a great chain of massy gold, enriched with bosses, was
placed on an elephant at his side. That was the signal. On the instant a
stir might be seen half a mile away at the gate of the temple. A group of
swordsmen, decked with flowers and smeared with ashes, has stepped out
from the crowd. They have just partaken of their last meal on earth, and
they now receive the last blessings and farewells of their friends. A
moment more and they are coming down the lane of spears, hewing and
stabbing right and left at the spearmen, winding and turning and writhing
among the blades as if they had no bones in their bodies. It is all in
vain. One after the other they fall, some nearer the king, some further
off, content to die, not for the shadow of a crown, but for the mere sake
of approving their dauntless valour and swordsmanship to the world. On the
last days of the festival the same magnificent display of gallantry, the
same useless sacrifice of life was repeated again and again. Yet perhaps
no sacrifice is wholly useless which proves that there are men who prefer
honour to life.(99)

(M37) "It is a singular custom in Bengal," says an old native historian of
India, "that there is little of hereditary descent in succession to the
sovereignty. There is a throne allotted for the king; there is, in like
manner, a seat or station assigned for each of the _amirs_, _wazirs_, and
_mansabdars_. It is that throne and these stations alone which engage the
reverence of the people of Bengal. A set of dependents, servants, and
attendants are annexed to each of these situations. When the king wishes
to dismiss or appoint any person, whosoever is placed in the seat of the
one dismissed is immediately attended and obeyed by the whole
establishment of dependents, servants, and retainers annexed to the seat
which he occupies. Nay, this rule obtains even as to the royal throne
itself. Whoever kills the king, and succeeds in placing himself on that
throne, is immediately acknowledged as king; all the _amirs_, _wazirs_,
soldiers, and peasants in