edings by which he himself was so seriously affected,
and the result was a feeble determination not to relinquish his throne
without a final struggle. Urged to this course probably by the
persuasions of the ambitious and disappointed Ranee, he collected a few
followers, and crossed the southern frontier of Nepaul. Jung, however,
had received timely notice of his intention, and the luckless King had no
sooner encamped in the Nepaul dominions, than he was surprised at night
by the troops of the minister, and his small forces utterly routed, four
or five hundred remaining killed or wounded upon the field. The Rajah
himself was taken prisoner, and placed in confinement by the dutiful son
who now occupies the throne, and who sometimes allows him, on grand
occasions, to take his seat upon it next to himself.

The vacillating conduct of the imbecile old man throughout his whole
reign, the apathy with which he was contented to remain a passive
spectator of those bloody dramas of which his court was for so long a
period the theatre, deprive him of all claim to commiseration in his
present degraded position, which, in fact, is the natural result of his
indifference to the game so eagerly played by the contending parties, and
of which the stake was his own throne.

If, on the other hand, in a country where common humanity, and, still
more, every kind of principle, is unknown, daring and intrepid conduct
merits a reward, Jung has fairly earned for himself the position he now
holds; and though his path to greatness has been deluged with the blood
of the bravest nobles of the land, it must be admitted that the peace and
prosperity which Nepaul now enjoys would never have been possessed by her
while distracted and convulsed by the struggles of hostile factions; and
much less would she ever have experienced the blessings of an enlightened
administration, if these struggles had not resulted in the elevation of
General Jung Bahadoor to the office of prime minister.

And now, for the first time in the history of Nepaul, the Durbar was to a
certain extent united; internal machinations were no longer to be feared;
and the country was ruled over by different members of that family, the
elevation of which was due to one of their own number, who possessed
sufficient daring and resolution to execute the bold, though unscrupulous
schemes his undoubted genius had conceived.

Such was the rapid rise to power at the early age of thirty of Gene