noble lord was personally concerned, he had conducted the affair then before the house, in a manner which corresponded with his character, and the rank that he held in the country. Still, however, his noble friend's situation had been a hard one. A libel against him had been lying for a long period on the table of the house, and had in consequence been generally circulated, with something like an air of authority; the author of which, had it been promulgated in any other manner, would ere now have experienced the severity of the law. Before he entered on the subject, he would observe that the character of this prosecution against the marquis Wellesley, differed materially from that of any other India prosecution. In every preceding India prosecution, not errors of policy alone, but personal corruption, had been attributed to the individual accused. No man had dared, in the present instance, to whisper the slightest insinuation of such a nature against the noble marquis. Certainly, the last Resolution of the noble lord charged his noble friend with ambition, and a love of power, evinced by his actions, at the very moment that he was retiring from his high situation. This prosecution contained within itself an evident contradiction. A learned gent. not just now in parliament, had said that there were three parties in this investigation; the noble marquis, the court of directors, and the suffering millions in India. The two first unquestionably were parties in the investigation; but with respect to the suffering millions in India, did not that learned gent. know, that the accusation of the chiefs and rajahs of India against the British government there, was, that it was a government for the protection of the lower orders, who, in the provinces under British influence, enjoyed a degree of security and happiness, for which they in vain sought in any other part of Asia? The suffering millions of India, therefore, were no parties to this cause. The noble lord had expressed his hope that no person would decide on this question from motives of personal attachment. For himself, the long friendship with which he had been honoured by the noble marquis, had naturally created in his mind feelings of the highest respect and attachment; but in communicating to the house his sentiments on the subject, he was actuated by nobler motives. He had himself been in India; he had witnessed the danger at which it had trembled; he had witnessed the joy which the relief that the noble marquis's measures afforded had occasioned. He had heard the opinions in India of the most faithful and the most intelligent of the company's servants, and he had never heard a doubt expressed of the justice and propriety of the noble marquis's conduct. It would be enough for the vindication of the noble marquis, were he to state that the principles on which he acted had been approved of by the government who employed him. This would be enough for the vindication of every executive officer. But he would go further, he would shew that even had that approbation not been given, the noble marquis's conduct would have been not the less justifiable and honourable. The subject resolved itself into two parts, the transmutation of subsidy for territory, and the military interference with the province of Oude. With regard to the first point, the measures which the noble marquis pursued were imperiously called for. He was guided by the declaration of the East India company, repeatedly made; for instance, to lord Hobart, who was instructed to transmute subsidy into territory, in order that the territory from which the company were to derive support in war should be in their hands during peace, and be thus rendered more available when a period of war might occur. When the noble marquis first went out to India, he was charged by the court of directors with similar instructions, to change subsidy for territory; and when he failed in an undertaking of that nature (from circumstances which it was not necessary to state) they lamented that failure. Subsequently, when the noble marquis effected a transmutation of subsidy for territory with the rajah of Tanjore, the court of Directors thanked him for so doing. After this, they could not surely turn short round and say that an accession of territory in India was against the law in all cases. There was another reason why they could not say this: thinking highly of the services of the noble marquis in the war against Tippoo Sultaun, the court of directors had behaved to him as a great body ought to behave to a great man, and had rewarded him with a pension during the continuance of their charter, expressly declaring that by the destruction of Tippoo the company had gained a great accession of territory!" How, then, could the noble marquis suppose, after this explicit declaration, that there could be any disapprobation of future transmutation? But, this was not all. The noble marquis had, in this particular instance, informed the company of his intentions; he had told them that he meant to avail himself of the existing circumstances in Oude, to introduce the British power into that country. To this the company expressed no objection; they never replied, that it was against the law, or entreated him to desist from the execution of his plans. It was therefore fairly to be inferred, that those plans met with their concurrence. With regard to the other part of the subject, the introduction of military force into the Dewab, was it not evidently the wish of the directors that the civil and military power of the nabob of Oude should be reduced? When the noble marquis acquainted them that he was about to reform the useless and even dangerous battalions of the nabob, they in answer approved of his intention, and when he had compleated his military, to effect a civil reform; and was it to be endured that the noble marquis should now be told that these were measures highly criminal, and that he had fixed an everlasting stigma on the British name and character in India? But, this was not all; after the