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on the conduct of the Nepalese government. They found it vain to contend against British skill and valour-and they sued for an accommodation. After some negociation, Sir David Ochterlony agreed to grant them peace on the terms contained in the treaty that had been previously concluded with Lieutenant Colonel Bradshaw, and ratified by the Vakeels. This treaty, without any relaxation of its provisions, was now ratified by the rajah of Nepaul. The dispatch then took a succinct view of the circumstances that led to this event. In the last battle, it stated, the enemy brought three thousand men into the field, of whom eight hundred were known to be killed and wounded; amongst whom were many officers. This campaign, though short, was completely decisive; and, on no occasion had the perseverance, fortitude, and bravery of the British soldier, appeared to greater advantage. It had been deemed advisable to treat the Nepal government leniently, for two reasonsfirst, because if they were too much humiliated, their feelings might be roused to a pitch of desperation, that might be productive of disastrous consequences and next, because if the war had been continued, an enormous expense would have been incurred, without any commensurate benefit. The council, therefore, expressed their perfect concurrence in the decision, come to by Sir David Ochterlony, in preferring peace to the farther continuance of the war. The dispatch then referred to a general order, which promulgated to the army at large, the high sense entertained by the Commander-in-chief, of the merits by which the career of Sir David Ochterlony was distinguished, and of the discipline and courage manifested by the European and native troops throughout the contest ;and suggested the propriety of rewarding their exertions, by giving silver medals to the officers, aud such of the privates as were recommended for their particular gallantry. The humiliation and discomfiture (observed the council) of a proud and high-minded people, like the Goorkahs, would doubtless, for a time, fill them with angry feelings, and render them desirous of recovering what they had lost, yet they saw no reason to believe, but that a firm and conciliatory line of conduct, on the part of the British, would effectually prevent the existing amicable relations between the Company and the Nepal government, from being disturbed. Before they closed this dispatch, they were anxious to call the attention of the Company to the system of economy which had been adhered to during the war. This would be evident, by contrasting the two campaigns against the Nepalese, with those carried on in

the Mysore territory in 1803-4 and 1804-5. A very superior degree of economy was manifested in the proceedings during the Nepal war; although, from the mountainous nature of the country, every article was obliged to be carried at a great expense, and the coldness of the climate rendered it necessary to supply the sepoys with warm clothing. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, it would appear from the documents accompanying this dispatch, that the Nepalese campaigns cost less, by five and a half lack of rupees, than that of 1803-4, and, by twenty-six and a half lack of rupees, than that of 1804-5."

The dispatches having been gone through

The Chairman rose and said, that his powers were not adequate to express the sentiments he entertained of the glorious work which had been achieved, and the high opinion he cherished of the Governor-general, and of the various individuals engaged under him on this most important occasion. He should therefore, refrain from a task, which, he was convinced, he could not execute successfully

and he should merely refer to the motions of thanks which he should have the honour of proposing, to the Governor-general and all those who had contributed to the glorious termination of an arduous contest. He trusted, however, he might be permitted to say, that, in his opinion, the abilities displayed by those who had been employed on this occasion, from the Governor-general, downwards, were of so transcendant a nature, that no terms of praise could reach them.- (Hear ↓ hear!)

The clerk then read the following resolution :

"At a Court of Directors, held on Wednesday, the 20th November, 1816, it was, on several motions,

"Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of this court be given to the Earl of Moira, K. G., Governor-General and Commander-in-chief, for the prudence, energy, and ability, combined with a judicious application of the resources of the Company, displayed by his lordship in planning and directing the operations of the late war against the Nepalese, undertaken in consequence of a persevering system of encroachment and insult on their part; and also for his wisdom and moderation, in availing himself of the successes obtained by the army, for concluding a peace with the Ghorka power, on terms both honorable and advantage

ous.

"Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of this court be given to Major General Sir David Ochterlony, Bart. and K. C. B., for the vigor, judgment, and effect, with which he personally couduct

ed the operations of the force under his command on all occasions, and particularly, in the last campaign, the manage ment of which, and of the subsequent negotiation, was with great propriety entrusted to him, in testimony of the confidence due to his experienced merits and well acquired distinction.

"Resolved unanimously, That the thanks of this court be given to all the officers, both European and native, belonging to the army which served in the Nepal war, for their gallant and meritorious service during the last war.-Also that the court doth highly approve and acknowledge the services of the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers, both European and native, who were employed in the late war; and that the thanks of the court be signified to them by the officers of their respective corps, as well for their patience under unusual fatigues, and their cheerful endurance of privations, as for their valor and intrepidity in presence of the enemy."

The Chairman Gentlemen what has been read, just now, is the resolution of the court of directors; but it becomes necessary that this court should express its opinion of the merits of the Governorgeneral-I beg leave, therefore, to move, that the resolution be approved of by this court." "

Mr. Hume observed, that the Governor-general had recently been created a Marquis; and he suggested, whether, in point of form, it would not be proper to stile him Marquis of Hastings instead of Earl of Moira?

The Chairman-" I am much obliged to the hon. proprietor for his suggestion. The alteration shall be made."

The motion, which was seconded by the Deputy-Chairman, having been put in due form

Mr. Hume rose and said, he hoped the court would allow him a few minutes to state his sentiments shortly on this question. He had not intended to have offered himself so early to the notice of the proprietors, if any other gentleman had shewn a disposition to address the court. He certainly had expected and wished that a business of this nature should not pass the court, as a mere matter of course, without any observation whatever from either the mover or seconder of the resolution, on its merits; and yet he felt a difficulty, in rising on this occasion, to determine what observations he should offer-what topics he should select-in speaking on a subject that appeared to him to comprehend a variety of points extremely interesting. His ideas were more extended -they embraced a greater variety of matter than the resolution which the Chairman had just moved, would, with propriety, permit him to state. One thing,

however, he must particularly observe,— that, according to all former proceedings of this nature, as far as ever he recollected, or his research had gone, the proprietors never before had been called on at the conclusion of a war to agree to so dry, naked, and circumscribed a resolution, as that now submitted by the Directors to the court. It had been customary to state the general line of policy and conduct of the individual praised, instead of selecting a single insulated act of his government, as calling for their thanks and approbation. In the case of Warren Hastings, the Marquis Wellesley, Lord Hobart, and various other Governors-general, a decided sentiment appeared to have prevailed in this court, that an enlarged view of the policy and conduct of the individual should be brought before the court, in order to influence them in coming to a particular vote on his merits. The vote proposed thanks for planning and conducting the war, without adverting to its justice or policy. He, for one, candidly avowed, whatever his opinions otherwise of the Marquis of Hastings had been, and now were, that, in his view of the subject this resolution did not go to the extent, which, if the court agreed to any resolution, he should be disposed to proceed. It was a matter of great consequence to every servant in India, and particularly when placed in the high situation which he filled, and acting zealously and to the best of his abilities, that the whole of his conduct should be fairly viewed. The noble Marquis in his dispatches, fully justified the policy and necessity of the war, and he had anxiously entreated the Court of Directors' opinion and approbation of his conduct. It appeared, in every line of the noble Marquis's dispatches, that he felt the strongest desire to carry into effect every thing that he thought could be conducive to the interest of the Company; and, when this disposition was manifest, they ought, în justice, to take a general view of what his conduct had been; not only in conducting, but in beginning the war; and afterwards judge favourably, or otherwise, of his proceeding in general, as well as, in this particular instance. He, along with many other members of the court, always felt a high degree of pleasure in being able to stand forward to praise the officers of the Company for their exertions abroad, and to confer on them such approbation, as they might fairly deserve; but, with that favourable disposition, he could not help feeling, that on this occasion, the achievements in Nepal seemed to be rated too highly by the noble Marquis. There was, in his opinion, throughout the whole of the correspondence, an evident attempt to magnify the proceedings against Nepal,

who were engaged in the Nepal war, and he was well convinced they were incapable of acting otherwise than bravely; but, in reading over the papers, he had been unable to discover or discriminate which was the ablest and most efficient officer. Whether Sir David Ochterlony, or Colonels Kelly, O'Halleron, or Nicholls, or Captain Latter, were the most effective commander, could not be collected from the dispatches-for all were praised alike. There was, in fact, a superabundance of bombast and panegyric. He stated this that the public might not be led away by false impressions. He thought they ought to be aware of what had really been done, and not suffered to suppose that there was so much credit due for wielding the whole power of the British empire in India against a petty state He would most willingly give thanks where they were due-but he would not permit himself or the public to be blinded by the exaggerated statements which had already been disseminated. Arduous, undoubtedly, had been the duty of the governorgeneral; but when-(and here he took the noble marquis's own details on the subject)—he had forty-five thousand* men in arms arrayed against fourteen or sixteen thousand, he was disposed, after taking into consideration all the circumstances of the country, to lessen the greatness of the enterprize which had been carried on in the Nepalese territory. Though these observations might seem, to some persons, to detract from the merits of the noble marquis, yet it was only when compared to the war of 1803, the motion had his cordial assent. Indeed he would willingly have gone farther. He should have been glad, had the court of directors so framed the resolutions, to have thanked the noble marquis for the policy of his proceedings. Setting aside his bombastic and indiscriminate panegyrics, he conceiv ed that the line of policy which he adopted, deserved more praise than his conduct of the war. He was aware that some individuals differed from him on this point; but he was well assured that, if a temporising policy had been longer pursued by his predecessors, there were many chiefs on the extensive Indian frontiers who would have taken immediate advantage of it. It was his opinion that no out

to a degree far exceeding what they de-
served. The last paraagraphs in the dis-
patch of the 30th of March, appeared to
put the Nepal war on a level with the
memorable contest of Marquis Wellesley's
against the whole Mahratta empire. He
considered it most preposterous to put
the two contests on a level. The pro-
ceedings against Nepal were trivial and
unfortunate, when compared with the
brilliant and successful campaigns of
1803-4 against the whole power of India.
Supposing, to take Earl Moira's own
statement, the entire body of forces op-
posed to us in the late contest to amount
to from twelve to sixteen thousand men,
(and it never during the war exceeded
the latter number) to attempt to com-
pare such a contest in all its circum-
stances, even admitting all the diffi-
culties of the country, with one in which
two hundred thousand men were in
arms. Marquis Wellesley brought 54,918
men, in admirable co-operation, into the
field in August 1803, to meet the whole
Maharatta force, to the extent I have
mentioned, well appointed, with upwards
of seven hundred pieces of caunon, stores,
&c. and conquered an honourable and very
advantageous peace with Berar and Scin-
dia, in a most brilliant and unparallelled
campaign of four months; and in the
course of which five hundred and twenty-
seven pieces of artillery were absolutely
taken in the field from the powers against
whom we fought ;—whilst Earl Moira, by
his own account, brought into the field
44,975 men, and eighty-eight guns,
against 12 or 16,000 men, with scarcely
a gun or regularly armed man. To at
tempt a comparison between these cam-
paigns, was going much farther than the
occasion warranted. Besides, the noble
marquis was, in the resolution now pro-
posed, thanked for the promptitude and
energy with which he called the resources
the Company into effect. But could this
exertion of the Company's resources
against a body of twelve or fourteen
thousand men, be compared with the
efforts that it was found necessary to make,
when the whole power of India was com-
bined against us, and our resources were
not in men or money near so great as they
are at present? He observed, by the dis-
patches, that the noble marquis thanked a
small party, (he believed a serjeant and
fourteen men) for their success in an enter-
prize. One of his first acts was to thank
this individual in the most glowing terms,
but it must be remembered, that it was,
perhaps, the only success of the first cam-
paign, amidst a series of reverses. Indeed, Capt. Latter's
he (Mr. Hume) thought, that at all times
the noble marquis seemed to lavish his
praise without sufficient discrimination,
He knew Sir David Ochterlony, by cha-
racter, and many other officers personally,

Extract from Earl Moira's dispatch of the 2d August, 1815:

[blocks in formation]

Gen. Ochterlony's Detachment. 7,112 and 4463 Gen. Gillespie's 6668 Gen. Wood's 900 Gen. Morley's

do.

