uence, by whom the former had been
educated, came amidst the crowd, bareheaded and without attendance,
leading his pupil by the hand. Having placed himself between the
contending factions, he addressed them to the following effect: that the
prince who stood before them had a natural right and legal claim to the
throne of his father; that he had been educated with a view to it, and
was qualified to adorn it by his disposition and talents; that he wished
however to found his pretensions neither upon his birthright nor the
strength of the party attached to him, but upon the general voice of his
subjects calling him to the sovereignty; that if such was their sentiment
he was ready to undertake the arduous duties of the station, in which he
himself would assist him with the fruits of his experience; that if on
the contrary they felt a predilection for his rival, no blood should be
shed on his account, the prince and his tutor being resolved in that case
to yield the point without a struggle, and retire to some distant island.
This impressive appeal had the desired effect, and the young prince was
invited by unanimous acclamation to assume the reins of government.*

(*Footnote. Mr. Philip Braham, late chief of the East India Company's
settlement of Fort Marlborough, by whom the circumstances of this event
were related to me, arrived at Achin in July 1781, about a fortnight
after the transaction. He thus described his audience. The king was
seated in a gallery (to which there were no visible steps), at the
extremity of a spacious hall or court, and a curtain which hung before
him was drawn aside when it was his pleasure to appear. In this court
were great numbers of female attendants, but not armed, as they have been
described. Mr. Braham was introduced through a long file of guards armed
with blunderbusses, and then seated on a carpet in front of the gallery.
When a conversation had been carried on for some time through the
Shabandar, who communicated his answers to an interpreter, by whom they
were reported to the king, the latter perceiving that he spoke the
Malayan language addressed him directly, and asked several questions
respecting England; what number of wives and children our sovereign had;
how many ships of war the English kept in India; what was the French
force, and others of that nature. He expressed himself in friendly terms
with regard to our nation, and said he should always be happy to
countenance our traders