The Sun. — London, England, 1825-07-06 00:00:00

Asif'st expect to be called upon to give, a legal opinion on the -*abject. Professional (/,:ntl2nlcri naturally liked profs " Weal-employment, and this was a law of nature, from which lives the Opposition—for, in the history of Parliament, Owe never was an Opposition so entirely composed of Law jirsb—was not exempt—(A laugh.)—He meant to say nothing so the slighest degree disrespectful of what he deemed an ho ooiirahle, and a magnificent profession; but certainly there was a disposition in all professions to getos much professional eneployrnent as possible, and in that desire it'vras not too much eV say, that lawyers participated quite as much as men of other rofeasions. Mr. ABERCROM DIE said, he felt himself bound to say a few words in reply to the Right Honourable Gentleman, whom brilliant eloquence it had been found necessary be exhibit on the stage. On one point he begged to set, him sight. It was because the aspersions were not general, but ape eight, that Sir Evan l‘facgregor felt it necessary to state his spinion to the House. He had no objection to Hon. Members, either in the House or out of the House, giving loose to their irnaginatioua and endeavouring to excite merriment at the ex r-. 44e of the legal profession, so long as they, kept themselves to sr..eyals, and did not apply it to particular individuals. There wax no doubt to whom Sir John Malcolm intended the offen liVa expressions in his petition to apply, and they had accord 41giy been so applied in that House, and because they had bath so applied, Sir Evan Macgregor had, as an highly ho- J.-arable individual, and which was perfectly consistent with 1-,is known character, come forward in a manly manner to ✓esase those whom he thought had moat essentially served him, and the other claimants, from unjust and unmerited co ' loamy. f►r. LUSHINGTON said, he thie to put the House righl -1..0r one or two points upon which they had been misled by rhc st;.teinents of Hon. Members on the other side. The Right lion. Gentleman had talked of arbitration having been sug redted. It was the very tint, he (Dr. Lushington) and he would vertture to say, the very first time any of the captors ever heard sr it. 31r. CANNING, in explanation, referred to the King's Warrant, which directed that if any differences or questions should arise between the Trustees and the East India Company in regard to the said booty, all such differences or questions should be submitted by the Trustees_ to the Treasury, for the signification of the Royal pleasure; or for the final settlement as law and justice might require. Dr. LUSH INGTON contended that such a reference was not the kind of arbitration to which the Right Honourable Gentleman had alluded in his speech, nor could it be attended with the same results. The Law Agent -of the Army of the Deccan had been accused of preferring for his clients extravagant and unfounded claims, and it had been said that be claimed for them the public buildings in Poonah and the materials of the Peishwah palaces. Now, so far from prefer ring any such claim, he had advised it not to be advanced. In August, 1321, the attention of the Prize Committee at Madras was called by Major-Gen. Sir Lionel Smith to the sub ject of the palaces and public building, belonging to the late Peishwa in Poonah. A claim to this property had previously been preferred by Major-General Sir Lionel Smith, through ltlphinstone in the spring of 1818, while hostilities were carrying on against the Peishwa. Some of the palaces and public buildings in question at Poonah were after wards converted into public offices by the Company's Govern-. meat, and were now used by them ; and the others were taken 'down and the materials applied to other public works. Under these circumstances the General Prize Agents, in the discharge of their' duty, inserted this head of claim ; but by the advice of their Counsel they refrained from pressing it. Now, with regard to the power of attorney which Sir Thomas Hislop desired might he given to General Smith, this circumstance had been equally misapplied. The Trustees them selves, it seemed, had chosen to misapprehend the inten tion of that Officer, and to consider his request as in dicative ot'a desire for litigation ; and the General had . therefore written to the Trustees, expressly denying any such feeling. In his letter he observed, " that he thought it " necessary to state, that nothing was further from his inten " tion or that of the legal advisers of the army in submitting to " then (the Trustees) the document of the. 25th of October " last, than to suggest hostile proceedings against the East " India Company. On the contrary, the suggestion of give" inge authority to Sir Lionel Smith arose out of the na " titre dtf" the suit which had been instituted by the East " Ilene ,company at Bombay, as establishing a general prin." ciple most important to the interests of the army, and the " expediency of giving authority to some officer in India to act in aid of the Company in that suit, to which (as " an unauthorised person had been allowed at Bombay to assist " the Law Officers of the Company in their proceedings) no ob. jection could be anticipated upon their part, and to take up " the milt not as against the Company, but for the Crown, " against the native Ameerchund Badehund, in case a disposi " tion should be shown by the Law Officers of the Company in " India to abandon it, when it was discovered that success - in it " would not benefit the Company. I have thought it necessary " (the Lieut.-Gen. addsin his letter) to make this statement, as nothing hasbeen further from the intention of the legal advisers els. the Agents of the Army of the Deccan, than to advise " or suggest any measures which might tend to involve them " in expensive and fruitless litigation with the East . India " Company." .Now as to tire prize lists which it had been said were not delivered till the sth of June, it turned out that the Trustees did not call for them till 14th Jan. last, and the sole reasoner that delay, from January till May, when Major Wood furnished them, was the hope which he and the law agent enter - tuned that the trustees would, by permitting them to inspect the atatetnente vld returns of the East India Company, enable them II present net mere lists °fun m be ra in each rank of the army, but staternente of the circumstances under which each portion of the booty that had been claimed by the Trustees, and admitted by Cot East India Company, was captured. Such statements Major •Str&oti was required tornalte"without liberty toinspect the returns, het without such statements no scheme of distribution, it was sato/lous e could be framed applicable to a complicated series of of - operations on the principle of adherence to actual capture in each particular