"nished the preceding year for the pro"tection of my country." With a view, therefore, to remove your lordship's concern on that head, I beg leave to state as follows: The occasion of my writing to that effect in my communications with colonel Scott was this: Your lordship formerly wrote to me, desiring that I would communicate whatever was upon my mind to colonel Scott, freely and without reserve, as any concealment and reserve in communicating my sentiments to colonel Scott, who was the medium of intercourse between the two states, would be productive of embarrassment and impediment in our mutual concerns. Therefore, whereas in your lordship's former letter it was written that, "By means of this reform I should obtain funds for the discharge of the whole of the expences of the company's "additional troops;" and whereas in your lordship's second letter it was written that, "For the purpose of pro"viding for the additional expences "which were now become indispensably "necessary for the defence of my coun"try, without adding to my encum"brances, it would be sufficient to dis"band the mutinous battalions in my "service;" and whereas in the letter from his excellency sir Alured Clarke, it was written that, "Economy would "not be the least of the advantages "resulting to me from a reform in my "military establishment ;" and whereas, at the close of the statement of the additional force which colonel Scott delivered to me by your lordship's orders, it was written that," The charges of the "additional troops were to be provided "for by the disbanding of my own." Therefore, since the resources provided by disbanding my troops were inadequate to supply the expences of the company's (additional) forces (in conformity to your lordship's desire that I would unreservedly communicate my sentiments to colonel Scott upon all subjects), it became necessary for me to state those circumstances to colonel Scott; that is, to desire that in conformity to the several writings (above quoted) he would provide the necessary resources. In the course of these conferences and communications, however, no impediment of affairs occurred, and no failure or deficiency whatever was experienced in the discharge of the expences of the new troops, and in the payment of the kists of the fixed subsidy. On the contrary, those expences and kists were punctually paid; accordingly the kist of the fixed subsidy, and the charges of the additional troops, have been completely paid to the end of January, 1801, and colonel Scott has expressed his acknowledgments on the occasion. As my consent to the first proposition is altogether impracticable (accordingly I have already written an ample reply to that proposition), and as it is impossible for me, with my own hands, to exclude myself from my patrimonial dominion, (for what advantage should I derive from so doing?) this therefore is a measure which I will never adopt. With respect to what your lordship writes about providing a territorial resource for the payment of the British troops, since I have not in any way delayed or neglected to discharge the kists for the expences of the troops, but have paid them with punctuality, where is the occasion for requiring any territorial resource; I expect to derive the most substantial profits from bringing into a flourishing condition this country, which has so long been in a state of waste and ruin; by a separation of territory my hopes of these substantial profits would be entirely cut off, and a great loss would accrue. How then can I consent to any territorial cession. ? Colonel Scott has also verbally communicated to me the demand for the expences incurred by the company at the period of Zemaun Shah's approach. I am ready to discharge the expences which were fairly and actually incurred by the company upon that occasion. I will reimburse those expences from whatever resources and in whatever mode it may be practicable. It is equally a subject of astonishment and concern to me, that whereas under the former government the payment of the kists, though so much smaller in amount than the present, was constantly kept in arrear during three or four months, the jumma of the country was diminishing yearly, and yet no such propositions were brought forward, they should be agitated under the govern ment of a friend who hopes for every thing from your lordship's kindness; who is anxious to obey you, and to manifest the steadiness of his attachment; who punctually pays the full amount, of the kists, notwithstanding their increased amount measures must inevitably and rapidly exhaust the country of its inhabitants, and consequently of its resources. 4. Upon the fullest reflection as to the mode of making the formal requisition to the vizier for the cession of such a portion of his territories as shall be adequate to the payment of the subsidy, and the expences of the additional troops, it appeared to my judgment that it could no shape be so forcibly introduced as under a reference to particular passages of your excellency's letter to the in Vizier. 5. I cannot reject the hope that the vizier will, on reflection, be convinced of the necessity of affording the security required by your lordship in regard to the funds for the payment of the subsidy and the additional troops; for though his excellency in his letter to your lordship declares that he cannot alienate any of his possessions, yet your lordship would have noticed, that the style and terms of that declaration are less absolute than his refusal of the first proposition. 