeet Singh, who was then a rajah. Allard met with welcome and employment from the rajah, whose confidence he soon obtained: he placed under Allard a few men, who, being disciplined according to the military system of France, became the nucleus of the rajah's future army. Next, Allard disciplined a hundred men, who were thus instructed in the duties of military officers. Then he organized a regiment; then a brigade; then a division; his reputation increasing with the number of his soldiers, and the confidence of the rajah keeping pace with the growth of his army. This army soon became the terror of the neighbouring princes, who disputed with Runjeet Singh the sovereignty of the kingdom of Lahore: they were all in succession beseiged in their fortresses, attacked in their retreats, beaten in open field, or vanquished in the defiles and fastnesses of their mountains. At length none resisted; and at the end of a few years Runjeet Singh was the only king of this country. It was the triumph of discipline over the rude warfare of the barbarian, and Allard was loaded with honours and with wealth: he had a palace at Lahore, a crowd of servants and slaves, and a regiment for his escort. He married a princess, a relation of the king, and was finally named commander-in-chief of the armies of the kingdom he became, next to Runjeet Singh, the most important, powerful, and absolute personage in this extensive country. Such is the fortune of General Allard. : After an absence of sixteen years, Allard wished to revisit his country. His wife did not accompany him to Paris she remained at Saint Tropez, a sea-port of the Mediterranean, on the coast of France. This lady was shocked at French customs and manners: she thought it highly indelicate that French women should allow their faces to remain uncovered, and constantly expressed a strong desire to return to her native country. The condition of the women in Lahore is nearly the same as in Mohammedan countries generally. They are brought up in an entire ignorance of all kinds of useful knowledge: most of them do not even know the use of the needle. They live in an absolute seclusion, and never see the sky, but from the flat roofs of their houses; or, when they ride out, through the open tops of their palanquins, which are enclosed on all sides; so that, as General Allard says, they never see the horizon. They pass their time at the toilette, arranging their black hair, and adorning their persons: they tinge their hands and feet with a red dye. Within doors they wear no covering for the feet their slippers are made of silk, embroidered with gold; these they leave at the door of the apartment, which is covered with the richest carpets in the world. This sys The children receive no mental instruction: they learn neither reading nor writing. Their knowledge of good and evil is left to natural instinct. tem probably explains why it is that Lahore is overrun with robbers and bandits. At eight years of age the boys are taught to ride on horseback, to guide an elephant, and to fire the musket; and in a few more years they are excellent recruits for General Allard. Runjeet Singh is not more learned than his subjects; he does not value knowledge for its own sake; but he has the sense and discretion to appreciate and apply for his own advantage that of others. He is a man about fifty-six years of age; very ugly, blind with one eye, robust, active, dissipated, warlike, of tried courage, and of wonderful endurance. When General Allard wished to quit Lahore, in order to visit France, the king was altogether dissatisfied: he long resisted the wishes of his favourite. "Let me at least detain thy children," said he at length to the general, "and then I shall be sure of thy return." "My children! exclaimed Allard: "it is on their account that I wish to visit France; for there only can they be educated in the knowledge and practice of my own religion." At these words the king no longer resisted. "Since thou speakest to me of thy religion," said he, "I can no longer oppose thy will this belongs only to thy conscience, and every one ought to follow the faith which he approves, and he is bound to obey its commandments. Thou mayest depart." Whilst he pronounced these words, he became greatly moved. He remained in deep thought for some time, as if he hesitated to give the general the farewell embrace: then casting himself into his arms and weeping violently, he dismissed him, saying, "Farewell, go in peace! : Runjeet Singh is not therefore altogether a barbarian. General Allard states that he has often seen his ministers, some of whom belong to the faith of Mohammed, rise up in the midst of the council, interrupt their master, and retire to the extremity of the hall, in order to perform some ceremony, due to a particular hour just arrived. The king never makes any remark, but waits with admirable patience until such orisons are finished. Runjeet Singh has many