ARTES 18 17. VERITAS LIBRARY SCIENTIA OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN oke TUEBOR 31-QUÆRIS-PENINSULAM-ANŒENAN CIRCUMSPICE THIS BOOK FORMS PART OF THE ORIGINAL LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN BOUGHT IN EUROPE 1838 TO 1839 BY ASA GRAY 2 1 1 t DS 485 M28 G76 } } * A LETTER, &c. t Grant, Charles, 1746-1823 A LETTER C. GRANT, Esq. W. ASTELL, Esq. C. MILLS, Esq. A. ROBARTS, Esq. G. SMITH, Esq. SIGNED BY 2-76 R. C. PLOWDEN, Esq. C. MARJORIBANKS, Esq. J. INGLIS, Esq. J. BEBB, Esq. G. A. ROBINSON, Esq. DIRECTORS OF THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY CONTAINING A MINUTE EXAMINATION AND FULL VINDICATION OF THE MEASURES ADOPTED BY SIR GEORGE BARLOW, DURING THE Dissentions AT THE PRESIDENCY OF MADRAS. Extracted from the Papers laid before Parliament. LONDON: PRINTED FOX BLACK, PARRY, AND CO. BOOKSELLERS TO THE HON, EAST-INDIA COMPANY, LEADENHALL STREET. 1812. { 1 > London:-Printed by Cox and Baylis, 75, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. + PREFACE. AN Honorable Member of the House of Com- mons (Mr. Creevy) lately announced his intention of bringing forward a motion for the recal of Sir George Barlow from the Government of Madras, The motion was to have taken place on the 2d of June, but has been since postponed, sine die. Whatever may have been the Honorable Member's motive for suspending or for relinquishing his in- tention, the circumstance is to be regretted, as Parliamentary discussion would have given the best opportunity of informing the public mind on many points connected with the dissentions at the Presi- dency of Madras, and have freed it from the delu- sion which has too long existed. The papers relative to that subject have been now long on the table of the House of Commons; and it is probable A that vi that the Honorable Member may have become sensible of the untenable grounds on which any motion of the nature proposed would have rested. Some dissents, recorded by six Honorable Direc- tors, relative to the proceedings at Madras, have recently been extracted from the Parliamentary papers, and brought to the public attention in the form of a separate pamphlet. We shall offer no observation on those dissents; but request the reader to peruse the following unanswered and unanswerable letter, subscribed by ten Directors of the first respectability and distinction, as that letter contains the most ample vindication of all the material measures adopted by the Government of Madras-a vindication which, being founded on the demonstration of proof, can never be shaken. It would have been satisfactory that the subject should have had the benefit of public discussion in Parliament; but as it seems now questionable if such discussion will take place, those who may be desirous of looking further into the question, may vii J may be enabled to compare the opinions stated in the dissents, with those stated in the letter which follows, and to draw their own conclusions as to the side of truth. The low scurrility interspersed in different parts of the recent pamphlet, is such as can require no observation. A 2 CONTENTS. Preliminary Observations on the late Revolt at Madras . The Dissents to the Removal of Mr. Petrie go, with reference to that measure, into the whole subject of the Disputes be- tween the Government and Army of Fort St. George Intended Review of that subject here.. Different representations on the subject. Inquiry into the causes of the Revolt Remoter causes. The Account given in the Dissents of the State of the Army at the time of Sir G. Barlow's accession to the Govern- ment. • State of the Army when Sir G. Barlow came to the Govern- ment. Inquiry into the means of Conciliation then in his Proximate Causes of the Revolt • State of matters between Government and the Army, in the following year 1808.... Conduct of General Macdowall Page 3 ibid. ibid. 5 ibid. 15 19 power.... ibid. 20 21 ibid. 27 • • CO د 31 How The accounts given in the Dissents of General Macdowall Enumeration of the public acts of General Macdowall against the Government And of the events thence arising CONTENTS. Page 1 How these subjects have been considered by the Court And are treated in the Dissents 32 33 Observations on the Opinions given in the Dissents on these subjects.. 34 Inquiry how Conciliation could have been applied in the se- veral cases of dispute, and brief Review of them to that end... 36 The Arrest of Lieutenant Colonel Munro by General Mac- dowall, and his release by Government..... Observations in the Dissents upon the Affairs of Lieutenant Colonel Munro, and Answers to them.... ibid. 39 Memorial from the Officers, transmitted by General Mac- dowall to Government } 47 Inquiry how, and what Conciliation, could have applied in the case of that Memorial..... 49 Factions in the Civil Branch of the Community, which strengthened the insubordination of the Military.. The other Dissents of the latter period (April 1810) dwell on the unpopularity of Sir G. Barlow 50 50 ibid. • Rise of the unpopularity of Sir G. Barlow.... Observations on Mr. Petrie's account of that unpopularity.. ibid. The Case of Mr. Sherson, a Civil Servant, made a party question.. 52 View taken of it in some of the Dissents.. ibid. Proceedings in relation to the Carnatic Debts became the source of violent opposition to the Government .... Brief Review of the proceedings relative to the Carnatic Debts in an Appendix 54 55 Observations on the conduct of Government relative to those proceedings, which created opposition in the Civil Com- munity... General Macdowall's Farewell Address to the Army and his General Order censuring Lieutenant Colonel Munro for ap- pealing to the Government Mr. Petrie's Observations on the Conduct Government ought to have pursued on that occasion; with Remarks in an- swer 56 57 58 Grand CONTENTS. xi Page Grand principle on which the Government acted in the Dis- putes with the Army.. Suspension of Colonel Capper and Major Boles.... 6988 63 64 The account given of their conduct in Mr. Petrie's Statement and in the Dissents ibid. The merits of the question 65 The conduct of the Government in respect to Colonel Capper and Major Boles considered.. Seditious Address of the Officers to Major Boles 888 66 68 Seditious Memorial to Lord Minto, prepared by the Officers Suspension of certain Officers on 1st May 1809.. 69 71 View given in the Dissents of this proceeding ibid. The question concerning the trial of seditious Officers by Courts Martial... 72 Observations on the proceedings of Government on 1st May 1809.... 73 Construction given in one of the Dissents to the commenda- tion bestowed by Lord Minto on Sir G. Barlow; and Ob- servations thereon.... 74 Further Observations on the Government proceeding of the 1st May. 76 Other Objections to it in the Dissents noticed 77 • Progress of the Revolt.. 78 Conduct of the Government upon the rebellious proceedings of the Officers 80 Declaration of Obedience to Government, proposed to Officers on 26th July.... 81 Objections stated in the Dissents to that measure; and Answers... ibid. Mr. Petrie's account of the points in difference between him and Sir G. Barlow examined 83 Progress of Rebellion 85 And of the measures opposed to it by Government Submission of the revolted Officers ibid. 86 Their submission—not owing to the approach of Lord Minto to Madras, as Mr. Petrie and the Dissents affirm..... ibid. Concluding xiì CONTENTS. Concluding Observations on the origin, progress, and termi- nation of the Revolt of the Madras Officers.. Application of these Observations to the case of Sir G. Bar- low ! Page 93 97 The view of his temper and manners by Mr. Petrie, and in the Dissents Some other Charges brought against him in the Dissents.... The Causes of the Removal of Mr. Petrie from Council stated, and that measure justified ibid. 98 99 | 1 TO THE HONOURABLE THE COURT OF DIRECTORS. GENTLEMEN, servations on the late Revolt at THE late Revolt of the Officers of the Madras Army, Preliminary ob- is the most remarkable and most important event, that has oc- curred in the history of British Administration in India, since Madras. our first acquisition of territory there. It led to the commence- ment of a Civil War in the Carnatic; it threatened to involve the whole Peninsula in anarchy and blood; to encourage the numer- ous disaffected adherents of the fallen