ficial document for the court of directors to reason and act upon; admitting how erer, for a moment, that it were so considered, I would observe, on the address in question, that however ably drawn and eloquently expressed, it must be admitted to be only an ex parte statement; and I should imagine that every impartial mind, before coming to a definitive conclusion, would wish to know and to have an opportunity of maturely weighing whatever has been or can be advanced on the other side; and I confess myself the more anxious on the point in the present case, in consequence of having understood that the decision of the supreme council on the policy or expediency of the war (or on points connected with them) was not unanimous ; and that a very able and experiended member of the council recorded, in minutes of dissent,opinions differing essentially from those of Lord Hastings and the majority, which minutes have not as yet been communicated to the court of directors. That there are ample grounds for withholding them I am bound to conclude, as it is a duty enjoin ed by the court of directors on the junior members of the supreme council, and of all our other governments, to record, for the information of the court, their separate opinions in the form of dissents, when they differ from those of the majority; and I do not recollect any other instance of such separate recorded opinions having been withheld from the court of directors: but the necessity itself for withholding them I think points to delay in coming to any resolution that should imply approbation of the war, and especially when it is considered that, in all cases that relate to our conduct, or to that of our representatives towards the natives states and population of India, we fill the characters both of judge and party. Once possessed of the means of forming an impartial judgment, and fully satisfied as to the grounds upon which the war was undertaken, I shall be as ready as either of my colleagues to concur in recommending to our constituents the granting to Lord Hastings some suitable mark of the Company's gratitude, not indeed exactly of the description nor in the form of that adopted by the court (to which I shall presently state my objections), but in liberality equal to any that has been granted to either of his illustrious predecessors; but impressed as I am with anxiety and alarm on another point, I avail myself of this occasion to declare, that, admitting the justice and necessity of the late war to have been as glaring as its brilliant success, and the grounds apon which it was undertaken as strong and unimpeachable as they certainly appear to be in the exposition given by Lord Hastings above alluded to,

although I would concur in the pecuniary grant to his lordship, I could not, at least at present, extend my approbation to the result of the war, and the use which his lordship has made of victory, in aunulling the title and power, and retaining, or, as it is expressed in the address, keeping in our own hands," the dominions of the Peishwa, which his lordship states to be a matter of positive moral necessity; also the dismembering the state of Holkar of two-thirds of its territory, on account, as his lordship states, of the dangerous impolicy of leaving that state in a condition to be ever again troublesome; the retaining also a great part of the territory of the Rajali of Nagpour, on two motives, one, the narrowing the power of that state,' and the other, the convenience of the possession to ourselves, as the tract connects itself with other pos'sessions of ours, and completes the frontier.' The noble marquis, aware that these results of the war would have to encounter prejudices in England, where, his lordship observes, there are continual declamations against the propensity of the Company's governments to add to territorial possessions already 'too large,' and where (his lordship might have added) schemes of conquest and territorial aggrandisement were some years since reprobated by the unanimons voice of parliament, as contrary to the wish, the honour, and the policy of this country, asserts, what his lordship terms, the clear principle of right to dispose of territory won in war, for

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each of these princes had lost all. Upon this principle we are justly in possession of all our immense territorial acquisitions ; but I must nevertheless, and notwithstanding my sincere respect for the high authority by which it has been thus broadly advanced, enter my solemn protest against it, as a principle upon which the strong and powerful can always acquire a right to dispose of the territory' of the weak and defenceless. Towards the conclusion of his address to the Calcultta public, the governor-general observes, the Indus is now in effect your frontier; and, subsequently, the Mahratta power is wholly and irretrievably broken.' His lordship then gives a very encouraging statement of the fair prospect resulting to the British interests from all this vast accession of territory and influence, and seems even to anticipate from it, not only permanent stability to our Indian empire, but the chearful, or at least resigned acquiescence of all the late powerful members of the Mahratta confederacy in their own degradation, and in their holding, as feudatories under our government, whatever portion of their own former territories we may allow them

