WE have learned, by a letter from the Sipahdâr, Mahommed Ali, “that he has carried his approaches to the edge of the ditch; that “the walls and batteries on his side are levelled to the ground; and “that the ditch only remains to be filled.” That, then, is a trifling affair. Let the ditch be filled, and, with the consent and concurrence of all, let the place be stormed and taken. If, however, the garrison will capitulate, it will be well: and [in this case] with the exception of Kâlâ Pundit, the rest may be allowed their lives and arms; but the Pundit`s person must be secured. In the event, however, of [your being obliged to proceed to] the assault of the place, every living ereature in it, whether man or woman, old or young, child, dog, cat, or any thing else, must be put to the sword, with the single exception of Kâlâ Pundit. What more?

The sanguinary and ferocious disposition of Tippoo Sultan is here displayed in the most glaring and odious colours. The spirit of Nâdir Shâh appears to breathe through every line of the concluding sentence of this memorable letter. Kâlâ Pundit was, most probably, reserved for some signal punishment; or, perhaps, he was exempted from the general carnage here directed, because his immediate death might have frustrated the Sultan`s views to pecuniary indemnification. It is rather extraordinary, that this last consideration did not also lead him to make an exception, in his exterminating mandate, in favor of the wealthy mer­chants and bankers of the place; to secure whose persons he was subsequently extremely anxious.