expensive tastes, one of which, if fully gratified, would ruin any other than an immensely rich man. He is attached to the chase, as conducted in the East. He has an ardent passion for precious stones and fine horses. He learnt one day that there was a very fine horse in one of the neighbouring provinces, in a part of the kingdom of Cabul not yet brought under his dominion. Spies were sent out in order to inform the rajah of the existence of the horse, and the exact spot where it was to be found. These two points being ascertained, a troop of ten thousand men were sent to seize the animal they traversed many provinces, spent much money, fought their way to the stable of the horse, and did not rest until it was added to the stud of the rajah. He also obtained possession of probably the finest diamond in the world by similar means. A neighbouring petty king was said to be the possessor of a diamond, which had belonged to the Great Mogul, the largest and purest that was ever known. This of course was coveted by Runjeet Singh, and accordingly he invited the prince to his court, and being master of his person, he demanded his diamond. The king pretended to resist ; but after many manoeuvres he yielded possession. The delight of Runjeet Singh was extreme; he gave it to a lapidary to mount it; but what was his surprise and fury when the man informed him that this pretended diamond was only a piece of crystal! Runjeet Singh caused the palace of this king to be invested his soldiers ransacked it from top to bottom. Their researches were all in vain for a long time: at length a slave of the king having sold the secret of his master, the diamond was found among the ashes of a fire. Runjeet Singh has ever since worn it as a trophy of victory, set in a bracelet of gold. On state days he wears, in chaplets round his head, many other diamonds of extraordinary size and beauty. It is said that the jewels of Runjeet Singh are the richest and finest in the world; and the riches and magnificence of his court and palace, the splendour of his travelling equipage, and of all his equipments, exceed probably all that we hear of among oriental princes. : We will devote a second paper to our account of this extraordinary person and his dominions. THE GLOW-WORM. WHEN on some balmy-breathing night of spring The brilliant glow-worm like a meteor shine LONDON: JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PASTS, PRICE SIXPENCE. Sold by all Booksellers and Newsreaders in the Kingdom. Magazine. PRICE {ONE PENNY. THE TOWN OF CLOYNE, IN IRELAND. THE ROUND TOWER, AT CLOYNE. CLOYNE is the name of a small town in the south of Ireland, situated in the barony of Imokilly, and the county of Cork. It stands at a short distance from the eastern shores of Cork harbour, and is described as straggling and miserable; it consists principally of one street, the houses of which are of an inferior description. It is a place of considerable antiquity, as is likewise the bishopric of which it is the seat, its cathedral having been founded by St. Colman, in the sixth century. The old name of the town is Cluaine, which signifies in Irish "a cave," and it is supposed to have been thus called, in consequence of the number of natural caverns and subterranean passages existing in the limestone-rock, of which the district composed. The town of Cloyne is situated on a small limestone eninence, gently rising in the midst of the valley, through VOL. XII. which there might once have been a communication from Cork harbour to the sea; and this eminence might have been an eminence surrounded by water, and afterwards, on the water partially drying up, by a deep bog, and at present by rich and, in general, well-improved meadows, to which the plantations about the church and see-house, with the round-tower, appearing everywhere above them, give a good effect. On this spot St. Colman, before the year 600, is supposed to have founded his church; and the security of it must have received no small addition from the circumstance of a cave, which is on the most elevated part of it, extending in various branches under ground to a great distance. In those unsettled and barbarous ages, caves of this sort were resorted to by the natives on the first appearance of an enemy, and the invaders seldom being able to make a long stay, the wives and children of the peasants, and perhaps even their cattle, would remain in tolerable safety, till the country could assemble in their defence. It is certain that places of refuge of this sort were looked upon as of so much necessity, that on some of 384 2 the Hebrides we find artificial caves constructed for the purpose; and when nature had provided one so deep and roomy as this, the rude inhabitants of the times would as naturally graze their flocks and build their huts in its neighbourhood, as in latter days they raised their cottages under the shelter of a Norman castle. This idea will also receive