table; but these inferior qualities are lost in the splendour of superior virtues. It is necessary to relate, that during the confusion of the revolution many of the Bhow's adherents, among whom were some of Bajah Rao's most declared enemies, fled to his camp to implore his mercy; and that they received, not only pardon, but protection. He extended his forgiveness to the whole without reserve, assuring them he considered their conduct as proceeding rather from error than guilt. Such was his conduct upon this memorable occasion, in which he exercised the most sublime virtue of a human being; but he "had suffered persecution, and had learned mercy." If in the contemplation of this exalted character, we find language inadequate to the fulness of our conceptions, perhaps the deficiency does not lie in any paucity of expression; but in no expression be 66 ing sufficiently forcible to do justice to such superior merit: for if to bear adversity with magnanimity; if to support prosperity with moderation; if a pertinacious adherence to his engagements, a virtue rare indeed for this country; if these qualities be admired as traits and emanations of a noble mind, how much must our veneration increase, when we reflect upon that sublime clemency, that, falling like the gentle rain from heaven," undistinguishingly upon all, comprised within its boundless charity every description of offenders! To say that Bajah Row may not possibly descend from this acme of virtue to the level of ordinary reputation, is at best but an invidious supposition; but from the dawning prospects of his reign, the empire may look forward to a succession of halcyon days, after the tempests by which it has been so recently agitated. Four LETTERS from MAJOR J....H....containing a minute Description of the celebrated City and Fortress of AGRA, of the TAUGE MUKAL, or Mausoleum of SHAH JEHAUN, and the Tomb of AKBAR, at SECUNDRA. [These letters were communicated to us by the author some years ago: they deserved an earlier insertion: but the recent conquest of Agra by the British arms will now give them an interest with the public which their own merits, though considerable, could not have excited.] his protection and company about seven miles, when we separated. He was an affable good-looking man, about forty, very well mounted, as were the party with him. The havildar of Omoidapore he described as an arrant villain, against whose treacherous conduct he desired me to be on my guard. I pushed on with my own bearers, and a couple of sepoys, and reached Omoidapore between twelve and one. My tent was pitched near the village, which lies to the left of the road. It should have been remarked, that immediately after quitting the Vizier's, and entering the Mahratta country, small round mud forts are built, with intervals of about two miles, on each side of the road: small guards are stationed in these little towers during the day, to protect the cattle, whilst grazing or ploughing, from the sudden incursions of the Sieks: at sun-set they are driven home. The towns and villages are all inclosed with high mud walls, and towers filled with loop-holes. From Futtyghur to Omoidapore, the road is sufficiently good to admit of your travelling the whole way in carriages. The country perfectly open, not a hill to be seen, though there is here and there acclivities, with fine vallies, interspersed with wood. There are excellent wells for the accommodation of travellers. The inhabitants are all well armed, and when they move, seldom move in groupes of less than a dozen. The weather was excessively hot, and the land-winds blew with so much violence, that I expected every moment my tent would be blown down; in other respects we were unmolested. Being perfectly unBeing perfectly unacquainted with the road, in the evening I sent a civil message to the havildar for an hircarrah; but The had the mortification of a refusal. This man had the impudence soon after to come out, prompted more by curiosity than any intention of civility; I upbraided him for having behaved so rudely. This he attempted to excuse, by saying, the Ryots, since De Boigne's departure, were perfectly independent. Finding, however, I paid little regard to this excuse, he detained the sepoy, whom I had sent with him, a couple of hours; after having dismissed him with a laconic message, "That I might find the road to Agra myself." When the moon rose, I struck tents, aud ordered my baggage to move on towards Agra; soon after I followed, and reached the river Jumna about four o'clock. All was hushed and quiet. The famous Tauge was directly opposite to me, and the fort at the distance of about three miles West. moon shone with uncommon splendour; the murmuring of the river and a general stillness that prevailed, united with the grandeur and ruins of palaces that surrounded me, rendered the situation as awful and solemn as it was novel. A' ferry boat arrived in about an hour.. I crossed this famous river, and landed on the opposite banks, close under the lofty walls that enclose the Tauge. The road