The Governors-general of India

Front matter

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Introduction

. May II, 1907, is the fiftieth anniversary of the great .Indian Military Mutiny. It is most necessary and becoming for England, as a Christian nation, always to remember the marvellous deliverance which God graciously granted in that time of peril and distress, and the fact that she was then entrusted afresh with the priceless heritage of India.

The object of these little volumes is to give a clear and popular account of the greater part of the history of British rule in India before the Mutiny. The work was originally intended for publication in India only ; but I have been repeatedly requested to revise it for publication in England.

A record of the lives of the eminent men who held the important position of Governor-General of India offers, I think, the best method of imparting information to those who know little of the history of that beautiful

land.

^ "A combination of biography and history," says the

Spectator, *' has always a peculiar charm. The best way to get new Ughts on any period is to put ourselves in the place of its chief actors. The vagueness of a i .

J

VI. INTRODUCTION.

general impression passes away when the acts of some heroic person arc dwelt upon ; biographical truth becomes historical romance, the best of its kind."

I have tried to use as few Indian words as possible, and to make the whole work as intelligible as I can for those who have neither been in India nor connected with it, and who are, therefore, not accustomed to Indian words and phrases.

My object in writing it will be completely attained if it should lead some of these to make a fuller study of the history thus lightly touched. In the whole round of historical reading they will, in my opinion, find nothing more fascinating and romantic than the wonderful record of the conquest of British India.

H. M.

Chapter I. Warren Hastings

Birth and early years — Arrival at Calcutta — Service at Moorshedabad — First Marriage — Resident at Moorshedabad — In Council at Calcutta — Return to England — In Council at Madras — Appointed Governor of Bengal — The Company assume the direct Government of Bengal — Purification of the service — Negotiations with the Nawab — Affairs in Oudh — Conqt4est of Rohilkhand — The Regulating Act — Warren Hastings the first Governor-General — Councillors and Judges arrive from England — Scene in the Council Chamber at Calcutta — Contentions in the Council — Affairs in Oudh — Raja Nuncomar's charge against Hastings — Trial of Nuncomar — His condemnation and execution — Marriage of Hastings — Letters to his wife — Sincere affection for her — Sir John Clavering attempts to be Governor-General — Quarrel with Francis — Duel with him — Hastings^ s visit to Lucknow — In peril at Benares — The Begums of Oudh — Departure of Mrs. Hastings for England — Second Visit to Lucknow — Retirement of Hastings — The great trial in Westminster Hall — Frances Burney*s account of it — Burke's long speech — Hastings* s defence — Evidence before the House of Commons — Purchase of Day les ford — Private life — Vindication of Hastings's character . . . . . . . . pages 1-40

Viil. CONTENTS.

Chapter II. The Marquis Cornwallis

Birth and entrance into the army — Employment in England — Marriage and early death of his wife — Serves in the American War of Independence — Surrender of York Town — Taken prisoner — Appointed Governor -General and Commander-in-Chief in Bengal -^. JPolicy of appointing statesmen to this office — Reformation of the Civil Service — Shore's opinion of his character — Description oj a day's work — Tour to the North-WesP-^Affairs in Oudh — The Permanent Settlement — Careful consideration of the subject — Confirmed by the Court of Directors — Sir John Malcolrn*s opinion-^ War with Tippu — Lord Cornwallis goes to Madras-^ Invasion of Mysore — Delay — Conquest of Mysore-^Judicial Regulations — Return to England — Employment in England — Embassy to Flanders — Lord' Lieutenant of Ireland-^ Threatened invasion by Napoleon — Treaty of Amiens^—

Proceeds to Calcutta a second timh as Governor-General— Death at Ghazipore — Character . . . . pages 43-70

Chapter III. Sir John Shore

Birth — Goes to Calcutta in the Civil Service — Calcutta in the olden time — Assistant Supervisor at Moorshedabad — Diligence in study-^The great famine — In the Revenue Council at Calcutta — Conflict in the Government Council

CONTENTS. IX.