confirmation from the name of the town Cluaine, signifying a cave in the Irish language. At Cloyne a branch of the Fitzgerald family, distinguished by the title of Seneschals of Imokilly, had formerly two or three castles; they are the chief proprietors of the adjacent district, from which indeed their title was derived. The title was first bestowed in 1420 by James Earl of Ormond, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, on Lord Desmond, after whose death it was assumed by the head of his descendants, resident in the district. There is an account related of a skirmish which took place at Cloyne, between the Seneschal of Imokilly and Sir Walter Raleigh, and in which the skill and intrepidity of Raleigh were remarkable. Raleigh afterwards accused the seneschal of cowardice on the occasion; and such were the manners of the times, that Lord Ormond and Sir Walter more than once publicly challenged Sir John of Desmond and the seneschal, both of whom were in open rebellion, to decide the matter by single combat. In the year 1601 the Lord Deputy Mountjoy, on his return from the siege of Kinsale to Dublin, by way of Waterford, went out of his road to pay a visit to Cloyne, where he slept on the 7th of March, and was received by Master John Fitz-Edmonds, who held the town and manor-house in fee-farm, and who gave cheereful and plentiful entertaynment to his lordship, and all such of the nobilitie, captaines, gentlemen, and others as attended upon him;" when the lord-deputy," as well to requite his perpetual loyaltie to the crown of England, as also to encourage others in the like, did honour him with the order of knighthood." St. Colman, the founder of the Bisopric of Cloyne, was the son of Lenin, the chief bard of Aedh, King of Munster; he died in the year 604. There are few records of the see till after the arrival of the English. About the year 1327, it appears to have oecome so impoverished, that King Edward the Third wrote to Pope John the Twenty-second, with the view of effecting an union between it and the see of Cork, which was likewise at that time much reduced. The attempt was at the time unsuccessful; but a century afterwards, the two sees, happening to be simultaneously vacant, were consolidated and granted to Bishop Jordan. This union continued until 1638, when a separate Bishop of Cloyne was consecrated by Archbishop Usher. During the civil wars the see was for some time vacant; but in 1660 it was again united to Cork and Ross, and this second union lasted till 1678, since which period Cloyne has been a separate bishopric. By the Act of 1833, however, relative to the temporalities of the Church in Ireland, Cloyne is to be reunited to Cork and Ross, as soon as the latter sees become void. About the time of the Reformation the see of Cloyne suffered severely in its temporalities; in this respect it was not singular, every bishopric in Ireland being then exposed to similar injury. Ecclesiastical property in that kingdom was, to use the expression of Mr. Crofton Croker," in a manner annihilated." Bishoprics, colleges, and tithes were divided without mercy amongst the great men of the time, or leased out on small rents for ever to the friends and relations of the incumbents, insomuch that "there was not," says Harris, one bishopric in the province of Cashel that had not the print of the sacrilegious paw, upon it." Many Irish bishoprics, such as Aghadoe, Kilfenora, &c., never recovered from this devastation. The bishopric of Ferns was left not worth one shiling; Killala, the best in Ireland, was left worth only 3007.; Clonfert, 2007.; the archbishopric of Cashel, 1007.; Waterford, 1007.; Cork, only 701.; Ardagh, Il. 18. 8d. Cloyne, situated at a distance from the capital, an appendage to the neighbouring see of Cork, and without head or guardian, had very little chance of escaping in the general plunder. The outlying estates were seized by the nobility near them; and the demesne of Cloyne itself passed, by a fraudulent process, into the hands of the powerful family of the Fitzgeralds. In the reign of Charles the First, some steps werc taken to put a stop to the plunder of the Irish Church by laymen, and even, to a certain extent, to compel When Strafford went over as lordrestitution. deputy in 1631, he found the church in "a state of ruin;" many of the bishoprics, as Ferns, Lismore, and Cloyne were entirely destroyed, and the revenues of the others reduced to a trifle, the churches pulled down, or in a state of desolation, and the glebes and tithes in the hands of laymen; so that one nobleman in the western part of the kingdom, (the Earl of Clanricarde,) had no less than one hundred livings in his own possession; and the Earl of Cork, in the south, besides all the landed estates of Lismore and the college of Youghall, had impropriated all the livings belonging to both of them. "small The cathedral of Cloyne is described as a heavy building, without any pretensions