tor, he would not wish it to be carried. If a vote of censure were proposed, with respect to the gallant director, his hand would not be held up in support of it; but he would be sorry that, out of deference to the gallant director, the motion of adjournment should be carried. Were the court afraid to come to a resolution with respect to the papers before them?-were they terrified at their own shadows? An hon. prop. was of opinion that it was derogatory from the dignity of the Court of Directors to entertain the question at all; he could not concur with that sentiment. It was the duty of the Court of Proprietors to come forward when they thought that any thing was going wrong. Whatever

respect he felt for the Court of Directors, he could not consider them, like the Pope, infallible.

Mr. Edmonstone said, that it was not his intention in rising to enter into the discussion of the subject which had already been so fully discussed, but the gallant general who opened the debate, having alluded to a transaction in which he (Mr. Edmonstone) was personally concerned, he begged to say a few words in explanation. The transaction was also referred to in Lord Hastings's 66 'Summary" in terms of censure: - he meant the application of part of the first loan to other purposes than that to which Lord Hastings intended it to be applied; and as he (Mr. E.) then filled the office of Vice-President in Council, he must consider himself responsible for that measure.

-

That ap

plication of it, however, had afforded essential relief to the financial embarrassment of the Government, and if it had not taken place, the affairs of the Government would have been involved in greater difficulties than before. In point of fact, the very object for which the GovernorGeneral had obtained the loan from the Vizier was promoted more effectually by that application of a portion of it, which had been reprobated, than it otherwise could have been. There were official documents in existence which would prove the correctness of this statement: moreover, the application of the money had been approved by the authorities at home. He had felt it necessary to say thus much, because the transaction in question had been made matter of charge against him and his colleagues in council.

Sir J. Doyle assured the hon. director that he must have misunderstood what had. fallen from him: not only did he not make any accusation against the Government for applying part of the loan in the way stated, but, on the contrary, he said that it was so applied for very good and proper purposes. The hon. prop. who moved the adjournment seemed to suppose, that he (Sir J. Doyle) had called in question the conduct of the executive body. Asiatic Journ. VOL. XXI. No. 123.

He

was there to defend their conduct. If the Chairman would be so good as to order the motion to be read, it would be seen that such was its object. The concluding resolution directly approved of the conduct of the Court of Directors, and there was not a word in any one of them which could give offence to any part of mankind. His only object was to clear the character of Lord Hastings. If any proprietor had heard it said that a friend of his had been guilty of "extortion," would he not step forward to repel the charge? (Hear! hear!)

Mr. R. Jackson expressed his regret, that the paper brought forward that day had not sooner been produced. He was sure that, if the paper which had been read by the gallant director had been included in the printed volume, much trouble and much painful feeling would have been avoided. His gallant friend had anticipated him in bearing testimony to the purity of the motives which actuated the members of the council in their application of the first loan. Their conduct had been approved of by the Court of Directors, and there existed no intention of impugning it. But with respect to the second part of the question, which related to Lord Hastings, it was impossible to get rid of it by the motion of adjournment. The cruel term of "extortion" had been applied to the noble lord's conduct with regard to the loans advanced by the Nawaub; and unless the court came to a resolution confirmatory of that of the Court of Directors which approved of his lordship's conduct, it would go forth to the world, and be believed by the native princes of India, that our Governor-General had acted improperly. The hon. director (Col. Baillie) had admitted that, when he used the word "compulsion," he did not mean it in its literal sense, and that the use of the word "extortion," as applying to the loan, was made only in the warmth of the moment, and never meant to convey the impression, that the money obtained from the Vizier was wrung from him by violent or fraudulent means; and, in short, the word was expressly admitted to have been improper. Unfortunately, however, the word was on record: it was made public, and could not now be rubbed out; and the only means by which they could rescue the East India Company from the charge of having sanctioned what was now charged as extortion, would be by passing the resolutions before the court. The matter could not be got rid of by the "previous question," or by any motion of adjournment. It would stand against them in the face of all India on this record, that they were extortioners-that they took advantage of a defenceless prince-at least of one who had not power to resist those who stiled themselves his friends and allies; and that, when the question afterwards 3 I

came

66

came to be discussed, as to whether that charge was or was not well founded, the court had sneaked out of it by such a motion of adjournment as that now proposed. Could any thing redound less to to their characters for integrity? Nothing, he thought, was more strong than the language used by the gallant colonel. He asked Mr. Adam, the able secretary to the government, and whose loss they must all deplore, whether he had seen his letters to Ricketts, Fon the vexatious subject of extortion from the Vizier,-as vexatious almost to me as the preceding one? Have you proposed a gift to his Excellency of the district of Kyreegurh, which appears to be highly expedient for the purpose of qualifying our extortion ?" He intreated the court to consider the effect which the publication of this declaration would have in India. As long as the volume of papers before them existed, this charge would stand against-not only the governor and council in India, but the directors at home-that the former had been guilty of, and the latter had sanctioned, gross extortion, committed on their own ally; and if our friends had such a measure of injustice dealt out to them, what might not our enemies have reason to expect, should they come within the peril of our friendship?

