numbers of people, than have been united under any one government
fince the time of Aurung?ebe. j
A t Plaflby is a houfe which was once a hunting feat of the
Nabob of Bengal: it is diftant from Calcutta about feventy
Englifh miles, and fomewhat more than thirty from Moor-
{hedabad. In Moorihedabad there are few buddings of note;
the moft eonfiderable is the remains of the Cutterah, This
was formerly a public feminaxy for mar of learning among
the Muflulmans 3 but it has long fince gone to decay. It
eonfifts of a large fquare area, each fide of which is fome-
what more than feventy feet in length, finroturded by a cloy*
Her, divided into- fingle rooms, crowned with a dome, and
one windojv in each. In the center, on thé fide oppofite the
entrance, was a mofque, raifed; ecaifiderably above-tbe buildings
on either fide: the extreme angles on that fide where the
mofque was fituated are terminated by two towejrs-, rifing
feveral feet higher than the reft of the building.
T u ts building ^as ejected by Jaffier Caw», the Nabob of
Bengal, in the early part of the prefcnt century 3 who, from
file mildnefs of his maimers, his love of learning, and. ftrift
attention to juftiee, was the moft popular nobleman who ever
held that office in Bengal under the Mogul government.
Moorffiedabad was the feat of his. refidence, and to this place
he invited men of talents. Qn the oppofite fide of the river
is the tomb of Aliverdi Cawn, the grandfather o f Suraja Dowlah,
fo Well known for his hatred to the Engliïh, and his
rwwlmT to his prifoners on the taking of Calcutta in 1756
This is an oblong building, Crowned with five domes 3 the
center one m uch huger than the- others* tod, the twb extremes
Ms than the intermediate. This pyramidal form is ufual in
* When the fort of Calcutta was clafely bèöegèd b? Sürt^a Dowlahj Mr.
Drake, the governor, and many other», with feveral ladies óf the fetdement*
efcaped tb the Englifli {hips then lying office town, and which fliipsfe.il down
- as low as Fulta, one third o|jtie diftanceto the mouth of the river, where'fhey
remained f05 feven months in the greateft diftrefs, both for prqviftons and every
other article of netefTaries. Mr. Gregory, a gentlem&ri fince Well known in
the political world, and particularly For his. knowledge inlndia affairs, and
many yearsa DireSor of.the Eaft-India Gompany in,London, ventured in a
very heavy gale of wind, in a country boat, to pafs Galcutta, and .proceeded t<?
Chardenagore, to foUcit affiftance from the French governor, who received him
with all the perfonal poTite'nefs that' is' the mark of that daliötf, but 'withööt
offering, any dvhig to remove the diftrefs of the Efiglifh at Falta. From the
p ronch Mr. Gregory proceeded to die Dutch fettleiftentat Chinfurah, where
he was received with unaffeöed good manners andifriendljoefs. After relat-
ing the diflreffes his countrymen laboured under, the Dutch governor prepared
for their relief ; and his lady went round the fetdement and.protured'linen and
Other articles, for the accommodation and cömfótt of the ladies; and, in the
jgWdieef two days, dm governor «patched a llötsp, under tte care-of Mr.
Van Staten, their commander in chief, to the Engliflt, loaded with feveral-articles
of provifions, many chefts of; wine, and. twenty leaguers of arrack, for
the ufe of the people. At the fame time this humanity was {hewn,to the people
on board the (hips, the governor’s houfe was fol filled with the diitreffed
that had efcaped fropd Calcutta, that he .and his family were obligato fleep on
board a budgerow in J the river./ The name of the Dutch governor, Mr.
Adrian Bifdam,' muft evgr be remembered by .the Engliïh with refped.