case. Now, with respect to one of the parties signing the petition which had been brought before the House in so extraordinary a manner, he (Dr. le) must say that he thaaght it would have been more becoming if Sir John Mal • cairn had abstahied from signing any such document; For in ,what situation did he stand ? Was he a perfectly dis. interested party? By 'no means—He had advanced a claim- , to share as of a greater rank than he held at the time he was attached.to the Army of the Deccan. Upon that claim, the I)ukst of Wellittgton and Mr. Arbuthnot were to decide, and lin! was, therefore, most materially interested in conciliating their.i good opiniou. Now, as that was the case, he scarcely thought it. reeht in Sir J. Malcolm Meanie before that House with a petition containing etanninious "deputations upon individuals, by whose ettertione he (Sir J. M.) stood in such a situation as to render it important or desirable for him to advance the extravagean t claim to: which"be had alluded. lie (Dr. L.) :east say, that the asper, wins -cast upon the legal advisers of the Army of the Deccan irre unjust and ungenerous ,in the extreme. He believed that there had been the most sincere and unaffected desire on the part of al/ of them to prevent unnecessary litigation. Sir If. HARDINGE said that the pamphlet which had been alluded :to, and. he held it in. his hand,,,was of a most eatumnious -nature; .It had been stated thit that publication" emanated front some of thia OfficerS engaged in the service, hut this he for one could not believe. lie could not bring himself to think that anyofficer could be ghilty of a calumny so unfound ed, so base, so mean, and so cowardly. It was utterly impossi.:' hie that Major Wood or any other military man could have been guilty of such atrociouscalumnies against the Duke of Welling-' m. . He was likewise fully persuaded, although the pamphlet .bore evidence of the author having some of his information facet authentic sources, it was ,utterly impossible that Sir Thomas Hislop could have furnished information of that na-1 tare. No, he could not entertain such an idea ; hut he never thefess was not altogether free from the suspicion' that some lase libeller had abused the confidence of Sir T. 'HWop, and in that way obtained information which - he could not other wine have acquire:. A fter a few further observations respect ing compensation for the destruction of Some palaces in India, he saltiln conclusion,. that the Duke of . Wellington had acted with .all possible care and caution, and had proceeded through.' out under the advice of the law officers of the Croirn., Mr. BROUGHAM, in justice to Major Wood, would alto - Other acquit him of writing the pamphlet; it was not in his ways He had read only •bedfof it, and respecting that portion et !east of it he Would say that it was both able and-correct. He took it for granted that sufficient to justify the epithets of the Gallant Officer opposite would be found in the portion which he (Mr. Brougham) had not read ; but had it not been fot the opposite /6seertions of that Gallant Officer (Sir H. Hardinge), he would have inferred that the whole of the pamphlet was of the same character with the part he read—that it was bath able and temperate. On a full view of the case he could 'not but _say, that the Duke of Wellington and Mr. Arbuthnot did not take the most effectual means- of vindicating them staves from the aspersions thus injuriously cast upon them. • loatead of having Honeurable Members in that Douse rising tip to bear testimony to the uprightness and-purity of their cha- Teeters, they should at once proceed to the only complete, legi timate, and effectual way of repelling the accasations wish which they had been assailed—they should bring their action.—( Hear, heart Load hotrehter.That was the right way, they should bring their action. What purpose could it answer to have a character given in that Hous e of his Grace the Duke of mood ? a Judge and Jury should determine the question, and by a verdict it should be ascertained which party was in the right. All the Gallant Member's hard words would not weigh -ote jot with the public. Unworn testimony to character was a bad answer - to a specific imputation, if any such had bven made. - . - The following are Copies of the Petitions - referred. to in di I preceding Debate : To the Honourable the COMMONS of the UNITE I - ) KINGDOM of GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND, in Parliament assembled, The Humble Petition of Sir EVAN JOHN MURRAY MACGREGOR, Baronet, one of the Captors entitled to share in the Deccan Booty ; Sets:w F. TH—That your Petitioner observes, by the votes of your Honourable House, that a Petition has been presented, purporting to be a Petition from Sir John Malcolm, Colonel H. S. Scott, Lieutenant-Colonel J. Noble, Major Wal. Jollie, who are also entitled to share in the above-mentioned booty, containing the following passage :—" That upon the wisdom " and justice of - the Trustees the Petitioners chiefly rely for " the recovery of all that can be obtained -of this Booty—for " its continued preservation from needless and expensive lid " gation--and for the earliest practicable distribution of the " Prize, according to the usages" of the service, and of the " conditions of his Majeity's Grant." • That your Petitioner was Deputy-Adjutant-General of his Majesty's Troops in the East Indies, and was attached in that capacity to the Army commanded by Lientenant-Generhl Sir Thomas Hislop; that he was a Member of a Prize Committee assembled at the Lieutenant-General's head-quarters in the field; and that he was also a Member of a Prize Committee subsequently appointed at Madras. Your Petitioner had theretbre such opportunity of acquir ing information respecting the Booty as enabled him to assist in preparing the statements of the general claims of the Army of the Deccan, which dairies were submitted to Counsel for their sanction, prior to their delivery to the Trustee:. • That these circumstances, and your eetitioner's having held an authority by power of attorney to act for Sir Thomas Hislop while .he was absent on ' the continent, necessarily occasioned frequent intercourse between your Petitioner, the Counsel and Law Agent, und the Prize Agent for the Army of the Deccan. That your Petititioner cannot imagine that Sir John Mal colm and the other said Petitioners mean to complain of the expences incident to the - litigation before the Lords Commis sioners of his Majesty's Treasury, in which, by the exertions of the law advisers of the Army of the Deccan, the claims of that army, were successfully established in opposition to those of other troops and of the East India Ce;npany ; but as the necessity of preservation implies an apprehension of some impending danger, your Petitioner infers that Sir John