calculating, like Napoleon, that his fame would last at
least as long as they did. For an unusual number of years did this able
minister retain the management of affairs. He was ultimately placed in
confinement, on the charge of being accessory to the murder of the
Rajah's children by poison. His enemies resorted to an ingenious, though
cruel device, to rid themselves altogether of so dreaded a rival. Knowing
his high spirit and keen sense of honour, they spread the report that the
sanctity of his Zenana had been violated by the soldiery, which so
exasperated him that he committed suicide, and was found in his cell with
his throat cut from ear to ear; this occurred in the year 1839. His
property was of course confiscated, and the greater part of his family
banished. His successor, Ram Singh Pandee, did not long enjoy his ill-
gotten power, for, having been discovered intriguing against the British
with the ministers of other native courts, he was removed at the
representations of our government. Mahtabar Singh, a nephew of the
former prime minister, Bheem Singh Thapa, had meantime ingratiated
himself with the Ranee (Queen), and through her influence succeeded in
getting himself appointed to the vacant post of premier--when, as was to
be expected, his first act was to decapitate his predecessor, and as many
of the Pandee's family as possible.

The brother of Mahtabar Singh was a kazi, commanding a portion of the
army stationed on the north-west frontier of Nepaul, and the second of
his eight sons was Jung Bahadoor, then a subadar, or ensign. The
independent spirit which the young man had manifested from a boy led him
into frequent scrapes with the old kazi, and he used to escape the
punishments which they entailed by absconding altogether, and remaining
absent until he thought his father's wrath had subsided, or until, as was
oftener the case, his own resources were expended. These, however, he
usually found means to replenish by his expertness at all games of chance
with cards and dice, and early in life he became an accomplished gambler.
He was moreover a great favourite amongst the soldiers, as well from his
readiness to join them in any wild scheme, as from his skill in all manly
exercises and accomplishments. At last the young officer, impatient of
being under command, decided upon a bolder step than a mere temporary
absence without leave, and thinking, no doubt, that it was a duty he owed
to society to im