10,422

do.

4,698

do.

7,989

do.

2,723

32,944 12,C31 12,031

Total men 44,975

with 88 guns, and their establishments of Lascars, Golandays, &c.

rage against the Company should ever be suffered to pass unnoticed. The British government in India cught not to sit down quietly, and calculate what degree of insult should be received before hostile measures were resorted to ;-they should take especial care that no insult, however trifling, should be suffered to pass with impunity. When Marquis Wellesley was at the head of the Indian government, he caused it to be so highly respected, that a single messenger might travel from one end of India to the other, as a servant of the Company, and acting under the orders of the great marquis, without the slightest molestation. That time was one of energy and glory worthy of the British name. The honourable proprietor hoped that the vote of thanks would be carried unanimously. He fully concurred in the resolution of the court of directors, and would go with them to the full extent of that resolution. He was disposed to agree to it on this account:-that he (Lord Moira) had resented insults offered to the English government, and had nobly punished them; whilst the governors before had allowed them to tarnish the British character. Whatever opinions might be formed,whatever sentiments might prevail, relative to their policy in originally possessing India, the true principle on which they ought now to act, he took to be this, and he was ready to declare it-that, having India under their control, they must endeavour to retain it. Therefore, he contended, that, possessing Indiabeing masters of a territory great beyond all expectation, and which might become still greater by. proper and judicious management, they ought not to suffer a want of energy to threaten the safety of those dominions. He was of opinion, that if they (speaking with all due submission of the Company) permitted the natives of India, in any way, to lose the respect they ought to pay, to lose their confidence in, or to throw aside their good opinion of, the Company ;-nay, he would say, if the surrounding chiefs ceased to look with fear and dread on the British government-the moment that principle was departed from, circumstances would soon prove that their power was gone, and that they were bastening to ruin and decay. He, therefore, contended that the noble marquis who supported this principle with energy and promptness, deserved much more credit and honour for taking up, with spirit, the Insults which the Nepalese government had perpetrated, than for any of the subsequent proceedings. Here he found it necessary to observe, that it was not possible for the proprietors, in the short space of seven or eight days, allowed them by the notice, to read over all the dispatches; they contained six or seven

hundred inclosures, being about one huudred inclosures for every working day, during which the papers had been open to inspection. It was, consequently, quite impossible to get through them in a satisfactory manner; and, therefore, in coming to this vote, he, for one, would give his suffrage in support of the resolution, in the full confidence that the court of directors had read and considered the papers. Under existing circumstances, he could not act from his own immediate conviction, because the the time had not allowed him to read the whole of the papers: he could not form an opinion; and, he believed, that no gentleman before the bar had perused them. That court, however, always placed a certain degree of confidence in their executive; and the present was one of those instances in which that confidence was particularly called for. Not having the opportunity of coming to a decision by a perusal of the papers, as the court of directors had done, he was ready to vote for the resolution, believing that they had considered the subject seriously before they submitted it to the proprietors. On a former occasion, not less than a year ago, an honourable and learned friend of his (Mr. R. Jackson) moved, that certain papers connected with the first campaign of the Nepal war, it having then terminated, should be printed, and laid before the court of proprietors, in order that they might be carefully perused preparatory to their being taken into consideration. On that occasion a learned gentleman (Mr. H. Twiss) stepped forward, with what prudence or propriety he could now best explain, and opposed the motion, That gentleman would not hear of the production of papers by instalments, as he expressed himself. He, forsooth, did not see the propriety of having the papers in time to peruse and understand them, but would have them altogether. They had at length been presented, in a mass, to the inspection of the proprietors, and he called on the learned gentleman to state, whether he had perused them? He was sure he had scarcely had time to peruse more than one half of them-it was even a doubt with him (Mr. H.) if that learned gentleman had ever gone to look at them, now that they were at his service. The then chairman, (Charles Grant, Esq.) whatever opposition he might have given to the production of other documents, stated, that he for one had no objection to the printing of the papers in question, provided the dispatches from the court of directors to Lord Moira were also printed. But the learned gentleman (Mr. Twiss), who was so well versed in the affairs of the court, came forward to prevent the production of papers by instalments. He opposed