Malcolm and the said other Petitioners are influenced by fears of needless and expensive litigation having been contemplated by the Counsel or law agent, since the claims of the army were established as already stated. That your Petitioner cannot but observe, that any such ap prehension is directly opposed to the sentiments expressed in a letter on this subject to the,Trustees ' on the 22d Janu a ry last, by Sir Thomas Hislop, who has had ample means of estimat ing the conduct of the Counsel and Agents, and who has the greatist interest in deprecating needless and expensive liti gation. That concurring in the opinion of• Sir Thomas Hislop, as expressed in the above letter, your Petitioner begs leave to assure y our Honourable House, that in the course of his re peatecl interviews with the Counsel, Law Agent, anti Prize I Agent, so fat from witnessing an inclination to incur needless and expensive lit ' igation your Petitioner never heard of any design to litigate at all, but, on the contrary, your Petitioner has remarked the most anxious disposition and desire on the part of the Counsel to prevent litigation, and on the part of the Law Agertt to avoid every expence which was not absolutely requisite to support the interests of the captors. That your Petitioner is personally acquainted with Sir .John Malcolm anti Lieutenant-Colonel Noble, for both of whom lie entertains feelings of high regard, and deeply regrets his being placed in collision with them and the other said Yeti, tioners in the present instance; and it is not without the utmost reluctance that your Petitioner is impelled to intrude himself on the notice of your Honourable House, but be finds it :deso lately impossible to withhold his testimony in support of those Gentlemen who have conducted the cause of the Army of the Deccan, whose conduct appears to him to have been precisely the reverse of that which the particular expres sions already alluded to in the Petition from Sir John Malcolm and others would seem to impute to them, and that your Petitioner thinks it the more necessary to make this declaration, as the said Petition appears calculated, if unexplained, not only to mislead your Honourable. House and those captors whoare precluded by absence from obtaining a correct knowledge of the proceedings, anti- thus to injure the character of those highly respectable individuals to whom your Petitioner feels himself bound in justice to state, that the Army of the Deccan is, in his opinion, under the most important obligations. Your Petitioner, therefore, most humbly prays your Honour ' able House that the said Petitioners may be required to state the grounds upon which their apprehensions touching needless and expensive litigation are founded, and to whom they arc applicable ; and that if it shall turn out that they are intended to animadvert on the conduct of the Coonsel, Law and Prize Agents for the Army of the Deccan, your Petitioner is ready and willing to obey the order of your Honourable House to verity the allegations of this his Petition at the Bar of your Honourable House, when. ever he may be permitted so to do. And your Petitioner will ever pray, &c. To the Honourable the COMMONS of GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND, in Parliament assembled; The humble PETITION' of NATHANIEL ATCHE SON, Esquire, of Duke -street, in tne City of West mineter, Law Agent for the Army of the Deccan ; SHIMETH—That your Petitioner was, in August.lBl9, ap pointed and directed to act as the Law Agent for Lieutenant- General Sir Thomas Hislop, and the Army under his com mand, in the prosecution of their claims to the banter captured by them in the War against the Pindarees, and the Alithratta Powers, in the years 1817 and 1818, and that he has ever since December 1819, when he received his instructions, acted and been recognized, arid still continues to act in that character. That your Petitioner immediately entered on the perform ance of the duties thus cast upon him, which, arduous in them selves, were rendered more severe by the absence of Sir Tho mas Hislop, who remained.in India till the summer of 1821, and which required from your Petitioner the advance of large sums of money, and the devotion of the greater portion of his time. Thus left to direct the cause and to supply the means of promoting its success, he retained and instructed as Counsel, William Harrison, Esq. one of His Majesty's Counsel, and . Dr. Herbert Jenner, of the Commons, to elucidate the claims propounded by the Prize Agents, and the Prize Committee in India, on behalf of the Army, to enforce those claims before the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, appointed to decide upon them, and to oppose the counterclaims- advanced on behalf of the Grand Army, and the East India Com pany. That your Petitioner received from Major Clown, the Prize Agent, who remained in India, 'aid from Major Wood, the other Prize A gent, who came . to England in - the autumn of 1821, a vast mass or body of doom:en:are. and other information, relative to the booty captured. io the war, and the circumstances Under which,. it was taken.e which, by the incessant labour of your Petitioner, was reduced into form, and which was cm-. ployed with great ability and ze;ilhy the - Counsel whOm he had instructed. At length the case, thus expensively and roost laboriously conducted, was brought io a successful issue, the Lords of the Treasury, by their Minute; dated 11th February, 1823, declaring their opinion in favour of adherence, as tar as the circumstances would admit, to the principle contended for on behalf of your Petitioner's Clients, that of actual capture ; deciding that, with an exception in favour of Brigadier-Gene ral Hardyman, the booty should belong to the divisions of the Deccan Army engaged in the' reipective operations -in which it was captured ; and stating that they did not consider that, un der all the circumstances of the ease, it was expedient to re commend to His Najeaty to grant any part of the booty to the East India Company. That His Majesty was most gracicaisly pleased to issue His Royal Warrant, tinder his sign manual, bearing date the 22d March, 1823, confirming the •decision of the Lords of the Treasury, respecting the disposition of the booty, and, in pur suance of their-recommendation, granting the booty to his Oraco the Duke of Wellington, and the Right Honourable Charles Arbuthnot, " in mist for the purpose of collecting. re " covering, and receiving all the said hooty, or the pfoceeds or " value thereof, from the East India Company, their officers, " or servants, and all and every other person or persons whom " soever, into or in whose hands, custody, power, or possession " the same, or any part thereof, might have come, or might ". then be or remain i" And His Majesty, by his said War rant, was further graciously pleased to order and direct, that if any differences or questions should arise between the Trus tees and the East India Company, in regard to the booty, such differences or questions should be submitted by the Trus tees to the Lords Commiesioners of His Majesty's Treasury, " for the eignification of His Majesty's pleasure thereon, or " for the final settlement thereof, es law and justice might re " quire." That His Majesty did further; by his said Warrant, " empoWer the said Trustees, under the authority, and by the " direction of the said Commissioners of His Treasury, "- to .Aup for and recover " all such booty, or proceeds, or " amount, nr the value thereof, in. their own namee, upon the " trusts, and for the purposes of the said Grant or Warrant, " in all cases in which the said Cornpatty, or any of their of-. " ficers or servants, or any other person or persons, should not,, " after the signification of the Royal pleasure thereon, pay, or " restore, or transfer the same to the said Trustees," His Ma jesty did further, conformably with the recommendation ex. pressed in the said Minute, authorize and empower the Trus tees to award and allow all proper costs and charges in the proceeding. before the Lords of the Treasury, and also such further charges as had been then incurred, or might thereafter be incurred, in relation thereto, to be charged upon the said hoofy. and paid out of its proceeds. And His Majesty did further authorize and direct the Trust ee s to prepare a scheme for the distribution of the booty, conformably to the principles declared and recommended in the said Minute, to be submitted to the Lords of the-Treasury, for the signification of the Royal pleasure, .and did further direct that the Trustees should re gulate their conduct in the premises, according to the provi sions of the Prize ACt . paiiied'in the - 54th ymr of the late King, and according to the rules and customs theretofore used and observed in the. service in like cases. That your Petitioner, in common with the Counsel who had conduced the cause of the Army with Major - Wood, the Prize Agent in England, and with the Officers who daily com municated with him, felt that it was vitally important to' the interests of those in whose favour his Majesty's warrant was issued, to ensure a free communication with the Trustees whom his 'Majesty had been most graciously pleased to appoint, or with such person or persons as they might be pleased to nomin ate. This desire arose not from any distrust of the zeal which those distinguished individuals might exhibit in the execution of their charge, but from the belief that iniportant .. questions would be raked, as to large portions of the booty taken, by the Servants of the lion. East India Company, and the probability of which was expressly contemplated and provided for by H is Majesty's most gracious Warrant; from the nature of the scheme of distribution, which must be rendered applicable to the particular circumstances of each individual capture.—and from's consciousness of possessing an immense body of infor mation, collected at great labour and expence, illustrative of the general claims of the Army, and indispensably requisite to the settlement of a scheme of dietribution, according to the prin ciple recognised and asserted in llis Majesty's Warrant. But while your Petitioner, withlhe Officers for whom he acted, and the Counsel by whom he was advised, was thus anxious for communication, he was abio desirous of avoiding every Species of conduct which might Teem intrusive and of conveying the result of his own inquiries anal those of the Counsel by such channels, and in such manlier only as might become the high and a splendid reputation of the most distinguished of the Trustees. That your Petitioner, impressed with . this feeling, on 18th March, 1823, addressed a respectfnl letter to the Trustees, stating, that Major ‘l 7 ood was in possession of voluminous do cuments, collected in India, and was in communication with Sir Evan Mutrav ANlregor, the late Deputy, Adjutant-General of His Majesty's forces, and one of the Members of the general Prize Committee, who was at Mahidpore, and Col. 1‘11)leod, the second in command at Nagpore, and other Officers, whose personal knowledge was essential to the successful vindication of the claims of the Army. To this note he received an an swer, bearing date 26th March, 1823, In which the Trustees were pleased to desire him to communicate to them as soon as might be in his power every information which he could obtain respecting the booty in question, Encouraged by this request, he proceeded on sth of April, 1823, to lay betbre thc.. Trustees, under the advice and sanction of Counsel, a general. outline of the claims which he intended to submit to their consideration, accompanied by a short statement of the principles on which they were founded, which also was accepteci without any indi cation of reluctance or displeashre. That an elaborate statement of claims intended for sub mission on the part of the Army in resp Act of the, booty cap tured At * Poona'', and in other parts of the Peiabwa's territories, was prepared at great, labour and expence from the mass of materials collected, and with the. signatures and au thority cif the Counsel 'on 31st of Alay 1823, was laid before the Trustees. This statement being printed, was accompanied by a letter from Lieut.-General Sir Thomas His lop, requesting the Trustees to grant to the Counsel of the Army the honour of a personal interview which they permitted, and which accordingly took place on the 22d of June follow ing; bet your Petitioner expressly declined to accompany the Counsel on that occasion, from motives of delicacy and respect to the Trustees, and during the whole correspondence has_never attemnteel personally to intrude himself on them, but has con fined himself to addressing them by letter, and has iised even this freedom only when it seemed to him absolutely necessary to the intereets of his clients. In presuming so - to address them, be was encouraged not only by their answer to his first offer of communication, Luc by a note of the Ilieht Honourable Charles Arbuthnot, bearing date 4th July, 1823, - requesting from him copies of ..the printed statements which were reififired by the Law Officers of the CrOwne - lind for which 3,1 r. Arbuthnot ap plied to him, under the impression that he might have the po4.:er to furnish them wi.thont the necessity Of troubling Sir " Thethror and'he was further induced' to believe that no objeetion would c:.e raieed' f.6 - that full and fete communica tion which w/1.4 deetined so essential to the interests of his clients by the transmission same day of a case, prepared by Mr. Maule the Solicitor for the Treasury, and whom the Trustees employed as their Attorney for the opinion of the-Law