the catastrophe might have been confidered, as an act of retribu. tion, juft. His own divifion confifted of four companies of fepoys, one of artillery, and a company of French rangers. Aug. 20th. These, and the Chunar battalion, he foon involved in the narrow streets and winding lanes of the town, where they were fired upon in all directions, and flain in heaps by a fafe and unfeen enemy. Captain Doxat, who commanded the rangers and led the attack, was himself, with 23 of his men, almoft inftantly killed, befides a number wounded. The Chunar battalion led by Captain Blair, which bravely attempted to fupport the attack, was not much longer in action, when 57 men lay dead, and 41 were wounded. The whole lofs of the feveral divifions before they could get clear of the town, amounted to 107 killed, and 72 wounded. Captain Mayaffre had the good fortune not to furvive the difgrace. The retreat was conducted by was conducted by Captain Blair in a manner which gained him much applaufe; and prevented the eager purfuit of the enemy, which was continued to within four miles of Chunar, from producing any great effect.

Nothing more unfortunate could well be fuppofed to happen, in fuch a state of affairs, than this lofs and difgrace, War, was in effect, from thence declared, and the whole country was inftantly in motion. A fuccefs, that carried fo brilliant and flattering an appearance at its opening, could not but give confidence to the Rajah's councils, and infpire all orders of the people with hope and refolution. The governor general found him

felf at once unexpectedly plunged again into a fate of danger, fcarcely inferior to that which he had fo recently escaped. He met it with a confidence in his fortune, which is in a great measure peculiar to thofe, who have been accuftomed to encounter great dif ficulties, and to triumph over them. Orders were written, and difpatched in multiplied copies to the different military ftations, within reach, for the most speedy affiftance; to the minifter at the Nabob vizier's court, for a fupply of treafure; and to Colonel Blair, for an instant reinforcement from Chunar. But the whole country was already in arms against the company; and the communications in every quarter interrupted; fo that of the numerous meffengers difpatched upon this arduous occafion, very few reached their deftination; for being amazed and confounded at a fcene of danger to which they had been hitherto ftrangers, they were either detected and made prifoners through their awkard fears and confufion, or not daring to make the attempt, fecreted the dispatches.

In the mean time, on the very day after the defeat of Mayaffre, fuch preparations were making at Ramnagur for an attack upon the governor general in his quarters, that his departure from Benares not only became a matter of neceffity, but liable to no fmall difficulty and danger in the accom

plishment. His quarters, in Mahdoodafs's Gardens, were fituated in the heart of the fuburbs of Benares, confifting of many detached buildings within one large enclofure, and the whole furrounded in fuch a manner by

houfes

houfes and trees, as to intercept all outward profpect. His whole force, including the remains of that divifion of Major Popham's detachment which were immediately with him, amounted only to about 450 men; and were infufficient to man the defences, fuch as they were, even for one attack. It was therefore abfolutely neceffary to get out of fo wretched and confined a fituation, into fome open and fair ground, where the troops might at leaft oppose their enemy upon equal terms. Nor did this point even, if they met with any oppofition, feem eafily to be gained, as well from the perplexed and difficult paffages, which led through the fuburbs into the country, as from their being incumbered with a vast quantity of baggage, and with a great train of defenceless people.

On the other hand, to these ftrong motives for abandoning Benares, were to be oppofed the difgrace of a flight, to a perfon of the rank, authority and character of the governor general, the confidence which it would give to the enemy, and the encouragement and strength to rebellion; but above all, the cruel neceffity which it would induce, of abandoning the poor wounded and faithful fepoys to the mercy of an enemy, from whom, in the ufual courfe of things, little was to be expected.