6. It is not consistent with the vizier's character and disposition to acquiesce either promptly or handsomely in any propositions which are made to him; his object is to delay, and he may possibly indulge the hope of procuring a relaxation in the terms upon which the countries are to be ceded; in this view it is not improbable but that his excellency, notwihtstanding the formal demand which has now been made upon him, may defer giving any explicit answer until your lordship's sentiments upon the contents of this letter may be made known to him. 7. His excellency this morning complained of indisposition, in presen ting the memorial to him, I therefore confined myself to request that he would peruse the last part of it, which he did in my presence, but without giving any answer, or making any observation upon it. I have the honour to be, &c. &c. Lucknow, 16th March, 1801. Memorial presented to his excellency the vizier by the resident at Lucknow, on the 16th March, 1801. amount, and who has conformed to your lordship. At all events, upon your lordship I rest my hopes of prosperity. This is substantially my reply to your lordship's letter, which, with a view to remove your lordship's concern, I have hastily committed to paper, and now transmit to your lordship. I am about to draw up a particular answer to every article (of your lordship's letter.) If your lordship be desirous of a detailed reply, be pleased to intimate the same, and I will in a very short space of time transmit such a reply to your lordship. A true Copy. (Signed) N. B. EDMONSTONE, To his excellency the most noble the Fort William. My Lord,-I do myself the honour of transmitting to your lordship copies, in English and Persian, of a memorial which I this morning presented to the vizier. 2. Although his excellency's rejection of the proposition for transferring to the company the exclusive administration of the civil and military government of Oude is conveyed in terms so direct and positive as to leave little hopes of his being prevailed upon, by any persuasions or arguments, to alter his sentiments, yet, that no opportunity might be omitted of drawing his mind to a re-consideration of the subject, I thought it advisable, in the coinmencement of the paper, to refer to the grounds of your fordship's proposition, and to place, in a distinct but concise point of view, those parts of the draft of the treaty which are the most striking, and the most interesting to his excellency. 3. After the comprehensive view which your lordship had taken of the embarrassed situation of the vizier, and of the baneful system of administration under which the affairs of his country are governed, it would have been superfluous in me to have introduced any observations on the subject, had not the recent demands from almost every quarter for troops to assist in the collections, and the operations of an aumil within six miles of the capital, furnished the instant occasion for animadverting upon the rigorous and destructive measures practised for extorting the rents, and for drawing a Conclusion, that perseverance in such On the 2d of Shawal I did myself the honour of presenting to your excellency a letter from his excellency the mort most noble the marquis Wellesley, governor-general, together with a draft of a proposed treaty, prepared in conformity to instructions from his lordship. His lordship in that letter, after taking a comprehensive view of the embarrassed situation of your excellency, and of the distressed condition of Oude, declares his perfect conviction that security against the ruin of this country can only be afforded by the adoption of the plan proposed for your excellency's consideration. His lordship proceeds by informing your excellency, that if your excellency should unfortunately be persuaded to reject the proposals which I was ordered to make to your excellency, the funds for the regular payment of the subsidy, to the full extent of the augmented force, must be placed without a moment of delay, beyond the hazard of failure, and that to this end it is indispensable that your excellency cede to the company such a portion of your excellency's territories as shall be adequate to defray these necessary charges; and his lordship, satisfied that it is only by carrying into effect one of these plans that the important interests of the company, as connected with Oude, can be placed on a solid and secure foundation, concludes by assuring your excellency that it is his indispensable duty to adhere with firmness to the tenor of his letter, as containing principles from which the British government can never depart. Every day's transaction in the interior of the country furnishes fresh proof that the confusion and abuses which prevail throughout your excellency's dominions are so inveterate, and daily increase to such a degree, that they must in their effects, as predicted by his excellency the most noble the governorgeneral, rapidly impair the resources of the state. What can render necessary such a number of troops as are daily called for to assist in the collection of the revenues but the existence of the vicious system of administration which destroys all confidence between the ryots and the officers employed to collect the rents. I learn from an officer commanding a detachment at Gobramow, furnished at your excellency's request, that the aumilis exerting himself to seize a number of Zemindars, and that in consequence they, with their families, and the inhabitants, have deserted the villages, which the aumil proposes to set in flames. If such violent measures for extorting the revenues are practised under the walls of your excellency's palace, how great must be the oppression at a distance? How soon must the country become exhausted and depopu lated? and under such circumstances upon what a precarious tenure stands the punctual payment of the subsidy to the company In the several conversations which I have had the honour to hold with your excellency, since the delivery of the letter from his excellency the most noble the governor-general, and the draft of the treaty, it was my aim to press upon your excellency's consideration the innumerable benefits which the proposed arrangement was calculated to produce; this treaty imparts to the inhabitants of these countries the inestimable blessings enjoyed by the subjects of the company under a wise and equitable government; it effectually and permanently secures the affluence and honour of your excellency and family on the surest basis, the faith of the British government. In pursuance of the solicitude which the company's government has ever shown for the welfare and happiness of your illustrious house, the treaty places under the protection of the company the scns of your deceased father, and the widow of your late brother, and also provides a maintenance for his reputed children. In that spirit of justice and liberality which marks the conduct of the company's government in all its transactions, it continues the possession of Jaghires to persons in the present enjoy ment of them, and to the pensioners of the state the enjoyment of their pensions, thereby securing to those persons who had deserved well of your family the rewards which had been conferred upon them. It exonerates your excellency from a heavy but just burthen-the payment of the debts of your predecessor; and, lastly, as I informed your excellency that the draft was open to such modifi cations consistent with the fundamental principle of the arrangement as your excellency should suggest, the treaty might be made to comprehend any further regulations which should occur to your excellency's wisdom for giving satisfaction to the minds of the higher orders of your excellency's subjects, and security to the lower. It would have afforded me the highest satisfaction had your excellency's magnanimity and love for your subjects enabled enabled me to communicate to his excel- Notwithstanding I had endeavoured in In the conversation which ensued, after again referring to that part of his lordship's letter which states the necessity of security, in respect to the funds for defraying the subsidy, and the expence of the additional troops, I placed before your excellency his lordship's declaration of the impossibility of his departing from the proposed arrangement, together with your excellency's dissent from it, and intreated your excellency to reflect how such adverse sentiments were to be reconciled. and that the defence of that frontier by the company's troops consequently secured the territories which would remain to your excellency against the attacks of foreign enemies; and I drew to your excellency's recollection that these countries did not originally belong to your ancestors, but were added to the family possessions by the power of the British arms. In reply to an observation from your excellency, that if the countries to be ceded were taken only according to their present produce, the resources of the country would sustain heavy losses; I endeavoured to demonstrate, that, in respect to the Dooab, the reverse would be the case, the present Jumma of which is at as high a rate as can be expected, and the collections only secured by the rigorous administration introduced and maintained by Almas Ali Khan. But that Almas, sensible of the decap of his constitution, and his inability to persevere in the necessary exertions, was earnestly desirous of relinquishing the charge; and that whenever your excellency committed the management of the Dooab to another aumil, or rather aumils, you must lay your account to a diminution of income from it. In respect to the reduced Jumma of Bareilly and Rehr, I contended that no hope could reasonably be entertained of any improvement under the present system; and that if ever the produce was raised to the standard it bore when these two districts came into the possession of your excellency's family, or near to that standard, it could only be by the wise and just regulations which would be established by the British government, company; Your excellency was at this time in possession of a sketch of the proposed arrangements, and I had acquainted your excellency with the line of territory which his lordship had thought it desirable should be relinquished to the I stated that the countries first to be received were the Dooab, and all your