dia, the fort of Gualior and territories of Gohud were restored to that chief, and the river Chumbal declared to be the boundary on the north between his states and the dominions of the company. Considerable pensions were also settled upon him and upon his wife and daughter for their respective lives; and the company engaged not to enter into any treaties with his tributaries, nor to interfere in any shape in his internal arrangements, with them or with the family of Holkar. By the treaty with Holkart, that chief was acknowledged as the friend of the company, and permitted to return with his forces to Hindostan, by a route prescribed to him. His possessions to the North of the Boundee hills, then occupied by the British forces, were ceded to the company, but part of them were afterwards restored to him. He also renounced his claim to the district of Koonch in the province of Bundlecund, but the company engaged to settle it, in jagghire, upon his daughter, provided his conduct at the end of two years continued to merit their approbation. The company on their side engaged to have no concern with the ancient possessions of the Holkar family, situated to the south of the river Chumbul, and agreed to restore all their conquests from that family in the Dekhan, except the fort of Chandore and some other districts, which, however, they engaged to give back at the end of eighteen months, provided the conduct of Holkar were in the mean time satisfactory. Holkar also, like Scindia, became bound to entertain no Europeans in his service, * State papers, p. 702. ment. After the conclusion of peace with Holkar, nothing occurred during the present year, to disturb the tranquillity of the British empire in the east, except the alarming spirit of mutiny and revolt, which broke out among the native troops in the pay of the company, in different parts of the peninsula of In. dia. The first and most fatal evidence of this spirit of disaffection appeared in the massacre at Vellore, the circumstances of which were as follows. On the 10th of July, about two o'clock in the morning, the European barracks at Vellore, containing four complete companies of the 69th regiment, were surrounded by two battalions of Sepoys in the Company's service, who poured in a heavy fire of musketry, at every door and window, upon the soldiers at the same time the European sentries, the soldiers at the main guard, and the sick in the hospital, were put to death; the officers houses were ransacked, and every person found in them murdered. Upon the arrival of the 19th light dragoons, under colonel Gillespie, the Sepoys were immediately attacked; 600 cut down upon the spot, and 200 taken from their hiding places and shot. There perished, of the four European companies, about 164, besides officers; and many British officers of the native troops were murdered by the insurgents. Sub + State papers, 706. sequent sequent to this explosion there was a mutiny at Nundydroog; and, in one day, 450 Mahometan Sepoys were disarmed and turned out of the fort, on the ground of an intended massacre. It appears also from the information of the commanding officer at Trichinopoly, that a spirit of disaffection manifested itself about the same period at Bangalore, and seemed to gain ground in every direc. tion. As the sons of the late Tippoo Sultan and other Mahometans of high rank, who had been attached to the fortunes of that prince, resided in the palace of Vellore when the mutiny broke out, they were suspected of being concerned in it; and if it be true, that soon after the firing commenced, the standard of Tippoo was hoisted on the palace; and that some of the native officers, engaged in the mutiny, confessed, after the affair was over, that had they succeeded in getting possession of the fort, they expected to have been assisted from the Mysore country, their share in it is manifest. But the demonstrations of a similar spirit, which broke out in other parts of the peninsula about the same time,or soon after the massacre of Vellore, shew plainly, that there were predisposing causes of a more general nature for this alarming commotion. One of these is said to have been an attempt of the military men at Madras, to change the shape of the Sepoy turban into something resembling the helmet of European light infantry, and to prevent the native troops from wearing, on their forcheads, the marks characteristic of their various casts. But the cause, to which the government of Madras appears to have been disposed chiefly to attribute this alarming spirit of disaffection among the native troops, was a report industriously spread, and credulously believed among them, that it was "the wish of the British government to convert them by forcible means to Christianity."