noble marquis had effected his objects, he received the approbation of the directors, at least of the secret committee, which was a sufficient justification. To prove this, it would be necessary to refer to the letter from that committee, dated the 29th of Dec. 1802, in answer to one of the noble marquis, in which he acquainted them with what had been done in Oude, and intimated his intention of retiring from the high situation which he held in India. In this answer the committee, instead of censuring the noble marquis for the line of conduct which he had adopted, entreated that he would remain another year, and finish the work which he had so happily begun. Was not this a bona fide approbation? Unquestionably, there were some among the directors who did not approve of the noble marquis's proceedings. The deputy chairman, for instance, (who was entitled to the highest respect), had uniformly expressed his dislike to them but still, the opinion of the great majority of the directors was in his favour. He would now, however, argue the question, without reference to their approbation or disapprobation. If the noble marquis were to act at all in India, his attention must naturally have been directed to | two points; the first, whether he had any right whatever to interfere in Oude? the other, whether the occasion on which he did interfere was sufficient to justify him in such interference? As to the first point, no man, considering the relation which subsisted between the British possessions and the province of Oude, could possibly question the right of the British government to interfere with the affairs of that province. By treaty, Oude was to be defended by the British. By policy, Oude must be defended by the British; for to defend Bengal without defending Oude was impossible. Undeniably, therefore, the British government were justified in interfering authoritatively, and compelling the introduction into that country of an adequate military force. Who, then, was to be the judge of the quantity of the force which ought to be so introduced? What said sir John Shore, by whom the treaty with Oude had been concluded? He considered himself the proper judge. Had not lord Cornwallis declared, that if the reform in Oude were not carried into effect voluntarily, he should be obliged to compel the nabob to provide for his military defence? Moreover, had not that noble lord appointed two ministers of the nabob to carry his orders into execution, assuring them that he would support them against their master in the fulfilment of this task? How idle was it, then, to talk of the independence of Oude. Had not sir John Shore revoked Mr. Cherry's rash and unadvised assertion, that no further interference on the part of the British should take place in Oude, and had not the court of directors applauded him, for this revocation? On what principle had sir John Shore himself interfered in the government of that province? A man of more mildness, temperance, and moderation, he would also say of more integrity and ability, never existed. It was not to derogate from his administration to declare, that energy was not the characteristic of it; and yet sir John Shore, espousing the cause of Vizier Ally, decided, at his own tribunal, who should be the prince of Oude. Would he have done this had he not felt his undoubted right of interference? He had expressly told the company that he found it necessary to establish the British influence in Oude on a surer footing, because the two states were so connected, that without an over-ruling influence in Oude it would be impossible to keep Bengal. After all this, and much more, which he would not detain opportunity was afforded by the passage of an hostile force, from one extremity of the province to the other, that force was not joined by a single individual of those suffering millions,' as they had been so pathetically, but so unfoundedly, termed. But the noble lord accused his noble friend, not only of sending into Oude a force larger than what was necessary, but of thehouse by stating, who could doubt that | try, that sometime afterwards, when a fair the right of interference was unquestionable, and that the noble marquis was the best judge as to the extent of that interference? So much for that part of the subject. Did the occasion, then, call for the interference which the noble marquis exercised? What was the situation of Oude at the time? Zemaun Shaw, at the head of a formidable army, threatening Oude, the Mahrattas making no movement and shew-charging the vizier for a force larger than ing no disposition to oppose him, and a large French force in the heart of Egypt. Well did he recollect the feelings of natives and Europeans in India at that period. Well did he recollect the doubt and dismay which existed before the noble marquis arrived, which he dispelled very soon after his arrival, and which never re-appeared during his continuance in the government. It was, indeed, a period of danger, and one which called loudly upon the noble marquis to do that which he did; to interpose with a strong hand, and to put the military force of Oude in a state better calculated to repel the assailants, by which it was threatened. Sir John Craig, that most able and respectable officer, had demanded of the noble marquis a force of 20,000 men to meet the dangers that threatened Oude, not because he thought this force adequate to the object, but because he conceived that it was all that could be spared; yet even this number, lord Wellesley was unable to grant him. It was true, that he had sent an embassy to Persia for assistance; but the result of this embassy was contingent; and was it therefore to preclude him from endeavouring to put Oude into a better posture of defence? The civil state of Oude was this, half the army which ought to have been on the frontiers, to repel the menaced attack, was compelled to remain in the country to quell the rebellion, which the bad administration of affairs had occasioned. Even sir John Craig, with his small and inefficient force, had been obliged to leave two regiments at Lucknow, to defend the prince against his own subjects. By a letter from Mr. Lumsdale, it appeared, that even some of the frontier forts were in the hands of rebellious Zemindars. In these circumstances, was not the noble marquis completely justified in interfering to compel a mutinous army to obey its leaders, and a rebellious people to submit to their prince? He did interfere he obtained his objects. So completely did he change the character and disposition of the coun was actually sent. If this were true, which he denied, the noble marquis had nothing to do with it. He had desired the proper officer to make out the account in the manner most favourable to the nabob. If any mistake had taken place, which was not very likely, and which he completely disbelieved, was the commander in chief in India to be chargeable with the error of a clerk in the accountant-general's office? The noble lord had so mingled in his Resolutions that which was true, with that which was not quite true, that he felt the impossibility of proposing any amendment to them. On all, therefore, but the last, he should move the previous question: to the last he must give his most direct negative. It charged his noble friend with ambition and the love of power. True, he was ambitious, but it was that his country should be great; true, he did love power, but it was the power of contributing by every honourable means to her prosperity and happiness. Traduced as his noble friend's character had been, he was desirous of meeting the personal imputations that had been cast upon him, and should conclude with moving the following Resolution:-"That it appears to this house, that the marquis Wellesley in carrying into execution the late arrangements in Oude, was actuated by an ardent zeal for the public service, and by the desire of providing more effectually for the prosperity, the defence, and the safety of the British territories in India." Col. Allen rose and spoke as follows:Sir; It is with great diffidence I venture to offer myself to your notice, and to trespass on the attention of the house; but having passed the greater portion of my life in India, having been there during the early part of the administration of the noble marquis whose conduct is the subject of investigation; having held an official, and I may say confidential, situation, which gave me opportunities of knowing something of the motives and principles which governed the conduct of the noble lord during that the official Instructions of the court of period. And having attentively perused d rectors to the government of Bengal, authe voluminous papers laid before parlia-thorizing them to do two of the acts, for ment, I cannot reconcile to my feelings to the successful accomplishment of which give a silent vote in this question. A ques- the noble lord is charged with the violation which, important as it is to the cha- tion of a treaty. They direct the British racter of the noble lord, is of infinitely force in Oude to be augmented, and they greater importance to the public-for, in direct the expence of such augmentation my humble opinion, if the Resolutions to be charged to the vizier. And, further, moved by the noble lord shall receive the they recommend the reform of his milisanction of this house, it will lead to the tary establishment. But I beg to call the subversion of every existing treaty with attention of the house to another document, the native princes of India, and shake the which is of importance, not only because foundation of the British power in the East. it bears the authority of lord Cornwallis's -In discussing the justice and the policy name, but because it was written in India, of the measures pursued by marquis Wel- about the time when the Instructions from lesley in Oude; it is necessary to consi- the court of directors, I have just now reder, what was the nature of our connec- cited, were preparing in England.-I altion with that state, at the time when lude to a letter from lord Cornwallis to these measures were adopted; and I think the Secret Committee, written on the 4th there is abundant proof in the Papers of March 1787, in which his lordship exbefore us, that Oude was not an indepen- plains the principles upon which the ardent principality; but that it was alto- rangement he had formed with the vizier gether dependant on the British govern- was founded: his lordship says, They are, ment, and in fact identified with it. I am that, on our part, we shall totally abstain supported in this opinion by high authori- 'from interference in the management of ties: lord Cornwallis, in a letter to the * the revenue, commerce, and internal gocourt of directors dated 16th Nov. 1786, 'vernment of Oude, but with the entire observes the real interests of the vizier 'conduct of all political business, shall un'we look upon as inseparable from our dertake its defence against all external 'own.' (No. 6, p. 3.) And in a Letter to 'enemies whatever. And on the other the vizier dated 15th April 1787 his lord-hand, that every civil and military exship says, as I consider the Company's pence necessarily incurred by the com'territories and those of your excellencypany in the country of Oude, shall be the same, the protection of your excel- defrayed by the vizier.' (No. 2. p. 4).—— lency's dominions is absolutely necessa- The court of directors weighing these opi'ry.' (No. 6. p. 3.) That this was the view nions of lord Cornwallis, gave their sancthe court of directors took of the subject, tion and approbation to the principles upon. 14 years before the arrangement made which his lordship acted with respect to by marquis Wellesley, may be seen by a Oude; as will be seen by the following reference to the Instructions that were Extract of a Letter to the governor general sent to Bengal in a letter to the governor dated 8th April 1789. Having attentivegeneral, dated 31st July 1787: they say, ly perused all the minutes, proceedings, one thing is clear; the defence of Oude and letters alluded to in these paramust be provided for: if, therefore, the graphs, and in your subsequent advices, Cawnpore brigade be not equal to such on the subject. of the late agreement <defence, either the vizier's own troops concluded by lord Cornwallis with the must be reformed, so as to make them vizier, we approve of the principles upon 'serviceable, or another detachment of which it is founded.' (No. 2. p. 4).—It company's troops must be stationed in may not be unimportant to observe, that the country; the additional expence of this was the sanction of the highest authowhich he may be enabled to pay, by rity of the state; for the Instructions must reducing his own useless troops. And have been approved by the Board of Conthis we recommend to your most serious troul, and it must be recollected that the consideration; always bearing in your president of that board was a cabinet mimind, that from the nature of our con- nister. The opinion of lord Cornwallis, and nection with the nabob of Oude we con- the Instructions of the Court of Directors, sider the prosperity of that country as approved as they were by the Board of inseparable from the prosperity of our Controul, in my humble opinion, fully jusown provinces. Here, then, we have tify the principles upon which lord WelVOL. X. 3 U lesly acted.-Lord Cornwallis in a letter to the vizier dated 29th Jan. 1793, says, Your excellency must be aware, that such is our close connection, that every 'chief in India must consider the two states as forming one power.' (No. 2. p. 13).-Lord Teignmouth in a Minute dated 13th Jan. 1798, observes, The govern'ment of Oude both in the opinion of the 'natives of the country, as well as externally, is considered a dependancy on the English, whatever its relations under treaty may be.' (No. 1. p. 15).-And his lordship adds, In the estimation of the 'natives of India, the kingdom of Oude is held as a gift from the company to Sujah ud Dowlah and as a dependant fief.'-Lord Teignmouth in his Evidence given before this house being asked, Did you consider the nabob to be at all in the light of an independent sovereign in respect to the company's government?' His lordship's answer is, Certainly not.' (p. 44).-Mr. Cooper, a member of the supreme government, having resided 32 years in India, being asked From the period of your first arrival in Bengal to the present, did you ever understand there was any general opinion otherwise, than that the nabob was totally and completely under the subjection of the British government?' futing them. Lord Cornwallis in a Letter to the court of directors dated 16th Nov. 1787, says, I cannot however express how much I was concerned during my short residence at his capital, and my progress through his dominions, to be 'witness of the disordered state of his finances, and of the desolate appearance of his country. The evils were too alarming to admit of palliation.' (No. 2. p. 4). In a letter to the vizier, dated 24th Jan. 1793, his lordship says, On my return from the war in the Decan, I had the mortification to find that, after a period of 5 years, the evils which had prevailed at the beginning of that time, had increased; that your finances had fallen into a worse state, by an enormous accumulation of debt; that the same oppression continued to be exercised. Though the subsidy is at present paid up with regularity, yet I cannot risk my reputation, nor neglect my duty, by remaining 'a silent spectator of evils which will, in the end, and perhaps that end is not very ' remote, render abortive, even your excellency's earnest desire that the subsidy shall be punctually paid.' (No. 2. p. 11).-In a letter from lord Cornwallis to the vizier, dated 12th Aug. 1793, his lordship says, It is well known, not only Mr. Cooper's answer is, I certainly al-throughout Hindostan, but to all Europe, ways so considered him, and in my seat at the board, my conduct and opinions there were given in consequence of so considering him.' (p. 47). The few Extracts I have taken the liberty of reading to the house, in my humble opinion clearly establish these facts; that Oude is not an independent principality, but a dependency on the British government; that the principles upon which lord Wellesley acted, were laid down by lord Cornwallis, sanctioned and approved by the court of directors and the board of controul; and that the measures of the noble lord were found ed in justice. Of the policy of those measures, it is impossible for any person in the least acquainted with India, or who has taken the trouble to look into the papers before us, to entertain the shadow of doubt. It has been stated, that the resources of the vizier's dominions were abundant and daily increasing; if that had really been the case, I might have doubted a little the necessity of the measures of the noble lord. It is extraordinary, but no less true, that the very papers produced to substantiate the charges against the noble lord, afford abundant means of re that notwithstanding the prevalence of peace during so many years, the revenues of your excellency's dominions are diminished beyond all conjecture.' (No. 2. p. 16).-Lord Teignmouth in his Evidence, being asked, Can your lordship give the committee an account of the state of the administration of the nabob of Oude?' His lordship's answer is, I would rather speak generally, as to what I know of it. All the Papers printed by the house sufficiently shew what the state of that country was: that its administration was exceedingly bad in all its departments; the whole administration was as bad as it well could be in all its departments, and it was the perpetual object of government to prevail on the nabob to make a change in his administration. Lord Cornwallis had attempted it, and it was equally urged by the government abroad and the company at home.' And his lordship added, I think in Oude there was no justice at all.' (p. 22).-Mr. Cowper in his Evidence, says, It is impossible to con'ceive a state of greater anarchy or misrule than prevailed in the dominions of Oude: as far back as I can recollect, |