A. D. 1782. STORM AND FAMINE AT MADRAS. reputation, not merely for talent, but for honour and integrity, and who therefore had a character to lose, a person hardly to be found among the servants of the Company. Lord Macartney, who had acquired reputation by negotiating a commercial treaty with Russia, was the person selected, and he had arrived at Madras on the 22nd June. As England was now at war with the Dutch also, Lord Macartney had been directed to reduce their settlements. Sadras yielded when summoned; and the governor, putting himself at the head of the militia of Madras, advanced against Pulicat, which also surrendered, on condition of security to private property. He then tried to induce the general to attack Negapatam; but he positively refused, and pronounced that any such attempt would prove a lamentable failure. Lord Macartney thought differently; and having induced Sir Hector Munro to take the command of such troops as he could collect, without asking any from the general, on the 21st October, marines and seamen having been landed from the fleet to aid, the siege was commenced. On the 12th November the place capitulated. The number of the troops which surrendered, 6551, was far greater than that of the besieging army. The quantity of goods and military stores taken was considerable. The success of this undertaking augmented the old general's pettishness. He found fault with every thing; and even wrote to Bengal to say, that if not made quite independent he would resign. Lord Macartney, on the other hand, aware of the evils of dissension, and of the value of Coote's name, did all he could to keep him in good humour. "I court him like a mistress," said he, "and humour him like a child." On the 2nd January, 1782, the general put himself at the head of his army to convey provisions to Vellore, which could not hold out beyond the 11th, if not relieved. On the 5th he had a violent apoplectic fit, but next day he was able to proceed; and having relieved the fort in spite of Hyder, he led his army safely back to Madras. During these events in the Carnatic, Tellicherry was besieged, first by the Nairs of the coast, and then by one of Hyder's generals. It was ably defended by Major Abingdon, and at length, having received a reinforcement from Bombay, this gallant officer made a sally on the night of the 7th January, entered the camp of the enemy, who fled in the utmost confusion, and made their leader a prisoner. He now restored the various chiefs whom Hyder had driven away, and (Feb. 12) reduced the city of Calicut. On the 18th Col. Humberston, lately come from England, landed with about 1000 men, and taking the command, invaded Hyder's territories. The very day that Col. Humberston landed, a disaster, to be compared with that of Baillie, befel the English division, under Col. Braithwaite, in Tanjore. This officer was encamped on the banks of the Colaroon, with a force of 100 Europeans, and 1500 foot, and 300 native horse. Here he was suddenly surrounded by Tippoo, with 20,000 horse, 20,000 foot, and Lally's corps of Europeans, with twenty pieces of cannon. On the 16th the attacks began, and were continued till the 18th. Braithwaite formed his men into a hollow square, with the artillery in the face, and the cavalry in the centre. Tippoo kept up a constant fire of ar 119 tillery, and when he thought he had made a breach, he urged his cavalry on to the attack, with promises, threats, and blows. But in vain, they were repelled with showers of grape and musketry, and then the British cavalry issued forth, pursued, and cut them down. At length Lally, supported by large masses of horse and foot, led his Europeans on with fixed bayonets. At this sight the nerve of the Sepoys failed, and they fell into confusion. The barbarians rushed in on them, and would have massacred them, but for the exertions of Lally, who even slew some of the assailants with his own hand. It is but justice to Tippoo, to add, that he treated the survivors with humanity. Mill justly observes, that "the annals of war can seldom exhibit a parallel to the firmness and perseverance of this little army; and we must remember that it was almost wholly composed of Sepoys. Both France and England had sent out fleets and troops to India. That of the former was commanded by M. Suffrein, one of the ablest naval officers that France has ever possessed; and Bussy was to take the command of the land forces. The English fleet joined that of Sir Edward Hughes; the troops on board were commanded by Gen. Medows. On the 17th February the two fleets fought in the usual indecisive manner, and as the English retired to Trincomalee, in Ceylon, Suffrein landed 2000 French and 1000 Caffre soldiers at Porto Novo, where they were joined by Tippoo, and on the 3rd April they captured Cuddalore and Permacoil. They then advanced to Wandewash, but on the approach of Coote they withdrew to Pondicherry. Coote then moved toward Arnee, which the Killidâr had engaged to surrender; but the presence of Hyder deterred him from performing his promise. Hyder made an attack on the British army, but was repulsed with loss. Some days after a regiment of European cavalry, which ́ Coote named his grand guard, was drawn into an ambuscade, and the whole of it killed or made prisoners. The army then being sickly, was led back to Madras (June 20). A plan for a combined attack on Negapatam had been arranged between Hyder and