* That such a wicked and absurd project was never entertained by our Indian government, we trust it is unnecessary to assure our readers. So far from imposing our religion by force upon our Indian subjects, our govern. ment has, in general, wisely abstained from giving any countenance or support to those fanatical associa tions, which from this, or other coun. tries of Europe, have essayed, with small success, to introduce their religious opinions into India. It must be confessed, however, that of late the restless spirit of fanaticism has insinuated itself into our Indian councils, and though it has not yet ventured to solicit more than indul gence and assistance in spreading its flames over India, such is the jealousy of the natives both Mussulmen and Gentoos, and the subject of religion, that it requires little spirit of prophecy to foresee, that unless checked in time, it will lead to the subversion of our Indian empire, and the massacre of our countrymen dispersed over that distant land. But the attention of the public has been drawn to this subject, and we trust, that the massacre of Vellore, as it was the first, will be the last fruit of this meddling and mistaken piety. When intelligence of the death of marquis Cornwallis reached * Proclamation of the Madras government, Dec. 3rd, 1806. England, England,*those who knew the critical situation of our India empire, were alarmed at the consequences of the chief command devolving on sir George Barlow, who as second in the supreme council of Bengal, succeeded on that event to the office of governor general. + The minis ters, however, who were themselves going out of place in a few days, did not think they were justified in these circumstances, to propose any permanent arrangement for India; but before retiring from office, they could not deny themselves the gratification of being the movers of an address to his majessy, for the erection of a public monument, in St. Paul's Cathedral, to the memory of lord Cornwallis. It is worthy of remark, that in pronouncing a panegyrie on that noble lord, the topic chiefly insisted on both by the mover § and seconder || of the address, as bringing into view the most use ful and meritorious of his public services in India, was his settlement of the land revenues of Bengal on a permanent footing, by which a fixed and certain property in the soil was given to the zemindars, to be held by them and their poste rity for ever on unalterable conditions, secure from the exactions, and independent of the favour or caprice of their rulers. For it is not a little singular, that while the execution of this measure was represented as the most brilliant act of lord Cornwallis's administration, for which orations were pronounced in his praise, and monuments voted to his memory, the original author and proposer of the plan, though the ablest and most upright statesman ever employed in the management of our eastern empire, was not only suffered by the company to pass unrequited for his share in that transaction, but was defrauded by the silence of these enconiasts, of the praise he so justly deserved, for having been the first to discern and proclaim the advantages of a system, "the good effects of which would amply justify any encomium that could be passed upon them." That our readers may not accuse us of dealing in rash assertions we have subjoined in a note some extracts from a work of Mr. Francis**, which will satisfy them, that it is to the benevolence and wisdom of that gentleman, that our Indian subjects are indebted for the first sugges. * Jan. 29th. † 24 Geo. 3. sess. 2. cap. 52§ 24. Mr. Grant chairman of the East India Company. Mr. Grant's speech on the 3d of February 1806-Cobbett's debates, vol. 6. p. 122. **Extracts from a plan for a settlement of the revenues of Bengal, Bahar and Orixa, by Philip Francis, submitted to the court of directors, and dated from Calcutta on the 228 of January 1776-published in 1782. "§ 53. When the gross sum to be levied from the country is determined,as well for the revenue as for all charges incident to it, each zemindary should be assessed its proportion, and let that sum be declared the quitrent of these particular lands in perpetuity." 55. The quitrent of each zemindary being fixed, the zemindar must be informed, that the due discharge of his rent is the tenure by which he holds bis lands, with every possible assurance that no farther demands will be made upon him." tion of a system of internal policy on which such high and deserved commendation was on this occasion be stowed. When the new ministers came in to office, the first object that called their attention, was the necessity of making some immediate provision for the supreme government of India, and as the circumstances of that country would not bear delay, they determined till some permanent arrangement should be devised on recommending to the court of directors the continuance of sir G. Barlow in his present situation, with the necessary powers for bringing to a conclusion the treaties with the native princes, which he was then ne gotiating. With this recommendation the court of directors readily and cheerfully complied. Whatever consequences were af terwards attempted to be drawn from this nomination, all the parties con. cerned in the transaction, understood when it took place, that the appointment was merely a temporary one, and liable to be changed.* Yet when some time afterwards, the wishes of his majesty's govern ment were conveyed to the court of directors, in the usual manner, through the board of controul, that sir George Barlow might be recalled, and lord Lauderdale sent to India, in his place, the directors shewed the greatest repugnance both to the recal of the one and to the nomination of the other, and after much discussion and correspondence, the question being put by their chairman on the recal of sir G. Barlow, it was carried in the negative by a great *Lord Melville's speech, July 8th. + May 12th. + May 20th. July 8th. majority.‡ To what causes we should attribute this, the first opposition ever made by a court of directors to the recommendation of a governor general by his majesty's ministers, we are at a loss to determine. The honourable court may have considered lord Lauderdale as a personal and political friend of Mr. Fox, and embraced this opportunity of shewing, that the events of 1784 were not yet effaced from their memory. They may have thought that the commencement of a new and as many persons supposed, a disjointed administration, was a favourable opportunity for advancing pretensions, which under the management of lords Melville and Castlereagh, they had never ventured to bring forward. They may have been influenced by persons hostilely disposed towards the new administration, and desirous to im pede and embarrass it by so unexpected an opposition. But, whatever were their motives, his majesty's ministers, who had not recommended the recal of sir G. Barlow without just grounds, in their opinion, for that recommendation, felt themselves compelled, when they found the directors as obstinate as they were refractory, to advise his majesty to exercise the power vested in him by law, of recalling sir G. Barlow by a warrant under his sign manual This exertion of authority was violently impugned in the house of lords by lord Melville, who contended, that, though the words of Mr. Pitt's India bill authorized ministers in what they had done, the spirit and meaning of the act were con Cobbett's debates, vol. 6. p. 953. § 21 Gco. 3. sess. 2. cap. 25. § 22, trary trary to it; and forgetful, it should seem, of the argument so recently held by his lawyers at the bar of Westminster hall, he maintained generally, that in construing acts of parliament, the words of the law, however clear and explicit, were to be disregarded and set aside, when inconsistent with what was known to have been the intention of the parties who proposed the law, as collected from the proceedings of parliament and other collateral evidence. He concluded by reproach ing bitterly the ministers for the indecent avidity with which they grasped at the patronage of India. To this attack lord Grenville replied, that for his own part, he always wished that those who were accused should be tried by the law itself, and not by any fanciful in terpretations and constructions, that could be put upon it by other people. The noble lord must admit, that the law gave a power of recal, and he could hardly deny that where there was a right there was also a duty. The noble lord must also recollect, that from the passing of the act in 1784, to the year 1801, there had not been a single governor general appointed either to Bengal er Madras, that had not been recommended by himself to the directors; and from 1801 to the present time the same system of recommendation had been continued. If the house would call to their recollection all that had passed during those 22 years, they might be surprised, that the charge of grasping at Indian patronage had come from that noble lord."* The motion of lord Melville, which was for copies of the correspon dence between the board of controul and the court of directors, relative to the recal of sir G. Barlow, was then negatived; and lord Lauderdale having declined + to urge farther his pretensions to the office of governor general, the directors gave way to the next recommendation of government, and appointed lord Minto to that high situation. Thus ended, through the moderation of lord Lauderdale and the forbearance of ministers, a contest, which, we trust, will eventu ally lead to a clear settlement of the question, whether the real and effective nomination to the chief government of India is to reside in the crown of England, or in the directors of the East-India company. The rapid decline of Mr. Fox's health, which was now too apparent to be longer disguised, had great effect, it is said, in determining lord Lauderdale to withdraw his pretensions to the government of India. He probably foresaw a most pertinacious opposition to his appointment on the part of the direc tors, and it was natural that he should be unwilling, in the then critical and dangerous state of his friend, to harass and disturb his mind with a contest for any personal iuterest of his own. It was, indeed, but too true, as he justly anticipated, that the life of that great and excellent statesman was drawing fast to a close. Mr. Fox had re ceived from nature an uncommon vigour of constitution, and notwithstanding the irregularities of his youth, he had enjoyed uninterrupted health till about two years before his death, when the seeds of the disorder, to which he fell afterwards a Cobbett's Debates, Vol. VII. p. 958. VOL. XLVIII. S-Z About June, 20th. victim, |