between Omoidapore and Agra is nearly a continued chain of deep ravines, and you have scarcely crossed one before you arrive at another. These render the roads perfectly impassable during the rains; and, indeed, during the land-winds you run a chance of being smothered by co lumns of sand. The river is near half a mile broad, and all strangers should send forward to have boats ready to cross at the same ghaut I did; as by that means you save three miles, exclusive of a very unpleasant unpleasant trip through the suburbs of Agra. It is customary for all travellers to lodge within the walls, that surround the Tauge, not only for the convenience of seeing, but also as the most safe and secure from thieves. LETTER II. DEAR SIR, you have a commanding view of the fort of Agra, and the ruins of the suburbs. In the staircase are three landing-places, and in each of these a balcony, under and round which, runs an inlaid handsome border. These minarets are placed at the four extreme angles of the second raised pavement. You ascend this pavement by a flight of steps, which fronts the center and Agra, June 18th, 1794, largest walk in the garden, and directly opposite to the entrance of the Tauge itself. The Tauge is nearly 190 feet square. There are four fronts, exactly alike, 140 feet each, and the taking away the angles reduces it to an octagon of unequal sides. The dome rises from the center, and may be seventy feet in diameter. The whole of the outside is of white marble, ornamented round the doors, windows, and bottom of the Tauge with painted patterns of flowers. Round the door by which you enter are engraved a variety of Arabic inscriptions; Arabic inscriptions; the letters are large, remarkably well cut, and made very legible by being coloured black. In the center of each of the four fronts, there is a large arch thrown over each of the doors, through which light is admitted to the vestibule. The entrance is by the south arch, which leaves a space of half that in breadth. This is the outer vestibule, and at the end is the door by which you enter the inner one, built of white marble, ornamented ten feet high. with an handsome filigree border of the same. You now enter the inner room, which impresses the mind with sensations of awful grandeur and solemnity; it is an octagon of equal sides, twenty-four feet, the whole covered by a dome. There isa fretwork projecting which extends round the walls; this is in The Tauge Makul is a very superb and splendid mausoleum, built entirely of white marble, situated on the southern banks of the Jumna, about three miles from the fort of Agra. The ground on which the mausoleum is built is raised upwards of thirty feet above the level of the river, when full. It is enclosed within a space of 300 yards long (running upon the banks of the river) and more than 120 feet in breadth. The whole is encompassed by a very high and thick wall, faced with red stone. Within this wall there are four small bastions, one at each angle, and also the same number of small octagon buildings, consisting of three stories, and a cupola at top. In these Major Palmer and his officers live, when at Agra. Twenty feet within, and from the edge of the first pavement, a second floor is raised, eighteen feet high, which is built of white marble, and forms a square of upwards of 300 feet. A gallery of eighteen feet wide runs round the whole of this pavement. This is divided into a humber of small apartments, which are lined and paved with white marble. There are four minarets, built of white marble, inlaid with streaks of black at the joinings; you ascend, by a winding staircase, to the top of the cupola, from whence laid with stones of various colours and shades, such as agate, porphyry, &c.; these are thrown into patterns of flowers. All the windows are of the gothic order, the heights of which are at least eighteen feet. These arches are ornamented all round with Arabic inscriptions. The letters are large, legible, and incomparably well cut. Above these arches runs a cornice; and over those again are eight smaller arches, with a latticed window in each. The tombs (two) are enclosed by an octagon railing; this is composed of different compartments, made of open work of white marble; the whole inclosed in a frame of white marble, with beautiful flowers of various coloured stones in fancy patterns. At the entrance of this railing there is a door-way, and a false door directly opposite, which is finished in the highest taste and ornamented as above. The dome, and the inside of the room is entirely of very fine polished white marble. In each of the arches are doors; also to the four larger ones; and the whole arch, as well as the small door in the center, is filled up with small panes of glass. In the four smaller ones, the door only is glazed. The begum's or empress's tomb, is raised nearly in in the centre, inclosed by the railing; it is less than Shah Jehaun's, which is close on the left side of it. The tombs are of beautiful white marble, inlaid with agate, &c. The patterns of the flowers are