families of Tippoo and Mahomed Ali to insurrection, to invite the Native Powers to fall upon us whilst in this state of internal convulsion, and to sub- vert a Government which had successfully resisted, through a long course of years, the repeated attacks of neighbouring States. This intestine war did not proceed from the natives dis- placed by our power, or employed in our service. It proceeded from our own people, from British-born subjects, from military men to whom the command of the Army, the defence of our Government, was committed, and who, by their profession, and the solemn obligations it imposed on them, were bound to fidelity and obedience. So signal an event ought to leave a profound impression upon the minds of all those to whom the administration of British India is entrusted; and the causes which led to it ought, with a view to future good, to be well understood and established, to be, where any doubt or dispute still remains, investigated with the utmost care and impartiality. B To To mistake the causes, to suppose the revolt to have been occa- sioned by what did not produce it, and to overlook circumstances which really had a material effect in bringing on that unnatural proceeding, would have a fatal influence upon our determina- tions respecting the merits of the actors in the recent transac- tions, and the policy which ought to be observed in future. Con- demnation might thus be pronounced on those who are entitled to the highest praise, and encouragement, instead of resistance, be given to the dangerous spirit of insubordination. We conceived indeed, that the task of passing a final judgment upon the conduct both of the Government of Madras, and of the Officers of the Army in the late extraordinary commotions, had been performed in the several dispatches sent by the Court upon those subjects to the Presidency of Fort St. George, under dates the 17th August, 29th September, 12th October 1809, and 7th February 1810; and we lament to see the opinions. which so long afterwards have been given to the Court, and through them to the public, upon these momentous topics, on occasion, not of any original direct question then brought for- ward concerning those topics, but of a question concerning an individual. The opposition made at the periods of those dis- patches to the sentiments they contained relative to the conduct of the Army, and of the Government towards it, proceeded, to the best of our recollection, only from a few gentlemen, and had reference chiefly to the suspension of certain Military officers; Mr. Elphinstone alone having recorded a Dissent on 13th October 1809, to the approbation generally bestowed by the Court on the measures of the Government then in question. Afterwards certain proceedings of the Court itself, with respect to those Officers, drew from Messrs. Elphinstone, Hudleston, Pattison, and Bannerman severally, Dissents, in which, indeed, there were some strictures upon the character and proceedings of the Governor Sir G. Barlow; but in the Dissents which have been entered by those four gentlemen respectively, and by Sir Francis Baring and Sir Hugh Inglis jointly, on occasion of The Dissents to the removal of Mr. Petrie from the Council of Fort St. the removal of George, the whole question of the causes of the discontents Mr. Petrie go, in 3 to that measure, into the whole subject of the disputes between the Government and the Army of Fort St. George. Intended review here. in the Madras Army, and of the conduct of the Government of with reference that Presidency in relation to them, is again opened and dis- cussed, and a judgment passed upon it very different from that which the Court has pronounced. We feel ourselves, therefore, called upon to go into this question anew; and though we shall proceed to it certainly with unabated conviction of the sound- ness of the conclusions we have formed, and consequently with of that subject a just disposition to defend them, yet also with a full purpose of reviewing and stating fairly the facts and arguments from which those conclusions have been deduced, and of examining in the same spirit, the opinions delivered in the Dissents above mentioned. It was our declared wish to do this soon after the production of those Dissents; but successive interruptions oc- casioned unintentional delay, which, however, does not affect the question, nor, we hope, the public interest. In the per- formance of the task we have proposed, we shall be led to unfold the grounds on which, when it became unavoidable to determine on a new commission of Government for Fort St. George, we deemed it our indispensable duty to vote for omit- ting the name of Mr. Petrie in that commission; because we agree with the authors of those Dissents, in viewing the ques- tion concerning the merit or demerit of the Madras Government in its policy and conduct respecting the Army, as intimately connected with the question of the merit or demerit of Mr. Petrie in the opinions he professed, and the part he acted with relation to the same most important objects; though there is still another question distinct from these :-whether Mr. Petrie, upon his own principles, acted rightly? In the agitations produced by civil discord, when numbers are involved, when personal and party interests are at stake, and as a natural consequence, violent inflammatory representations are from many quarters made to the public, it must be more diffi- cult to pursue inquiry with a dispassionate and unbiassed mind. For those especially whose duty it is, as Directors, to perform the solemn office of Judge upon the conduct both of the Government of Madras, and of the Officers of the Army, in the late extraordinary commotions, one of our own body, Mr. Elphinstone. B 2 Different repre- sentations on the subject. 4 Elphinstone, in his Dissent of the 14th April 1810, has pro- posed a good rule; "That the Minutes and Consultations of "Council are the only true and constitutional information that "ought to come to the Government at home, and on which "they ought to form their decision, all other being only cr ex parte evidence, which never should be implicitly believed "or acted upon." Presuming that the honourable gentleman did not mean by his proposition, the scope of which is, that decision should proceed only upon well authenticated facts, to exclude truth otherwise incontrovertibly established by public proof, we approve of the spirit of his rule, which is conform- able to our own sentiments; and it shall be our aim, in the whole course of this paper, to adhere to it still, under a deep impression of the imminent perils to which the Company and the Nation have recently been exposed, and the transcendant importance of guarding against such evils in the time to come. Since the alarms excited by the progress of revolt, have been removed by the knowledge of its suppression, it has become the fashion of many persons, both in writings and discourse, greatly to overlook the guilt of the Officers in that most crimi- nal and dangerous proceeding, as if the whole with respect to them were over, and to draw the attention chiefly to the con- duct of the Madras Government, or rather of Sir George Barlow, the Governor, in order to fix upon him the blame of the evils which have happened. This is a question which may now be discussed with perfect safety too the generality of the Officers, since the amnesty of Lord Minto has exempted them from punishment, which he declares them to have deserved: but although the opposite parties in the late contests are thus very unequally placed, and the accusations against Sir G. Bar- low, however expanded in this country, originate chiefly with those Officers, it is our wish, that when they are adopted or supported by the written opinions of Members of this Court, that they may also undergo an examination in writing; and this will be most properly done by following the important inquiry already proposed, into the causes which produced the revolt of the Officers of the Coast Army, Those 5 Those who look no further for the springs of this event, than to the occurrences which immediately preceded it, reason contrary to general experience, which has established the maxim," that no one becomes all at once deeply criminal." The revolt was not a mere paroxysm of resentment into which men were sud- denly hurried from a state of perfect subordination; it had in it characters of matured, systematic combination and preten- sion, which could only be the work of time: and the persons who thus argue, must also be unacquainted with the existence of authentic information, which militates against their hypo- thesis. Inquery into the causes of the Revolt. The account of the first ostensible movements in opposition to the measures of Government, shows a temper of insubordi- nation already formed; and it has long been our conviction, that the spirit and principles by which the sedition of the Of- ficers was incited and impelled, had their origin in an early pe- riod, and that the causes of the revolt might justly be distin- guished into such as were more remotely predisposing, and such Remoler causes. as were proximate. Gallant as the conduct of our Eastern Armies has been in the Field, and fertile as they have been in men eminently fitted for civil and political as well as military employments, it is not unknown to persons well acquainted with India, that even before our force there became considerable, very many of the Officers, who lived chiefly in camps, separate from other society, indulged and provoked in each other a spirit of discontent, founded in invidious comparison between their own advantages and those of the civil branch of the ser- vice. The desire of rank and emolument, common probably to all Military Officers, has, in that country, from local circum- stances, operated with peculiar force. It was not stimulated only by the idea of unequal allotments, and the powerful in- Aluence of a common sentiment, strengthened by free com- munication through the general mass of military society, but that society remained, from the principle of advancement only by seniority, composed of individuals who looked to pass a great part of their lives far distant from their native country, to which they naturally cherished a wish to return, with the provision of which 1 6 which the adventurous spirit of youth had indulged the hope, and of which the scene before them seemed to afford the means. The workings of this desire in the cases of individuals, and in questions of military allowances, may be traced through the whole course of the Company's records; and its ebullitions in the combination which produced the mutiny in 1766, and the agitations of 1796, were very formidable. It was, in our opi- nion, also a predisposing cause of the revolt of 1809, in co- operation, no doubt, with other causes of the same tendency, some of which may now be noticed. The infusion of the King's troops into the Indian service, which has happened within the last twenty years, seems, from the beginning, to have been a source of discontent to the Company's Officers, as interfering with honours and emoluments which they before exclusively enjoyed. It took place chiefly under the Madras Presidency; and as the number of those troops progressively increased there, and the Company's Officers thought, not always without reason, that partiality was shewn to those of the King, in the distribu- tion of advantages, the privations to which they appeared to be thus subjected, became a permanent theme of complaint in the Madras Army-a complaint which the Company have done all in their power to remove, by enjoining the strictest justice in the distribution of places and emoluments: and their orders were actually, in a great measure, carried into execution at the time when the late disturbances broke out, although the charge of partiality still continued to be then repeated. With respect to the introduction of a large portion of the King's Army into India, our political circumstances in that country have required a considerable accession of European troops; and since the pri- vilege of recruiting has been withdrawn from the Company, the supply could only be furnished from the public force. The Company's Armies have also been largely increased, and with their numbers the former feelings of injury have been extended and strengthened. Their brilliant achievements in the late wars, of which, and of the superlative praise bestowed on them by the Indian Governments, the Madras Army has had its full share, have naturally enhanced their sense of their own im- portance : 7 : portance and it will hardly be denied, after the decisive evi- dence furnished by the late revolt, that the Officers of the Madras Army (we wish always to be understood as meaning the majority only) fully believed they had the native troops entirely at their devotion. From this sentiment, which the implicit obedience of those troops had long tended to confirm, the Of- ficers appear to have tacitly persuaded themselves. that they had the power not only of overawing, but even of overturning, the Civil Government. We mean not to insinuate that they en- tertained such an intention, until the late excesses carried them at length to that fearful precipice but the idea of their pos- sessing such a power, must have had an habitual influence in exalting still more their estimate of their own importance, rais- ing also their expectations, and aggravating their impatience under supposed wrongs. The example of the concessions ob- tained in 1796 is now proved to have had, as might have been expected, a great effect upon the minds of the Madras Officers. The Indian Army may be allowed to have had at that time real causes of complaint, which were indeed very improperly urged, but too long unredressed. Since that period, however, the Bengal Army has been highly distinguished, as well by cordial obedience and attachment to legitimate authority, as by valour in the field; and great praise is due, on the same score, to the Army of Bombay. The Military Regulations of 1796 extended their benefits to the three Presidencies, and with comparatively greater advantages to the two subordinate ones; but the Officers of Fort St. George, when in the enjoyment of these, took en- couragement from former concession, in framing new preten- sions, such as had never before been heard of. In forming such pretensions and pursuing them, they acted under the influence, and by the support of combination. It is the nature of this principle, when resorted to by an Army, to obtain concessions from the Government; to place the former in some degree of opposition to the latter, and to weaken the sentiment of respect and subordination. Such combination is hardly known in the armies of Europe, and would be instantly put down on its first appearance, It has also been repeatedly forbidden * General Mac. dowall's Letter to the Governor, of 16 May 180s, and the writings of the Officers in refer- ence to this sub- ject. 8 forbidden in our Indian Armies, but the prohibition has not always been duly enforced abroad, as it might easily and success- fully have been. From this fact, connected with the other circumstances already mentioned, it might be inferred that the discipline of the Ma- dras Army had become relaxed; but we are not left to uncer- tainty in this matter, and it is material to show, from authentic records, that a considerable time before Sir George Barlow's accession to the Government, (which was on the 24th Dec. 1807,) and before the commencement of the late retrenchments, there appeared among the Madras Officers, symptoms, more or less general, of a spirit of insubordination, which must indisputably be reckoned a predisposing cause, to future excesses. In the Fort St. George Military Letter of the 6th March 1807, we find the following passage. "Para. 429. We reported in our last letter, the proceedings " which had taken place in consequence of an unfounded com- "plaint from the Officer commanding the subsidiary force at "Travancore, with regard to the inconveniences to which the "Officers and troops of that force were described to be sub- "jected by the discontinuance of the field allowances, the pay- "ment of which had been ordered to cease." “430. On full inquiry, the conduct of Lieutenant Colonel "Grant, the Commanding Officer, appeared so reprehensible, " from his having given his earnest support to representations. " which it had been established had no just foundation, that we "considered it proper to express in General Orders our disap- "probation of the mode of proceeding which that Officer had adopted, and in which he appeared to have shown himself not "less forgetful of his duty to the Government, than of his own "character." The Fort St. George Military Letter of 21st October 1807, contains a great deal on the same subject; and from it several extracts shall here be presented: "Para. 9 "Para. 467. We are concerned to state, that repeated in- "stances of improper conduct on the part of Captain Board- man, of the 18th regiment of native infantry, in his commu- "nications with the Civil Magistrate at Chittoor, as will more << fully appear on the records of the Judicial Department, have "induced us to direct that he shall be removed from the com- "mand of that station, as we had in vain endeavoured to satisfy " him of the necessity of regulating his conduct, in the exercise "of his command, with more discretion and temper." "468. We have also been under the necessity of directing "that Lieutenant Brown, of the 14th regiment native infantry, "should be dismissed from the command of Onore, in conse- quence of his disrespectful conduct towards the Civil Magis- "trate of that place, whom he appears to have impeded in the "execution of a useful work, without authority or any neces- sity." "" << 469. We are concerned to bring to the notice of your "honourable Court, a very unfavourable report of the state of "the 8th regiment of native cavalry, which was submitted to us by the Commander in Chief at our Consultation of the 10th July. We entirely concurred with his excellency in the neces- sity of using effectual means to restore a due sense of subor- "dination among the Officers of that corps. In pursuance of "that opinion, we removed Lieutenant A. Macleod from the appointment of Quarter-master of the 8th regiment.” "583. We feel considerable concern in soliciting the parti- "cular attention of your honourable Court, to a Memorial "which has been addressed to the Supreme Government, by "the Honourable Lieutenant Colonel Sentleger, an Officer belonging to the native cavalry of this establishment, and "also to the Minutes which have been recorded by Lord Wil- "liam Bentinck, and by the Commander in Chief, in explana- "tion of the grounds of complaint exhibited in that Me- "morial." "< 584. It 10 .66 "584. It will be observed in those papers, that a Memorial was addressed to this Government, by the Honourable Lieu- "tenant Colonel Sentleger, at a very early period after his late "return to India, stating his pretensions to the appointment of 66 Inspector of Cavalry on this establishment, in preference to "those of Lieutenant Colonel Gillespie, who was selected for "that station, from the opinion which was entertained of his qualifications for the performance of its duties, and as a re- compence for the signal service rendered by that Officer to his "country at the momentous crisis of the mutiny at Vellore. "Without intending any disparagement to the Honourable "Lieutenant Colonel Sentleger, it did not appear to us that his "claims were sufficient to invalidate the circumstances under "which Lieutenant Colonel Gillespie had, by an achievement "of the highest importance, recommended himself to the public "attention; and we were not prepared to yield to the improper, "not to say indecent, precipitancy of Lieutenant Colonel Sent- leger, who had then scarcely landed on his return from Eng- land, by depriving Lieutenant Colonel Gillespie of those “honours which had been conferred upon him." << << "585. In the Memorial addressed to the Supreme Govern- ment, the Honourable Lieutenant Colonel Sentleger deemed "himself at liberty to take a more extensive range of alleged "grievance; and, after slightly adverting to the particular "object which had formed the ground of his Memorial to this "Government, that Officer placed himself in the character of "defender of the general interests of the Company's Army, with "out any apparent authority from the Officers whose particular "cause he pretended to support." "587. We consider the agitation of such subjects to be "attended with great delicacy, and we feel particular regret "that they should at this moment have been forced upon our "attention, or on that of the Supreme Government, as there - can be no mode more effectually calculated for the revival of the unhappy feuds by which this part of the British dominions was "so long distracted and endangered. As, however, the Ho- nourable .. 11 nourable Lieutenant Colonel Sentleger judged it proper to appeal to the authority of the Supreme Government, we have thought it necessary, that the appeal should not be unaccom- panied by such documents, as would evince the fallacy of the grounds, on which that Officer had intruded himself on the public notice, as well as the dangerous tendency of the discus- "sion which he had been eager to promote. With regard to the disrespectful and injurious terms, as affecting this Govern- ment, in which the appeal of Lieutenant Colonel Sentleger was conveyed, we informed the Governor General in Council, "that we should offer no comment, being satisfied of the dis- " (6 position of His Lordship in Council to afford to our authority "that degree of support which is necessary for the suppression " of insult." "588. We shall only add, that though impressed with the strongest sense of the dangerous tendency of the inflammatory "and factious proceedings pursued by the Honourable Lieutenant "Colonel Sentleger, we have, for the present, adopted no fur- "ther step than the measure of directing that Officer to leave "the Presidency, and to join his regiment." "589. We are concerned to have occasion to draw your "attention to a further circumstance, which though not of the same offensive nature as that which occurred in respect to "Lieutenant Colonel Sentleger, was sufficient to call for our "strong disapprobation. We allude to a very disrespectful application which was addressed to us by Lieutenant Colonel "Alexander Cuppage, of the native infantry, stating his re- quest to be permitted to proceed to England, and assigning as "his motive, certain supposed grievances which he considered "himself to have suffered, and particularly the being turned "out of the command of Nundydroog.' < 593. The whole circumstances of Colonel A. Cuppage's "conduct having been fully explained in the Minutes of Lord "William Bentinck and the Commander in Chief, to which we "refer you, we considered the disrespectful tenor of his address € 2 " to 12 "to be so unqualified and unprovoked, as to merit the expres "sion of our strongest disapprobation. We accordingly re- "corded these sentiments, and decided against taking into con- "sideration the application of Colonel Cuppage, for leave to proceed to Europe, until it should be submitted in more re- cr spectful terms." "731. We have already stated, that a very dangerous spirit " of cabal has shewn itself among several Officers in your Army. "This feeling has been greatly inflamed by the impunity with "which the Honourable Lieutenant Colonel Sentleger has been « hitherto enabled to brave and insult the authority of this Govern- "ment: for it is with concern that we observe, in addition to "the explanation which we have already given regarding the " conduct of that Officer, that every means of the most public "nature have been taken, at some of the principal military sta- "tions, to hold up Lieutenant Colonel Sentleger as the champion " of the rights of the Company's Army, and as one whose example " calls for general imitation.” ar "732. We should think it necessary to apologize to your "Honourable Court, for so particularly addressing you on a subject in itself obscure and unimportant, were we not strong- "ly impressed with the necessity of discouraging, by every means, "such factious proceedings as generally lead to consequences of "dangerous extremity. This is a discussion in which we can "have no personal interest, as the distinguished personages chiefly concerned in its origin, do not now form a part of our "Councils; and we may claim the merit of sincerity in con- "veying to your Honourable Court our earnest opinion, that "the conduct of Lieutenant Colonel Cuppage calls for your "marked disapprobation, and that any encouragement of the "groundless pretensions of that Officer, may be fatal to the dis- cipline and interests of your Army.” (C The information contained in the passages now quoted, is decisive as to the existence of a spirit of insubordination and cabal, and of the doctrine of the Rights of the Army, long before 13 before Sir G. Barlow was even known to be the intended suc- cessor to the Government of Madras, or the business of re- trenchment came into operation. But what is deserving of peculiar attention is, that this letter was written in the short period in which Mr. Petrie was Governor, and signed by him. It is to be taken as his dispatch, and it establishes the insubor◄ dinate state of the Army till within two months of the accession of Sir G. Barlow. It is remarkable also, that Mr. Petrie in- timates neither in that letter, nor in the consultations, any ge- peral measure to be in contemplation for repressing the danger- ous 'temper of the Army; nor do the records, during the re- mainder of his short administration, give any indication of a favourable change in that temper. On the contrary, it is found, from the papers transmitted in the Secret Department, with Lord Minto's letter of 5th February 1810, which contain some very striking traits, that, as early as the month of July 1807, a proposal had been started among the Officers, to apply for Bengal allowances; and, in April 1808 at furthest, four months only after Sir G. Barlow's arrival at Madras, and before the orders for the abolition of the Tent Contract were issued, an Ad- dress to the Governor General was circulated in the Army, for signatures; the object of which was to solicit, that, with respect to allowances, "the military establishment of Fort St. George might be put on a similar footing to that of Bengal." These are the words of General Macdowall, in a letter to Sir G. Bar- low, dated the 16th May 1808; from which it appears, that the Army had recently agitated the question, of the comparative state of the Bengal and the Coast allowances, and that the Address had then been circulated :—points which, on account of the great distance of various corps from each other, could not have been effected in a very short time. The same letter from General Macdowall contains other passages important and conclusive as to the present point of inquiry. " It will demand,” says he, "the most serious deliberation, to effectually check the spirit of "remonstrance, which perhaps extends further than we are aware of.”—“ My judgment and experience lead me to believe, that the "seeds of discontent are very widely disseminated; and almost every individual in the service is more or less dissatisfied." The 46 first 14 first cause to which he ascribes this state of the army is, "the "abolition of the Bazar fund ;" which (without inquiring now whether he is right or not in assigning this as the first cause) certainly took place long before the time of Sir G. Barlow, and has not existed in Bengal since the Regulations of 1796. He says also, that the abrogation of the Tent Contract is one of the prominent causes of discontent. << The only thing we have been able to trace on the records, which seems not perfectly to accord with this representation, is a passage in Mr. Petrie's Minute, dated the 8th September 1809, in answer to Sir G. Barlow's. "When absent from the Pre- sidency," says he, " in the month of June last year, I first "heard of considerable discontents in the Army." From this it might be understood, that he knew of no discontents before that time; and hence that he meant to imply, they originated after Sir G. Barlow came to the Government. But the extracts already quoted, particularly paragraphs 587 and 731 of Mr. Petrie's public letter of 21st October 1807, the letter from General Macdowall to the Governor, and the combination of the Officers to obtain Bengal allowances, all militate against such a proposition. It is therefore established, upon incontrovertible authority, the evidence of the Government of Madras, Mr. Petrie being then Governor, and of General Macdowall, Commander in Chief, not to refer again to other corroborating circumstances, that, before and at the accession of Sir G. Barlow to the Go- vernment, there existed in the Madras Army a dangerous spirit of insubordination and cabal, which, in a few months after that accession, "the seeds of discontent being then very widely "disseminated," exerted itself openly; not at first in opposi- tion to any measure adopted in his time, or to the retrenchments projected before his arrival, but to obtain an augmentation, or what the Officers conceived to be such; that is to say, the same allowances in all things as the Bengal Army received. The opinion given by Lord Minto on this subject, in his let- ter, 15 ter, lately arrived, of the 5th February 1810, written from Madras after deliberate reflection, is too important, and of too high authority to be overlooked. "The discontents," says his Lordship," of the Coast Army, have prevailed with so little. "ances affecting themselves personally, but a for- "mal revocation of the judgment of Government, "deliberately and legally pronounced (on the 1st c <6 May, 1809) upon Officers serving under their authority. This was in fact, an attempt to take "the Government into their own hands. It be- "6 came, therefore, your unquestionable duty man- "fully to resist such a daring and treasonable. " usurpation. °° . 66 "The modified recal of your Orders of the 1st May, which we are sorry to find was recom- "mended to you by some of our servants, for "whose judgment and integrity we in general en- "tertain great respect, would, in our opinion, "have been equally impolitic, and still more dis- "graceful than their entire revocation. For it ❝ would have evinced all the weakness of a timid " and unqualified recantation: and would equally "have admitted what never can be admitted, that "Government have no power to suspend or dismiss "their Military servants without the judgment of "a Court Martial, a power which though seldom "exercised, and which, as far as respects your "Government abroad, is limited to suspension "alone, is obviously necessary to the security and "existence of every Government, and particu- larly of a Government so far removed from the supreme authority of the State. . 66 . CC Upon these principles and considerations we "entirely approve the line of conduct which you adopted and followed, as described in the 27th, 131 cc "28th, and 29th paragraphs of the letter to which we are now replying; the natural and happy consequences of which so soon appeared in the "unconditional submission of the revolted Offi- cers, and the restoration of legal authority.” 66 Colonel Malcolm's Narrative is not extended more than a few pages after the period of his re- turn to Madras from Masulipatam. But though these pages might afford considerable matter for remark, we have no wish to dwell longer on the subject. One point only we shall concisely no- tice, namely, the refusal of Colonel Malcolm to sign the Address presented to Sir George Barlow by the principal inhabitants of Madras, at the time when the Mutiny was raging with the fiercest violence. A time more suitable for such an Ad- dress, or an Address more suitable for such an occasion, could not well be imagined.* Every *The Address will best speak for itself, and is therefore here inserted: " "We whose names are hereunto subscribed, impressed with a deep sense of our duty to our country, and of the necessity of "good order and obedience to the constituted authorities, beg "leave to tender you, at this moment of difficulty and danger, our assurances of support to the interests of Government, and "of our readiness to devote our lives and fortunes to the main- "tenance of the public tranquillity in any way in which to you, " in your wisdom, it may seem meet to command them. "We desire to take this opportunity of publicly expressing "our fullest disapprobation of that spirit of insubordination "which has recently shown itself amongst the Officers of the K 2 132 community, in all countries, has, in times of pub- lic danger, chosen such modes for giving expres- sion to the feelings of loyalty, and for conveying to the ruling power those pledges of support which must ever be valuable in the hour of need. It was wisely enacted by the Athenean Lawgiver, that when the country was in danger, there should be no neutrality for who, in such times is not for, must be against. We have no doubt that the rea- Pamphlet, sons which Colonel Malcolm has given, for not signing the Address, satisfied his own mind he was doing right; but we regret that we are very far from having the same feeling. We think the time in question was that, when all the respectabi- lity deservedly attached to the name of Colonel Malcolm, should have been ranged on the side of page 111. t "Honorable Company's Army serving under the Presidency of "Fort St. George. Fully convinced, that it is the duty of every good subject to yield obedience to the commands of those "whom the will of his Sovereign, and the laws of his country "have placed in authority over him, and patiently to await the "result of a reference to Europe for the redress of real or sup- posed grievances; any conduct, impatient of the period of "such appeal, and backward to the calls of professional obe- “dience, we regard as subversive of all good order and disci- pline, hostile to the Constitution of our Native Country, and "big with danger to the existence of the British Empire in “India. << "And we therefore, Honorable Sir, beg to repeat the assur- ances of our firm determination to resist the operation of such "principles, which we are convinced must be equally reprobated ** and condemned by all good and loyal subjects." 133 established order, and in defence of lawful Go- vernment.* *It is wholly unnecessary to follow Colonel Malcolm through the reasons to which we have alluded. The subject is in itself quite immaterial; but from what we have heard, from the most. authentic quarter, we are disposed to think, that Colonel Mal- colm must have been misinformed, as to some of the points to which he has referred. We are not a little surprised, after the condemnation which Colonel Malcolm has pronounced in many parts of his Publication, regarding established rule, to see that he has grounded one of his objections to the Address on the circumstance of its not having been prepared agreeably to “ com- mon usage," at a time when the state of the settlement of Ma- dras appears to have made the observance of that usage quite impossible. After the many aberrations which we have had oc- casion to notice, we see, with satisfaction, this return to the beaten and safe path of established principle. cr APPENDIX. THERE has been lately circulated a "Brief Sketch" of the Public Services of Sir G. Barlow, contain- ing very ample testimony of the great services which he has rendered to his country, during a long public life of upwards of thirty-three years, passed in the most laborious and important occu- pations. The course of measures in which Sir G. Barlow was, in the later years of his administra- tion abroad, compelled to engage, was of a nature to call forth a host of opponents, against whose clamorous efforts, unaided by political influence or connexion in this country, he has had nothing to oppose but the shield of virtue. The absence of Sir G. Barlow for so long a period of time from his native land, has debarred him from the benefit of that political support, which the corrup tion of human nature unhappily renders, in times of difficulty, too essential: but the purity and ex- alted excellence of his own character has supplied 136 the deficiency of extraneous aid. The question affects not Sir G. Barlow alone, but should come near to the view and feelings of every man of vir- tue or of honor in this kingdom: for, admitting the ties of obligation and gratitude towards a per- son, whose life has been, from his earliest years, devoted to the public good, to be for a moment suspended, it must be apparent, that the Nation cannot well expect to be faithfully served, if such a person should fall the victim of calumny, and be hunted down by obloquy, created in the honor- able and able discharge of that duty which he had been expressly enjoined to execute. The services rendered, in late years, by Sir G. Barlow, stand on a high eminence; and the facts connected with them are now so well known, that nothing requires, at present, to be added on that sub- ject. The services which Sir G. Barlow was enabled to perform in his earlier years, though greatly im- portant, are from their nature, less conspicuous and less understood; it is, however, proper, that they should be understood, in order that the Na- tion, and the East India Company may know that the whole course of that distinguished person has been marked by the same undeviating traits of the most ardent and successful devotion to the public interests. Having obtained from an authentic source the following Copies and Extracts of Letters address- ed by the late Marquis Cornwallis to Sir G. Bar. low, we think it a duty not to withhold them from 137 public knowledge. They speak in language so very impressive the feelings of that great and vir- tuous nobleman, that they cannot fail to raise our admiration of the unsullied worth and purity of his fame, while they afford an honorable testimony of the extensive share which Sir G. Barlow had in the formation of that system of internal government, on the basis of which rests all the prosperity of our Eastern Possessions, and which has been one of the great means of conferring lasting security and happiness on a population of not less than fifty millions of our Indian subjects. We judge it proper to notice, that the series of correspondence might have been extended, but all letters, or passages of letters, of which the publication could not be liable to any objection, have been omitted. A reference to the Corre- spondence will explain the times and circum- stances connected with it. Extract from a Letter from Marquis Cornwallis to Mr. Barlow, dated Madras, 17th Septem- ber, 1793. "who are to direct it, the necessary sacrifices "must be made, in order to bring the annual "expenditure within the annual Revenues, and "I have seen, with the greatestsatisaction, the “determination with which you express your- "self as to your resolution of persisting in it. "I am confident, that in Lord Minto, you "will find the same solicitude for the preser- ❝vation of Peace, and the same anxiety for the "establishment of such measures of economy "as may best conduce to the entire restora- ❝tion of the finances of the Company. With him, therefore, I do most cordially hope, "that you will co-operate in the execution of "this great public trust; to the successful dis- charge of which duty, your acknowledged experience and tried ability enable you to "give such peculiar and signal assistance. 66 "C Allow me to add only, how personally gratifying it will be to me, to find myself in as confidential communications of business with you, and how anxiously I shall continue to 5-hope; that your residence in India in the official situation, of which there is now no question, "will support and sustain the in- 37 "terests of the Company and the prosperity of "their affairs, "I have the honor to be, with great truth " and regard, « Sir, "Your very faithful and (Signed) "Obedient humble Servant, "THOS. GRENVILLE.' "P. S. 7th August, 1806. "It gives me infinite satisfaction to be en- "abled to add to the former part of my Let- "ter, that Lord Grenville having proposed to "His Majesty to give you the Dignity of a Knight of the Order of the Bath, His Ma- jesty has most graciously signified his dis- position to bestow that honor upon you ; "the Insignia of it will be carried out to you 66 46 66 64 and by Lord Minto when he sails for India. I "cannot help rejoicing in becoming the chan- "nel of communicating to you, Sir, this dis- 66 tinguished mark of the approbation which His Majesty is thus pleased to testify of your long and eminent services in India, and I 38 hope it is a testimony which will not be the "less gratifying to you to receive, than it is "to me to convey it, with my most sincere "and cordial congratulations. (Signed) "T. GRENVILLE." The subjoined extract of a Letter, addressed by the Court of Directors to the Supreme Go- vernment on the 30th July, 1806, shows at the same time the sentiments of the Honorable Court on this occasion. 46 "To prevent any misapprehension concern- ing the sentiments entertained by the King's "Government towards Sir G. Barlow, we have "been officially assured, that His Majesty's "Ministers profess sincerely to entertain a high "sense of his general Merits, and of the many "important Services which he has already ren- "dered, in which we most heartily concur, and "that they appreciate very highly the advan- tages which the Company may yet derive 66 " from his able assistance as a Member of the 66 46 Council General, an opinion in which we also entirely coincide. 39 "We have further to advise you, that we "have appointed Sir George Hilaro Barlow "to take charge provisionally of the Office of "Governor General in Bengal, on the death, "resignation, or coming away of Lord Minto. "From the high sense which we entertain of "the Merits and Services of Sir G. Barlow, par- 66 ticularly in the able manner in which he nego- "tiated and concluded the late pacification with "the Mahrattah Chieftains, Dowlut Row Scin- 66 diah, and Jeswunt Row Holkar, and from the "firm conviction in our minds that he will be "able to render most essential assistance to our "Government General in the execution of the "arduous duties committed to its charge, it is our unanimous and earnest request, that Sir "6 66 George Barlow, upon Lord Minto's arrival "in India, will resume and continue to occupy "his former station of third Member in the • Bengal Council, to a compliance with which request we attach a considerable degree of importance. We are authorized to say that "in these sentiments His Majesty's Ministers "most cordially concur." As the Letters addressed by Sir George 40 Barlow to the Court of Directors, and to the President of the Board of Control, in reply to the above Dispatches, best explain the feelings of public duty by which he was actuated, in acceding to the request which had been so earnestly conveyed, they are inserted for the information of the Reader. "To the Honorable Court of Directors for "the affairs of the Honorable the United Company of Merchants of England trad- "ing to the East Indies. "Honorable Sirs, "The approbation of my conduct in the discharge of the duties of Governor General "of Bengal, expressed in your Honorable "Court's Dispatches from the Public and Po- "litical Departments under date the 30th, "66 July last, and the intimation conveyed in "the former of those Dispatches, of the desire " of your Honorable Court, and of His Ma- jesty's Ministers for my continuance in India "in the situation of third Member of the "Council General, after the arrival of the "Right Honorable Lord Minto, impose on 1 41 65 me the duty of addressing your Honorable "Court upon those subjects in a separate Dis- “ patch. "The Honorable testimony of approbation "afforded by your Honorable Court's unani- "mous Vote of Thanks for the exertions of 66 my endeavours to promote the Public Ser- "vice, demands the expression of my most “grateful and respectful acknowledgments. I "derive the highest gratification from the know- 66 ledge that the measures which I adopted for "the adjustment of our differences with Dowlut "Row Scindiah, for the establishment of Peace "with Jeswunt Row Holkar, and for the relief "of the Public Finances were calculated, in "the judgment of your Honorable Court, to promote the interests and security of the "British Government in India. 46 "The approbation of your Honorable Court "has afforded a lasting source of grateful re- "flection to my mind, and the honorable terms "in which that approbation has been recorded, "have established a perpetual claim upon my gratitude, respect, and attachment. 42 "These sentiments derive additional force "from the flattering Opinion expressed by $6 $6 your Honorable Court, and by His Ma- jesty's Ministers, that the continuance of my "Services in India is of importance to the in- "terests of the Honorable Company, and by "the consequent expression of your desire, "that upon the arrival of the Right Honor- "able Lord Minto in Bengal, I should resume my former situation of third Member of the Supreme Council. 66 66 "The wishes of your Honorable Honorable Court, "combined as they are upon the present oc- casion, with such distinguished marks of 66 66 your approbation and favor, must ever de- "mand my respect and attention; I have the "honor, therefore, to apprize your Honorable "Court, that I shall cheerfully resume the "situation of Third Member of Council, on "the arrival of the Right Honorable Lord "Minto; and to assure your Honorable Court, "that my exertions will continue to be em- ployed in that situation with unabated zeal "for the promotion of the interests, welfare, "and prosperity of the Company's Dominions. 66 43 66 "I further request your Honorable Court to accept the expression of my grateful acknow- ledgments for the honor of my provisional "Nomination to the Office of Governor Ge- "neral, which I consider as an additional "testimony of your confidence and favor. "I have the honor to be, with the highest "respect, "Honorable Sirs, "Your most faithful "and obedient Servant, (Signed) "G. H. BARLOW.” "Fort William, 15th January, 1807." (Private) " Calcutta, 16th January, 1807. 66 Sir, "I have had the honor to receive the Du- "plicate of your Letter, dated the 29th July "last, and beg leave to offer to you my con- gratulations on your Succession to the high "and important Trust, which His Majesty has "been pleased to confide to you. 66 "The approbation of my Conduct in the 4.4 66 discharge of the Duties of Governor General "of Bengal, which His Majesty has been pleased to manifest by bestowing upon me "the Dignity of a Knight of the Order of the Bath, demands from me the strongest ex- 66 66 66 pressions of my Gratitude; and I take the * liberty of requesting, that you will convey to "His Majesty my humble and dutiful acknow- ledgments for this distinguished Testimony "of His Majesty's favorable Sense of my En- "deavours to promote the welfare of this im- portant branch of His Majesty's Empire. (6 "The very flattering terms in which you "have been pleased to communicate to me His Majesty's most gracious determination, have "added, in a high degree, to the Satisfaction "which I have experienced in receiving this "Honorable Mark of His Majesty's Favor. "The Sentiments which you have done me "the honor to express on your own part, and "that of his Majesty's Ministers, regarding Conduct since the Chief executive Autho- rity of the Government of India has been "vested in my hands, have been, in the highest degree, gratifying to me.. 66 my 45 The Marks of approbation and Favor with "which my endeavours to promote the public * Interests have been distinguished, and the im- · portance which His Majesty's Government "and the Honorable Court of Directors have "been pleased to attach to the Continuance of my Services in India, demand from me every sacrifice of my private wishes and "feelings. 66 16 "I have accordingly relinquished the Deter- "mination, which I had made, of proceeding to England, and his Majesty's Government may confidently rely, that I shall resume my for- mer Situation of third Member of the Su- preme Council after the arrival of Lord Minto *in India, with no other feeling but that of the "most anxious desire to afford to his Lordship 66 ૐ 66 every aid which may be in my power, in the discharge of the arduous duties of his Station. “I have the honor to enclose a Copy of a Letter which I have addressed to the Honorable "Court of Directors on this subject. "The Official Dispatches from this Govern- "ment to the Honorable the Court of Di- rectors, and the Secret Committee, will con- se 46 vey to you full information respecting the state "of Political Affairs in India. You will be SC happy to observe, that there is every prospect "of the continuance of Peace, and you may 66 rely, that while I continue in charge of the “Government, I shall steadily adhere to the course of Policy which is calculated to ensure "its permanence. (6 "You will have long since been advised, that "we have been relieved from all pecuniary diffi- "culties of a serious nature, and that the Public "Finances at the three Presidencies are in a "state of rapid improvement. It is superfluous "to add, that I shall endeavour to accelerate "the progress of that improvement, by continu- 66 ing to employ every effort for the Reduction "of the public expences, as far as may be con- "sistent with the principles of Justice, and the permanent Interests of the Government. "You may depend upon receiving from me, "the fullest and most unreserved communica- "tions on Public Affairs, while I remain at the "head of the Government. "The very gratifying sentiments which you "have been pleased to express to me, will not 47 "only render the discharge of this part of my public duty particularly agreeable to me, "but contribute essentially to reconcile me to 66 my determination to continue in India, in ' my former official situation; a determination which, although founded on considerations of gratitude, and public duty, involves on my part, many painful sacrifices of a domestic "nature and of personal feelings. 64 CC 66 "I have the honor to be, (Signed) "Sir, "With the highest respect, "Your most obedient, "and very faithful Servant, "G. H. BARLOW." "To the Right Honorable * “Thomas Grenville, 66 &c. &c. &c.” Lord Minto, in conformity to his appoint- ment, proceeded to India, and having reached the Presidency of Bengal in July, 1807, Sir G. Barlow retired from the station of Governor General, after filling that office nearly two years, during which period, he was enabled to 48 T render services, that have been pronounced of the highest importance. It has been seen in Mr. Grenville's Letter, that His Majesty had been graciously pleased to confer on Sir G. Barlow, the dignity of a Knight of the Order of the Bath. The insignia of the Order were conveyed to India by Lord Minto, and the investiture took place in Cal- cutta, attended by every circumstance of honor and distinction. We insert an extract from the account pub lished under authority, comprising the Speech delivered at that time by Lord Minto: "The Governor General then arose, and "communicated to Sir George Barlow the com- "mands which his Lordship had received from "His Majesty, for investing Sir George Bar- low with the Most Honorable Order of the "Bath, in the following words: "Sir George Hilaro Barlow, "I am honored with His Majesty's “commands to invest you with the insignia of : 49 "the Most Honorable Order of the Bath.; "and he has been pleased to add a special "instruction, that the ceremony shall be per- "formed in the most honorable, and distin- guished manner. 66 66 66 "The Order of the Bath, of which, withouť "solicitation, and of His Majesty's own princely grace, you have been appointed a Knight Companion, has ever been ranked by His Majesty amongst the highest distinc- "tions he can bestow, on such of his subjects "as have rendered signal service to their Coun- 66 66 try; and amongst the most exalted rewards "of public virtue and exertion. These honor- "able badges, therefore, which, in obedience "to his command, and in his Royal name, I "am about to have the satisfaction of present- ing to you, are not to be viewed merely as splendid ornaments to the person, but rather as displaying the more noble and more gra- tifying decoration of your Royal Master's "approbation and esteem, as a constant, pub- હત 66 66 lic, and visible manifestation of the gracious "favor with which the Sovereign of the British 26 Empire has regarded the uniform zeal, ap- plication, wisdom, purity, firmness, energy, E 50 "and success, which have characterized through 65 a series of years, every hour of your long, "faithful, and distinguished services. "Such are the sentiments, also, which have "been consigned, by your Honorable Masters, "the East India Company, in every volume of "their Records; and I will venture to assure 66 you, that they are re-echoed from the hearts " and bosoms of your Country. "For myself, it has been my fortune, more "than once, to represent my gracious Master 66 on solemn and important occasions; but "never, I assure I assure you, Sir, with more entire " and more cordial personal gratification than on this day. It is, indeed, natural that I "should feel peculiar satisfaction, at finding myself the humble instrument by which this "just and honorable homage is paid to emi- "nent qualities and endowments, from which I 66 am about to experience so much benefit and "comfort, and from which I am sure to derive “such essential aid in the discharge of the ar- "duous and momentous duties, in which I have the honor and happiness to be associ- "ated with you. 51 The Court of Directors, on the 29th, May, 1807, came to the Resolution of appointing Sir G. Barlow, Governor of Madras. It is under- stood that it was judged expedient, on general principles, to resist in former cases, the mea- sure of attaching the Provisional appointment of Governor General to the situation of Gover- nor of Madras: but, as a mark of the special favor of the Honorable Court, an exception was made in the case of Sir G. Barlow, whose appointment to be Governor of Madras was accompanied by a nomination to the office of Governor General "on the death, resignation, or coming away of Lord Minto." * (6 * Eminent as have been the services rendered by Sir G. Barlow, and great the improvements which he has effected in the Reve- nues and Finances of the East India Company, it is known that he has devoted his labors in the advancement of the public good, with a degree of personal disinterestedness that forms one of the brightest ornaments of a public character, and that his personal fortune is of the most limited nature. We believe that we state on good authority, that, in addition to the distinction conferred by His Majesty's Government, it was at this time in the contem- plation of the Court of Directors, to have bestowed on Sir G. Barlow a liberal pecuniary grant; but particular circumstances intervened to prevent the fulfilment of the intention. £ 2 WE have endeavoured, in the preceding Pages, to give a general outline of the Services of Sir G. Barlow, until the period of his nomination to the Government of Madras. It has been seen that Sir G. Barlow advanced through the different stages of the public Service to the first Rank in India, in the enjoyment of every feeling of respect, esteem, and confidence; and received, throughout his honorable progress, the warmest expressions of approbation, from quarters of the first emi- nence and distinction. No Servant of the Com- pany, and few public men, have been distin- guished by such undeviating praise. The appoint- ment of Sir G. Barlow to the station of Governor General has been three times renewed, and dur- ing the time when he actually filled that station, the Services which he rendered were conformable to the whole tenor of his former course, and emi- nently conducive in the advancement of the na- tional interests. Sir G. Barlow assumed charge of the Govern- ment of Madras in December, 1807. The new 53 office, which Sir G. Barlow was called on to fill, was attended with difficulties, of a kind unknown for a considerable period of time, at the Presidency which he had quitted; and were, in their con- sequences, of a more formidable nature, than the Ruler of any distant station probably ever before encountered. In Bengal, the system of Government had been for a length of years consolidated on a firm basis. Faction had, in a great degree, if not wholly, yielded to the ascendancy of the powers attached to the Station of Governor General, and had ceased to create counteraction in the execution of the various important duties attached to that high office. The circumstances at Madras were, in many respects, widely dissimilar; the authority of the Government of that Presidency rested on a foundation of a much less stable nature. The Power of that Government had been essentially weakened from various causes (not difficult to be traced) connected with its interior administration, and the evil had been greatly aggravated by the removal of successive Governors, from which a general impression had been produced, that the influence of no Governor could withstand the effort of united clamor. Much has been said as to the state of the Army, previously. to the arrival of Sir G. Barlow at Ma- dras. The limits of this publication must pre. 54 clude any detail on a question of that nature: but if it had been otherwise, the light which has been thrown on the subject by the Papers laid be- fore Parliament would render discussion super- fluous. The proofs which might be quoted are numerous; but the testimony of a former Govern- ment is on this point sufficiently decisive, In a Dispatch dated October 1807, two months before the arrival of Sir G. Barlow, when Mr. Petrie filled the situation of Governor, the Government brought under the particular notice of the Court of Directors, a long detail of disorderly proceed- ings; and informed the Court, in language the most strong, that "a very dangerous spirit of "cabal had shewn itself, among several Officers "in their Army;" that "the Government was strongly impressed with the necessity of discou-