of the sum which it had been intended is assign for the support of his excellency's dignity. Were his son appointed successor, and exalted to the musnud, his excellency could not be permitted to appropriate to himself the whole of the trea sures of the state, nor could any separate stipends be allotted out of the revenues of the country for the younger branches of the family, who would in such case be dependent on his excellency, or the bounty of the reigning prince.

an

6. His excellency promised to reflect on the communications which I had made to him, and to give me an explicit. swer in the limited time of two days. He expressed, however, his intention of bringing forward a proposition, connected with the territorial cession, relating to his own temporary absence, for the purpose of visiting the shrines of the Mohaininedan saints. I acquainted his excelIency, that though your lordship's instructions did not warrant the delay of an hour, yet I would hazard your lordship's displeasure, in the hope that his excellency would now see the necessity of bringing the negotiation to an immediate conclusion, and would not attempt to advance any proposal which in substance or spirit could be deemed exceptionable, or of a nature to admit the smallest hesitation in regard to an acquiescence in it.

Sir, Para. 1. I am directed, by his excellency the most noble the governorgeneral, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 23d ultimo.

2. Adverting to the tenor of his lordship's instructions to you, communicated in my letter of the 15th ultimo, and to the 7th paragraph of your dispatch above acknowledged, his lordship is led to suppose that you have it in contemplation to take measures for the immediate occupation of the territory proposed to be ceded to the honourable company, in commutation for the subsidy, notwithstanding the difficulties which the present season of the year opposes to the execution of this

measure.

3. His lordship, however, combining the consideration of those difficulties with his solicitude to accomplish the proposed object by the means of amicable negotiation, and the hope which his lordship yet encourages of obtaining his excellency's consent to a cession of territory, is disposed to suspend the measure of establishing the company's authority in those districts, without his ex ellency's declared consent, until the expiration of the rainy season.

4. His lordship therefore directs that you will, for the présent, confine your proceedings upon this point of his lordship's instructions to an arrangement of the plan for carrying them eventually into effect at the close of the present season, and that in the mean time you will continue your endeavours to obtain his excellency's consent to the territorial cession.

Extract from the resident, colonel Scott, dated Lucknow, 27th June, 1801. To his excellency the most noble the mar quis Wellesley, K. P. governor-geneTal, &c. Fort William.

My lord,-The vizier, in conformity to the appointment, honoured me with a visit yesterday morning at breakfast, and having retired with me into a private apartment, produced a short paper in the Persian language. It commenced with a distinct recapitulation of the three points which I had communicated to him on the 23d instant, as parts of your lordship's recent instructions; it then proceeded to state, that his excellency would, under certain conditions, discharge the whole balance of arrears due to the company on account of the augmentation of the troops in Oude; and further, that his excellency would nominate one of his sons, in the capacity of his temporary Locum tenens, or deputy, with orders under his excellency's seal and signature, to carry into execution, after his departure from Lucknow, the further reductions of the military establishments, and to complete the territorial cession. The conditions were, that he should be permitted to proceed upon his projected pilgrimages, and be allowed, on his return, to resume the government of his reserved dominions; the paper concluded with a strong assurance that this proposition was not brought forward with the view of interposing any unnecessary delay in the final arrangement of the territorial cession.

2. I informed his excellency that it was impossible for me, under your lordship's instructions, to accede to these or any other conditional stipulations. That, admitting his excellency's intentions of visiting the places proposed were sincere, as no steps were to be taken until his excellency's departure, some delay mus inevitably arise in delivering over the ceded countries, which at this period of

the year could not be afforded without considerable inconvenience and probable loss of revenue, and that as I could not discover any rational distinction between his concluding the treaty for the territorial cession, and his consigning that arrangement to his deputy, it appeared to my judgment indispensable, as well as most dignified, that the treaty should be concluded with his advice and assistance, and executed by himself, leaving the proposal of a temporary absence to be considered and determined in a personal conference with your lordship.

3. In pursuing the subject I noticed to his excellency that this was not the season of the year for undertaking the voyage he proposed, and that doubt might possibly arise as to the real places which it was in his contemplation to visit. His excellency, not comprehending that I alluded to the difficulties of getting out of the bay, replied, that he could wait at Madras or Bombay for the proper season, and that if his design was different from that which he had signified, he would have proposed the route by land.

4. In discussing the subject of the further reductions in the military establishments of this state his excellency observed, that extensive dismissions had been effected with his concurrence and cooperation, but that he could not consent to take any active part in, or to be a witness of, the further reductions proposed. To this I replied, that under any circumstances which could be supposed, the conpletion of the military reform was so indispensable that it could not be delayed for a moment; and I intreated his excellency to consider what would be your lordship's reflections and conclusions upon so persevering and obstinate a resolution to maintain in his service a large body of useless and disorderly troops.

5. I called to his excellency's consideration the predicament in which he would be placed should his perseverance in the unhappy counsels which he had adopted render it necessary to assume the districts without his consent. After repeating and exhausting, without effect, every argument which occurred to me, directed to manlinesss and dignity of conduct, to sincerity and to prudence, I explicitly declared to his excellency, that it was impracticable for me, consistent with my obligation of obedience to your lordship, to postpone any longer the execution of your lordship's orders, and that he must expect to hear, in the course of a day or two, that pre

paratory measures were pursuing for taking possession of the districts to be ceded.

6. His excellency's reply was in the usual strain of submission, and indicated a determination neither to come to a definitive arrangement, nor to co-operate and assist in the measure of a territorial cession, or in that of reductions of his remaining troops.

7. In the course of the conversation I observed, that if his excellency were really actuated by the motives which he had assigned, a repugnance to be a spectator to further dismissions in his army, and to the introduction of the company's authority in the districts to be appropriated as a security for the payment of the subsidy, the acceptance of his own proposition for abdicating the government, and reuring within the company's provinces, nominating either his son or the company his successors, would completely accomplish his purpose in a manner highly satisfactory to your lordship, advantageous to himself and family, and beneficial to all persons interested in the prosperity of Oude.

8. A short time after his excellency's departure from my house he sent for my moonshee, and, in explanation of some words which had passed in providing money for the payment of the troops, whom it might be intended to dismiss, directed him to inform me that the troops were in possession of assignments on the aumils for the arrears of pay due to them. This intimation, I conclude, is intended to manifest a disposition not to throw any impediments in the way of the reductions, though he will take no active part in the execution of them.

9. I did not omit to press for the continuance, without intermission, of payments on account of the balance of arrears, and as his excellency gave no positive promise of continuing these payments, I thought it expedient to declare to him that, in the event of any delay, I should be compelled to have recourse to the sequestration ordered by your lordship.

10. It was my wish to have retained in my possession the paper which the vizier had produced, but his excellency had declined leaving it with me on the pretence that it was useless, under my refusal of the stipulations it contained. Having, however, recited the substance of it in the first paragraph of this dispatch, I shall now proceed to offer some remarks upon the proposition, first, supposing it to have been offered with sincerity, and se

condly,

condly, examining it as another attempt at procrastination and evasion.

11. Admitting the proposal to have been sincere, it must have been devised for one of the following purposes, to manifest to your lordship, to his subjects, and to the world, his excellency's dissatisfaction at the measures pursuing, to distinguish one of his sons by a partial and undue preference, or to seek the aid and protection of some foreign power. In the first case it is a puerile resentment, from an indulgence in which no advantages to the common interest of the two states could be derived, but possibly some embarrassments, both immediate and remote; the delay of his departure, even for a month, would at this season of the year occasion some inconvenience in the settlement of the countries to be ceded. On the second supposition it is necessary to observe, that his excellency did not specify which of his sons should be selected for the important trust of deputy. His eldest son possesses none of his father's regard, and has recently incurred his displeasure, it may therefore be fairly presumed that the choice would not have fallen upon him: the son, though not in the same predicament with his eldest brother, does not enjoy his father's fondness in any degree equal to the third son; the object therefore might have been to place the third son in the immediate possession of the government, in the hope of an ultimate confirmation in it, and thereby set aside the rights of primogeniture.

12. The timidity of his excellency's disposition, his fondness for money, and his unpopularity, almost preclude supposition that he would undertake any measure wherein the exertion of an enterprising mind is essential, wherein the expenditure of a large treasure would be inevitable, and wherein the attachment of his subjects, or a large proportion of them, would be requisite for the recovery of his power and dominions through any foreign aid. When, however, I noticed the possibility of his falling into the hands of some of our enemies, he treated such a contingency with perfect coolness and indifference.

13. Although in the two preceding paragraphs I have considered the propositionas offered with sincerity, yet it is scarcely entitled to such a regard; had it been sincere, and unmixed with any sinister view, no possible end could be answered by de

clining to adjust the terms of the treaty, and to ratify it by his seal and signature. The measures could not be averted, nor could his mind escape from any uneasy reflections, by the reservation of refusing to execute the treaty, whilst in an instrument under his hand and seal he commanded his deputy to carry the conditions of it into execution; the period of his departure, and the selection of one of his sons for the office of deputy, would furnish grounds for a protracted discussion, and most probably for a rejection of the proposition; and the necessity of consulting your Lordship on so extraordinary a proposal would inevitably occasion the further delay of some days, which would have been employed in devising new pretexts for evasion.

14. There is yet another supposition in regard to this proposition, which is, that under the pretext of visiting certain holy places of resort his excellency may conceal the intention of proceeding to England; a measure which tis well known he had in contemplation when vizier Ally was placed upon the musnud.

15. By whatever motive his excellency may have been influenced in bringing forward the proposition, it bears so strongly the resemblance of a subterfuge, that I cannot conceive it affords a justifiable cause for suspending the execution of your lordship's orders, which I shall therefore proceed to carry into effect with as little delay as possible.

16. Although I entertain no suspicion that his excellency will excite disturbances, yet as he will be at no pains to conceal the impending reductions in the cavalry, nor his dissatisfaction at the measure about to be pursued, and as the capital is full of idle and seditious Mohammedans, and of turbulent soldiers of fortune, at all times ready to join in acts of riotous violence, I have thought it a measure of common precautionary prudence to request of general Stuart, to order the regiment which was to have marched from Cawnpore on the first of the ensuing month, for the relief of the regiment on duty at Lucknow, to commence its march a few days ear

lier; and it is my intention to detain both regiments here as long as circumstances may seem to render it expedient.

17. Under the consideration of the season of cultivation being arrived, and the practice of giving Tuccavie, or advance, to the husbandmen, together with the im

possibility,

possibility, without the risk of considerable loss of revenue, of introducing at this instant a new system of collections in the countries to be taken possesion of, it appears to my judgment expedient, and, indeed, the only means of securing the revenue, and of obviating confusion, to continue to such of the aumils whose attachment to the company can be depended on, the management of the several districts of which they have now repectively the charge. With the view of consulting Almas Ali Khan on the subject of retaining the management of the Dooab, I had appointed a meeting with him this morning, but indisposition prevented his coming.

My dear sir,-I was this morning favoured with your letter of the 24th instant.

Prior to the receipt of lord Wellesley's commands of the 15th June, I had taken the liberty to offer my opinion to the vizier, that his lordship would not judge it suitable to Visit Lucknow until the pending negotiation should be brought to a final determination. In my conterence with his excellency of the 231 June I informed hita that his lordship had apprized me of his intention to visit the upper provinces, but had expressed a doubt whether he should think it expedient to meet his excellency during the actual crisis of affairs. I shall now take the earliest opportunity of acquainting his excellency with his lordship's positive determination not to have any personal interview with his excellency whilst any of the equitable demands of the Brush government remain unadjusted.

The paper of intelligence, inclosed in my letter of the 15th June, had been in my possession two or three days before it was transmitted, and I believe related a Conversation which had taken place between the 7th and 10th, the period bctween my verbal communication of lord Wellesley's sentiments, on the vizier's paper of requests, and the delivery of his tordship's written reply.

The answer from Calcutta alluded to in that paper was, I conclude, the written answer on his exceliency's requests, which I had prepared him to expect from his lordship.

It a pared to me, on reading the paper of inteligence, that the other gentlemen to whom the molavy wished to be the bearer of letters, in terms which he should approve, were the members of the

supreme council; I am not aware that his excellency holds any secret correspondence with gentlemen in. Calcutta, although it is generally believed that he has a dawk established between Benares and the presidency, and Persian letters occasionally come for Molavy Suddun in the packets of the company's dawk.

The report of a change in the ministry at home has for two or three days past been in circulation at Lucknow, but whether it has yet reached the ears of the vizier, I am unable to say. It shall, however, be my endeavour to discountenance the belief of it in his excellency's mind, and to preclude him from building on the report any hope of relaxation in the pre

sent measures.

Although his excellency cannot be ignorant of my having taken steps preparatory to the establishment of the company's authority in the districts to be appropriated as a security for the subsidy, yet he has discovered no intention of cooperating with me in the arrangement. I sent for and had separate conferences with almas Ally Khan, and Mirza Mehudy, in which I stated to them that the obstinacy of the vizier in rejecting all the governorgeneral's propositions for affording security to the just demands of the British government, had compelled his lordship, for the preservation of the company's rights and interests in Oude, to revert to the extreme measure of assuming a certain portion of his excellency's dominions, and that as some of the districts under their respective charges formed a large portion of that territorial assignment, I called upon them, in the name of the British government, to exert all their powers and influence to maintain the districts in perfect tranquillity and composure; they gave me the strongest protestation of implicit submission to the British government, and obedience to any orders from me; I sa tished myself with these assurances, without entering into the discussion of specific engagements for continuing to them the management of their respective districts. To Almas I was more communicative, and touched upon the substance and objects of his excellency's requests; Mirza Mehudy was probably informed of them through Rutten Chund, with whom he is said to hold secret conferences. Having this morning learned from the vizier, who had sent for my moonshee, that both Almas and Mirza Mehudy had, with a view probably of conciliating his excellency, inade an unfair report of my con

versation,