For these reasons- because he thought the vindication of our honour was at stake, although that of the noble Marquess had been entirely cleared, he would support the resolutions before the court.

adopted. Now, it was for that very reason, that he (Sir J. Sewell) would wish the question of adjournment to be carried, because he did not wish that the court should express its approbation of such a proceeding as that which was now on their records. If these resolutions were carried, and the matter should become (as no doubt it would become) known in India, then it would appear that, whatever degree of injustice was practiced on the native princes, by governors or others, no redress could be obtained for it in that court that jutice was to be done only to one party. This course would, he thought, tend very little to strengthen the force of opinion on which so much reliance was placed for the support of our authority in India. As an argument in support of the first loan being a voluntary offer on the part of the Na

waub Vizier, it was said, that he had. offered a free gift of a million on his accession to the musnud. Let it however. also be taken into consideration, that this same Nawaub had made almost insuperable objections to the loan of the second million at six per cent. Was it then probable, that the offer of the first as a free gift was ever made, or that, when made, it was al-. together voluntary on the part of his highness? Any one who knew the influence which the Company possessed in India, and the manner in which that influence was exercised at the courts of native princes, would easily conceive how loans might be obtained, and how they might be said to be voluntary when they were in reality forced. Looking at the loans at present under discussion, he could not bring himself to believe, after all he had heard on the subject, that the first was a voluntary offer on the part of the Vizier. It could not be defended as a voluntary act, and he thought that, instead of coming to a resolution approving it, it would be a much more prudent course to let the matter drop where it was, and let the adjournment take place. He did not mean to cast any blame on the noble Marquess, as having had any improper motive in this transaction: no doubt he did what he thought was most advisable to promote the Company's interests. The end might be very good, but he could not at all approve of the means. It was just as much as saying, here is a man who has got fourteen millions of treasure in his possession, and as we want it we might as well get our hands into his pocket and take out one or two millions, and then call it a loan or voluntary offering. It was, in his opinion, as much a voluntary offering as some of the forced loans which were imposed on our ancestors in this country in former reigns, which, though they were called benevo lences from the people, no man dared refuse. Under all the circumstances of the case, he thought the best thing the court could now do would be to adjourn.

Mr. Twining said it was unnecessary to enter into any argument as to the conduct of the Marquess of Hastings on this occasion. It was not, he conceived, irvolved in the question, and he thought the discussion would have been rendered altogether unnecessary if the hon. director had made the same candid statement before the committee of the House of Commons which he did that day before the court. It was said that the publication of this charge would be injurious to our interests in India. Would any man believe that the native princes would ever read the huge volume of documents before the court, unless indeed they were helped to a translation of it by the learned professor near him (Dr. Gilchrist). (Hear, hear! and a laugh.)

Captain

Captain Maxfield next addressed the court, and was proceeding to contend, that it was probable the first loan had been a voluntary offer on the part of the Vizier, for having been rescued by the noble Marquess from the thraldom in which he had been kept by the resident; when he was called to order by

The Deputy Chairman, who observed that the hon. proprietor was not regular in mixing up with the discussion matters which were not regularly before the court. Mr. Hume observed, that the subject to which the hon. proprietor (Capt. Maxfield) was referring was contained in the papers before them, and that the object for which the court had been called was the discus

sion of those papers. He thought it was unfair to put any proprietor down in this manner while in the exercise of his right. It was also known that the gallant general (Sir J. Doyle) was about to move resolutions on the subject of the hon. col. (Baillie's) removal from the residency at Lucknow.

The Chairman. The hon. proprietor must be aware, that the intended motions are not regularly before the court. They have been, it is true, communicated in courtesy to the chairman and deputy chairman, but they form no part of the question on which the court is now called upon to decide. It is therefore irregular to allude to them in the debate. There was no disposition within the bar to interrupt any hon. proprietor in the exercise of his right of addressing the court on any subject before it, but then it was necessary, for the sake of order, that the exercise of that right should be confined within its proper limits. (Hear, hear!)

Capt. Maxfield again addressed the court and said, he had no wish to trespass long on its attention. He merely was anxious to point out the inconvenience of the course they were about to adopt. If they adjourned the court now, there would of course be an end to all proceedings this day, and the other resolutions intended by the gallant officer as to the removal of the

resident from Lucknow, could not be discussed. This would only occasion trouble without getting rid of the question, for it was well known, that other courts would be called, at which the matter must come under discussion.

