66 "opinion ftill prevails of the Vizier's great power, and his treacherous defigns 66 against us; and I cannot expect that my word fhould be taken as a proof of "their non-existence: on the other hand, "the absence of the Marattas, and the "weak ftate of the Rohellas, promised an "eafy conqueft of them; and I own, "that fuch was my idea of the Company's diftrefs at home, added to my know "ledge of their wants abroad, that I "should have been glad of any occafion "to employ their forces, which faves fo much of their pay and expences." When the measure was determined upon, and we had come to a general agree ment, I was averfe to introduce any new fubject of debate, and therefore easily acquiefced in the expreffion of a with enter tained by the Board, which might be con ftrued as inconfiftent with the refolution we had taken. My fentiments of the propriety of the expedition had undergone no change: but I will not deny, that I felt myfelf influenced by the fame fears which operated in the other members of the Council, that the propriety of the meafure might not be feen in the fame light by our conftituents; which we knew, from the temper of the times, might not only draw upon us their fevere refentment, but aggra vate the load of popular odium which has of late fallen on their fervants; and, if I miftake not, thefe reafons are affigned in exprefs terms upon our proceedings. 3d. The engagements between the Vizier and the Rohellas, which have been already quoted, fufficiently evince the juftice of the attack upon them. They agreed to make him an acknowledgement of forty lacks of rupees upon certain conditions he performed thofe conditions; and they refufed payment of the money they had promised. 4th. No political tranfaction can be mathematically demonftrated to be totally free from danger. The probable advantages must be weighed against the probable difadvantages: when the prefent meafure was undertaken, there was every reafon to expect that it would be fpeedily brought to an happy conclufion; and the event has proved that our expectations were well grounded. 5th. The Marattas did not poffefs, nor had any claim upon any part of the Rohella country on the North of the Ganges, when we undertook to affift the Vizier in the conquest of it. They might with much more reafon have attacked us for oppofing them in their defigns on the Co rah diftricts, of which they had obtained a grant from the King; but, in fact, a timid conduct would have been more likely to involve us in a war with them, than either of thefe measures. Had they been allowed to fubdue the Corah diftrict and the country of the Rohellas, the Vizier's territory would have been open to their incurfions; their numerous horfe might have plundered it, in fpite of the efforts of our infantry, and their continued ravages might have oblig ed him to come to an accommodation with them, as was once apprehended, on terms which would have afforded them an eafy entrance into our own provinces. fhort, we are much better fecured against their attacks than we otherwife fhould have been; and the better we are fecured, the lefs will they be difpofed to attack us. In 6th. In reply to this objection, I will in the first place affirm, that, merely for for the defence of our own provinces, two brigades upon the prefent establishment are fufficient; a third is necessary to add to our influence amongst the powers of Indoftan, to support our alliance with the Vizier, and to anfwer other exigencies which may happen at a more remote period of time. Upon the late occafion,when the Rohella expedition was undertaken, our apprehenfions of an invafion from the French had entirely ceafed; the diffentions among the Marattas fully employed them at home, and are mentioned among the fecondary inducements in favour of the undertaking; there was no other enemy from whom we could have the least appre henfion of danger. Such was the occafion to be embraced for effecting our purpose, by a temporary employment of a third part of our forces; and under fuch circumftances was a great and manifeft advantage; but when the stipulated acquifition of forty lacks, and the political advantages refulting from the measure, are fuperadded, the the vifionary idea of danger, which did not exist even in imagination at the time the expedition was undertaken, can have no weight as an objection; efpecially as, from our own knowledge of the open and defenceless ftate of the Rohella country, we were morally certain that the undertaking would foon be brought to an iffue. By our ancient treaty with the Vizier, we are bound to affift him with our forces within his paternal dominions; and the diftance between their borders, and the remotest part to which our troops have marched marched is only two hundred miles. I will only add, that so long as no immediate danger threatens our own provinces, it is my earnest with that one of our three brigades might conftantly be employed with the Vizier, as well to fave fo large a proportion of expence to the Company, as to prevent the ill confequences of total inactivity to our army. 7th. The addition of territory acquired by the Vizier, inftead of raifing him to be a dangerous neighbour, ferves to render him more dependant upon us than before ; as he has more occafion for our affittance to enable him to maintain it, and to fupport him against the claims of other pow ers. If his increase of wealth be an object of jealoufy, let it be confidered how large ly the Company share in it. From September 1773 to 1775 the fums we have to receive from him, by our late engagements, amount to one hundred and thirty lacks of rupees the brigade should not abandon him while he was engaged in it, nor while the iffue of it remained incomplete: nor can I devife any other condition which would have removed his apprehenfions. If the Board judged the propofition reasonable, it cer tanly was not unbecoming in them to affent to it. It remains, therefore, to examine, whether it was unreafonable, and and whether this power granted to the Vizier was liable to danger or inconvenience. I have already fhewn, that the removal of the brigade to such a distance would not prove of danger to our own provinces, becaufe it was not wanted for their defence; that it would be productive of no inconve nience, because it occafiohed an entire fufpenfion of the Company's payments during its employment. It is not to be denied, that there are poffible cafes, in which it may be wanted for the protection of Bengal, but these are out of the reach of all probability, and too remote to be quoted as an objection to the present engagement. 8th. I have already remarked, that the firft propofition for the Rohella war was made by the Vizier, in a letter which I received from him in June 1773; that it I am not apprehenfive that the Vizier was employed afterwards in the negotia- will infift on keeping the brigade continutions at Benares, as an inftrument for win- ally with him; my fears are, that he may ning his confent to the payment of the full difmifs it; as there is every reafon to with expences of the troops employed in his its continuance with him, and none, for service; and that it was not finally refolv- its recall. When the brigade was fored on till the 26th of November, after the meily employed with the Vizier, and the moft ample difcuffion in the Select Com- fhare of its monthly expences defrayed by mittee and in the Council; it was not him was only 30,000, and afterwards therefore precipitately refolved on. It is true, that no formal treaty was executed fhewed any earneftnefs for its continu1015,000 rupees per month, he never for the conditions on which we were to ance with him beyond the duration of the aflift the Vizier; nor did the occafion, particular fervice for which it had been which was only temporary, require it. wanted, but was ever ready to propofe its The multiplication of treaties weakens return; it is not likely, therefore, that he their efficacy, and therefore they fhould be fhould be more folicitous now for its perreferved only for very important and perpetual refidence in his country, at an exmanent obligations. The form which was dictated to the Vizier for the letter which was to defcribe the conditions of this engagement, it is true, is not of itfelf fufficiently clear; but it is explained by my letter which accompanied it, and the reference therein made to the conditions which had been formerly propofed at Benares, as they stood in the three first articles of the draft which had been prepared for the treaty before the Rohella expedition was fufpended. 9th. It was neither arrogant nor unreafonable in the Vizier to require, that fince his entire dependence for the fuccefs of the enterprize which he had projected, was an the brigade of the Company's forces, pence to him of twenty-five lacks a year, which he must pay, and which his income, even with the late additions to it, can barely afford. He knows, that whenever he fhall require the prefence of the brigade, it will be for our interest to grant it; and he will therefore part with it, when his own occafions, which in this inftance must be confined to the defence of his own dominions, no longer require it, that the charge of its maintenance may be fhifted from his account to the Company's; and that he may be fubject to that burden only when he is an immediate gainer by it. This may fuffice to fhew the little rifque we ran, had we abfolurely engaged the brigade to him H 2 as long as he might choofe to retain it : but in the prefent cafe (as I have already explained in the preceding article) it was understood by both parties, and indeed is infeparable from the nature of the engagement, and the original conditions of our mutual alliance, that we might recal it, if required, for our own protection, not only without any imputation of breach of faith; but (unless it was done in fo precipitate a manner as to defeat the purpofe of the expedition) even without affording him a pretext for refufing the payment of the forty lacks. I hope and truft, that I have now proved to this honourable House, that the Rohella war was not prohibited, but authorized by the Court of Directors; that it originated in measures which were purely defenfive, and which were in train before my acceffion to the government; that my thare of it was warranted by the stricteft justice, in retaliation of grofs perfidy and violation of faith; that it was undertaken with every well-grounded affurance of fuccefs; and terminated in great and permanent advantages to the Eaft-India Company. Extracts from the Evidence taken before a Committee of the House of Commons, being a Committee of the whole Houfe, appointed to confider of the feveral Articles of Charge of high Crimes and Misdemeanors, prefented to the House against Warren Haftings, Efq. late GovernorGeneral of Bengal. HOW [Continued from Vol. X, p. 420.] MAJOR MARSACK called in, and examined. TOW long have you been in India, and are you acquainted with the northern provinces, and in what offices have you ferved? I was in India from the year 1765 to the beginning of the year 1783, and I am acquainted with the northern provinces. -I was lieutenant in the army when I was appointed furveyor of the province of Oude, as I have before obferved, and during the courfe of that fervice. Are you acquainted with the fituation of the remaining families of the Rohella chiefs? I am. What was it? As near as I can recollect in the year 1780, when I travelled through the Rohella country, on my way to the imperial city of Delhi, I found, in the capital of ahat prince, Barelli, that his wives and children were confined to their palace in very indigent circumftances ;that they, as well as the fons of Doonda Cawn, who were at that period in Mooradabad, were in the greateft diftrefs.-The fons of Doonda Cawn, Muhub ulla Cawn, and Fitte ulla Cawn-I had feveral conferences with them; they pleaded a breach of faith on the part of the Nabob Vizier Sujah Dowlah, who had left them in the extremeft neceffity of circumftances, notwithstanding they had been the firft to join the Ea glish and the Vizier. That Fizoolla Cawn, who had never fhewn that readinefs, was not only reinftated in his former poffeflions, but had received an acceffion of territory; and in fhort, that they, as well as the women and children of Hafez Rhamet, were reduced to the miferable ftate I was then an eye witness of, namely, in fuch extreme want, as to fell the furniture of their houfes and the habits of their women. What obfervations did you make upon the ftate of the Rohella country, previous to the invasion of it by the Nabob and the British army. It was a country I never had any good opportunity of making any obfervations upon till after I had refigned the Company's fervice in the province of Oude. The purpose of my journey before mentioned, in 1780, was to make remarks on the country of the Rohellas.-I vifited all the principal places therein; and from the beft authority as well as my own immediate remarks on the veftiges of its former grandeur and opulence, I drew the con elufion of its once flourishing ftate: But it is a thing well known, that the country poffeffes great natural advantages, which were cultivated and brought to light by the industry and good policy of the Rohella tribes. In the principal cities of Shajehanpoor, Barelli, Oulah, Biffoulee, Sumbei, Mooradabad, Deranegur, and feveral other places, I perceived the ruins and veftiges of public and private buildings, of the greatest magnificence, prefenting themfelves amidst the ruins of colleges, churches, baths, palaces and other buildings; which clearly proved to my comprehenfion, the former ftate of population, and flourishing condition of Rohilcund. That around thefe cities, as far as the eye could reach, there could be feen deferted villages in ruins, and the traces of once-cultivated lands now lying wafte: That thefe large cities fcarcely con. tained one tenth part of their original inhabitants; I mean, at the period when the British troops and thofe of the Vizier invaded the country: that on entering the prefent poffeffions of Fizoolla Cawn, the contraft was strongly marked, by numerous and well-peopled villages, environed by the highest cultivation: That there is fcarcely a spot in that prince's dominions which is not fo cultivated; and which I found owing to the good police and encouragement given by the prince, in contradiftinction to the modes purfued in farming and collecting the revenues in all the other part of the Rohilla country, of which Fizoola Cawn's is a very small proportion indeed. What was the opinion of the remaining inhabitants concerning the change of the administration of revenues and police effected fince the country was fubdued by the British troops? It may be neceffary, in order to elucidate that circumftance, and to throw all the lights in my power on the fubject, to fay, that the prefent mode of farming and collecting the revenues of the country has tended to the almoft total extinction of revenue. Is there a good police, order, or magiftracy, established in that country? There is not. The natives of the country, (I mean the original Hindoos, who are the principal cultivators of the foil) much lamented the lofs of their former mafters (the Rohellas) who had originally come into the country as foldiers of fortune and adventurers: That, on eftablifhing their government, they had laid afide the fword, and turned their minds to the cultivation and profperity of the country: That owing to their mild government, the country had arrived to the greateft height of opulence; but that fince the Vizier was under the aufpices of the Englifh, and without whofe aid he never could have made a conqueft of them, the country had been gradually declining: That the oppreffions and exactions of the Aumils or collectors appointed by the Nabob of Oude and the English adminif tration of his court, had, by their mode adopted, compelled great numbers of the original inhabitants (Hindoos) and the Mahometans, under whom they cultivated the lands, in many parts, to leave their native country, and feek that protection in a foreign land, denied them in their own: they declared they had no police left in the country, and that numbers of them had been conftrained, after parting with every thing they had, to go into Fizoola Cawn's country, where it was difficult to find employment. Authentic and interefting Particulars refpecting the Lofs of the St. Eafatius Papers from the Secretary of State's Office. Affidavit of General Vaughan, 20th March, 1786, fworn before Dr. Wynne. Hon. George Brydges Lord Rodney, or their agents; he, this deponent further faith, That a few days ago, he applied by ON which day appeared perfonally, letter to Williain Knox, Efq, who at the the Hon. Lieut. Gen. Vaughan, one of the captors of the island of St. Eufta tius, and its dependencies, and made oath, in addition to the affidavit by him heretofore made on the 22d day of April, 1785, refpecting the inventories and books of accounts, which are faid to have been delivered to this deponent and the Right time of the capture of the island of St. Euftatius, was under Secretary to Lord George Germain, then Secretary of State for the American department, requested to know of him the faid William Knox, what was become of the books and papers which were tranfmitted by Lord Rodney and this deponent, to Lord George Ger mains maine's faid office from the Weft-Indies, oath (in addition to the affidavit by him heretofore made on the 22d day of april, 1785, refpecting the inventories and books of accounts, which are faid to be delivered to this deponent, and the Hon. Lieut, General John Vaughan, or their agents) that the books and papers fo by him mentioned to have been tranfmitted to Eng land, were forwarded under the care of William Georges, Efq. then Chief Juftice of the island of St. Christopher, on board his Majesty's fhip the Venus, commanded by Capt. Douglafs, which faid fhip failed for England as part of a convoy under the command of Commodore Hotham, in virtue of orders from this deponent, bearing date on board his Majefty's ship Sandwich, St. Euftatius Road, 18th of March, 1781, a true copy of which orders, marked with the letter A, is hereunto annexed. And this deponent further faith, that on the 26th day of the faid month of March, 1781, he wrote an official letter to Philip Stephens, Efq. the Secretary of the Admiralty, in which he took notice, as the truth and fact was, of his having fent to England the books of fome of the inhabitants of the faid ifland of St. Euftatius, to be laid before his Majefty's Minifters, and fuch letter was received by the faid Philip Stephens, as he understands and believes; a true copy of which letter, marked B, this deponent doth alfo hereunto annex, bearing date, Sandwich, at St. Euftatius, 26th of March, 1781; and this deponent faith, that the faid books and papers fo by him fent to England on board his Majefty's fhip the Venus as aforefaid, were on the faid thip's arrival in England, as the deponent hath (A.) Letter referred to in the above Af- been informed, and verily believes, deli fidavit. vered to, or at the office of his Majefty's then Secretary of State for the American department; and this deponent faith, that be conceived many of the faid books and papers contained matter highly neceffary for his Majefty's Government to be acquainted with; and his principal view in tranfmitting the fame to his Majefty's Minifters, was to convey useful intelligence, and to have the faid books and papers lodged in a place of fafety, ready to be produced whenever Parliament or the Courts of juftice have occafion for them: And this deponent faith, that on or about the 8th day of March last past, he, the deponent in company with Paul Maylor, Efq. and the Rev. William Paget Clerk, two of the agents appointed for the goods and stores feized and taken on the faid |