Chamber — Friendship with Warren Hastings — Death of his mother — Return to England — Marriage — Obtains a seat in the Governor-GeneraV s Council — Return to Calcutta with Lord Cornwallis — The Permanent Settlement — Constant labour over it — Lord Cornwallis^ s opinion of him — Mode of life — Oriental studies — Augustus Cleveland — Second return to England — Gives evidence at the trial of Hastings — Appointed Governor-General — Quiet life on return to Calcutta — Assumption of office — Conscientious but feeble policy — Policy about Mysore — Condition of the army in Bengal — Affairs in Oudh — Deposition of Vizier AH — In peril at Lucknow — Created Lord Teignmouth — Settles at Clap ham — Then in Portman Square — President of the British and Foreign Bible Society — Heavy work in connection with it — Conduct in Committee — Eloquence in speech — Evening of his life — Death — Character . . . . . . . . . . pages 73-96

Chapter IV. The Marquis Wellesley

Early years — Succeeds his father as Earl of Mornington — Member of the Board of Control — Marriage — Appointed Governor -General — Voyage to India — State of India — Triple alliance with the Nizam and the Mahrattas — War with Tippu — Capture of Seringapatam and death of Tippu — Colonel Arthur Wellesley in command of the Nizam's brigade — Affairs in the Carnatic — Tan fore and Sural — Treaty with the Nizam — The state of Oudh — Force sent to Egypt — College of Fort William — The Mahratta States — The Treaty

X. CONTENTS.

of Bassein — The Governor -GeneraV s Office — Training of young statesmen — The Battle of Assaye — A r gaum — Laswari — Defeat of Holkar — Superseded by Lord Cornwallis — Policy of the Court of Directors — Patronage of Oriental learning — Practice of burning widows — Oriental display — Barrackpore — Return to England — Separation from his wife — Debate in Parliament on his policy — Becomes Foreign Minister of England — The Peninsular War — Lord Lieutenant of Ireland — Second marriage— The Catholic Emancipation Act — Retirement into private life — Death — Character . . pages 99-124

Chapter V. The Earl Of Minto

A.D. 1751 TO 1814, .

Lines written by Lord Minto — His family — Residence in Paris — College life — Marriage — Enters Parliament — Family residence — Succeeds his father as Baronet — One of the managers at Warren Hastings's trial — Friendship with Burke — Parliamentary duties — Appointed Civil officer at Toulon — Siege and surrender of Toulon — Napoleon — Appointed Governor of Corsica — Nature oj his administration — Present at the battle of Cape St, Vincent — Plenipotentiary at Vienna — Becomes President of the Board of Control — Chosen as Governor -General — Hesitation — Acceptance of the appointment — Sir George Barlow, Governor of Madras — Routine of work at Calcutta — Pleased with Barrackpore — War with France — Disturbance in Travancore — Officers* mutiny in the Madras Presidency — Lord Minto goes to Madras — SStlement of the outbreak — Return to Calcutta —

CONTENTS. XI.

Embassies to the Punjab , Afghanistan, and Persia — Mauritius and Bourbon taken — The conquest of Java — Lord Minto accompanies the army — Malay description of him — Sir Stamford Raffles Governor — Lord Minto on the peace policy — Created an Earl — Return to England — Desire to rejoin Lady Minto — Death on the way — Character — Sir Walter Scott's opinion of Lord Minto . . . . pages 127-154

Chapter VI. The Marquis Of Hastings

A.D. 1754 TO 1826.

Blessings of British rule in India — Birth — Enters the army young — American War of Independence — Lord Rawdon's services in it — Taken prisoner by the French — Created an English peer — Intimacy with the Prince of Wales — Becomes Lord Moira — Commands a force to aid the loyalists in France — Parliamentary duties — Appointed Governor - General — Political condition of India — Indian States — Lord Moira's plans — Tour to the North-West — War in Nepaul — Early reverses — Ultimate success — Depression in the Governor - GeneraVs mind — Lady Loudon's departure for England — Grief of her husband at parting — Becomes Marquis of Hastings — The Pindaris — The great Mahratta confederacy — The Governor -General accompanies the army of the North- West — The attitude of Scindia — Events at Poona — Escape of Trimbakji — Conduct of the Peshwa — Outbreak at Poona — The battle of Kirki — Mountstuart Elphinstone — The fall of Poona — Events at Nag pore — The Raja slain — Conduct of Appa Sahib — Attack on the Residency — The battle of

XU. CONTENTS.

