ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

provide the kist ? in consideration, however, of the present necessities of the company, (although, under the circumstances of the orders you have given, I should be justifiable in delaying the payment of it) and adverting to the inconveniences which the company would suffer, (and it is not now, nor ever was, my design to put them to any,) I shall provide and send the kist, upon this condition; that, since by the orders you have given, confusion has been created, and the aumils, withholding the payment of the money, are in perplexity, and at a loss to whom they are to pay it; you, therefore, summons them before you, and desire them to continue, as usual, to give their attendance on, and make their payments to me, for, without the attendance of the aumils, money is by no means to be expected from them. How can this be? You first deprive me of the means of collecting the revenues, and then call upon me to make payments.

In consideration of the friendship and union subsisting between the company and me, I have no desire to dispute the payment of the kist. The moment that you speak to the aumils, and their deputies, to the above effect, (in order that I be satisfied in regard to my receipts of cash) I shall provide and send you the kist. The expediting, or delaying, of this matter now rests with you. A true translation.

(Signed)

WM. SCOTT,
Resident, Lucknow.

(Secret, circular)

.

Το commanding at Sir,-1st. I think it expedient to apprize you that an indispensable necessity now exists for keeping the detachment under your command in a state of the most guarded vigilance; that you maintain a watchful eye over the conduct of the horsemen, and any other of the vizier's troops which may be stationed in the vicinity of your cantonment; and that you be attentive to the state and dis position of the inhabitants in your surrounding neighbourhood; and, lastly, that you avail yourself of every channel of intelligence for discovering whether any combinations are on foot, which may have a tendency to disturb the peace of the country; and that you apprize me, without delay, of every circum stance of an unusual appearance, which may come to your knowledge.

VOL. 9.

2. Whilst I deliver to you these cautionary instructions, I think it incumbant on me, in the most forcible manner, to recommend the observance of a perfect conciliatory line of conduct to persons of all descriptions; and an uncommonly strict attention to prevent the soldiers and followers of your detachment from engaging in disputes with the vizier's troops, and the inhabitants of the towns and villages, or from doing any inju to their persons or property.

I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient, humble servant, (Signed) W. SCOTT.. Lucknow, 29th June, 1801.

To his excellency the most noble the marquis Wellesley, K. P. governorgeneral.

My lord,-I have the honour to acquaint your lordship, that at half past four o'clock, three hours after I had dispatched my address to your lordship of this date by express, my moonshee received a note from Molavy Sudden, written by order of the vizier, desiring him to inform me, that his excellency had given orders for the payment of the kist; and as my treasurer has received the same intimation from his excellency's treasurer, I conclude that the money will be immediately sent.

I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) WILLIAM SCOTT, Resident, Lucknow. His excellency the most noble the marquis Wellesley, K. P. governorgeneral, &c.

My lord,-The vizier having on the 21st instant commenced the payments on account of the kist for June, I thought it expedient to reply to his excellency's letter to me of the 18th instant; and accordingly, on the 22d, addressed a letter of some length to his excellency,copy and translation of which I do myself the honour to enclose for your lordship's infor mation. The payments of the kist, and of the charges of the additional troops for June, were only completed on the evening of the 25th instant, and no notice have been taken by his excellency of my above-mentioned letter to him.

2. Adverting to the inconvenience which the officers and men of the 11th regiment (which has been detained at Lucknow so, e the first of the month) are exposed to in camp at this season of #H

the

[blocks in formation]

(Copy)

To the Vizier.

Dated July 22d, 1801.

I have had the honour to receive your excellency's letter of the 5th of Rubbe ul Uwent.

Your excellency having ordered the kist due to the honourable company for the month of June to be paid into the company's treasury, after expressing my extreme surprize and concern that your excellency should have been influenced by the advice of evil counsellors to contest a point of such unquestionable right to the company, until the period when I had actually dispatched a report of the circumstance to his excellency the most noble the governor-general, I think it expedient to add that, under any circumstances whatever, your excellency is and must be responsible for the said subsidy and the expenses of the addition al troops, until the company's officers shall have actually taken possession of the countries proposed to be ceded in commutation of these charges, and until the season of collections shall arrive, there can be no interval in which the receipts of money on the above accounts can be suspended.