the French admiral. But as the latter was proceeding thither, he was descried by the English admiral, and a close and warm action ensued (July 4); change in the wind deprived the English of a glorious victory, and the fleets separated. Suffrein having repaired his ships with great rapidity, put again to sea, while Hughes, though urged by the government of Madras, remained inactive till the 20th August. He then sailed for Trincomalee, but found the French colours flying on it. The day after his arrival (September 3) he engaged the French fleet, and the action, one of the hardest ever fought, was terminated by the night. Hughes then returned to Madras. The admiral was now requested to join in an attack on Cuddalore; but he gave a point blank refusal, and moreover declared his intention of proceeding to Bombay, and thus leaving the coast unprotected. Remonstrance availed not with him, and he set sail on the 15th October, as the sky menaced a storm. The tempest came, and next day the beach at Madras was strewn with the wrecks of shipping, among which were several laden with rice, to which the inhabitants looked for their sole support. The town was surcharged with population, such numbers of the people of the country had sought refuge in it from the ravages of Hyder. Famine now appeared in all its horrors, and the number of deaths were from 1200 to 1500 a week, though pestilence had not yet appeared. At length supplies began to arrive from Bengal and the Čircars; for fortunately the French were not aware of the condition of Madras. Sir Eyre Coote at this time sailed to Bengal, and the chief command remained with Gen. Stuart. dalore. It was a great object with the governor to reduce that place before the return of Tippoo and the French troops who were with him; but it proved impossible to get the general to move before the 21st April, and he spent forty days in traversing the 100 miles between Madras and Cuddalore. On the 13th June, he made an attack on the works thrown up there, and carried them, though with much loss, and the French retired into the town. Next day, the two hostile fleets arrived. Suffrein here took on board 1200 men ; In the month of December an event occurred and on the 20th, the fleets engaged with the usual which seemed likely to have a considerable effect success-hard fighting, and no ultimate advantage on the British interests in India, the formidable on either side. The English then having returned Hyder Ally breathed his last at Chittore, having, to Madras, Suffrein re-landed the 1200 with 2400 it is said, reached an age beyond eighty years. of his own men, and preparations were made for As it was of the utmost importance to conceal that a vigorous attack on the besieging army. On the event till the return of Tippoo, who was acting 25th, Bussy made a sortie with his best troops; against the English on the west coast, the body but was repulsed with loss?. He was preparing was placed in a chest filled with spices, and sent for a grand effort on the 4th July; but meantime away as if it had been treasure. The business of intelligence came of the signing of peace between state went on as usual: it was given out that France and England, and he cheerfully agreed to Hyder, though weak, was recovering, and as the a cessation of arms, and engaged to send orders to army moved toward Mysore no one was allowed to the French in Tippoo's service to retire from it approach the palankeen in which he was supposed immediately. to be lying. At length Tippoo arrived and assumed the sovereignty. Lord Macartney, aware of the confusion which takes place in an Eastern army on the death of its chief, was anxious to take advantage of that of Hyder to strike some important blow. But Gen. Stuart presumed to judge and act for himself, refused to obey orders, and thus let the occasion slip. We have often seen how injurious were the claims of independent authority set up by the king's officers serving in India. The independent power which Hastings found it necessary to bestow on Sir Eyre Coote had been useful while Madras was in the hands of a set of usurers, but proved hurtful in the case of a man of honour like Lord Macartney; and this nobleman, though he thought it expedient to manage Coote, would not submit to the assumptions of Stuart, and he found means to reduce him to obedience. In the beginning of the next year (1783) this officer at length took the field, and on the 13th February he offered Tippoo battle near Wandewash, which he declined and retired. The general then, in compliance with the wishes of the governor, executed the most injudicious measure of blowing up the fortifications of that place and of Carangoly, and then marched for Arcot, where he learned that Tippoo had left the Carnatic, having ordered Arcot to be evacuated and part of its works destroyed. Sir Eyre Coote was returning once more to the Carnatic, the scene of his glory. The ship he was on board of being chased for two days and nights, he stayed almost constantly on deck, exposed to the heat of the sun and the damp of the night. This, joined with mental anxiety, was too much for his enfeebled frame; and he expired (April 26), two days after reaching Madras. His character as an officer stood high, and he had gained greater victories than any European commander yet had done in India. Bussy had now arrived with reinforcements from the Islands, and taken the command at Cud 1 Yet