elegant, and extremely delicate. Great taste and superior judgment is displayed by the manner in which the variegated tints and shades are arranged. The pavement is in squares of white marble, inlaid with lines of black; under the room I have just attempted to describe, is another, to which you descend by a flight of marble steps (about 40) under a vaulted roof of white marble. In this vault the bodies are buried, and tombs raised over them, exactly under those above. These are likewise of the same materials and workmanship as those above; the roof is vaulted and of white marble; the light is thrown in from above, entering only from one end; this produces a fine effect, and makes the marble appear extremely beautiful, delicately white, and the flowers cannot sufficiently be admired. Round the principal room already mentioned, there is a suite of apartments, that communicate by passages with the inner, viz. on each of the four cardinal points, there is an inner vestibule; and at each of the corners an octagon room, communicating by passages, with the vestibules on two sides and with the principal room in the centre. These are good-sized, (24 feet) with three windows each, faced with white marble, and pavements of the same; on the outside, and at the top of the dome, there are two gilt balls rising one above the other, and at the top of these a large gilt crescent. On the outside of the tauge, and on the first pavement, there are two large handsome buildings directly fronting it. These are faced with red free-stone, intermixed with white, and the parts ornamented are of mosaic fashion. That to the westward on the left is a mosque, paved with marble and stone; it has an handsome small railing at the further end, and three neat niches in the sides. That to the east, is called the jummaul cawn, where the priests, &c. used to assemble previous to going to the mosque. To the southward of the tauge, there is a garden about five feet lower than the first pavement, and and a railing runs along the end of the tauge, and a little distant from the pavement. In this garden there are abundance of grapes, variety of fruits, and very fine trees; the walks are broad, and all paved with flat stones. A marble reservoir is built in the centre, and raised near six feet above the level of the garden; it is a square and has a flight of steps at either side; the fountains were out of repair, and the water I understand to be supplied from the river. The walks from hence lead to four different directions, and there are some rooms built of red free-stone on the wall which encloses the garden. The gateway is to the south, and fronts the tauge; it is on the same plan, only a smaller scale, with that at Secundra; the materials are principally of red free-stone; the roof is arched, and the hall is upwards of forty feet square. On either side, there are apartments formerly occupied by fackeers, who lived on Shah Jehaun's bounty; these are now going fast to ruin. Beyond this gate there is a spacious court, called the jellaul kaunah, built of red stone, with arched apartments for servants, and those attached to the king; it now serves as a barrack for Major Palmer's sepoys. Near this, inclosed with walls, are four other tombs, said to contain the remains of four favourite princesses, belonging to his seraglio. Beyond the jellaul kaunah is the choky, which in those days was considered as a place of security for merchants and travellers; they are small brick buildings. I did not pitch my tent whilst at Agra, but lived in a small building, in which Mr. Palmer usually resides. This famous building was begun in 1631, the year the Begum died, and it was entirely finished in 1642, at which time Shah Jehaun returned from Lahore; consequently, the tauge was not more than eleven years building, from the time the first stone was laid. On the northern banks of the Jumna, and directly opposite the tauge, are the ruins of an inclosure of the same size, as already described. This was intended for Shah Jehaun's tomb, and a communication was to have been made between it and the tauge, by throwing a bridge over the river. This, however, he was prevented from accomplishing, by his son Aurunzebe, who deposed his father, and confined him in the fort of Agra; there he lived a prisoner seven years, and at his death, Aurunzebe buried him close by the side of his favorite sultana. I AM just returned from vi siting the tomb of Ackbar, at Secundra, which is about seven miles from the fort of Agra, and on the high road to Delhi. The roads run from the tauge, directly thro' the city, and close under the walls of the fort; the streets are very narrow, and the houses consist of several stories, (like Benares) and will scarcely admit any conveyance to pass, unless a palankeen. Before I was clear of the city and its suburbs, I passed through no less than six gates, at each of which guards were stationed; from which you may form some idea of this once flourishing and populous capital, now, alas! a heap of ruins, and almost totally uninhabited. At four o'clock |