Officers of tilCr9Wil, on the eleitn already submitted to them,--to Mr. Herrispin one of the Counsel retianed.on behalf of, the Army, in order that- he and his learned colleague might make any ob.. servations which occurred to them upon it, and which case was returnett-by .your Petitioner to Jr. 3 Menlo on the sth of July, with such alterations its appeared to the Counsel for the Army of the Deccan necessary, to bring the points suggested fully under the consideration of his 31aeestY's Law - Officere. That a secopd sta tement also prepared -with great labour, and. settled and signed by the Counsel relative'to the booty ceptured at 'Nagpore, end other parts, of the Blinoelab-States, was, on the sth-of September, 1823, transmitted by your Petitioner to' the Trustees, accompanied with a letter frotn Sir Thomas Hislop,— requesting permission for the. Counsel Again to attend them for 'the purpose of elucidatingany matter . im which 'doubt Might ethe,_epplying "Orel copy of the opinion -understoono have been giyen'on the case of Ponnah by the Law Officers of the Crown,—and entreating that before, any application should be made to the . East India CompanYbyThe Trustees, they would condescend to direct a copy to be sent to your Petitioner, in order that it might be seen by the Counsel for the Army of the Deccan previous to its delivery to the Court of Directors. •'That the Trustee+ on the_ 22d of the same month acknow ledged the receipt of this elatemetit in a letter of that date to Sir Thomas Hiehre, httt without noticing his requests, and de sired some further information whirl, your Petitioner enden voured to simply, by a letter of the 2d October following; Sir Thomas Hielop being at that time out of town, and the .invita tion of the 'Trust es . to your •Petitioner, to communicate infor mation, neverhaving been .withdrawn. • . . That a third stateiiient,.relating to the booty captured in the hostilities with MUlhar Raowas prepared for the in. spection of the Trustees, settled by the Counsel, and printed. That Mr. Harrison t aeec mparied his apprOval of this claim by an opinion, datc4ll October. )823, in which he expitssed a wish for pertnision to ice the'Opinton obtainer, from the. Law Officers of the Crown, on the case of Poonah, that lie, with Dr. Jenner, Might.either attempt to remove any difficulties suggested by -the former, or. tight forbeitrto press any points on which they were decidedly adverse. " It is necessary," said the Learned Counsel, " to state bow important it was to the interests of the Army, that any such difference of opinion upon general legal questions, affecting their claims as•to what is or is not beoty, should be most fully considered and discussed, which cannot be done with advantt , ge, without an unreserved communica tion of such; . legal opinion's as apply 'to such points. I should . also: add, that it must not be lost sight of, that it is impoitsible for the Counsel for the Army to do more, in the•firat instance, than submit to tile Trustees, ac cording to the hest of their judgment, the prima facie grounds upon which thc..Y rest the ektims of the Army ; and it is ob yibtts that, if thesc.)..Vittnds are in any respect questioned, they On behalf of:theArmy will te,placed at great disadvantage, if they have not the fullest opportunity of adding such additional arguments as may occur to them in support of their opinions, and answering any objections, or obViating any doubts, which may be suggested,,either by the Law Officers of the Crown, or the East India Compiny. Under these circumstances, I feel satisfied that Dr. Jenner would, if present, concur with me in recommending, that the Law Agent for the Army of the Deccan should address a respectful application to the Trustees for a communication of the opinions of the Law Officers of the Crown upon the Poonah Case." . . ...... That a copy of this opinion toes enclosed by Sir Thomas Hislop, in a Letter to the Trustees,• of the 4th October follow ing, respectfully soliciting their attention to the request which I it expresses, and the letter with its enclosure, together with I the statement, were on the same_ day transmitted to them by your Petitioner, who, in thus conveying the documents to their hands, merely acted in his recognised character, as he had 'done on all former occasions, and without the slightest idea of iinpropriety,.or any feeling inconsistent with the most profound respect for the Trustees. That your Petitioner learned with profound regret, from a letter addressed by the Trustees so Sir Thomas Frisian on the 14th of the same . month, that they felt offended at receiving from your Petitioner, on the 2d of October, the information for which they had applied to Sir Thomas Hislop, and at the manner in which the opinion of Mr. Harrison had been con veyed to their hands. In this letter the Trustees expressed their opinion, that when Sir 'Thomas Ilislop was in England, " it wodld be more convenient, more decorous, and less ex pensive, that .the answers to requests for information' should proceed for himself;" they described the opinion of Mr. Har rison, as annexed to' Vour Petitioner's letter, though in fact it Was inclosed in the Leti.er of Sir Thomas Ilislop, and referred to therein, and expressed their determination not to communi ,cate the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown to the Coun sel for the A riiiy.. That Sir Thomas Ilislop, in his reply to this letter, bearing date the qgth of the same month, disclaimed all controul over the measures which embraced the general interests of the Army, , and referred the Trustees on all points affecting the Army a t large to Major Wood, the general Prize Agent in England and to your Petitioner, the Law Agent, as " the only person* " legally entrusted on the part of the Army and of himself, " with the general charge of the interests of the Officers and " Troops concerned, and who alone were possessed of the do " cuments and information calculated to illustrate the various " claims of -the respective divisions and corps, as well as of nu " merous individual applicants." That as the Trustees thus declined to communicate with Major Wood and your Petitioner; and as Sir Thomas flislop refused to take on himself a representative character, all regu lar communication between the Trustees and the Army ceased, and the latter have-since beet, - allowed no opportunity of assist ing, or even of witnessing, the proceedings of the former in re spect of their claims. That your Petitioner, alarmed by a rumour that discussions were pending between the Trustees and the East India Com pany, and convinced that the case of the Army could not even be understood without reference to the voluminous evidence in Major Woters possession on- the 4th of December, 1823, by the advice of the Counsel for the Army, presented a Memo rial, approved and settled by them, to the Lords Commis sioners of the Treasury. stating the situation of the Captors, and praying that their Lordships would interpose with the Trustees, to secure to the Agents such a knowledge of the de mands of the Trustees, and of the answers or objections of the East India Company. as might afford to them an opportunity of supporting the claims of the Army. The answeroothis Memorial, dated 14th - February, 1824, expressed the opi nion • of their Lordships that " they had no authority to " interfere with the exercise of the discretion of the Trustees " in regard to the mode of collecting, recovering, and receiv " ing the Booty." Upon receiving this answer your Petitioner, feeling deeply the responsibility of the situation in which he was placed, submitted the Memorial, the Correspondence, the Treasury. Minute, and his Majesty's Warrant; to Mr. Harri son 'and Dr. Jenner, the Counsel for the Deccan Army ; to Mr. Adam and Dr. Lushington, who had been Counsel foiethe Marquis of Hastings, and to Mr. Gaselee, Mr. lleald, and Mr. Brougham, who jointly expressed their opinion that " it " was indespensahly noce.seary that the general Prize Agent " and the Law Agent should from time to time be acquainted " with the proceedings of the Trustees,"—and ' advised your Petitioner to cause to be presented to .his Majesty. in Council a Petition founded on and embodying - the said Memorial. In pursuance of their advice, such Peti tion was prepared, and having been approved by the Coun sel for the Army, was, on the 12th of March, 1824, present ed, and was afterwards referred to the Lords of the Tress sury. On the 14th of July following the refusal of their Lordships to interfere, was conveyed to your Petitioner in a letter from 111 r. George Harrison, which con eluded by observing, " that the style and tone of your " Petitioner's respective repreeentations, and more espe " daily that which was addressed to their Lordships on 4th December last, were calculated to throw great difficeil ' " ties in the way of amicable and confidential communication." That your Petitioner deemed it due to himself to notice this charge in a letter addressed to Mr. George Harrison, in which he pointed out the injustice of representing his Memorial as an obstacle in the way of communication which had wholly ceased, and whiCh it was intended to re.open,—sliewed that he ' had acted entirely under the advice of Counsel,—contended that he had given no just cause of offence in replying to the letter ache Trustees during the absence of Sir Thomas Hislop, as they had not only received from him without objection se veral previous letters, but had even desired him to communi cate to them any information he might possess relative to the Deccan booty,--arul concluded by praying that, at all events, no decision adverse to the claims of the army might be adopted without first hearing.their Counsel upon them. That Sir Thomas Hislop having, on or about the 17th De cember, 1824, received notice from the Treasury that the East India Company had at length furnished Statements arid Ac counts of spoil taken. in the course of hostilities against the Peishwa, and being requested to communicate any informa tion " which .might throw light on such 'statements and r.c -" counts, and enable the Trustees to form a better judgment as " to the accuracy of them," addressed a letter on the 20th of December to the Trustees, stating that Major Wood and your Petitioner had been for sometime engaged in a laborious investi gation of the subject, and had acquired every information which could be procured respecting it, but that it would be impossible to arrange or select-from the maskofpapers the important portions without knowing the points to which they should be applied, and therefore solicitingthe use ofthe statements and returns made by the East India Company for a short period. To this application the Trustees replied by letter to Sir Thomas Hislop of the 14th of January, 1825, is which they expressed their determination in the following terms : " We have no objection to submit these " documents to serer examination or that of any, number of " your brother Officers whom you will name to ns, upon this " condition only, that they are not to be submitted to the con " sideration of any Counsel or A ttorney, excepting only on a " point or points to be previously submitted for our considers " Lion and decision. We make this condition, because we have " observed throughout the consideration of these goestione, a " strong desire on the part of some to go to law—a proceeding " which we think quite unnecessary, which must lead to ex " pence and delay, and materially deteriorate the Seine of the " property to those to whom it is most probable that His Ma. "testy will be most graciously pleased to grant it." Sir 'Tiers. Hislop by letter, in reply of the 22d January last, declined to. avail himself of the permission to inspect the papere under such restrictions as wholly useless, and stated—" In further answer to your Grace and Mr. Arbuthnot's letter, I must do the legal Advisers of the Army the justice to state, that they have in every discussion upon the subject deprecated in the strongest terms any resort to legal . proceedings if they could he avoided, and that all their advice has been .dictated by that feeling. I may add, that the apprehension that the Law Officers of the Crown had alluded to legal proceedings, and had recommended that a question upon which they entertained some doubts should be included in these proceedings, was a principal in ducement to the earnest request which was some time ago made to your Grace and Mr. Arbuthnot, for a communication of their opinion, in the belief that the Legal Advisers of the Army might suggest some course which would prevent litigation. At the same time, I may here observe, that they have always stat ed to me, that any such proceedings would necessarily (what ever was the final result and decision on the subject of contest), postpone the realizing the booty for distribution to so distant and indefinite a period as to destroy all the benefit which the Army justly . expects to receive: and they were accordingly, if an opportunity had been afforded, prepared' tc• suggest a mode of proceeding which would have put all disputed questions in a train for speedy decision, without recourse to law." " As the letter which I had the honour to receive from your Grace and Mr. Arbuthnot of the Bth of November, alluded to hostile proceedings, I think it necessary to state, that' nothing was further from my intention, or that of the Legal Advisers of the Army, in submitting to you the document of the 25th of' October last, than to suggest hostile proceedings against the East India Company. On the contrary, the suggestion of giving authority to Sir Lionel Smith, arose out of the na ture of the suit which had been instituted by the East India Company at Bombay, as establishing a general prin ciple most important to the interests of the Army, and the expediency of giving authority to some officer in India to act in aid of the Company in 'that suit to which (as an unauthorized person had been allowed at Bombay to assist the Law Officers of the Company in their proceedings) no oh jection could be anticipated upon their part, and to take up the suit not as against the Company, but for the Crown against the Native Ameerchund Baciehu o d, in case a disposition should be shewn by the Law Officers of the Company in India to abandon it when it was discovered that success in it would not benefit the Company." " 1 have thought it necessary to make - this statement as no. thing has been farther from the intention of' the legal advisere, or the Agents of the Army of the Deccan, than to advise or suggest any measures which might tend to involve them in exe pensive and fruitless litigation with the East India Com pa our Petitioner immediately. auhmitted these documents to Mr. Heald, and Mr. Adam, Dr. Lushington, and Mr. Brougham, Mr.. Gaselee having been elevated to the Bench, and Mr. Harrison and. tin Jenner being personally involved in the censure of the Trustees,--and they advised that the permission subject to the restriction was " wholly inn:equate to the protection 'of the-interests of the captors" approved of the course which had been already adopted, and advised Major Wood and your Petitioner to persevere in their attempts to obtrin an effectual inspection of the several statements and ac counts furnished by the East India Company, and to open a communication w'th the Trustees on all questions affecting the several claims of the Army. That your Petitioner observes, by the votes of' Our Hon. House, that a petition has been presented, purporting to be a petition from Sir John Malcolm, Colonel H.— S— Scott, Lieut..Col.J., Noble, and Major Wet. Julie—officers entitled to share in the Deccan booty,' which contains the following pee s :—" That upon the wasslont and „justice of the Trustees the Petitioners chiefly rely for the recovery of all thitt can be " obtained of this. boot Y—fo - its continued preservation from " needless and expensive litigation—and for the earliest prac " tic,able distri,bution of the prize according to the usages of the " service, and the condition of His Majesty's grant." That your Petitioner conceives that the'Worda "continued preservation from needless and expensive litigation," must be intended to apply, and will be applied, to himself as the Law Agent to the Army; but he feels them to be wholly_untrierited and unjust. He appeals with confidence to his conduct through- . out the wholaof theeeProceedings; and to the tepor of a long pro fessionallife,..as a refutation of the charge which they insinu ate. After the close of . the litigation before the Lards of olie Treasury, which will scarcely be considered needless, though certainly expensive, he was only anxious that the claims raised by the Prize Agents anti Prize Committee in India should he fairly presented to the Trustees, and sustained II the evidence applicable to them from the immense mass of information placed in his hands. Those claims were all weighed by the Counsel for the Army, and reduced into form under their sanction, and advanced with their expressed re- I commendation and concurrence. By their advice the claim for compensation, in respect of the Palaces of the Peishwa, and the public buildings of Poonah, was in the first instance aban., doned, but afterwards, in consequence of pressing instructions from India, stating the peculiarity of the case, arising from the situation o f t h e E ast I n di a C ompany, w h o w ill obtain by the conquest, not only the use of those edifices, but a claim to be compensated for them on tlge expiration of their Chatter, and thus will receive, payment from the Crown for property which vested in the,Crown by capture, the subjeCt was renew ed and submitted to the consideration of 'the Trustees. Your Petitioner conceived it to. be his duty to submit all claims which to the Counsel seemed tenable to the . decision .of the Trustees, and he believes that, if full opportunity was given to answer and explain the" objections n'nw raised, and to apply the information possessed by the Agents to the questions at issue, the far larger part of the claims preferred would be esta blished to the satisfaction of the Trustees, and that of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and would be acceded to by the justice of the East India Company. That the Trustees, on or about the 14th of January last,' called for an abstract of the return of the General Officers ; Officers, and Troops, engaged in those operations in the Peishwa's territories, including Candeish and the Con-Can, specifying the number of each rank, also - separate' returns of Lieut.-Colonel Prother's, Major-General Smith's, and. cf any other detachments of troops which carried on separate operations, and of the General titall of the Army, which your Petitioner admits were not supplied till about the 6th of June -last; hut the sole reason of this delay was the hope which Major Wood and your Petitioner cherished; that the- Trustees would, by permitting them to compare the statements and returns of the East India Company with the evidence in their possession, —enable them to present not mere list of namberi oroames, but !statements ache circumstances under which each portion of the booty that had been claimed by the Trustees, and. admitted by the East India Company, was captueed,, and of ,theDivislons or Brigades by whom it was won. • • • • Such statements Major Wootl and your Petitioner are unable to make without liberty to inspect the said statements and tee turns, because, unless they know what booty is admitted as prize, and where it was taken, they cannot apply tile informs.. tion theypossess relative to the captors. And your Petitioner . submits, that without such statements no scheme of di s trib u tion can be ramed applicable to so complicated a series of operations on the principle of adherence to actual capture in each parti cular case, so decidedly and strongly enforced in:hit Majesty's Most Gracious Warrant. That your Petitioner was wholly incapable of producing gation had he been so disposed, inasmuch as no suit could be commenced except by the Trustees, nor even by them without the sanction of the Lords of his Majesty's Treasury. That your Petitioner had no interext in producing-litigation had he pos sessed the power, inasmuch as it would not have been conducted by him but by the Solicitor of the Treasury, who was employed by the Trustees. And that your Petitioner, in point of fact, never did directly or indirectly recommend or promote litiga- • tion, but always represented it as an evil to be carefully avoid ed, and looked for the recognition of the claims of the Army, not from law, but from such free communication with the Trus tees as would have elucidated their reasonable claims, and have procured from the Honourable Directors of the East India Company an acknowledgment of their justice. Thatyour Petitioner, while he has had no personal interest in the augmentation of the fittul, nor in the shares to be allotted to particular division., has, since the decision in favour of his clients, had a strong personal interest in preventing delay, and in bringing the case to a close. In consequence of the situation of the Army, he has been obliged to make large advances, which have been expended in conducting their case to a suc cessful issue before the Lords of the Treasury, in preparing the statements of their claims, and in retaining and consulting the eminent Counsel who have advised him on the subsequent pro ceedings. And as, by the Warrant, expences allowed by the Trustees are to be paid out of the general fund, it was mani- - featly his interest to terminate the inqulry and to abstain from any course which might be displeasing to the Trustees. He trusts, therefore, that he shall stand completely absolved front all base and sordid motives in the measures which he has under high and weighty advice adopted. Your Petitioner admits that he has felt strongly the import' ance of re-openin g th e communication with the Trustees , both with a view to the general amount of prize and the scheme of particular distribution according to the prin ciples developed 'in the warrant, and that he has done b th e e en sa w n r c i t t i t o e n D ,o . f I s i n e m c e an his utmost to procure it. lint he has taken 7"' , step, without the advice of Counsel of the highest eminence, if by whom his Memorial and Petition were settled, and under which it-ever 'since has been his chief object to restore, to 0 . 0 - otfra‘cv e h oil e t e l v e e n r i y a • l le n t i t e t r b o a voluntary fault of his own. flo• has received from s_ 2 l f t e i o u r rta uuntet ee tion 4" , Thomas Hislop, in the letter already referred to, an: on other occasions, and from many distinguished Officer; in India and in England,- the most gratifying Knurl! Of th e i r ent i re sat i s f act i on w i th the course he has taken. 0 , he feels an honest confidence that the tnereclosely his conep is investigated, the more distinctly will it appear, that hf sr Sacrificed m uc h, an d l a b oure d intensely to promote then, rests of th e A rm y ; t h at h e h as s h own no wilful disreepecot • , the illustrious persons appointed as Trustees ; that he NO pe over-rated the importance of communication with t herm..„,,t- , rashly or in a d ver t ent ly ta k en measures to rega i n i t ; r to , 'he has been actuated throughout by a conscientious deelrL. dischar ge , to t h e h est o f hi s a bili ty, t h e i mportant trus t c'- miffed to his hands. ce" Your Petitioner, theref o re, humbly p ra y s y o ur BO for e able Hous e , th a t h e m a y • h ave l eave to 1 :1 - c a• your Honourable House the copies of the lettera, ments, and other papers - referred to, in this his P 6 ',; w and that your H onoura bl e H ouse w ill i nst i tut e stio io o quiries as will enable hi m t o su b s t ant i ate th e allego t . to herein contained, a nd to grant to hi m suc h r edress "" your wisdom may seem meet. And your Petitioner will ever pray. To the Honourable the COMMONS of the UNITED g il4l- 0 1 c: DOM of GREAT BRITAIN an d IRELAND in pa ment Thellumble PETITION of the undersigned OFFICE entitled o Sare in he Deccar 00, SHEWETH— t Tha a t your Petitioners B ' bav ty e seen, with eitt relli e e • regret, the variou s mi sre p resentat i ons an d m isstatemen t* specting the Distribution of the Deccan Booty.. p ith tb s The Petitioners WI Captors have a common interestthr Army, in which they served, both .in the amount and nl_,..§t early division of the Booty, and they saw with the stroatio feelings of gratitude to hi s Majesty, that the grant of the ifing to , the Captors was accompanied by the gracious act of 113!`tce. as one of the Trustees, to ascertain and distribute it, that !Al , trious Nobleman and consummate General the puke of lington, who bad elevated the character of the Indian wills such high renown, and ever protected its interests kindest solicitudel‘nd success. , jot , Upon the wisdom and justice of the Trustees, chiefly rely, for the recovery of all that can be obtained er Booty, for its continued preservation - from needless a r . i bu tion pensive litigation, and for the earliest practicable distil of the Prise, according to. the usage of the service, aP.ilere• conditions of' His Majesty's Grant. The Petitione r " ..,; , and fore humbly pray, that the. House will not e nterta.T ii " e o c, ` propositions for disturbing the course of the pr,q_ne, et t ! efre,• l the Trustees, mid which could only , ba attended. Can."; of exciting distrust and dissatisfaction, instead nt "" o re ' dence and gratitude the Petitioners feel the Trustee . Ot ° ' fully entitled to. (Signed) JOHN MALCOLM, Major H. S. scorr, Colonel. J. NOBLE, Lieut.-Colonel \VAT JOLIE i ;Major. . the Petti.t.to CAPE OF GOOD *HOPE. bog Mr. BROUGHAM presented a Petition from I.r. Olg t the Burnett, of the Cape of Good Hop e , complaining s o ' duct of Lord Charles Somerset, as Governor of tha ment. The contents of the Petition w e re as follows 11 4.6 r To the Honourable the COMM ONS of the UNITE- -I) 1 Y li ~, DOM of GREAT BIZITA IN and !REL.-ND in ps ment assembled. t he' Cs The PETITION of BISHOP BURNETT , e f in of Good Hope ; Gentleman, most respectfully ie d W e n' SHEWETII—That your Petitioner having presee ; .,` grievances to your Honourable the Cape / I , o or duct of his Excellency the Governor of the Cape of 0 (4 and that his Excellency's, return to this country to s t, off eo lP Petitioner's char g e s , a t th e nex t S ess i on o f Parlialu e9 „ 0,,e r o of ing to be the probabl e c onsequ e nces of the discuoilo?fil l. your Petitioner humbly submits to your Honoursolf 010 that he should, in justice, be permitted to avail h ig r, 6 o ol° 7 interval in collecting his evid e nce a t the Cape, for au" i e . ! Mt 4 ‘ he accusations he has advanced. • • this Your Petitioner, well aware that inpromutleg 141 1 1 ' d he is opposing himself to the concentrated force uf 0 44' power, has no security but in the justice and sy . IDP. n „ t o f Honourable House ; and as he has no hesitation that with the collection of his evidence, thus faelu t lberf it! not only prove the charges already adduced, but 7 /0 ose;11 10 : , equal magnitude, he trusts that your Honourabl e b igll ,I,C paramount disposition to further the first end of pe r, will perceive the necessity of allowing your freti;to