The former confideration yielded to the danger and neceffity of the cafe; and with refpect to the wounded fepoys, as they were lodged in a remote part of the town or fuburbs, at near a mile's distance, and incapable of remo

val, the impoffibility of protect ing them, if the troops had even been equal to their own defence, was evident.

were

As a great number of boats we collected, and every preparation at Ramnagur directed to an immediate attack on that very night, no time was to be loft, and the retreat was accordingly commenced foon after dufk. By this fudden departure, notwithstanding the crowd of people, and the intolerable baggage with which they were incumbered, the troops had the fortune to get clear of the fuburbs (where any attack upon them would have been attended with the greatest danger) without moleftation. As foon as they had formed in the open country, they purfued their courfe to Chunar, where they arrived in the morning; having brought back with them the battalion of fepoys which Colonel Blair had dispatched to their affiftance, and which they unexpectedly met by the way, having fcarcely a hope, that the expreffes fent for the purpofe had reached that place.

it

Before the governor general's departure from Benares, he had fent a meffage to the Nabob Saadut Ally Cawn, (of whom we have no other knowledge, than that from his name and titles he must have been a Mahometan, and a perfon of confideration, and that he had been repreappears, fented to Mr. Haftings, as having a great share in fomenting the prefent troubles) to request he would take the wounded fepoys into his care and protection; a request which he repeated by a letter from Chunar. But Saadut Ally did not wait to be asked a fecond time, [B] 4

moit

moft faithfully and religiously to discharge the truft repofed in him; he had immediately visited the fepoys in perfon, furnished them with provifions and with money, employed native furgeons to attend them, and as they became individually able to bear it, had them inftantly removed to his own quarters. This will appear the more meritorious and generous, when it is confidered, that the company's credit was then fo en tirely funk, and its affairs deemed to be fo irretrievably ruined, that it was by an exertion little fhort of force, that Colonel Blair was able to extort from the bankers of Chunar, who had lived and grown rich under the protection of the English garrifon, a fmall loan, not much exceeding three hundred pounds fterling, although the money was to fupply the immediate and indifpenfible neceffities of the troops, and that the prefence of the governor general in the town, might be fuppofed to give weight and fanction to fuch an application.

The conduct of Benaram Pundit, the Maratta minifter from the Rajah of Berar to the court of Benares, was no lefs diftinguithable upon this occafion; and whether it may be attributed to national attachment, to a fense of public faith and honour, or even to private regard, is not wholly undeferving of notice; and the more particularly as it may tend, along with many other incidents which we have heretofore related of their conduct, in fome degree to illuftrate the character of that extraordinary people.

This envoy, and his brother, having come to pay a customary

evening visit at Mahdoodafs's Gar dens, arrived there at the very instant of the diforder and confufion which prevailed upon the fudden departure of the troops. They proceeded with them out of town, and were continuing the march with them on the way to Chunar, when they were difcovered, without a fingle attendant, and on foot in the crowd, by the governor general, who was afto, nished on difcovering their determination to proceed all the way in that condition. It is to be obferved, that from his time of life, ftate of health, and corpulence of body, Benaram Pundit feemed very unequal to the fatigue of fuch a march. Without regard, however, to the arguments and remonftrances used to diffuade him from the defign, particularly the danger to which he might thereby expofe the large family he left behind, he fill perfevered in his refolution; and accordingly proceeded with his brother on the march to Chunar, where they continued, until the troubles were fo far fubfided as to enable the governor general to return to Benares. It fhould be recorded, whether to the honour of the police of that city, or more properly to the civilized manners and excellent difpofition of the inhabitants, that the fmalleft injury or infult was not offered to the family of the Maratta minifter during his long abfence, though upon an occafion, and in a feafon, fo capable of exciting popular indignation. The generofity of Benaram Pundit afterwards, in offering, without application, to the governor general, all the ready money he was in poffeffion of, amounting to a lack

of

of rupees in filver, at a time when the former wanted credit and money for the mere fupport of his family and table, did not feem neceffary to finish the picture, or to give the highest colouring to the former tranfaction. Such circumstances indeed are no fmall relief to the mind, when they intervene in the midst of scenes of calamity, blood, and cruelty.

Previous to the departure of the governor general from Benares, he received a letter from the Rajah, which, notwithstanding his fituation and danger, procured fo little attention, that he neither recollects its date, nor the time of its delivery; he ftates in general, that it was filled with expref"fions of flight concern for what had paffed, and profeffions, but indennite and unapplied, of fidelity. I did not (he fays) think it becoming to make any "reply to it, and I think I or"dered the bearer of the letter to be told it required none." Notwithstanding this repulfe, on the very morning after the defeat of Mayaffre at Ramnagur, application was made by an agent of the Rajah's to one of the English gentlemen, for his interpofition with the governor general, to receive a letter and meffenger in the even. ing from the Rajah, with propofals for an accommodation.

We

are not informed of the anfwer made to this propofal; but it would feem, that the governor general was determined to confider thefe applications, both now and at all times after, as the mere artifices of treachery, intended only to deceive and to gain time. How ever this opinion was founded, the continued repetition of them, will

not increase our opinion of the Rajah's political fagacity, nor knowledge of mankind.

The former, however, acquiefced in another propofal made on the fame day, that Contoo Bauboo, his dewan or treasurer, should receive a meffage from the Rajah, and confer upon its fubject, with Mirza Abdoola Beg, his vakeel or envoy. This meeting and conference, which did not take place until after the retreat from Benares, produced no effect. The purport of the Rajah's meffage, was to exculpate himfelf from all concern in the outrage and maffacre committed in his palace, which he attributed entirely, as he did upon all occafions, to the infolence of Mr. Markham's fervant, which provoked the refentment of his own people, and concluding with profeffions of his obedience and fubmiflion to the governor gene. ral's will, in whatever way, he fhould him felf choose to dictate.

While the governor general had already enough on his hands to occupy all his attention, he found himself involved in a new embarraffment, which in the prefent crifis was not a little diftreffing. This was the approach of the Nabob vizier, who having originally intended, as a mark of refpect, if not of homage, to meet him at Benares, had fet out from his capital for that purpofe; and inftead of being deterred by the prefent ftate of affairs, he had actually ufed the greater expedition in his journey upon that account. Nothing could be more perplexing than his arrival at this time. He was to be received and treated as a friend, at the fame time that there were ftrong reafons for fus

pecting

pecting him to be an enemy. His weak and diffipated character, and his being of courfe in the hands of a fet of profligate favourites, by whom he was entirely governed, left but little room for any confi. dence in his honour, or truft in the fidelity of his engagements. But along with thefe doubts and fufpicions, which were well to be founded upon his personal character, there were actual matters with refpect to his immediate conduct, which afforded much room for alarm. His whole dominions were already in a state of commotion and diforder, and the little attention which he paid to the violence and outrage of the people, looked as if these acts had met with his countenance and approbation.

For no fooner had the rebellion manifested itself in Benares, than the contagion spread through all the neighbouring countries under his government. And it was particularly obfervable, and ferved to increafe all the fufpicions with refpect to his own defigns, that it raged in none with fo much violence, as in those which were under the influence of the princeffes, his mother and grandmother, who are ufually diftinguished under the appellation of the Begums of Oude. Thefe ladies, who refided at Fyzabad, on the river Dewa, the fecond capital of his dominions, openly efpoufed the caufe of Cheit Sing; and not only publicly encouraged and invited men to enlift in his fervice, but fuffered their own immediate fervants to join in attacking the English troops. Their example and influence, correfponding with the difpofition of the people, produc

3

ed fuch inftantaneous effects, that not only the city of Fyzabad, and the adjoining country, but thofe extenfive territories on the other fide of the Dewa, which, under the name of Gooruckpore and Burriage, ftretch to the feet of the northern mountains, were every where in arms, and in declared hoftility to the company. Lieut. Colonel Hannay, with two battalions of regular fepoys, which he commanded in the Nabob's fervice, had the charge of Fyzabad, and the countries in that quarter committed to his care. Thefe troops were repeatedly attacked, furrounded, and many of them cut to pieces; their commander being himself fo hard preffed and encompaffed, that he narrowly escaped the fame fate.

As we have mentioned the

Begums of Oude, it may not be entirely unneceffary to obferve, that women of that rank and condition, frequently poffefs great wealth, popularity, and influence in India; for that, through the opportunities afforded by weak reigns and minorities, along with their being freed by fituation from the customary reftraints of the fex, they are not feldom enabled to take a great fhare in the appointment of minifters, and the direction of public affairs; and their power appearing only in the moft pleafing and popular parts of its exercife, they generally acquire great weight and confidence with the people, and are much beloved by them.

Along with all thofe circumftances of public notoriety, which concurred in rendering the Nahob's vifit exceedingly perplexing, repeated intimations were

given