Seetabuldee — Holkar — Conduct of his step -mother — The battle of Mahidpore — Dispersion of the Pindaris — Cholera — Lord Hastings^s return to Calcutta — Summary of the campaign — The British power made paramount — French and Dutch colonies restored — Affairs at Hyderabad — Exorbitant loans — Contention between Lord Hastings and Sir Charles Metcalfe — Return to England — Qovernor of Malta — Death — Character — Kindness and consideration — Etiquette in ceremonies — Diligence in work — Interest in education — Lady Hastings*s school at Barrackpore — Prophecy of Lord Hastings

THE

GOVERNORS-GENERAL

OF

INDIA

Chapter I. Warren Hastings

" What constitutes a State ?

Not high-raised battlements, or laboured mound,

Thick wall, or moated gate ; Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned. ^ No ! — men, high-minded men, Men, who their duties know.

But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain."

Sir William Jones.

*

One lovely summer's afternoon, as the sun was lighting up the sparkUng rivulet that flows through an

B estate in the west of England, a little boy, about seven years of age, lay dreaming on its grassy bank. His ancestors had owned this beautiful estate ; but, owing to ill-fortune and to poverty, it had slipped from their possession. The idea that he would recover it flashed through his childish mind. This was, however, no mere passing dream. The resolve, thus early made, clung to him all through his career, and, in the evening of his life, it became an accomplished fact. He purchased the estate, spent his last years in possession of it, and there his eyes closed in death. The estate was Daylesford in the county of Worcester, and the childish dreamer was Warren Hastings, the first Governor- General of Bengal.

Warren Hastings was born at Churchill, a village in the adjoining county of Oxford, on December 6, 1732. His mother died soon after his birth, and his father deserted him during his infancy, leaving him to the care of relations. He was poorly educated in childhood ; but, when about ten years of age, he was sent to Westminster School, where he showed an intelligence and acuteness which speedily placed him among the most promising of its scholars. At this time he passed into the charge of a distant relative, who, being a Director of the East India Company, very naturally determined that he should go to India in the Company's Civil Service, much to the disappointment of the Head Master of Westminster, who strenuously pleaded that he might not be deprived of one of his most brilliant students. His guardian, however, turned a deaf ear to this appeal.

Warren Hastings landed at Calcutta, the scene of his

EARLY SERVICE IN INDIA. ^

future greatness, on October 8, 1750, two months before he was eighteen. The English factories in Bengal were at that time mere trading establishments, and the Civilians were busily engaged in buying and selHng merchandise with not a thought or idea of anything better or higher. For the first three years of his Indian career, Hastings was employed in the Secretary's office at Calcutta as a clerk. He was busy in the day-time with ordinary mercantile avocations, and he seems to have occupied his leisure hours with learning Bengali, , Hindustani, and Persian. He led an orderly and a quiet life, keeping himself aloof from the extravagance and open profligacy which unhappily disgraced too many of his contemporaries, while, on the other hand, he does not appear to have exhibited any particular brilliancy as a student. At the end of three years he was sent to the factory at Cossimbazar, about two miles from the capital, Moorshedabad. He soon rose to a higher position, being appointed to a seat in the Factory Coimcil. His life there was at first quiet and peaceful ; but, in April, 1756, Alivardi Khan, the powerful Nawab of Bengal, died, and the tranquillity which under him the English traders had enjoyed passed away like a morning cloud. His grandson and successor, Suraj-ud-Dowla, early showed his dissatisfaction with them, and then followed the well-known historical events which led to the tragedy of the Black Hole, and the retreat of the garrison from Calcutta to an island on the Hooghly, named Falta. Hastings was taken prisoner at Moorshedabad at the outbreak of hostilities ; but was released on bail at the request of the Superintendent of the neighbouring Dutch factory. Negotiations between the fugitives from Calcutta and the Nawab were carried on through him ; but, after a time, fearing detection in a plot which was being carried on against the Nawab, he fled to Falta, where he joined his fellow-countrymen. During his brief sojourn there, he became attached to the widow of Captain Campbell, whom he married after their return to Calcutta. They had two children, both of whom died young, and within three years he was deprived of her society by death.

Early in 1757 Colonel Clive arrived from Madras, Calcutta was retaken, and on June 23 the battle of Plassey was won, by which the sovereignty of Bengal was virtually placed in English hands. Warren Hastings served at first as a volunteer in Clive's army ; but the keen eye of the great leader detected his value as a diplomatist and negotiator, and he was sent to Moorshedabad, first as assistant and afterwards as Resident, at the Court of the new Nawab. At that jimcture this position was one of pecuhar difficulty, but Hastings filled it with special fidelity and tact. His duty was to keep himself thoroughly acquainted with all that was going on at Court, to offer, when needful, his counsel to the Nawab, and to watch over the interests of the English traders.

On the departure of Clive for Europe, Mr. Henry Vansittart succeeded him as Governor of Bengal, and ere long Hastings was promoted to a seat in the Council at Calcutta. During the dark time that followed, which, owing more to the corruption of most of his colleagues than to the new Governor's weakness or incapacity, has been rendered infamous in the annals of Bengal, Warren Hastings was his right hand ; but their united efforts

RETURN TO ENGLAND. 5

were insufficient to stem the torrent of peculation and misrule. The sore spot in the administration was private trade. The Nawab, who owed his throne entirely to the English, was liberal to the Company's officials even to a fault : but his liberality was abused and his revenue defrauded. The principal act to which the Nawab very naturally took exception was defrauding the revenue by free passes being sold to those who had no right to receive them. The goods conveyed in boats flying the Company's flag were permitted to pass up the river free from custom ; but this privilege was openly and illegally Sold to enrich the English traders of Cossimbazar and Calcutta. This privilege was not intended to cover the private trade of the Company's servants, much less to benefit the subjects of the Nawab. We need not enter into a narration of the political troubles that ensued. Hastings did his best to keep his colleagues straight, and to uphold Mr. Vansittart's authority ; on one occasion so strenuously that a fellow-councillor struck him, for which indignity the offender had to offer an ample apology. Finding all his efforts fruitless, Hastings contemplated resigning the service ; but, as war had followed, he thought it his duty to remain. As soon as peace was restored, however, he returned to England, where he arrived late in 1765, after a continuous service of fifteen years.

Hastings spent four years in England. He had been exceedingly generous and kind to his relations, though he was at this time a comparatively poor man ; and, as it proves that, in the midst of the general corruption in Bengal, he had remained honest and upright, it is well to mention the fact that, on his return to India, he was b WARREN HASTINGS.

obliged to borrow money for his outfit, though he did not withdraw any of the allowances he had given to his poor relations. At the close of his sojourn in England, the Court of Directors appointed him to the second seat in the Council at Fort St. George, Madras. He embarked on board the ship Duke of Grafton on March 23, 1769. Among the passengers were a German portrait-painter, Baron Imhoff, and his young and accomplished wife. During the voyage Warren Hastings was dangerously ill, and the lady helped to nurse him in his sickness. An intimacy arose between them, and it was agreed that the husband should procure a divorce in Germany. The suit was very long ; but the divorce was at last procured, and, in the year 1777 Warren Hastings married her at Calcutta. More will be said regarding this marriage at a later period in our narrative.

During the recent years of political turmoil at Madras, the commercial interests of the Company had been greatly neglected, and the chief object the Directors had in view in sending Hastings thither was for him to put their financial affairs on a more satisfactory basis. In announcing his appointment the Court of Directors described him as " a gentleman who has served us many years upon the Bengal Establishment with great ability and unblemished character.*'* He applied himself to this special work with all his wonted energy and zeal. The investments of the Company were considerably improved ; the purchases of silk and other goods were made directly with the weavers themselves, and not

♦ Life of Warren Hastings, by Colonel Malleson (Chapman and Hall, 1894). p. 82. .

BECOMES GOVERNOR OF BENGAL. ' 7

through middlemen ; and the finances generally were placed on a better footing; The Court were so gratified with the judicious arrangements which were rtiade under his supervision and advice, that they appointed him President of the Council and Governor of Bengal, in the hope that he would be equally energetic and judicious in reforming abuses and in checking malpractices there. He assumed charge of the Government at Calcutta on April 13, 1772. He threw himself heart and soul into his new duties in Bengal. That Presidency was then in the transition state between the period of the East India Company's purely commercial position, and the coming* period of their poUtical governance and rule.