64

[ocr errors]

Your excellency observes, that, "in "defiance of you I have called the aumils "and their vakcels before me, and without any participation or acquiescence on your part, have given them such "and such orders." It must be in your excellency's recollection how often and how earnestly, both verbally and in writing, I solicited your excellency's assistance and co-operation in the arrangements for the territorial cession; and that on your final refusal to participate in those arrangements, I told your excellency, that you must not be surprised if,

in the course of a few days, you should hear that I had taken preparatory steps, for establishing the company's authority in the districts to be ceded.

The steps which I did take were as cautious and as limited as could be devised, under the circumstances of the case, and the orders which I gave to the aumils, Almas Ali Khan, and Mirza Mehedy, were such as naturally arose out of the measure in contemplation.

The vakeels whom I called before me, were those of the aumils of Rebr and Goruck pore, and my communication to them was confined to the probability of my having occasion, in a short time, to transmit orders to their principals.

In enumerating the orders given by me, your excellency asserts that I had written to the officers commanding the troops, desiring them to establish themselves in the countries. I must desire that your excellency will acquaint me through what channel you obtained this information, or upon what act of the military you found your assertion; and I think it necessary stedfastly to persist in this desire, that proper notice may be taken of the persons who have made such gross misrepresentations.

Having never, in the most distant manner, prohibited the aumils from giving their attendance upon your excellency, and as they do attend Almas Ali Khan as usual, Mirza Mehedy constantly and, indeed, as one of your excellency's official servants, what other constructiont can I put on your excellency's desire that I should order them to give their attendance as usual, but an extravagant wish in your excellency that I should, in the most humiliating way, publish to the world, that the British government had relinquished their equitable demand for territorial security?

From the general tenor of your excellency's letter, and from the above circumstance in particular, it appears to me that your excellency either yourself misconceived the present state of the negotiation, or are desirous of deceiving others. If his excellency, the most noble the governor-general, in pure consideration for your excellency's feelings, has suspended the measure of assuming the countries intended to be ceded, his lordship has not, nor ever will relin quish the just demand for territorial security. If his lordship, with the view of making another effort for obtaining your excellency's consent, has

deputed

deputed his lordship's brother to your court, it is not to compromise the affair which has so long been in agitation, it is to give weight to the negotiations, to confirm to your excellency his lordship's unalterable resolution never to depart from the demand of territorial security, and, finally, to prosecute the negotiation to its intended conclusion.

This being the state of the case, and it being, as I assured your excellency, the earnest desire of lord Wellesley that the negotiation should be concluded without a moment's delay, it appears to me, that the best and most satisfactory return which your excellency can make for the forbearing consideration of his lordship, is to engage with me seriously, and cordially, in adjusting the terms of the territorial cession, so that the countries to be ceded may be transferred to the company at the commencement of the new year, and no question be agitated in regard to whom the peishghy is to be given.

To this end I exhort your excellency to order an accurate statement to be prepared of the revenues of the districts, which have been so often mentioned to your excellency, according to their present jumma, and to furnish me with the paper relative to the territorial cession, which, in the conversation I had the honour to hold with you on the 17th instant, you informed me was prepared. If the draft, as your excellency then assured me, is ready, there can be no reason for deferring to submit it to my consideration' until the arrival of the honourable Mr. Wellesley, since, as I informed your excellency, I am authorized, and commanded, by his excellency the governor-general, to exert all my endeavours to conclude the negotiation without a moment's delay, and without waiting the arrival of his lordship's brother. At all events, the production of the above-mentioned statement, and paper, will enable me to place matters in a state of preparation by the time Mr. Wellesley shall arrive; and should there be any point of a doubtful nature in your excellency's paper, it may immediately be submitted to his lordship's determi

nation.

Your excellency asks-"What dis46 grace have I not suffered from this "difference which has occurred between "us? And what pain has not this affair

occasioned to you?" Allow me to ask, To what is this to be ascribed,

but to the influence of those evil and self-interested counsels which has prevailed on your excellency to refuse your consent to a measure, the execution of which will afford the greatest satisfaction to your best friends; and which will provide for the permanent security and increasing prosperity of these dominions? Let me exhort your excellency to come forward in a candid and dignified manner, and with a sincere and earnest desire to conclude the arrangement of the territorial cession, to the end that no cause of uneasiness, vexation, or altercation, may hereafter arise.

