race which we have received from the Almighty we must
ever remain grateful.

"God has made the seven great seas like unto the vapor of the desert,
beneath our glorious and conquering footsteps and those of our faithful
and victorious heroes. He has made in our royal mind the thrones of
kings and the deep ocean of earthly glory more despicable than the light
bubble that floats upon the surface of the wave; and no doubt his
extraordinary mercy, which he has now shown, will be evident to all
mankind."

The facts stated in this letter are not contradicted either by Persian
of Indian historians; though the latter find reasons for the great
defeat of their countrymen suffered at Karnal, in the rashness of some
of their leaders and the caution of others; and they state that even
after the victory the conqueror would have returned to Persia on
receiving two millions sterling, if the disappointed ambition of an
Indian minister had not urged him to advance to Delhi. But it is not
necessary to seek for causes for the overthrow of an army who were so
panic-struck that they fled at the first charge, and nearly twenty
thousand of whom were slain with hardly any loss to their enemies; and
our knowledge of the character of Nadir Shah forbids our granting any
belief to a tale which would make it appear that the ultimate advantages
to be obtained from this great enterprise, and the unparalleled success
with which it had been attended, depended less upon his genius than upon
the petty jealousies and intrigues of the captive ministers of the
vanquished Mahomet Shah.

The causes which led Nadir to invade India have been already stated; nor
were they groundless. The court of Delhi had certainly not observed the
established ties of friendship. It had given shelter to the Afghans who
fled from the sword of the conqueror; and this protection was likely to
enable them to make another effort to regain their lost possessions, and
consequently to reinvolve Persia in war. The ambassadors of Nadir, who
had been sent to make remonstrances on this subject, had not only been
refused an answer, but were prevented from returning, in defiance of the
reiterated and impatient applications of that monarch. This proceeding,
we are told, originated more in irresolution and indecision than from a
spirit of hostility; but it undoubtedly furnished a fair and justifiable
pretext for Nadir's advance. Regarding the other motives which induced
him to undertake this