to retain; auguring much, too, from the grateful attachment of the Rajepoots and other petty states, among whom we have distributed portions of the territories of their late oppressive masters. 'All,' says his lordship, within the Indus is attached to you; thus your enlarged sway is nothing but the influence arising from the reliance of the several states on your moderation, your good faith, and your honest desires to promote their welfare. In short, his lordship seems to entertain the most sanguine hope that, in future, the British power is to be resorted to as the universal umpire, and even the common parent, through regions equal in extent and population to the whole of Europe, and in respect to finaucial advantages, his lordship expresses himself, though more briefly, in terms equally sanguine: I deceive myself egregiously,' says his lordship, if any augmented military charges will not be light indeed, in comparison with the large additional resources secured to meet such eventual demand. This is our benefit in the arrangement.'

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"I am sure Lord Hastings sincerely entertains these sanguine anticipations, and am persuaded that, as long as he remains in his present exalted and important station, they will be realised, if great ta leuts, and the application of them with consummate rectitude, unwearied zeal, and a conciliating couduct, can avail to effect it; but to me they appear delusive and visionary, inconsistent with actual experience of the past, a due observance of the general disposition of the natives of India towards Europeans, and with a due consideration of the exasperated feelings and irritation, the universal hatred and terror we must have excited in every state and every individual in India, of whose territories we have possessed ourselves, or whom we have reduced from power to insignificance. If, from the period of our first interference in their concerns, and the establishment of what was called the subsidiary system, which might be as accurately defined the system of planting a small army in the capital of each state by way of protecting it, exacting a pecuniary subsidy for that protection, and afterwards exacting territory in exchange for the subsidy; if under even this measured interference, there have been continual secret and combined, though, fortunately for us, unskilfully combined, plots and machinations for the recovery of their independence, can we imagine this spirit to be crushed or extinguished, by our having dissolved the fabric and constitution of their government, annihilated the power and title of the head of it, and conquered and appropriated his dominions? Can we rationally conclude that they will permanently acquiesce in their

present state, and that our safety is ensured by their despair? or may we not rather reckon upon renewed plottings aud combinatious, and the necessity of being continually and vigilantly on our guard against them, by having our armies constantly on a war establishment? and this without taking into the account the possible contingency of our being at some future period engaged in European warfare with a maritime power, and in that case, the too probable effect of our system in placing the wishes of the native states on the side of our enemy, in the event of his landing a force in India or conveying a force to that country. My view of the subject, and of the system, is the same that I expressed twelve years ago. We seem to have reached an eminence, perilous in proportion to its height, but well calculated to captivate ardent and inexperienced minds; and I may hear repeat the predictions that were made at the close of the last or former sanguinary and successful conflict-" halcyon days of

peace and security! the various Indian "states reposing under the wing of Bri"tish justice, permanent stability, found"ed on an immoveable basis, large sur"plus, &c." How far a part of these predictions have been verified, I leave to be shewn by the historian who shall record our late military career in India, and do justice to the heroic exertions and splendid military talents by which our Indian empire has been preserved and so enormously extended. The financial part may be thus briefly expressed, namely, as we have advanced in territory we have advanced in debt, and receded in clear income. Since the year 1793, when the revered Marquis Cornwallis left India, our annual revenue has been considerably more than doubled, our Indian debt trebled, and our surplus revenue extinguished: after having possessed ourself of almost all the countries in Iudia that produce money, we are obliged to borrow money to maintain them, and to reckon upon loans and vast remittances of specie from England as parts of the established revenue. If, notwithstanding such results, those with whom the decision will rest shall still see peace and stability to our Indian empire, and surplus revenue, in accession of territory, I shall only be able to account for it on the half impious principle, that "quos deus vult perdere prius dementat." I have been speaking of the system only in a political or interested view; even in that contracted view let its benefits be shewn: but if we had gained as many millions as we have lost; if our Indian debt, instead of being swelled to its present enormous amount, had been extinguished by the new system, and the wars it has produced, I should still have deplored its adoption as fraught with ul