And let me further exhort your excellency to pay, without delay, the balance of the arrears of subsidy, and to concert with me the further indispensable reductions in your excellency's military establishments; to the end, that on the arrival of Mr. Wellesley, if the conditions of the territorial cession cannot be adjusted between your excellency and me, that important object may be entered upon unembarrassed with other points of contention. (Signed)

WM. SCOTT, Resident at Lucknow. A true copy.

(Signed) N. B. EDMONSTONE, Secretary to Government.

To the Vizier.

Written 14th August, 1801. With the utmost degree of astonishment and concern, I received from lieutenant-colonel Scott information, that your excellency had adopted the extraordinary resolution of withholding the future payments of subsidy to the com pany, under the plea, that colonel Scott's orders to your excellency's aumils, and to the company's military officers, preparatory to the eventual occupation of the territory proposed to be ceded, had deprived your excellency of the means from which the subsidy was to be realized. Admitting that the orders issued by lieutenant-colonel Scott were such as your excellency thought proper to describe, they could not be considered to exonerate your excellency from the subsidy until the territories to which those orders applied should have been completely occupied by the company's officers. The effect of colonel Scott's orders, even as described by your excellency, could not have impaired the rea sources for the payment of the kist,

He

which

which had been due before those orders could possibly have impeded any expected receipts of revenue from your excellency's country. Still less can the intimations and instructions which lieutenant-colonel Scott actually gave to your aumils, and to the company's military officers, be supposed to produce the effect which your excellency has been pleased to ascribe to them. But if any doubts existed on this subject, they would be entirely removed by your excellency's acknowledgment, that you were actually in possession of the resources necessary for the payment of the kist of June, at the moment when you asserted, that the measures adopted by colonel Scott had deprived you of the means of fulfilling your pecuniary engagements; your excellency's refusal, therefore, to continue your subsidiary payments_was a direct violation of treaty, and, I am concerned to add, was aggravated by the disrespectful offer of discharging the disputed kist, under the plea of relieving the supposed exigencies of the British government, under conditions which required the British government to sanction your excellency's violation of treaty, and to compromise its dignity by a public retraction of the measures, which a due regard for the rights and interests of the company had compelled the British government to adopt.

Having since, however, had the satisfaction to learn that your excellency had returned to a due sense of your engagements, and had actually commenced payment of the kist for June, I deem it unnecessary to enter into any further discussion of the question, or to communicate to your excellency the sentiments which your excellency's conduct upon that occasion excited in my mind, and the decisive measures which my duty would have compelled me to adopt, for the immediate and effectual support of the rights and interests committed to my charge, against the injurious effects of so direct a violation on your excellency's part, of the engagements subsisting between your excellency and the honour able company.

I cannot, however, refrain from ex pressing the regret with which I ob served the disposition, in this instance, so unequivocally manifested by your excellency to evade the company's just and equitable demands, and to avail your self of a crisis occasioned by your unwarrantable opposition to the rights of

the company in the expectation that you might successfully violate the fundamental principle of your existing engagements with the British government.

My regret is not diminished by your excellency's dereliction of pretensions so evidently unjustifiable. For it is with pain that I am compelled to observe, that your excellency, in relinquishing your late extravagant claims, has not afforded any sympton of a disposition more favourable to the company's indefeasible rights, and more conformable to the spirit of your subsisting obliga

tions.

I cannot comprehend the causes of your excellency's perseverance in this system of conduct, in opposition to every principle of reason, unless it were possible to suppose, that your excellency has been persuaded to believe, that I shall ultimately be induced to abandon the maintenance of the company's right, whenever I shall have lost all hope of your excellency's concurrence in the arrangements which I have proposed for their security. If such be the impres sion upon your excellency's mind, it becomes my duty to repeat, in the most decided and unqualified terms, that my conviction of the justice and equity of the demands, which I have made upon your excellency, remains unaltered; and that no consideration whatever, excepting your excellency's concurrence in the more wise and beneficial arrangements of the first of the two propositions submitted to you, can induce me to relinquish the important objects of the pending negotiation.

