ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub

He had not been accused of any sinister motive, neither would the idea of the possibility of his receiving a bribe have occurred, but for his unsolicited defence, which excited suspicion, and led to the positive discovery, that he had actually received a douceur of 5000 rupees. The declaration of the last-mentioned gentlemen, that they were not employed by Sir G. Barlow, appears to have been as unnecessary as the disavowal of the bribe was in the instance mentioned; and, like it, creates suspicion, and renders it, in fact, probable that Sir G. Barlow felt an emotion of compunction at the retrospect of the acts he had counselled.

In short, the blind perseverance in acts of error, and an unqualified support of the doctrines of a set of men, who have wormed themselves into confidence, by the basest. means, have brought the affairs of this Government to the verge of ruin; for, although no open act of violence has yet taken place, there can be no doubt that matters may soon proceed to that extremity. Unhappily, their proceedings are so well calculated to produce that end, that it is no longer reasonable to entertain a hope of their failure, unless the private communications which

may reach Lord Minto, may induce him to interpose his personal authority, and, by his presence at Madras, to restore some degree of confidence to the sincere friends of established Government, administered with justice and equity.

The transactions at Masulipatam succeeded next in order to those which have been detailed; they shall accordingly be noticed in the next communication.

LETTER V.*

ADIEU !

Madras, 10th September, 1809.

DEAR SIR,

Mr letters by the last dispatch will have prepared your mind for the reception of the accounts that I am about to give you. The discontents of the army are no longer expressed in angry declarations and memorials, but have shewn themselves

*The preceding letters are written, as the Reader must have observed, by the same correspondent. It is to be wished that the series had been complete, but they were originally written, it is necessary to remark, for the information of a gentleman at Calcutta, and have

in deeds, not to be doubted, or denied. As the discontents were general, as has been described to you in my previous correspondence, so the effects of them do not appear to have been confined to one station of the army.

At Masulipatam, Hydrabad, and Seringapatam, many direct acts of insubordination have occurred. The Government have, in consequence, had recourse to summary means, to suppress the prevailing spirit, and to reduce it within its proper boundary. Large forces of his Majesty's troops, joined by a part of the Native army, commanded by King's officers, have been sent to the Southward and Northward; and a detachment, consisting of troops of a like description, with the addition of the Mysore cavalry, have been ordered to march to Seringapatam. It will be necessary to observe, that before these extreme measures were pursued, the Government had the most un

been since forwarded by him to this country. This will account for the series being interrupted at the interesting period, at which it closes. The remaining letter [No. 5.] is written by another hand, and must serve to fill up the chasm in the correspondence, which otherwise it would have been difficult to supply.

doubted proofs of the disaffection of the army at the principal stations. The first declared symptom of it was manifested at Masulipatam, in the month of June, in the arrest of Lieutenant Colonel Innes, who had been recently placed in the command of the European battalion, in the room of Lieutenant Colonel A. Taylor, who was supposed not to have been active enough in keeping under the rising spirit of discontent among his officers, which had discovered itself, as reported, on several occasions, at the mess of the regiment, in obnoxious toasts, and allusions to the acts of the Government. The cause of the arrest of Lieutenant Colonel Innes was, an attempt on his part to carry an order of the Government of Fort St. George into effect, directing the embarkation of one or more detachments of the European regiment, on board certain of his Majesty's ships, in the capacity of Marines. In communicating his orders to the regiment, Lieutenant Col. Innes, imprudently published the letter of the Adjutant General, accompanying them, and which was meant,

it

may be presumed, for his private perusal, as it conveyed a threat in the event of any irregularity on the part of the officers, that

the regiment should be dispersed, and the whole of the officers, with the exception of the general staff, would be placed on half-pay. On this circumstance being made known, a general agitation ensued, which seemed to threaten the personal safety of Lieutenant Colonel Innes, who was then " preparing means to resist it by force, when Major Storey, the next officer in command, waited on Colonel Innes, and explained to him the sentiment of the corps, and expressed a wish that he would abandon, through an apprehension of the probable consequences, his meditated opposition, and requested, that he would be so good as to suspend the execution of the orders, until further explanation could be received from the Presidency. Lieutenant Colonel Innes refusing to comply with this request, was, at the recommendation of the officers present, put under arrest ;-not, as it is said, out of personal disrespect, but under an impression, as before explained, that his person, otherwise, would not have been in safety, from an idea, generally entertained, that he was to be made the instrument of dispersing the corps, in order ultimately to reduce it. Major Storey took immediate

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »