The Sun.
London, England, 1825-03-11 00:00:00

satisfied at the diminutions which the Authori
-
ties had felt themselves obliged to make in the
military charges. " The paring knife," says
the Noble Marquis, " was applied, with rather
an undiscriminating hand, to many of the arti-
cles of the military establishment, which had till
then been deemed indispensable towards a tran-
quil tenure of the country. Experience shewed
that hazard had been incurred in a degree quite
unapprehended. I therefore found Government
convinced that perseverance in the experiment
was too dangerous ; and the re-adoption of those
military provisions, which had been stricken off,
would have taken place, even had not another con-
sideration pressed it being done with the utmost
speed. The disgust-of our native troops was so
loudly expressed in all quarters, that the causes
of it were universally canvassed : and as such an
extraordinary lessening of our military means
was ascribed to uncontroulable necessity, the
same inferences of our debility were drawn by
all the surrounding States." In the present in-
stance there is not only no token of debility in
our Indian Finance, but it never was in so high
and palmy a state.

[MORNING CIII4ONICLE.]
Mr. Hume brought the subject of Members
voting on questions in which they were directly
interested, before the House last night. We can-
not say that we were altogether pleased with the
turn which the discussion took. It may be true,
that the plan proposed by Mr. Hume would
throw difficulties in the way of proceeding with
private Bills ; but when gentlemen talk so loud-
ly of their honour, of the check of public opinion,
and exclaim, in God's name, if nothing could
he left to their honour, they had better at
once return to their homes—it may not be amiss
to remind them, that public opinion cannot be
brought to bear effectually against private Bills
in most cases, because the flagitious part of the
business is generally concealed from the public;
and with respect to honour, we have the confes-
sion of the most distinguished Members, that it
has hitherto been utterly disregarded, both in
the Committees and in the whole House. Indeed
we should deem it hazardous to repeat the lan-
guage used by several of the most respectablc Gen-
tlemen ever returned to the House of Commons.
This is no doubt an age of improvement, and far be
it from us to pretend to assign limits to it. if
we had been asked ten years ago whether we
conceived it possible that a Home Secretary
would propose to Parliarnet such a measure as
that of Mr. Peel, we should have set down the
person putting such a question as a 'fit subject for
Bedlam or Utopia. How far Members may be
smitten with the example of liberality and
fairness set them by Ministers, it is therefore dif-
ficult to say. It is possible that men who
have hitherto remained unmoved by the num-
berless invectives against judicial robbery commit-
ted in the House,—who have never yet been
able to see that it was wrong in Committees to
11
resort to what has been pronounced by some of
irsrtei
epvuetra bblce.eitiriacbklse atnodpea rr:
themselves
wiio the most moesitthde
tifices,
aeive the connection between honour and
justice, or have deemed it inconvenient to dis-
regard it, should now all of a sudden de-
cide in all cases without any unfair bias, should
resist all solicitation, should never give a
vote till they have satisfied themselves by
a painful investigation of the propriety of
it. All we can say is, that such a change to a
course of justice arid honour, would be every
whit as miraculous as the obstinate perseverance
for such a length of time in the course which has
been the subject of so much animadversion.
There is a very opposite apologue which now
occurs to u-, but we forbear to quote it, being
unwilling to damp the hopes which the country
might be led to entertain from the magnificent
promises of Members.

INDIA.

HYDRA LAD LOAN.

•
(Concluded from our Paper of Wednesday.)
The consideration of the propriety of paying off the lean, by
British funds, was still pending, but to enable the Govern-
ment to form a more correct opinion, the resident was ordered
by Lord Hastings, in council, 19th November, 1822, to call
on the minister and on the house for a complete account cur-
rent of every item on either side, since the house first had
dealings with the Nizam (p. 286.)
This was a measure that also suggested itself as proper to the
Court of Directors (p. 376.) The house protested against fur-
nishing the account, as it would lessen their credit and be in-
jurious to their commercial interests (p. 348.) It was explain-
ed (p. 472, 473), that it was their accounts with the Nizam
that were required, the transactions with whom were alleged by
themselves to be open anti public, and were only sanctioned on
condition of the resident being satisfied. The house, however,
still protested against producing them, and it was only after
distinct intimation that no advance could be made to them till
they were rendered, that at last, in the end of April (p. 582),
the order having been intimated, 13th December, they were
produced, though they had stated one or two months as the
period they would require to make them out (pp. 368-490.)
Lord Hastings, in council, in answer to the dispatch of Sir
Charles Metcalfe, of Sept. 1822, declared the explanation of
Mr. Palmer as to the allowances to himself and his family. to
be extremely unsatisfactory, and that they could never receive
the sanction of the British Government, or be acknowledged
by it• (p..

'On gth Nov., 1822, Lord Hastings, (p. 288) in council, in-
forms the resident that he had determined to advance a crore of
rupees to discharge the demand of the house upon the minis-
ter, as well as those of other creditors (p. 289.)
This money was to be applied (p. 2811) to the payment of all
claims justly arising out or arrangements sanctioned by the
British Government; but arrears of stipends, or gratuities to
the house, extraneous to the licit course of contracts, and de-
mands springing out of credit spontaneously given by the
house, either to the Nizam, or individuals, must rest entirely
on the good faith of the parties so trusted; the objects being
unconnected with the particular views countenanced by that
Government. With all such debts the resident was to have
nothing to do.

The resident was directed to report a detailed statement of
the debts, when is would rest with the Governor General
(p. 289) in council, to decide what should be rejected on the
above principle.
And to guard against injury to the house, it was directed
that the payment should be gradual (p. 289.)
Lord Hastings left Calcutta very early in January, 1823, and
was succeeded by Mr. Adam as Governor General.
In furtherance of the intimation given to the resident, on
13th September that all direct communication between the
house andnt the Nizam should be stopped ; and to prevent any,
further irigues, orders were sent, on the I sth January, 1823,
that the communication should be stopped, except through the
resident, in the same manner as is the case with regard fo other
British subjects at Hydrabad (p. 359, § 5a measure which
the Court'of Directors highly approved )
of, 21st January 1
(p, 380, § 28.)
These orders were communicated to the house on 10th Fe-
bruary, 1823, by Sir C. Metcalfe, who at the same time stated
his readiness at all times to receive cominunications, and attend
to their interests (p. 431.)
Messrs. Palmer informed the resident, that these orders

• See letter of Court of Directors, llth April, 1821, prohibit-
ing all the Company's servants, at native courts from receiving
zerouneration at those courts (p• 416.).