The Chairman was now about to put the question of adjournment, when

Sir J. Doyle, who had left the court for a few minutes, and was now resuming his seat, begged to say a few words. He had, he observed, run out after the learned judge (Sir J. Sewell) who left the court a few moments before, for the purpose of apprizing him that it was his intention to comment on the very unwarrantable manner in which he had spoken of the character of Lord Hastings. That learned judge was, it was said, a doctor of civil law; but most certainly, if he had ever studied in a civil court, he appeared to have altogether forgotten the practice. (Laughter.) The learned gentleman had said that, if the noble lord (Hastings) had committed extortion, it was without any improper motive, and for the good of the Company.. This was putting a most unfair and illiberal construction on the transaction, and he was certain it must have escaped the hon chairman's attention at the time it was said, or otherwise he would have called him to order. He begged again to repeat that he stood there, not as the defender of Lord Hastings, who needed none,-he stood there as the advocate of the Court of Directors, who had publicly given their sanction to a transaction, which was now as publicly branded with the name of " tortion" by one of their own body. He implored the court then, for the sake of its character and that of the Court of Di rectors, to pass the resolutions now before them. The decision would not take them two minutes, and without it they would leave their directors in a very curious situation.

ex

The question of adjournment was now put and carried by a very considerable majority, and the court adjourned accordingly.

The Court of Directors have given notice of a general court on March 1, from 9 till 6, for the election of a director in the room of Wm. Taylor Money Esq. who has disqualified.

Also a quarterly general court on March 28 at 11 o'clock.

Also a general court on April 12, from 9 till 6, for the election of six directors for four years.

Lists of the members of the Company will be ready for delivery in the month of March 1826.

3 1 2

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"His Majesty regrets that he has not to announce to you the termination of hostilities in India; but the operations of the last campaign, through the bravery of the forces of his Majesty and of the East India Company, and the skill and perseverance of their commanders, have been attended with uniform success; and his Majesty trusts that a continuance of the same exertions may lead, at no distant period, to an honourable and satisfactory pacification."

HOUSE OF COMMONS, February 2.

Mr. Hume took occasion, on the motion for an address to his Majesty, to observe, that the state of affairs in the Burmese Empire was disastrous; "that we heard of no victories from thence; not even of engagements; that our army was wasting under a climate worse than that of Walcheren; and that the disastrous state of affairs was the consequence of having an incompetent man at the head of the Indian Government.

February 3.

Indian Affairs.-Sir C. Forbes agreed with what had been stated concerning the origin and progress of the Burmese war. He did not wish to interfere with the policy of that war in the commencement, but whatever occasion might then have existed for its origin, was counteracted at present by a necessity for its immediate termination. His Majesty's speech held out hopes to this effect, but it appeared to him that now, at the expiration of two years, there was no greater prospect of such an event than at the beginning. It was a war of extermination, of which he could see no end. The British troops might reach the capital of the Burmese without effecting this consummation. All succeeding intelligence from India confirmed his fears on this subject. The hon. gentleman then proceeded to recommend the removal of the British troops from the Burmese territory. If the original aggression was unjust, such a course was necessary; but in any case it was desirable to finish a war of useless expenditure of blood and treasure.

He re

gretted that the expectations of all the people of sense in this country had not been gratified by the recal of Lord Amherst.

He

The Right Hon. C. W. Wynn felt that the conduct pursued in India was the result of sound discretion. The question which had been introduced, however, appeared in the nature of an episode. expected that the hon. gentleman would have given him an opportuuity of speaking on the topic, and he therefore passed it over. The hon. gentleman denied last year the necessity and justice of the Burmese war, but the declaration of Lord Amherst proved that the war had been provoked. From that document it was

clear that the Burmese had exercised

every species of aggression to excite hostilities, until at last it was impossible, in regard to honour or safety, to allow them to proceed with impunity. They had by various encroachments extended the line of their atrocities so far, that it was no difficult matter for them to attack the British capital in that country. But the hon. gentleman had stated that the British troops had exhibited no bravery. Whenever they appeared, however, the enemy fled before them. In the last campaign at, Rangoon, were not the Burmese repulsed? Did they not retreat because they were beaten, and could make no stand? He did not like to express a sanguine opinion on a subject, where the operations connected with it are so remote; but he was satisfied, in his own mind, that the Burmese war would be brought to an honourable conclusion. The hon. gent. (Mr. Hume) had designated it as 66 a war from which neither honour nor profit could be derived."- Profit! If by this term prize-money was meant, perhaps there would not. But was it not profitable to repress insolence, and to maintain the dignity of the British name? Another objection was founded on the impolicy of carrying the war into the enemy's country; but, from the extent of territory, an offensive war was more easily conducted than a defensive one.

By this

mode the British troops had obtained possession of Arracan and other considerable places, and the natives had expressed the highest gratification at their deliverance from the shackles of the Burmese. The hon. gentleman then proceeded to detail the operations of the four divisions of the British army, and stated that they had experienced uniform success. They had, indeed, been seriously afflicted by sickness, but the last accounts represented the return of the troops to health and activity.

Mr. Hume regretted extremely, that so little care had been expended, in the speech from the Throne, on the concerns of nearly one million of people. They had been thought hardly worth notice,

yet