timate rain, and on account of the millions of peaceful unoffending families whom it has drawn from their homes, or with whose blood the soil is crimsoned, but whose sufferings we never hear of nor enquire about; and what completes my regret, with the exceptions of the war against the perfidious Tippoo Sultaun, and that with the Nepaulese, I have not seen the justice or necessity of any war in which we have been engaged in India from my first acquaintance in that country. I cannot conclude these observations, without adding, which I do with sincere pleasure, that I am perfectly aware that Lord Hastings had no share in the adoption of the system I deplore, and of the difficulty of receding from which I am fully sensible; and although I cannot but lament, I presume not to censure his lordship's extension of it, unacquainted as I am with all the considerations that may have influenced his conduct: but I must at the same time confess, that there is no part of his lordship's address to the people of Calcutta that I read with so much satisfaction, as the few words in it which give hopes that the occupation of the Peishwa's territory may be temporary only. It is impossible I can have any wish to justify or apologize for the Peishwa, and if there are proofs of his having intended to massacre Mr. Elphinstone, justice would dictate a much severer punishment for him than the loss of power and dominion; but, in respect to his infractions of the treaties made with him, I cannot forget that when the treaty of Bassein was concluded with him, the Peishwa was a fugitive in our dominions, and the dispatch of the minister who negotiated that treaty contained this memorable passage, thing but the prospect of certain destruction could induce the Peishwa to consent to the terms prescribed to him.' And when the last treaty with him was concluded, namely in June 1817, it will be found, I believe, that the Peishwa was in a state of equal peril; indeed the governor-general candidly avowed, 'we surrounded him (says his lordship) in his capital, and obliged him to submit to terms which preserved the ancient appearances of connection, but deprived him of much strength should 'he hazard future machinations.'

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the Peishwa had brought himself into this situation, incurred by his own suspicious conduct, I fully admit; but it must also be admitted that those treaties coutained the vivid seeds of war: and on every consideration, I hope from Lord Hastings the gracious act of restoring to the Peishwa his dominions and station, as head of the Mahratta state.

"2d. I dissent from the resolution, decause of the time at which the proposed advantage to his lordship or his family is

to commence, namely, from the present time; and I am at a loss to imagine that even his lordship's nearest friends would expect that it should be added to what he is now in the actual receipt of from the Company, namely, the salary of £25,000 per ann., which is attached to his high station of governor-general. Very different I have understood to be the practice of His Majesty's government when pensions are granted for services to the state; so different, that I believe, when the person to whom a pension has been granted comes again into office, the pension ceases while he continues in it. On this point, I shall only add, that when that which I consider the proper time shall arrive for the granting a pension to Lord Hastings, shall be ready to concur in granting him one equal and similar in its terms to that which was granted to the Marquis Cornwallis; and those who know how I venerate the memory of that nobleman, will admit, that I could not more strongly express my respect for the Marquis of Hastings.

3d. Because I cannot approve of the peculiar form and wording of the grant, or the terms in which it is drawn, and which I apprehend to be unusual if at all precedented, inasmuch as it makes the application of the sum granted independent of the will of Lord Hastings, by granting it to trustees instead of to himself.

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"4th. Because I cannot approve of one of the grounds assigned for the grant, or attribute any particular merit to Lord Hastings, or consider it as making any part of his claim to our gratitude, that his lordship has devoted himself with unwearied assiduity to the attainment of a comprehensive knowledge of the Company's affairs;' namely, the affairs which his lordship had undertaken to administer. This appears to me to constitute but a very slender foundation for praise or reward, and to exhibit a considerable falling off from the opening or commencement of the resolution. His lordship would be naturally assiduous to obtain that comprehensive knowledge for his own sake, and for the preservation of his own high character. A far higher claim to praise his lordship has evinced in that elevated and characteristic disdain of inferior or interested views, which determined him to give up, as the Marquis Cornwallis has done before him, his claim to the vast sum of prize money that he was entitled to as commander-in-chief of the armies.

* J. HUDLESTON." "East-India House, 18th May 1819."

