Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s2.t1.254

v3.c42.s2.t1.254

Character of Zālim Singh.—If history attempt to sum up, or institute a scrutiny into, the character of this extraordinary man, by what standard must we judge him? The actions of his life, which have furnished matter for the sketch we have attempted, may satisfy curiosity; but the materials for a finished portrait he never supplied: the latent springs of those actions remained invisible save to the eye of Omniscience. No human being ever shared the confidence of the Machiavelli of Rajasthan, who, from the first dawn of his political existence to its close, when “fourscore years and upwards,” could always say, “My secret is my own.” This single trait, throughout a troubled career of more [586] than ordinary length, would alone stamp his character with originality. No effervescence of felicity, of success, of sympathy, which occasionally bursts from the most rugged nature, no sudden transition of passion—joy, grief, hope, even revenge—could tempt him to betray his purpose. That it was often fathomed, that his “vaulting ambition has o’erleapt itself,” and made him lose his object, is no more than may be said of all who have indulged in “that sin by which angels fell”; yet he never failed through a blind confidence in the instruments of his designs. Though originally sanguine in expectation and fiery in temperament, he subdued these natural defects, and could await with composure the due ripening of his plans; even in the hey-day of youth he had attained this mastery over himself. To this early discipline of his mind he owed the many escapes from plots against his life, and the difficulties which were perpetually besetting it increased his natural resources. There was no artifice, not absolutely degrading, which he would not condescend to employ: his natural simplicity made humility, when necessary, a plausible disguise; while his scrupulous attention to all religious observances caused his mere affirmation to be respected. The sobriety of his demeanour gave weight to his opinions and influenced the judgment; while his invariable urbanity gained the goodwill of his inferiors, and his superiors were won by the