himself to the great experience of his learned friend Mr. Jackson who moved for the papers, whose absence on the present occasion he greatly regretted, and his motion was by an unexpected vote of this court then negatived. He was extremely sorry that his learned friend was at present engaged on very important business, in the sessions where he presided; he was employed on a most useful regulation relating to county affairs, and therefore could not attend the court.. Had he been present, he would have pointed out, with his usual eloquence, the mischievous consequences which had been produced by the refusal to accede to his very reasonable and proper motion. He could not, however, avoid saying, with respect to his learned friend, that his proposition had been treated in an extremely illiberal way-in a manner that tended to check the proprietors in their endeavours to procure necessary information. The amendment of the learned gentleman (Mr. Twiss), after the original motion of Mr. Jackson had been acceded in and corrected by the Chairman, had in a strange manner defeated the motion of his learned friend. But if they had then been furnished with the documents called for; if the learned gentleman had not interfered, and occasioned a vote against them-the proprietors would now have been in perfect possession of this subject. Had they received the documents by instalments, against which mode the learned gentleman had expressed himself so strongly, they would have had an opportunity of reading them; and they would now have come forward prepared to give a vote founded on the conviction of their own minds, instead of being obliged to act in the confidence they placed in their executive body. They were brought into this dilemma by the interference of the learned gentleman; and he now might get out of it in the best manner he could. The vote in that case would have been the vote of the general court, and consequently honorable to the noble marquis; but, at present, the resolution proposed could only in fact be considered as that of the court of directors. He meant not to say, that the intention of the learned gentleman was otherwise than good; but he hoped it would induce him (Mr. T.) to pause before he again opposed the motions of his learned friend (Mr. Jackson), and he would now be able to judge of the propriety and expediency of bringing forward, all at once, a mass of information, through which human industry could not proceed regularly and deliberately, unless a very extended period were allowed for that purpose. Now, though he had expressly stated his determination to vote for the resolution of thanks; yet he thought that, Asiatic Journ,-No. 13.

in justice to the governor-general, the policy of the war ought to have been noticed. Injustice to the character of the Company, the public should have been impressed with the feeling, that, in carrying on the war, the Indian government had acted on the purest and best principle, that of securing the safety of our territories, and of keeping up the glory, the honour, and the greatness of the British name. The British public were too ready to believe statements of injury done by the East India Company, and it was but justice to ourselves and to the government in India, to prevent any such improper impression. As the court of directors had not, however, gone into the subject, it would not be decorous for him to dwell on it much longer, although it afforded an ample field for observation. He hoped, however, the time was not far distant, when they would take into their serious consideration, in justice to the noble marquis, the policy which had marked his proceedings. He was most anxious that the causes which led to the war should be clearly understood; and he was quite ready to go into the discussion of that subject, a fair examination of which would redound greatly to the honour of the noble marquis, and perhaps dispel a cloud which hung over his character. He knew what an effect was produced in England when individuals spoke, in strong language, about the desire of encroachment on the part of governors in India. But when the civil proceedings which took place in England were confounded with the military proceedings in India; when the different relative situation of the two countries was lost sight of-it was impossible that correct deductions could be made. Those who argued in this way, an erroneous duty, doubtless believed that they were right. They saw the subject in a civil point of view, whilst it was surveyed, as he contested it only could be, in a military point of view by himself and others. The one party looked to the civil rights of the subject in England; the other fixed their attention on the military rights of the Company in India. The basis of the government in England is civil, and the military is an innovation ;-the basis of the government in India is military, and the civil is innovation. Having stated thus much, which was not, perhaps, altogether pertinent to the motion before the court, but which, he thought, might be excused, as, in his opinion, it ought to be distinctly known within doors and without doors, that the Company were not acting on the principle adopted by a great European chief, who attacked his neighbours without reason or necessity-he should not occupy the time of the court much longer; but he must say, that had the noble mar VOL. III. I

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