Your excellency deceives yourself, if, from the temporary suspension of the measures which I had authorized the resident to adopt, your excellency infers the probability of my relinquishing the demand of territorial security, or of my hesitating to adopt whatever measures may appear to be necessary for the secu rity of the rights and interests of the honourable company. My motive for this temporary delay was a consideration of regard for your excellency; I was averse to pursue measures of extremity while any hope remained, that your excellency might be induced to consider the proposed arrangement in a manner more consistent with justice, and with the relations subsisting between your excellency and the honourable company: I accordingly directed lieutenant-colonel Scott to inform your excellency, as I had

beca

been prevented, by the urgency of public business, from proceeding, in person, to the upper provinces as soon as I intended, I had determined to dispatch my brother, the honourable Henry Wellesley, to your excellency, for the express purpose of confirming all the sentiments and resolutions which had been already communicated to your excellency by colonel Scott, and of conveying to your excellency, in the most decided manner, the conviction of my invariable determination to adhere to the

declarations so repeatedly made to your excellency upon the subject of the affairs of Oude. As your excellency, there fore, had no reason to entertain, from my brother's arrival at Lucknow, the most distant expectation, that I could be induced to abandon claims so strongly supported, and so indispensable to the British interests, as those which have been preferred to your excellency, I indulged a hope that your excellency would have afforded an acceptable proof of your justice and discernment, by consenting to the proposed arrangement, without waiting for Mr. Wellesley's arrival, but in this expectation I have hitherto been unhappily disappointed; your excellency's conduct has disclosed a spirit of opposition not confined to the particular measure actually in agitation, but affecting the fundamental principle of your excellency's connection with the honourable company. Although your excellency's erroneous interpretation of the nature and objects of that connection may have prevented you from forming a proper estimate of the justice and necessity of the proposed arrangements, yet under the circumstance of my repeated and solemn declarations to your excellency, it might have been expected that your excellency would be convinced of the sincerity of my resolutions, and that you would not expose yourself to the discredit of compelling the British government to assert its rights in your excellency's dominions without your consent or co-operation. Under these circumstances your excellency's conduct can only be ascribed to a fallacious reliance on the groundless expectations, which the ignorance or depravity of your excellency's advisers had excited in your mind. It is my duty to remove those dangerous and illusory impressions, by repeating my most solemn and deliberate resolution never to recede from the de

mands which I have made on grounds so incontestibly just, and of such extreme exigency; and by assuring your excelJency that no course of events can be supposed, either in Europe, or in this country, which would render the proposed arrangement in Oude an object of inferior importance, or diminish the solicitude with which it will be pursued by the British government in India, and supported by the British administration in Europe.

I trust, however, that upon mature reflection, your excellency will be induced to wave your opposition to the proposed arrangement; and that I shall have the satisfaction to learn that your excellency has united cordially with colonel Scott, in carrying it into effect before the arrival of Mr. Wellesley, the remaining objects of whose mission will not then be impeded by painful and unnecessary discussion

In this hope I trust that I shall learn from colonel Scott, in the course of a few days, that your excellency has completed the discharge of the arrears of the aug mented subsidy, that you have concluded the terms of territorial cession, and adopted the requisite measures for the final reform of your military establishment, by reducing the remnant of your refractory, useless, and expensive troops.

I am now on the point of embarking from Calcutta ; and I shall hope to learn from colonel Scott, before I have advanced many days on my voyage, that your excellency has at length returned to a course of measures suitable to your character, and conformable to your interests. (Signed) WELLESLEY.

His excellency the most noble the marquis Wellesley, K. P. governor general, &c.

My Lord,-1. I had the honour, on the 27th instant, to receive through the Persian secretary, your lordship's letter to the vizier, dated the 14th instant, and on the 29th presented it to his excellency.

2. The vizier read the letter in my presence; but wishing to deliberate on the contents of it more at leisure, declined engaging in conversation with me on any of the subjects treated of; and upon my urging him to enter seriously and cordially in a discussion of the terins of the territorial cession, reverted to the desire which he had frequently expressed of a temporary absence from Oude; to which I replied, that though I had not the

smallest

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »