III. That in 1774, on the invasion of Rohilcund by the united armies of the vizier Sujah ul Dowlah and the company, the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, "with some of his people, was present at the "decisive battle of St. George," where Hafiz Rhanet, the great leader of the Rohillas, and many others of their principal chiefs were slain; but, escaping from the slaughter, Fyzoola Khân "made his retreat good towards the mountains, "with all his treasure." He there collected the scattered remains of his countrymen; and as he was the eldest surviving son of Ali Mohammed Khân, as too the most powerful obstacle to his pretensions was now removed by the death of Hafiz, he seems at length to have been generally acknowledged by his natural subjects the undoubted heir of his father's authority. 66 IV. That," regarding the sacred sincerity and friendship of the English, whose goodness and celebrity is every where known, who dispossess no one," the Nabob Fyzoola Khân made early overtures for peace to Colonel Alexander Champion, commander-in-chief of the company's forces in Bengal: that he did propose to the said Colonel Alexander Champion, in three letters, received on the 14th, 24th, and 27th of May, to put himself under the protection either of the company or of the vizier, through the mediation, and with the guarantee, of the company; and that he did offer "whatever was conferred upon him, to pay "as much without damage or deficiency, as any "other person would agree to do;" stating at the same time his condition and pretensions hereinbefore recited, as facts, "evident as the sun;" and appealing, in a forcible and awful manner, to the generosity and magnanimity of this nation," by "whose means he hoped in God, that he should "receive justice;" and as "the person who designed the war, was no more;" as "in that he was himself guiltless ;" and, as "he had never "acted in such a manner as for the vizier to "have taken hatred to his heart against him; that "he might be reinstated in his ancient possessions, the country of his father." 66 V. That on the last of the three dates above mentioned, that is to say, on the 27th of May, the Nabob Fyzoola Khân did also send to the commander-in-chief a vakeel, or ambassadour, who was authorized on the part of him (the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, his master) to make a specifick offer of three propositions; and that by one of the said propositions 66 an annual encrease of near £400,000 would have accrued to the revenues "of our ally, and the immediate acquisition of "above £300,000 to the company, for their "influence in effecting an accommodation per VI. That so great was the confidence of the Nabob Fyzoola Khân in the just, humane, and liberal feelings of Englishmen, as to "lull him into an inactivity" of the most essential detriment to his interests; since, "in the hopes, which he enter"tained from the interposition of our govern"ment," he declined the invitation of the Mogul to join the arms of His Majesty and the Mahrattas, "refused any connexion with the Seiks," and did even neglect to take the obvious precaution of crossing the Ganges, as he had originally intended, while the river was yet fordable, a movement, that would have enabled him certainly to baffle all pursuit, and probably "to keep the vizier in a state of disquietude for the remainder of his "life." 66 66 VII. That the commander-in-chief, Colonel Alexander Champion aforesaid, “thought nothing could "be more honourable to this nation than the support of so exalted a character; and whilst it "could be done on terms so advantageous, supposed it very unlikely that the vakeel's propo"sition should be received with indifference;" that he did accordingly refer it to the administration through Warren Hastings, Esquire, then governour of Fort William, and president of Bengal ; and he did at the same time enclose to the said Warren Hastings a letter from the Nabob Fyzoola Khân to the said Hastings; which letter does not appear, but must be supposed to have been of the same tenour with those before cited to the commander-in-chief; of which also copies were sent to the said Hastings by the commander-inchief; and he (the commander-in-chief aforesaid) after urging to the said Hastings sundry good and cogent arguments of policy and prudence, in favour of the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, did conclude by " wishing for nothing so much as for the adoption of some measure, that might strike "all the powers of the East with admiration of our justice, in contrast to the conduct of the "vizier." innocence as to the origin of the war, or of his | gesting his wishes of what might be, in his hopes hereditary right to the territories, which he claimed; of what had been, resolved; and plainly, though but to the said pleas of the Nabob Fyzoola indirectly, instigating the commander-in-chief to Khân, as well as to the arguments both of policy much effusion of blood in an immediate attack on and justice advanced by the commander-in-chief, the Rohillas, posted as they were "in a very he the said Hastings did solely oppose certain "strong situation," and " "strong situation," and "combating for all." speculative objects of imagined expediency, summing up his decided rejection of the proposals made by the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, in the following remarkable words: 66 XI. That the said Hastings, in the answer aforesaid, did further endeavour to inflame the commanderin-chief against the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, by representing the said nabob as "highly presuming, insolent, and evasive;" and knowing the distrust, which the Nabob Fyzoola Khân entertained of the vizier, the said Hastings did " CX"pressly desire it should be left wholly to the "vizier to treat with the enemy by his own agents, "and in his own manner ; though he the said Hastings "by no means wished the vizier to lose "time by seeking an accommodation, since it "would be more effectual, more decisive, and "more consistent with his dignity, indeed with That in the aforesaid violent and arbitrary position, the said Warren Hastings did avow it to be a publick principle of his government, that no right, however manifest, and no innocence, however unimpeached, could entitle the weak to our pro-"his honour, which he has already pledged, to tection against others, or save them from our own active endeavours for their oppression, and even extirpation, should they interfere with our notions of political expediency: and that such a principle" is highly derogatory to the justice and honour of the English name, and fundamentally injurious to our interests, inasmuch as it hath an immediate tendency to excite distrust, jealousy, fear, and hatred against us among all the subordinate potentates of Hindostan. X. That, in prosecution of the said despotick principle, the president (Warren Hastings aforesaid) did persist to obstruct, as far as in him lay, every advance towards an accommodation between the Vizier Sujah ul Dowlah, and the Nabob Fyzoola Khân; and particularly on the 16th of September, only eight days after the said Hastings, in conjunction with the other members of the select committee of Bengal, had publickly testified his satisfaction in the prospect of an accommodation, and had hoped, that his Excellency (the vizier) "would be disposed to conciliate the affections (of the Rohillas) to his government by acceding "to lenient terms;" he, the said Hastings, did nevertheless write, and without the consent or knowledge of his colleagues did privately dispatch, a certain answer to a letter of the commander-in-chief; in which answer the said Hastings did express other contradictory hopes, namely, that the commander-in-chief had resolved on pro "abide by his first offers to dictate the conditions "of peace, and to admit only an acceptance "without reservation, or a clear refusal from his adversary;" thereby affecting to hold up, in opposition to, and in exclusion of, the substantial claims of justice, certain ideal obligations of dignity and honour, that is to say, the gratification of pride, and the observance of an arrogant determination once declared. XII. That although the said answer did not reach the commander-in-chief until peace was actually concluded; and although the dangerous consequences to be apprehended from the said answer were thereby prevented, yet by the sentiments contained in the said answer, Warren Hastings, Esquire, did strongly evince his ultimate adherence to all the former violent and unjust principles of his conduct towards the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, which principles were disgraceful to the character, and injurious to the interests, of this nation: and that the said Warren Hastings did thereby, in a particular manner, exclude himself from any share of credit for "the honourable period put to the Rohilla war, which has in some degree done away the reproach so wantonly brought on the English name." 66 secuting the war to a final issue," because (as RIGHTS OF FYZOOLA KHÂN UNDER THE "the said Hastings explains himself) it appears "very plainly, that Fyzoola Khân, and his adhe 66 rents, lay at your mercy; because I apprehend "much inconveniency from delays; and because "I am morally certain, that no good will be TREATY OF LALL-DANG. I. THAT notwithstanding the culpable and crimi “gained by negociating; "—thereby artfully sug-nal reluctance of the president Hastings, herein before recited, a treaty of peace and friendship | letter to the court of directors, dated April 5th III. That from the terms of the treaty above recited it doth plainly, positively, and indisputably appear, that the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, in case of war, was not bound to furnish more than three thousand men under any construction, unless the vizier should march in person. IV. That the Nabob Fyzoola Khân was not positively bound to furnish so many as 3,000 men, but an indefinite number, not more than three, and not less than two, thousand; that, of the precise number within such limitations, the ability of Fyzoola Khân, and not the discretion of the vizier, was to be the standard; and that such ability could only mean that, which was equitably consistent not only with the external defence of his jaghire, but with the internal good management thereof, both as to its police and revenue. V. That even in case the vizier should march in person, it might be reasonably doubted whether the personal service of the Nabob Fyzoola Khân "with his troops" must be understood to be, with all his troops, or only with the number before stipulated, not more than three, and not less than two, thousand men; and that the latter is the interpretation finally adopted by Warren Hastings VII. That, in the event of any doubt fairly arising from the terms of the treaty, the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, in consideration of his hereditary right to the whole country, and the price by him actually paid for the said treaty, was in equity entitled to the most favourable construction. VIII. That, from the attestation of Colonel Champion aforesaid, the government of Calcutta acquired the same right to interpose with the vizier for the protection of the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, as they the said government had before claimed from a similar attestation of Sir Robert Barker to assist the vizier in extirpating the whole nation of the said Fyzoola Khân; more especially as in the case of Sir Robert Barker it was contrary to the remonstrances of the then administration, and the furthest from the intentions of the said Barker himself, that his attestation should involve the company; but the attestation of Colonel Champion was authorized by all the powers of the government, as a "sanction" intended "to add validity" to the treaty: that they the said government, and in particular the said Warren Hastings, as the first executive member of the same, were bound by the ties of natural justice duly to exercise the aforesaid right, if need were; and that their duty so to interfere was more particularly enforced by the spirit of the censures past both by the directors and proprietors in the Rohilla war, and the satisfaction expressed by the directors" in "the honourable end put to that war." GUARANTEE OF THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG. THAT during the life of the Vizier Sujah ul aforesaid, and the council of Bengal, who, in a | Dowlah, and for some time after his death, under 66 following did again write to the said Colonel Champion more explicitly, to join his sanction, "either by attesting the treaty, or acting as guarantee on the part of the company for the performance of it;" both which letters, though they did not arrive until after the actual signature of the said Colonel Champion, do yet incontrovertibly mark the solemn intention of the said committee, (of which the said Hastings was president,) that the sanction of Colonel Champion's attestation should be regarded as a publick, not a private, sanction; and it was more peculiarly incumbent on such persons, who had been members of the said committee, so to regard the same. his son and successor Asoph ul Dowlah, the Nabob | 66 66 II. 66 That in the year 1777, and in the beginning of the year 1778, being "alarmed at the young "vizier's resumption of a number of jaghires 'granted by his father to different persons, and "the injustice and oppression of his conduct in general;" and having now learned (from whom does not appear, but probably from some person supposed of competent authority) that Colonel Champion formerly witnessed the treaty as a private person, the Nabob Fyzoola Khân did make frequent and urgent solicitations to Nathaniel Middleton, Esquire, then resident at Oude, and to Warren Hastings aforesaid, then governour-general of Bengal," for a renovation of his (the Na"bob Fyzoola Khân's) treaty with the late vizier, "and the guarantee of the company," or for a separate agreement with the company for his "defence;" considering them (the company) as "the only power, in which he had confidence, "and to which he could look up for protection." 66 III. IV. That the said Warren Hastings was further guilty of much criminal concealment for the space of "twelve months," inasmuch as he did not lay before the board the frequent and urgent solicitations, which he the said Hastings was continually receiving from the Nabob Fyzoola Khân, until the 9th of March 1778: on which day the said Hastings did communicate to the council a publick letter of the aforesaid Middleton, resident at Oude, acquainting the board, that he (the said Middleton) taking occasion from a late application of Fyzoola Khân for the company's guarantee, had deputed Mr. Daniel Octavus Barwell (assistant resident at Benares, but then on a visit to the resident Middleton at Lucknow) to proceed with a special commission to Rampore, there to enquire on the spot into the truth of certain reports circulated to the prejudice of Fyzoola Khân, which reports however the said Middleton did afterwards confess himself to have "always" thought " in "the highest degree improbable." "vizier." And the said Middleton, in excuse for having irregularly" availed himself of the abili"ties of Mr. Daniel Barwell," who belonged to another station, and for deputing him with the aforesaid commission to Rampore without the previous knowledge of the board, did urge the plea " of immediate necessity;" and that such plea, if the necessity really existed, was a strong charge and accusation against the said Warren Hastings, from whose criminal neglect and concealment the urgency of such necessity did arise. That the said resident Middleton did " request "to know whether, on proof of Fyzoola Khân's "innocence, the honourable board would be "pleased to grant him (the resident) permission That the said resident Middleton, and the said "to comply with his (Fyzoola Khân's) request of governour-general Hastings, did not, as they" the company's guarantying his treaty with the were in duty bound to do, endeavour to allay the apprehensions of the Nabob Fyzoola Khân by assuring him of his safety under the sanction of Colonel Champion's attestation aforesaid; but by their criminal neglect, if not by positive expressions, (as there is just ground from their subsequent language and conduct to believe,) they, the said Middleton and the said Hastings, did at least keep alive and confirm (whoever may have originally suggested) the said apprehension; and that such neglect alone was the more highly culpable in the said Hastings, inasmuch as he the said Hastings, in conjunction with other members of the select committee of the then presidency of Bengal, did, on the 17th of September 1774, write to Colonel Champion aforesaid, publickly authorizing him