excellency's possessions on the other side of the Ganges, and the province of Kultair; 1 explained to your excellency that his lordship's reason of your for selecting these portions dominions was because they constituted the frontier from which danger could approach your excellency's territories, servants. and executed by their All my remarks having proved ineffectual to induce your excellency to withdraw the refusal of a cession of territory, I concluded with observing, that having fulfilled every duty of friendship and regard to your excellency by the expos tulations which I had made, it now remained for me to fulfil the duty which I owed to my own government, by demanding from your excellency, in conformity to lord Wellesley's commands, a portion of your excellency's territories adequate to cover the subsidy and the expence of the additional troops. In pursuance of this declaration, and of the orders which I have received, I now, in the name of his excellency the most noble the marquis Wellesley, governor mentioned, you will transmit a copy of the account, in abstract, for the infor mation of his lordship in council, I have the honour, to be, &c. &c. (Signed) N. B. EDMONSTONE, Secrectary to Government. 2d April, 1801. To N. B. Edmonstone, Esq. Secretary to government in the foreign, secret, and political departments. Sir, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th instant, together with the copy of an extract of a letter from the resident at Lucknow enclosed in it. In compliance with the orders of his excellency the most noble the governorgeneral in council I have prepared the enclosed statement of the airears due by his excellency the vizier for extra troops employed in Oude, between the 1st of Noven.ber, 1798, and the 1st of Novem ber, 1799. The statement of the expences of each corps is formed on the prin ciple suggested by colonel Scott, of including every fixed and contingent expence for buildings, camp equipage, "&c." and the number and description of corps are also taken from colonel Scott's statement, with the addition of his majesty's 27 h regiment of dragoons, according to the directions contained in your letter. The calculations for the expences of the corps, specified in the statement, are made on the supposition that the corps were complete, and though this may not be accurately true in all instances, yet the deficiencies were certainly small, and for them a very liberal allowance is made by the admission of colonel Scott's calculation of the fixed establishment for Oude, provided for by the subsidy. Colonel Scott states the establishment to be four companies of artillery, with their lascars, which he estimates at 1,100 men;-Two regiments of native cavalry, 1,000; -One regiment of European infantry, 1,000; five regiments of native infantry, 10,000.-Total, 13,100. But the number of fighting men on the establishment of these corps is as follows: Four companies of Artillery: Non-commissioned officers Drummers * Eleven companies of Lascars 360 825 governor-general, require that your excellency make a cession to the company, in perpetual sovereignty, of such portion of your territories as shall be adequate, according to their present produce, after deducting the expence of collections, to the subsidy and to the charges of the additional troops; the former amount. ing to 76 lacks of rupees per annum, and the latter to 54 lacks twelve thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine, making the aggregate sum of one crore thirty lacks twelve thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine rupees. The whole of your excellency's pos sessions on the other side of the Ganges, including the districts of Areil Maundah, and the Dooab, with its dependency, Furruckabad, the Soubah of Bareilly, and the district of Rehr, with every part of the province of Kuldair in your excellency's possession, being within the line of territory which the most noble the governor-general thinks it advisable should in the first instance be transferred to the company, I beg leave to express my earnest desire that your excellency will be pleased to furnish me with a statement of the present gross jumma of these places respectively, together with a statement of the expences of collections, that it may be seen how far the present produce of these provinces, after deducting the expences of collections, shall be equal to the sums required. (Signed) W.SCOTT, Resident Lucknow. To lieutenant-colonel Scott. Sir, I am directed by his excellency the most noble the governor-general to transmit to you the enclosed copies of a letter from the military auditor-general, and of the accounts referred to therein, exhibiting the arrears due by his excellency the vizier for the extra troops serving in the province of Oude, from the 1st of November, 1798, to the 31st of October, 1799, inclusive. His lordship directs that you will complete the calculation of arrears due by his excellency the vizier down to the present time, upon the principle of the accounts now transmitted to you, and that you will then proceed to demand from the vizier, in the name of his excellency the most noble the governorgeneral in council, the immediate payment of the amount. I am further directed to request that after having framed the calculation above 1,193 |