to ornament." Bishop Bennett, who was an eminent antiquary, supposes it to have been built between the middle and the close of the thirteenth century; it has no mouldings of the zigzag, nail-headed, or billetted kind, nor round-arched windows, which distinguish what is called the Saxon, or rather Norman architecture, before the introduction of the Gothic in the time of Henry the Third. It is not evidently (says the learned prelate,) so late as that time, nor, on the other hand, has it the splendid arch or oak-leaved ornaments, so common in the middle of Edward the First's reign, therefore it is not so late as that period. I should be inclined to fix the era of its building to the latter years of the first of these princes, or the beginning of the reign of the last. The windows, though since altered, were evidently of that sort called lancet-windows, which were so common in the time of Henry the Third: see the great west window and that of the south transept: the latter on the outside, are additional arguments for the date I have chosen; as is also the circumstance that, about this time, three prelates out of four were Englishmen, in whose country monastic and cathedral architecture was in high estimation. In the cemetery of this cathedral the tombstones are very numerous, owing, as Sir Richard Colt Hoare says, to the attachment which the Catholics still bear throughout Ireland to the ancient churches. Bishops Johnson and Woodward are buried there. "May the heavens be his bed," exclaimed the poor woman who showed Mr. Crofton Croker the interior of the church, on pointing out Bishop Woodward's monument; when he died, the poor lost a good friend." Near it is a large and rather injured tomb of black marble, which originally belonged to the Fitzgeralds, and has been converted by the Earls of Thomond to their own use since the decline of the Fitzgerald family. In the year 1776, when the cross-wall at the entrance of the choir was erected by Bishop Agar, the workmen digging deep in the nave to lay the foundation, they discovered a row of graves of rather singular construction, consisting of brick cells, each of which was exactly suited to the size and shape of the body contained in it. Curiously enough one of these bodies was found to end at the shoulders, and to be unaccompanied by any of the skull bones. "It is, therefore, not improbable," as Bishop Bennett suggests, that the head of the owner may have been fixed on Cork gates in the times of turbulence, as they appear in the print given us in the Pacata Hibernia, to be full of such kind of trophies." The chief object of interest, however, at Cloyne is its Round Tower,-one of those singular monuments of antiquity, concerning the origin and use of which there has been so much controversy among antiquaries. It is not our intention, upon the present occasion, to give a general account of these remarkable structures, which are the only edifices of unknown date in Ireland deserving of notice as works of art, and, therefore, the only evidence of the skill and knowledge of the early inhabitants of that country. We shall content ourselves here with observing that, as to the period of their erection, they are as ould as the hills" in the belief of the peasantry; and as to their use, they are variously supposed by different classes of antiquaries to have been, the abodes of solitary anchorites,-the receptacles of a "sacred fire," worshipped by the primitive inhabitants of Ireland, after the fashion of the east,-places of temporary penance,-watch-towers erected by the Danes,-steeple-houses, and belfries. The Round-Tower at Cloyne stands in the street, on the side opposite to the church, and, as usual, near its western front. This singular structure sustained considerable damage from lightning in the middle of the last century; its height is stated to be 92 feet, and the thickness of its wall 43 inches. Adjoining the town is the Bishop's Palace, a plain edifice, which was built in the early part of the last century by Bishop Crowe. It stands in a picturesque demesne, in which are the entrances to some of the natural limestone caverns abounding in this district. The ancient name of this spot was Monelusky, or "Field of Caverns;" and the names of the neighbouring fields and grounds, says Sir R. C. Hoare, "speak the savageness of this place in former times." Thus Knocknamodree is the "Hill of the Gray Dog, or Wolf;" Park na Drislig, the "Field of Briars;' Monecranisky, the "Meadow of the Wild Boars," &c. On the north of the town is a hill called Bohermore, or the "Great Highway," from a tradition that a road passed over it from the sea in the south to the sea on the north of the kingdom. In 1805 a curious discovery was made in one of the caverns in the neighbourhood of Cloyne. A quarryman accidentally let his crow-bar fall through a fissure in the limestone-rock; he widened the aperture and descended in search of the instrument into a cavern, in which he was surprised to behold a human skeleton, partly covered with exceedingly thin plates of stamped or embossed gold, connected by bits of wire, and likewise several amber beads. One of these plates was preserved, the rest of the gold was sold and melted in Cork and Youghall. The bones of the skeleton were eagerly sought after by the superstitious peasantry, who pronounced them to be those of St. Colman, and accordingly carried them away for charms. There is said to be a tradition in the country, of a battle having been fought near the spot in a very remote period, and of four kings having fallen in the conflict. In the neighbourhood of Cloyne are two seats deserving of notice; one of them is Castle Mary, formerly called Carrig Cotta, which is supposed to be a corruption of Carrig Croith, or the Rock of the Sun, a name derived from a cromlech, or Druidical altar, still to be seen not far from the house. This remain of paganism consists of a rough and massive stone, twelve feet in length; one end elevated about six feet from the ground by two smaller stones, from which its name of Cromlech, signifying a bending or inclined stone, is derived. Close by it is a smaller stone or altar, supported in a similar diagonal position by a single stone. There is a tradition, that nothing will grow under either of these altars, an opinion that originates from the total absence of verdure, incident to a want of sufficient light and air. The top of the larger altar was richly covered with the plant familiarly called the Wood Geranium, (Geranium Robertianum, or Robert's Crane's Bill,) the light feathery leaves and delicate pink blossoms of which formed a pleasing contrast to the solemnity and breadth of the altar. The plantations of Castle Mary (says Mr. Croker,) are venerable and extensive, arranged in the taste of the last century. Few situations can be more imposing or romantic than that of the Druid's Altar, the descent to which is overtiful form and growth; the gigantic size attained by some shadowed by some luxuriant ash-trees, of singularly beausurprises the English traveller, and their long, graceful branches, reaching to the ground, produce an effect not unlike the famed banyan groves of the east. Whilst Miss Nicholson was sketching the altar, a figure emerged from this depth of foliage, in costume which, had it been a tint whiter, might well have passed for that of a Hindoo; but the innocent deception was soon destroyed by the irresistible accent in which the following exclamation was uttered, after coolly surveying that lady's work, and the subject of it.Och! fait and sure the darlint lady isn't pulling down the ould stones may be! and as like as themselves it is, long life to her! well to be sure, and a power of trouble to be taking a wisha God help us!' Another remarkable seat in the neighbourhood of Cloyne is that of Rostellan, belonging to the O'Briens; it is situated on the eastern shore of Cork harbour, of which it commands a noble view. The present house is built on the site of a castle of the Fitzgeralds, and contains a small armoury. "The sword of the great Brian Boru, my lord's ancestor, King of Munster, your honour, and his fowling-piece! are there to be seen," said one of the gate-keepers who accompanied Mr. Croker through the grounds, and seemed anxious to display the wonders of the place to strangers. It is hardly necessary to remind the reader, that fire-arms were not introduced into Ireland till some centuries after Brian Boru was in his grave. But similar anachronisms are very common in Ireland, where anything ancient, wonderful, or curious, is without hesitation referred to Fion Mac Cuil, (the Fingal of Ossian,) St. Patrick, or Brian Boru. On an elevated terrace, near the water, is a statue of Admiral Hawke, "the position of which," says Sir R. C. Hoare," rather surprised me, as the back of this celebrated warrior was turned upon the very element on which he had acquired such immortal honour. I was told (he adds) that the following circumstance gave rise to placing the figure in this position. Upon the defeat of the French fleet, commanded by Conflans, in the year 1759, the city of Cork ordered a statue to be cast of the English admiral, Hawke; but on its completion, some objections were made to the expense by the citizens; upon which the noble Inchiquin said, that he would pay for it,' which he did, and, as a rebuke, placed the admiral's figure on a pedestal, with his back turned towards the ungrateful city. Mr. O'Brien, the present inhabitant of the place, and who, on the death of the Marquis of Thomond, succeeds to the Earldom of Inchiquin, told me a most singular anecdote relating to this same statue, and which, in a less enlightened age than the present, might have been considered as ominous: That the admiral's right arm, which grasped a sword, fell off on the very day that the French landed on the coast of Ireland at Bantry Bay.' |