the said Colonel Champion to join his sanction to the accommodations agreed on (between the Vizier Sujah ul Dowlah, and the Nabob Fyzoola Khân) to add to their validity; and on the 6th of October VOL. II. V. That the governour-general, Warren Hastings aforesaid, did immediately move," that the board approve the deputation of Mr. Daniel Barwell, "and that the resident (Middleton) be autho"rized to offer the company's guarantee for the IX. "observance of the treaty subsisting between the "occasion observed) we should participate," and "vizier and Fyzoola Khân, provided it meets on whom we at that time had an accumulating "with the vizier's concurrence; and that the demand. governour-general's proposition was resolved in the affirmative; the usual majority of council then consisting of Richard Barwell, Esquire, a near relation of Daniel Octavus Barwell aforesaid, and the governour-general Warren Hastings, who, in case of an equality, had the casting voice. 66 VI. That, over and above the lack of rupees thus presented to the vizier, the Nabob Fyzoola Khân did likewise offer one other lack of rupees, or upwards of £.10,000 more for the company, 66 66 as some acknowledgment of the obligation he re"ceived that although such acknowledgment was "not pretended to be the invariable custom of "Hindostan on such occasions, however it might on the present be expected," Mr. Daniel Barwell aforesaid (knowing probably the disposition and views of the then actual government at Calcutta) did not, even at first, decline the said offer, but, as he was not empowered to accept it, did immediately propose taking a bond for the amount, until the pleasure of the board should be known. That on receiving from Mr. Daniel Barwell full and early assurance of Fyzoola Khân's "having "preserved every article of his treaty inviolate," the resident Middleton applied for the vizier's concurrence, which was readily obtained; the vizier however premising, that he gave his consent, taking it for granted, that on Fyzoola Khân's "receiving the treaty, and khelaut, (or robe of honour,) he was to make him a return of the That the offer was accordingly communicated complimentary presents usually offered on such by the said Barwell to the resident Middleton, to "occasions, and of such an amount as should be be by him the resident referred to the board; and a manifestation of Fyzoola Khún's due sense that it was so referred; that in reply to the said of his friendship, and suitable to his Excellency's reference of the resident Middleton, the governour"rank to receive;" and that the resident Mid-general (Warren Hastings) did move and carry a dleton "did make himself in some measure re- vote of council, "authorizing Mr. Middleton to "sponsible for the said presents being obtained," accept the offer made by Fyzoola Khân to the and did write to Mr. Daniel Barwell accord- company of one lack of rupees," without assigningly. ing any reason whatever in support of the said motion, notwithstanding it was objected by a member of the board, "that, if the measure was 66 VII. That, agreeably to the resolution of council herein before recited, the solicited guarantee, under the seal of the resident Middleton, thus duly authorized on behalf of the company, was transmitted, together with the renewed treaty, to Mr. Daniel Barwell aforesaid at Rampore; and that they were both by him, the said Barwell, presented to the Nabob Fyzoola Khân with a solemnity not often paralleled," in the presence of the greatest part of the nabob's subjects, who were "assembled, that the ceremony might create a "full belief in the breasts of all his people, that "the company would protect him as long as he strictly adhered to the letter of his treaty." 66 VIII. That in the conclusion of the said ceremony the Nabob Fyzoola Khân did deliver to the said Barwell, for the use of the vizier, a nuzzer (or present) of elephants, horses, &c. and did add thereto a lack of rupees, or £.10,000, and upwards; which sum the said Barwell, "not being "authorized to accept any pecuniary considera"tion, did at first refuse;' but upon Fyzoola Khân's urging, that on such occasions it was the invariable "custom of Hindostan, and that it "must on the present be expected, as it had been formerly the case" (but when, does not appear); he the said Barwell did accept the " said "lack in the name of the vizier," our ally, "whose wealth (as Warren Hastings on another " in 66 66 66 66 right, it became us to adopt it without such a "consideration ;" and that our accepting of the "lack of rupees as a recompence for our interposi"tion is beneath the dignity of this government, "(of Calcutta,) and will discredit us in the eyes of "the Indian powers." That the acceptance of the said sum, in this circumstance, was beneath the dignity of the said government, and did tend so to discredit us; and that the motion of the said Hastings for such acceptance was therefore highly derogatory to the honour of this nation. X. That the aforesaid member of the council did further disapprove altogether of the guarantee, 66 as unnecessary;" and that another member of council, Richard Barwell, Esquire, the near relation of Daniel Octavus Barwell, herein before named, did declare, (but after the said guarantee had taken place,) that "this government (of Cal"cutta) was in fact engaged, by Colonel Cham"pion's signature being to the treaty with Fyzoola "Khân," that the said unnecessary guarantee did not only subject to an heavy expense a prince, whom we were bound to protect, but did further produce in his mind the following obvious and natural conclusion; namely, "that the signature |