he was only twenty-seven, it would appear, in 1749. See above, p. 95. General Stuart was now summoned to Madras, to answer for his contumacy and disobedience. After some delay, he proceeded thither. The usual disputes ensued; but the governor and council finally resolved to dismiss him the service. He, however, declared that he would retain the command of the king's troops; and Sir John Burgoyne, the second in command, declared that he would continue to obey his orders. Decision was now necessary; the general was arrested at his country house, and brought to the fort, and a few days after he was embarked for England. It will be recollected that he was the man who so treacherously had arrested Lord Pigot. Operations were in the meantime going on, on the west coast. Col. Humberston, who had made an inroad into the country southwards of Calient, had been obliged to retire with loss before Tippoo to Paniani, at the mouth of a river of that name. Col. Macleod came thither from Madras and took the command, and Sir Edward Hughes when passing landed 450 of his men. An assault on their lines by a part of Tippoo's troops led by Lally having been repelled, that prince was preparing to make another attempt, when the news arrived of his father's death. He drew off his army, and as soon as he was gone the Sepoys marched by land to Tellicherry, while the Europeans went by sea to Merjee, higher up on the coast. In January, Gen. Matthews came from Bombay with more troops, and taking the command, reduced Onore and some other forts. He then moved to the pass named Hussan Gurry Ghât, and though it was five miles long and the winding road defended by batteries at every turning, the troops carried every thing at the point of the bayonet, and reached the 2 It was on this occasion that Bernadotte, afterwards a marshal and king of Sweden, then a mere sergeant, was wounded and made a prisoner. Col. Wangenheim, who commanded the Hanoverian troops, struck with his appearance, had him taken to his own tent, and properly attended to till his recovery. Many years after, when Bernadotte commanded the French army in Hanover, and Wangenheim attended his levée, he reminded him of his kindness, and expressed his gratitude. summit. They then marched for Bednore, which the governor, who feared for his life from Tippoo, surrendered to them. Most of the other forts opened their gates. Ananpore was taken by storm; Mangalore, on the coast, yielded when a breach had been effected. As Matthews refused to distribute the treasure said to be found at Bednore, a quarrel broke out between him and his troops. He was harsh and they refractory. They were scattered in small parties through the country, and nothing was dreamed of but riches; when suddenly (April 9) Tippoo appeared before Bednore and invested the fort. The English garrison grown sickly, and without ammunition, surrendered on the 3rd May; but instead of being conducted to the coast as was promised, they were marched off in irons to the fortresses of Mysore 3. Tippoo now laid siege to Mangalore. His own troops exceeded 100,000 men, and he had more than 1000 French in his army; the garrison numbered only 696 Europeans and 2850 Sepoys commanded by Col. Campbell. Numerous batteries were raised, and all the arts of attack were employed, but the resistance of the gallant garrison could not be overcome. At length Bussy's orders to the French to retire arrived, and Tippoo then consented to an armistice (Aug. 2) during the term of which the garrison was to be supplied with provisions three times a week at a fair rate. But this was evaded; provisions were at first excessively dear, and then the supply ceased altogether, and they were reduced to the use of the vilest of food. No effectual attempt to supply them was made from Bombay or Madras; and at length (Jan. 30, 1784) they capitulated, being allowed to march to Telicherry with all the honours of war. The gallant Campbell breathed his last on the 23rd of the following March. While Tippoo was engaged in the siege of Mangalore, Col. Fullarton was acting against the southern part of his dominions, and he had reduced Dindigul and other forts. On the 2nd June he had captured Darapôram, and was advancing into Mysore, when orders from Gen. Stuart recalled him. He employed himself in regulating Madura and Tinivelly till August, when, being reinforced, he moved towards Mysore. About the middle of October, hearing of the violation of the armistice at Mangalore by Tippoo, he resolved to make a push for Seringapatam. With this view he reduced the fort of Palacatchery, after which that of Coimbatore surrendered. The road to Seringapatam was now open; Mangalore occupied Tippoo, Gen. Macleod had an army on the coast, the Madras army was acting in Cudipah, the Hindoo population was disaffected, and it was proposed to set up the deposed rajah. Every thing seemed to promise success, when (Nov. 28) Fullarton received orders from the commissioners sent to treat with Tippoo to restore all the places lately reduced, and retire within the limits occupied on the 26th July. He at first hesitated to obey; but on receiving orders to the same effect from Madras, he complied with them. On his march he met the missionary Schwartz. "And is the peace so cer 3 Tippoo justified this breach of the law of nations, by asserting that they had robbed the public treasure, and it is true that it was distributed among them, after the capitulation had been determined on. | 121 tain," said that good man, "that you quit all before the negotiation is ended? The possession of these rich countries would have kept Tippoo in awe, and inclined him to reasonable terms. But you quit the reins, and how will you manage the beast?" "I cannot help it," was the only reply. Soon after Fullarton received orders to keep all that was to have been given up! The commissioners, Messrs. Sadlier, Staunton, and Huddlestone, had been treated with indignity and insult on their way; their letters were opened, and they were not allowed to communicate with their captive countrymen. They were forced to go to Tippoo's camp at Mangalore, which they were not allowed to reach till after the fort had surrendered. A gibbet was there erected before each of their tents, and they learned that Gen. Matthews and other officers had been murdered in prison. Fearing a similar fate for themselves, they planned an escape to one of the English ships lying in the roads, leaving their escort to its fate. But their design coming by accident to the knowledge of the officer commanding the escort, they were obliged to abandon it; and Tippoo not proving quite so ferocious as they had anticipated, a treaty was signed on the 11th May, on the basis of a mutual restitution of conquests. CHAPTER XVIII. Treatment of Cheit Sing-Treaty of Chunar-Treatment of the Begums-Of Fyzoola Khân-The Nabob of ArcotThe residency of Oude- Departure of Hastings-Succeeded by Mr. Macpherson. THE unjust and expensive wars into which the presidencies of Madras and Bombay had plunged, ings, but gave him an opportunity of displaying caused great labour and uneasiness to Mr. Hastmental powers of a high order, and the utmost zeal for the interests of the Company. The manner and the Marattas from uniting with Hyder Ally, in which he succeeded in preventing the Nizâm exhibits him as the able diplomatist; and the way in which he supported those presidencies, proves his abilities as a statesman. We are now to consider some of the means he adopted in order to efforts he was obliged to make. obtain the funds necessary for the great military We have seen that, in 1774, Cheit Sing, the rajah or zemindar of Benâres became immediately subject to the Company. A fixed tribute was agreed on, which, he was assured, as long as he paid regularly, no other demands of any kind should be made on him. This tribute he had paid regularly up to 1778; when Mr. Hastings, who was now supreme in the council, and who, there is reason to think, had a spleen against him, pro See the note in Thornton, ii. 286. 5"It is a fact," said Hastings, "that when the unhappy divisions of our government had proceeded to an extremity, bordering on civil violence, by the attempt to wrest from me my authority, in June, 1777 [see above, p. 107], he had deputed a man named Sumboonaut, with an express commission to my opponent, and the man had proceeded as far as Mourshedabâd, when, hearing of the change of affairs, posed that he should be called on to pay five lacs a year for the support of three battalions of Sepoys during the war. He yielded, however, to Francis so far as to agree that that sum should be asked of the rajah as an aid. After some attempt to get an abatement, Cheit Sing consented; but he expressly declared that it was only for a single year. He asked also for time, pleading poverty; but the governor was inexorable, and only five days were given. The next year the demand was renewed. He appealed to the treaty; but troops were marched against him, and he was obliged to pay, the expenses of the troops included. In 1780 he was called on again, and he sent an agent to Calcutta to try to obtain a remission, and bearing a present of two lacs to the governor, who took the money, intending, as he said, to apply it to the public service. As he did not, however, express this intention, it was natural for the agent to suppose that he meant to do what was expected from him. The contribution, however, was exacted, and in addition one lac more by way of fine. This was still not deemed sufficient; and in 1781 he was called upon, beside paying his tribute and the five lacs, to furnish a body of 2000 cavalry. This demand was reduced to 1000, and he prepared that number, half horse, half matchlock-men. But this would not content the governor: "I was resolved," says he, "to draw from his guilt the means of relief to the Company's distresses. In a word, I had determined to make him pay largely for his pardon, or to exact a severe vengeance for his past delinquency." In a word Mr. Hastings was resolved to imitate the Oriental despotisms in one of their worst features, use the right of the stronger, and when he wanted money, take it by force from whoever possessed it. As to the rajah's guilt, what was it if not the desire to escape from being fleeced? The rajah, being terrified, offered twenty lacs of rupees, but Mr. Hastings insisted on fifty, and even was in treaty for the sale of his territories to the Nabob of Oude, after he should have seized his treasures. As a preliminary to his further proceedings, he removed Mr. Fowke from Benâres, and sent thither in his place one of his own adherents, Mr. Markham, son of the Archbishop of York; he then set out for that place in person. The rajah met him at Buxar, was very submissive, and even went so far as to place his turban in his lap; an act regarded as very significant of sincerity. Hastings, however, dismissed him, and went on to Benâres, which he reached on the 14th August. He then wrote to the rajah; and his answer not proving satisfactory, he gave orders to Mr. Markham to arrest him, and he was accordingly placed under a guard in his own house. This guard consisted of two companies of Sepoys, he stopped, and the rajah recalled him." They know little of Hastings, who fancy he would forgive this conduct. 6 "There was no treaty," says Wilson, who goes on to say that a sunnud (what he had) is only a grant, or patent, from a superior, and that there was no pledge that it should not be altered. What then, we may ask, was the use of it? But surely the honour of the Council was pledged. 7 There is great ambiguity about this money, which was and, strange to say, they had been sent without ammunition. They were stationed in the square of the rajah's house; where they were soon surrounded by bodies of armed men. When this was known, orders were sent to another company to come and bring them ammunition. But on their arrival they found all the avenues blocked up, and saw no means of relieving their companions, who were speedily destroyed by the assailants. Had Cheit Sing been a man of sense and spirit, he would now have put himself at their head, and gone to Hastings' quarters, where he might easily have seized him as a hostage for his safety. But he made his escape by a back wicket, and letting himself down the bank of the river by turbans tied together, escaped to the other side, whither the multitude followed him, leaving the palace to the English. Every effort was now made to assemble troops for the protection of the Governor-general; and as soon as a sufficient number had arrived, it was resolved to make an attempt on Ramnaghur, a fortified palace of the rajah's, on the opposite side of the river. But without waiting for Major Popham who was to command, or for the effects of a cannonade, Capt. Mayaffre led the troops against it through the narrow streets of the town, and himself and many of his men having fallen, the troops were forced to retire. As disaffection was now spreading on all sides, Hastings not considering himself safe at Benâres, made his escape by night to the strong fortress of Chunar. Cheit Sing now by letters, and by the mediation of influential persons, did all in his power to obtain peace; but Hastings would not even give him a reply. Hopeless of pardon, he then assembled all the troops he could, and resolved on the appeal to arms. But his fortress of Pateeta was stormed by Major Popham, the pass of Siekroot was carried by Major Crabbe, and he fled for safety to the fort Bidjeghur, where a great part of his treasure lay, being followed by Major Popham. Mr. Hastings returned to Benâres, where he issued a proclamation offering pardon to all but Cheit Sing and his brother. A grandson of Bulwunt Sing by one of his daughters was made rajah; and as he was only eighteen, his father was appointed his Naib. The tribute was raised to forty lacs; and the police, and civil, and criminal jurisdiction were taken from the rajah. Cheit Sing fled from Bidjeghur with his treasure to Bundelcund, leaving his mother, his wife, and other females in the fort. They offered to surrender on being secured in their persons and property. To these terms Hastings would not listen; and it was finally agreed that they should give up the fort on condition of being allowed to depart without being searched. But even this condition was violated by the captors; and female searchers were appointed to examine them as they issued, and see that they carried away nothing of value. The fort, we may observe, was not taken by assault; and it may therefore appear surprising that, as was the case, the captors seized and divided among themselves the whole of the booty. But here we have another specimen of Hastings' applied to the support of Carnac's division, apparently, as if inexplicable conduct. In his reply to Popham's lent or given by Hastings himself. Wilson is obliged to own, that the transaction was "exceptionable in many respects." letter respecting the surrender, are these words: "I apprehend that she [the Ranee] will contrive to defraud the captors of a considerable part of the booty, by being suffered to retire without examination. But this is your consideration and not mine. I should be very sorry that your officers and soldiers lost any part of the reward to which they are so well entitled." Surely the inference from this is irresistible, that he understood and intended that the whole of the booty should belong to the military. Yet he talks of "uncandid advantage having been taken of a private letter written by him to Popham on another occasion [which it was not] during the heat of the siege," and of trying if the law would not compel them to refund. He did not, however, risk the attempt, and he afterwards made no reply to Mr. Burke's charge on this subject. Perhaps the best solution of the problem is, that he merely wished "to stimulate the zeal of the military by the prospect of reward, of which, at a future time, he could determine the amount, and even adjudicate on the validity of the claim." But the military knew him and their own interest too well; for it is said, he had played this game with them before in the Rohilla war. At all events Hastings gained nothing but the gratification of his vengeance, by the deposition of Cheit Sing; for the raising of the annual tribute proved an illusory measure. The principal grounds on which Hastings and his advocates rely, for the justification of his treatment of Cheit Sing, are, that he was meditating rebellion, and that he was bound to contribute to the expenses of the wars in which the Company engaged. As to the first, we have only Mr. Hastings' own assertion, negatived by his conduct in going to Benâres without troops, and a set of rumours and reports embodied in affidavits. As to the second, we doubt its applicability. The Company were not yet sovereigns in India; they held of the emperor, and yet they refused to assist him with troops, or to pay him his tribute. Why then should they exact from their vassal, what they refused to their liege? Further, though Cheit Sing might be bound to aid in the preservation of the Company's territories in Hindustan and Bengal, it is not equally clear, that because they chose to waste their resources in unjust wars in the Deckan, he was to be called on for additional contributions. While Hastings was at Chunar he received a visit from the vizîr of Oude, to whose capital he had intended to proceed, in order to arrange some matters of importance, to facilitate which he had removed Bristow, and sent his friend Nat. Middleton again there, as resident. A treaty was arranged, the chief object of which was the relief of the vizîr's pecuniary difficulties, which were very great. Yet, amidst all his distress, he offered Hastings a present of ten lacs of rupees. This present was accepted, and was applied to the public service; but when advising the Directors of it four months afterwards, Hastings expressed a wish to be allowed to keep it as the reward of his labours. This was certainly one of the weakest acts of which he ever was guilty. The Company at that time was in the utmost want of money; and as yet the Court of Directors hardly knew what the word generosity meant. We need therefore hardly add, that he met with a most decided refusal. The distress of the vizîr was occasioned partly by his own vices, weakness, extravagance, and Thornton, ii. 303. 123 misgovernment, and still more by the heavy burdens imposed on him by the Company, and the rapacity of their servants. By the treaty with the late vizîr, a brigade of the Company's troops was to be kept in Oude at his expense. In 1777 a second, called the temporary brigade, was added, which he was to pay as long as he should require its services. Then several detached corps in the Company's service were placed in his pay, and a great part of his own troops were put under the command of British officers. Beside these, there was an immense civil establishment for the resident, and another for another agent of the Company; and there were pensions, allowances, and gifts to the various persons, civil and military, in the Company's service. When all these are considered, we need not be surprised to find the vizîr, in 1779, deeply in arrear, and imploring to be relieved from the expense of the temporary brigade, and the detached corps, which he declared to be not merely useless, but even injurious. Hastings, however, refused any alleviation, declared he was a vassal of the Company, and that it was for them, not him, to determine respecting those troops. He further asserted in council, that ambiguities had been left in the treaty (which was not the case), and that it was the part of the strongest to affix to them what meaning they pleased-a general political maxim, no doubt, but not often so frankly avowed. In 1780, the Nabob was 1,100,000l. in arrear, and it went on advancing. The governor-general then began to believe that his distress was real, and one of the objects of this journey to the upper provinces was his relief. By the treaty of Chunar the vizîr was relieved from the expense of all the British troops, except the original brigade, and a regiment of Sepoys for the resident's guard, and from all payments to English gentlemen, except those of the resident's office. He was further permitted to resume all the jagheers that he pleased, giving a pension equal to the net amount, to such of the holders as had the Company's guarantee. Finally, too, he was to be allowed to resume that of Fyzoola Khân, and to give him instead of it a pension. In this treaty the governor-general appears extremely liberal and disinterested; all is for the advantage of the vizîr, nothing for that of the Company. But the reality was widely different. Two of the greatest jagheerdars were the two Begums, or princesses, that is, the mother and the grandmother of the vizîr, to whom their husbands had given jagheers, and left treasures which their savings had augmented to a large amount, and of which it was now proposed to strip them, and to hand the money over to the Company in payment of the vizîr's arrears. To justify this, it was asserted that they had no right to this property 9, as a widow could only inherit an eighth by Mohammedan law; but against this there was length of undisturbed possession, and in the case of the younger, most unfortunately for Mr. Hastings and his advocates, the positive guarantee of the British government in 1775, which cost her thirty lacs of rupees, and which was solemnly recognized in 1778 by the governor and council. This, how • We know not Mr. Gleig's authority for asserting, that the wills under which they claimed were forgeries. |