Mr. Hume wished to know whether any proceedings had taken place, since the subject was last before them, with respect to the legality of granting this sum of money out of the territorial revenues of the Company?

The Chairman replied, nothing, that he was aware of, had been done ou this poiut. He should now proceed to put the question; but begged leave to ask,in the first instance, whether it was the pleasure of the court that the resolution should be read again? Mr. R. Jackson hoped the court would allow the thanks that were voted to the Marquis of Hastings, on the 3d of February last, to be read, as that resolution stated the grounds on which the noble marquis deserved their approbation and gratitude.

M. Hume said, if any part of the proceedings were read, the two re30lutions of thanks, which had been voted to the noble marquis, ought to be laid before the court. The vote of thanks for the Nepal war was voted on the 11th December 1816, that for the recent transactious on the 3d February last, and the resolution of the court of directors, the 3d he believed of both.

The clerk then read the following resolutions:

"At a general court of proprietors, held on Wednesday the 11th of December 1816, it was resolved unanimously, that the thanks of this court be given to the most noble the Marquis of Hastings, for the prudence, energy, and ability, combined with a judicious application of the Company's means, shewn by his lordship in planning and conducting the late war against the Nepalese, which was occasioned by encroachments on their part, and for concluding a peace with the Goorkah power on terms honourable and advantageous to the Company.

"At a general court of proprietors held on Wednesday the 3d of February 1819, it was resolved, that the thanks of this court be presented to the most noble the Marquis of Hastings, K.B.; for the great and signal wisdom, skill, and energy, so eminently displayed by his lordship in planning and conducting the late military operations against the Pindarrees; of which the happy result has been the extinction of a predatory power establishing itself in the heart of the empire, whose existence experience had shewn to be alike incompatible with the security of Company's possessions and the general tranquillity of India. Also that this court, while it deeply regrets any circumstances leading to the extension of the Company's territory, duly appreciates the foresight, promptitude, and vigour, by which the most noble the Marquis of Hastings, by a great combination of political and military talent, anticipated and encountered the proceedings of a hostile confederacy aurongst the Mahratta states, defeated their armies, reduced them to submission, and materially lessened their means of fature aggression."

After a short pause, Mr. Grant rose and said, that not seeing a disposition in any member of the general court to enter on the discussion of this question, he was induced to offer himself for a short time to the notice of the proprietors. Though he did not wish to take any prominent part in this debate, he yet felt himself called on to discharge that obligation, which, as a member of the executive body, he owed to the proprietors, by expressing the sentiments he entertained with reference to the proposition now submitted to them. In doing so, he begged clearly to be understood as not meaning to make this a personal question; it had, indeed, a personal object, but he should not be guided by personal considerations. The question was also a public one, and he should treat it as such, proceeding ou a principle he had held long before the Marquis of Hastings was placed in the situation of governor-geneial, or the act which formed the groundwork of this resolution were contemplated. When, therefore, he expressed an opinion adverse to this grant, it was not to be ascribed to any personal indisposition towards the noble marquis; it was the result of long-established conviction; and he would state a similar opinion if any other person were placed in the situation in which the noble lord now stood. No matter who wielded the power of governor-general; he would, under the like circumstances, hold the same opinion, and deliver it with the same degree of openness and freedom. Allusions had been made just now, said the hon. director, to the votes of thanks which had been presented to the noble marquis, for the ability he had displayed in conducting two wars; as if either of those resolutions held out any thing like a pledge, that it was to be followed up by such a proposition as that which was at present brought forward. He had himself been present when the last vote of thanks was proposed in the general court to the noble marquis, and he had concurred in it, but he had not the remotest idea that such a vote was to be construed to imply that a large sum of money was likewise to be awarded, and to follow soon. If any gentleman, at the time, harboured an intention of proposing such a resolution as was this day brought before the court, he would have done well if he had then fairly stated it. The hon. director said he objected to a vote of money now on principle; and the principle was this, that no servant of the Company, in the execution of a great public trust, like that of governor-general, remunerated for his exertions with large allowances, endowed with most extensive authority, and limited to no definite time in his high office, ought, in the midst of his period of service, to be rewarded with extraordi

nary pecuniary grants (the chief reward the Company had to bestow), for what he had already done. (Hear! hear !) Let bim finish and wind up his services; let the whole of his conduct be before his constituents, and then let the question of extraordinary remuneration be agitated. (Hear! hear!) Such had been the usual practice of the Company. The hon. chairmau had in the course of his address alluded to precedent: he (Mr. Grant) knew of but one at all applicable to the present case; it had occurred about 20 years ago; and without wishing to say any thing unpleasant respecting it, he must think that it furnished no encouragement to future imitation, although the services which had produced it were undoubtedly of a brilliant nature. The principle which he supported could not be deemed an unreasonable one; it went only to this, that the Company should see the account of service fairly made up, before they decid ed on the amount of remuneration which those services demanded: this was his objection of principle. It was sufficiently known to the court of directors; for, from the moment it was rumoured that the present question would be agitated, he openly stated what his opinion was. He was not actuated by any particular jealousy of Lord Hastings, nor did he at all question the honorable feelings of his mind; he had reference to those general principles of human nature and of prudent government, by which a public body, like the East-India Company, whose control over its servants was peculiarly limited, ought to be regulated.

The hon. director thought this ground alone was sufficient to justify him in refusing his consent to the resolution; but supposing the fundamental objection he had stated not to lie, he conceived the proposed measure to be still premature, because the transactions in which Lord Hastings had been engaged were not fully terminated. Even warlike operations had not yet ceased. We heard by recent advices of commotions still subsisting in different parts of the country. Tranquil lity was not completely established; and surely they onght at least to witness the settlement of those disturbances before they proceeded to determine what should be done in the way of reward. There were, perhaps, other points which ought to be considered; but, looking to this alone, he conceived the court were clearly premature, in proceeding to such a vote at present; nor did he see the propriety or dignity of precipitating the business, even with reference to the noble marquis himself. (Hear hear 1) There appeared to him, in the whole course of this business, less the call of great public feeling, of a general and simultaneous expression of sentiment, than the powerful operation

of private friendship; a motive which he did not mean to condemn, but which certainly ought not to direct the proceedings of a great public body. Another reason which induced him to think they were premature was this, that they were yet iguorant of the system of administration to be adopted for the newly acquired countries we were to retain, or for those which had come under our protection and controul. The noble marquis had taken possession of the extensive dominious of the Pelshwa; and there were, it was understood, other important changes about to be effected, but Lord Hastings's plans were not yet developed; indeed there had hardly been time for maturing them: yet these, after all, formed the most important considerations. Should we not, then, wait for the knowledge and result of the territorial and political measures adopted in so new a state of things? Was it not premature to proceed to a high remunerative grant, whilst the most important acts, connected with the late military operations, remained yet to be performed, at least to be known? The hon. director said, he would not now enter into the question of the course of policy which had, for a con siderable time, prevailed in India. He would not now enquire into the situation in which the Company were placed, by the extensive changes which had recently taken place; he had stated his view of the subject to that court on a former occasion, and the opinion he had then expressed he had not since altered. From vast extension of territories, instead of that tranquillity and consolidation of power, to which some gentlemen professed to look forward, he rather apprehended the occasions of new commotions and of interminable disputes. The more expanded our territories were, the more numerous our dependant states, the greater was the probability of incessant trouble, in one quarter or another, of so immense a dominion; and the consequence must be, besides, a continual engagement of our government in the affairs of all the states of Hindoostan, the necessity of encreasing our already very large military establishment, and thus the reduction of the Company's debt would become more hopeless than ever. It would require a continuance of talent and of wisdom, beyoud what could be expected in the course of human affairs, to maintain the vast empire we now possessed in Judia in peace and prosperity; and if reverses happened, if encouragement were, at any time, taken by the people to withhold their rents, the Indian government might, at length, be necessitated to apply to this country for support, and that would bring before the English public the momentous question of furnishing British funds to maintain our Indian dominion. If there