a person under preparation for baptism, since to
withhold succour would have been barbarous cruelty.

When the whole country was overrun by the troops of Mysore, the respect
paid to the good Padre was such that he travelled from end to end of it
without hindrance, even through the midst of the enemy's camp, and on the
only occasion when he was detained, the sentinel politely put it that "he
was waiting for orders to let him proceed." It was on one of these
journeys that a little lad, named Christian David, the son of one of the
converts, was attending him one evening, when, halting at a native
village, the supper was brought, of rice and curry. The Padre made so
long a grace out of the fulness of his heart, that at last the boy broke
in with a murmur that the curry would be cold! He never forgot the
reproof: "What! shall our gracious God watch over us through the heat and
burden of the day, and shall we devour the food which He provides for us
at night, with hands which we have never raised in prayer, and lips which
have never praised Him?" The missionaries were always safe throughout
the war, and, when Cuddalore capitulated to the French and Mysoreans, Mr.
Gericke, who was then at the head of the station, concealed some English
officers in his house, and likewise, by his representations to the French
general, saved the town from being delivered up to be plundered by
Hyder's native troops.

In the end of 1782, Hyder Ali died; his son, Tippoo Sahib, assuming the
title of Sultan, continued the war, with the same fierceness, but without
the assistance of the French, who were withdrawn, in consequence of the
peace that had been concluded at home.

This, together with the numerous victories that had been obtained by the
English forces, led to hopes that Tippoo would consent to terms of peace,
and two Commissioners were appointed, whom Swartz was requested to join
as interpreter. He had no taste for political missions, but he thought
it a duty to do all in his power for peace, and set off for the purpose,
but the Mysoreans complained that the English promises had not been kept,
and he was turned back again by the enemy's troops. Colonel Fullarton,
who was in command of the army about to invade Mysore, writes, "The
knowledge and the integrity of this irreproachable missionary have
retrieved the character of Europeans from _imputations of general
depravity_!" He went back to Tanjore, and there, for the first time,
expe