The President was in those days merely the senior member of Council in which he had, however, a casting vote. For the first two years Hastings was able to carry with him the majority of his Council on most of the important measures which he desired to pass. Some of these measures may here be mentioned. The principal questions related to the Government of the Province and the collection of ^ the revenue. Since the conquest of Bengal and Behar, the nominal sovereignty had rested with the Nawab, but it was really in the hands of his Deputy, who had been appointed by the English. In Bengal this power was exercised by a Muhammadan, named Muhammad Reza Khan ; in Behar by a Hindu, namecj Raja Shitab Rai. Just a fortnight after Warren Hastings had taken his seat as President of the Council; a despatch was received from the Court of Directors announcing that they had determined to take into their own hands the sovereignty of these Provinces, or, in the language of that time, ** to stand forth as Dewan,** that is, to act as the Deputy of the Emperor of Delhi. The double government was to be abolished. The Company's officers were to have the entire management of the revenues, and the direct administration of the affairs of State. Hastings was at the same time ordered to remove both Muhammad Reza Khan and Raja Shitab Rai from power, and to place them on trial for embezzlement and oppression. The chief witness against the former was a Brahmin, named Raja Nuncomar (Maharaja Nanda Kumar), hereafter to become still more notorious ; but his evidence completely broke down, and Muhammad Reza Khan was acquitted. The charge against Raja Shitab Rai also failed.

The proclamation whereby the Company assumed the direct Government of the country was issued May ii, 1772. Three days afterwards certain regulations for the settlement and collection of the revenue were passed, and thenceforward the chief duties of the Company's Civil Servants were the collection of the revenue and the administration of justice, the title of '' Collector," since so well-known in India, being then first employed. The very first duty which engaged the attention of the Government was to place the revenue settlement on a firm basis, and to evolve something like a system from the confused procedure of the past. The members of Council at first, with Hastings at their head, went on a tour through the country to ascertain facts for themselves ; and the result was that, in a few months, a scheme was prepared by which the land was farmed out to the landlords on a five years* lease, and this was the foundation on which, a few years later, the Permanent Settlement of Lord Cornwallis was erected. The good of the

» REFORMS IN BENGAL. 9

Ryots, or the peasant cultivators, themselves was steadily kept in view. It is pleasant to read in a despatch from England, only three years before, that the Directors wished that " the Ryot should be impressed in the most forcible and convincing manner that the tendency of your measures is to his ease and relief ; that our object is not increase of rents, or the accumulation of demands, but solely by fixing such as are legal, explaining and abolishing such as are fraudulent and unauthorised, to secure him from all further invasions of his property:'* and that all changes were intended "for the improvement of the lands, the content of the Ryot, and the general happiness of the Province in every consideration and point of view/'*

The purity of the Company's officials was the allimportant matter to be next considered. They were forbidden to accept presents or to hold land. They were to cease all connection with trade. Warren Hastings quietly but firmly carried out the Directors' orders against illegal trading. No free passes or illicit evasion of customs duties were to be permitted ; at the same time the order of the Court for the punishment of offenders was not executed, it being thought advisable not to press the matter, as so many high in authority were implicated. The illegal action was forbidden, but the offender was ignored.

Equal vigour was shown by Hastings in his judicial arrangements. Courts were created in the Provinces, and a Civil and Criminal Court in each District. The Col-

* The Administration of the East India Company, by J. W. Kaye (Bentley, 1853), p. 167.

lector was to preside over the former, while the old Muhammadan judicial authorities were to sit in the latter. Two chief and appellate Courts were similarly established at Calcutta, which was made the new capital of the Province in the place of the Nawab's former capital, Moorshedabad. Hastings made arrangements also for the preparation of suitable codes of Hindu and Muhammadan law. The former was translated by learned Indians from Sanskrit into Persian, and Mr. Halhed, of the Civil Service, was commissioned to translate it into English. Warren Hastings, in sending a copy of the earlier part of this treatise to his old school-fellow, the learned Chief Justice of England, Lord Mansfield, justly remarked that it was *' a proof that the inhabitants of this land are not in the savage state in which they have been unfairly represented.' '*

On the affairs of State being thus re-arranged, it became necessary to determine the future position of the household of the Nawab. The young Nawab was himself placed under the guardianship of Mani Begum, once the favourite wife of Mir Jaffier. His State allowance was reduced, but was of sufficient liberality to enable him, in the altered circumstances in which he was placed, to maintain his position with dignity, and the son of Nuncomar was appointed his Prime Minister. To Nuncomar himself Warren Hastings entertained the strongest feelings of suspicion and distrust ; but, as the Court of Directors had desired that attention should be paid to him, Hastings thought it wiser to show this

♦ Warren Hastings, by Captain Trotter (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1890), p. 68.

AFFAIRS IN OUDH. II

attention by promoting his son. All these arrangements received the approval of the Court. The internal Government of the Province had thus been placed in a tolerably satisfactory condition, but far better than at any time since the conquest of Bengal, and very much like what it afterwards became when deficiencies had been detected and irregularities adjusted ; and half a dozen years of Warren Hastings's vigorous rule would, if subsequent events had not intervened, most probably have put affairs in such a position as to have given satisfaction to the people of the country, to the Court of Directors, and to the Government of England,

We do not think it necessary to treat of the policy of the Bengal Government with regard to foreign affairs at this juncture, with the exception of the negotiations with the Nawab Vizier of Oudh and the invasion of Rohilkhand, the controversy about which so considerably affected Warren Hastings's future career. The Provinces of Korah and Allahabad had been assigned to the unfortunate Emperor of Delhi by Lord Clive in 1765, '* as a royal demesne for the support of his dignity and expenses." The Emperor had first abandoned these Provinces, and then granted them to the Mahrattas, who were at this time spreading all over the country in the search for plunder and rapine. Hastings, supported by his Council, considered this incompatible with the honour of the Company and the safety of the English dominions. He himself went to Benares, where he had an interview with Sujah-ud-Dowla, the Nawab Vizier of Oudh, and it was agreed to bestow these Provinces on him on his consenting to pay fifty thousand pounds, and to maintain the

English battalion stationed there for defence. He was of opinion that he was doing the best for all parties in thus strengthening the English alliance with the Nawab Vizier, and in raising a compact barrier against the incursions of the Mahrattas. The treaty of Benares was executed on September 7, 1773. The negotiations leading up to it were conducted by Hastings and the Nawab alone, and the following extract from the account of the interview written by the former gives us a deeply interesting peep behind the curtain, and his own estimate of his proficiency in Urdu. " Every circumstance of the negotiation/' he said, " required that it should be managed by that familiar and confidential intercourse which can take place only between two persons unembarrassed by interruption, and unchecked by the reserve which always attends a conversation held between strangers and before many witnesses. Fortunately, too, the habit which I had acquired of speaking the Hindustani language, though imperfect, yet aided on the part of the Vizier by a very clear and easy elocution, and an uncommonly quick apprehension, greatly facilitated this mode of communication, and not only forwarded the conclusion of our debates, but, I am persuaded, left him much better pleased with what had passed than if it had been conveyed to him through the doubtful channel of an interpreter.'*

The subject ot the invasion of Rohilkhand was also discussed at this familiar but important interview. That Province formed an irregular tract to the north-west of Oudh, being bounded on the east and north by the Himalayas, and on the west by the Ganges. It was in early times a Hindu kingdom named Kather ; but

INVASION OF ROHILKHAND. I3

it had, for the last century or so, been held by a race of Pathan adventurers from Afghanistan. It had recently been invaded by the ubiquitous Mahrattas, and the chief ruler, Hafiz Rahmat Khan, had ^igreed to pay the Nawab Vizier forty thousand pounds, if he helped him to eject these troublesome invaders. Assistance had been rendered, but payment had been withheld; The Nawab Vizier was, therefore, very anxious to punish Hafiz, and to annex the Province ; and he proposed to Mr. Hastings that the English should help him in this project. At first Warren Hastings was much opposed to this scheme. The Nawab Vizier consequently put it on one side for the time ; but no sooner had Hastings returned to Calcutta than it was revived. Hafiz Rahmat Khan was treating with the Mahrattas, so the Nawab Vizier determined to invade Rohilkhand, and openly demanded English assistance. The Council at Calcutta agreed to give it, *' considering the strict alUance and engagements which subsisted between the Company and Sujah Dowla." The English forces advanced with those of the Nawab, and on April 23, 1774, gained a signal victory, when Rahmat Khan fell, and the country was speedily conquered for the Nawab. The Nawab's troops were accused of perpetrating much cruelty during the course of their occupation, but this was considerably exaggerated for party purposes. Colonel Champion, the English Commander, did his best to stay such atrocities, and the Government praised him for this. ** We are exceedingly happy to learn,*' were the words they used, ** that you from the beginning opposed, and at last obtained a stop to be put to, the devastation of the Rohilla country by the army of the Vizier, a mistaken policy altogether incompatible with the design of the war and repugnant to hmnanity, and we have a sensible pleasure in testifying our entire approbation of your conduct in this respect."