The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-15 00:00:00

which the Government is already occupied, and especi-
ally, to the possibility that no part of this course would
be approved by the lion. Court, I cannot bring myself to
recommend its immediate adoption."
And he concludes by leaving the question entirely to
the decision of the Court of Directors at home. Now, the
Governor-General of Bombay, when he received orders
to put an end to all further inquiries, observed, that it was
due to themselves that the inquiry should be continued.
lie (lid not consider that it was due to the Government
or the public, but he thought it due to themselves that,
the inquiry should be continued. In his minute of the
31st May, 1838, Sir Robert Grant put the question in a
very strong light, and he begged to call the attention of
the Court to it :

" It will be asked, however, whether he is to be con-
demned without the opportunity of defending himself.
The Raja has not been told of the evidence taken by
Lieut.-Colonel Ovans, and undoubtedly has a right to be
heard in his own vindication. I have never meant other-
wise, although I do not think that he will vindicate him-
self successfully. In my minute of the 15th August
1837, lam farther strongly of opinion, that before the
case is conclusively disposed of, the Raja should be made
acquainted with the fresh evidence which has been eli-
cited against him, and should be allowed the opportunity
of offering defence or explanation.' I repeat that opi-
nion ; not meaning that there should be merely the form
or farce of a trial, to be closed by a ready-made judg-
ment, but that the defence should be fairly heard and
impartially weighed. Se far as this Government should
be called. to decide on that defence, it would be my
honest endeavour to discharge my mind of all my pre-
vious opinions on the subject, and to judge the case as if
I heard it for the first time. But if it be thought that
the Bombay Government is too strongly prepossessed
with the guilt, of the llaja.to be placed in the chair of
judgment over. lis Ilighness,let the Government of India
constitute, in any manner which they think fittest, an
impartial and competent judicature for the occasion."
It was on these grounds that he asked that
the Raja might have a trial, and that he might
have an opportunity of meeting these charges. He
asked the Court of Directors to grant it for the sake of
their own consistency, fin- they had all along denounced
those proceedings as seriously detrimental to the Govern-
ment. He aske them. then, fin. the sake of consis-
tency—he asked them for the honour and character of
the British Government—he ssked them in the name of
thatjustice which had been violated and outraged in the
present case—he asked them in the name of the common
Christianity which told them not only to do justice, but
to mingle mercy with justice—he asked them to give him
a full, afair, and an impartial hearing. Mr. Lewis con-
cluded by.moving his resolution, and sat down-amidst
loud. cheering.
_ _ _

Mr. Davin SALOMONS seconded. the • motion of his
Hon. and Learned Friend, and said it was not his inten
tion to go into any lengthened details, as had occupied
the Court, he feared, at too great length on a former
occasion. Hz: wished, however, to explain the reasons
why,. on the last occasion, he had moved for further
papers rather than concur in the motion which had been
submitted to the Court. There were many points in
the case which had not been clearly brought under the
consideration of the Proprietors, and he was anxious
that that should be done before the case was again sub-
mitted to their consideration. He would not go into the
details of the evidence for the purpose of showing that
the Raja was not guilty of the charges brought against
him, because it was sufficiently apparent, on the face of
the official documents, that the authorities themselves
were of opinion that he should have had an opportunity
of replying to these charges. But he would show that
the East India Company were themselves the
first sinners, by breaking the treaty and compact
they had entered into with the Raja.—(Cheers.) Even if
' a doubt had existed, he did not think it was the duty of
the Government to have insicted upon the original terms;
and if they had complied with the treaty, these unfortu-
nate transactions never would have taken place.—(Hear,
hear.) It was perfectly true that the East India Com-
pany had set up the territory of Sattara, and the Raja
was selected to preside over it, being, by all the letters
and papers transmitted to that country; a very superior
person; and he (Mr. Salomons) did not think that the
znhabitants of India were possessed of so much informa-
tion and talent as was ascribed to the Raja. The terms
on which the territory was ceded to him, were set forth
as follows :

" Terms fixed by Captain James Grant, Sahib Bahadoor,
on the part of the Honourable Company, Bahadoor,
with Rao Sahib Mooshfuk Mirhban Chimnajee, Pun-
dit Suchew.

" The possessions of:the Punt Suchew came under the
British Government, along with the. rest of the country;
but the antiquity and respectability of the family having
been duly considered, the British Government have freely
:;:,s!owed and made over to him the whole of his posses-
sions N formerly held up to the war, with the exception
of his pc•isessions within the territory of the Nizam.
The districu :)f the Punt being within the limits of the
territory made Ever by treaty to his Highness the Raja
of Sattara, the Pubt. therefore is placed under the go-
vernment of his llighnbz,s; the British Government is the
guarantee, and the terms af.9 fixed as follows."

- And then the conditions wen? set out, which it was not
necessary for him to state. In page 20 of the Additional
rapers, he found a document headed

. _
" Agreement on the part of his Highness the Raja of
Sattara, respecting the Rajee Sree Chimnajee, Pundit
Suchew, to whom these commands are issued.

‘• The country formerly possessed by you has been
freely restored and bestowed through the liberality of the
British Government, and an agreement. consisting of 10
articles, has been made out and delivered to you by
Captain James Grant, Bahadoor, on the part of the Bri-
tish Government. Your country has come within the
limits of the territory made over to his Highness by the
treaty with the British Government, which having been
approved of, the Huzzoor, for the purpose of confirming
you in possession, has determined as follows."
So that, in fact, the Raja of Sattara made a grant under
the sanction of the East India Company of that very
territory which was now a matter of dispute ; and if any
doubt existed upon the subject, it would be removed by
the letter of Lieutenant-Colonel Robertson, the Resident
at Sattara, to the Secretary of the Government, dated
13th of August, 1827, in which he says—
" I have the honour to state, for the information•of the
Honourable the Governor in Council, that the Punt Su-
chew, who has no offspring, having been for some 'time
past in a declining state of health, applied, about the time
of my arrival here, to his Highness for permission to
adopt ft successor to his estates. This was duly intimated
to me by the Vakeels of the Suchew, and also by his
Highness, who, at the same time, apprized me that he
was engages in preparing various papers which he con-
sidered nece,'sdry to enable the British Government and
his own to cone to a decision on this subject."
He contended, t;:erefore, that when the Company's agent
set up a claim for ,;he territory they were not justified
in so doing, and that IN:as borne out by the testimony of
General Lodwick. That point was, in his opinion,
therefore, finally .disposed . of. The next thing was the
question of character, and io such a case the opinion of
an eye-witness was very important. He would state to
them the opinion of Colonel Robertson, who was the
Resident at Sattara in 1831:—.
24. The Raja entered on the
.CLities when wholly
confided to him, with zeal and a sincere' Clesire to meet
the expectation of Government ; but his efrorts will re-
quire every support, and every reliance may be placed
on his prudence. No good was effected, but much ill,
by dividing authority and influence ; and this, I re4Nrect-
fully beg to recommend, should be carefully avoided for
the future ; and that those jealousies of his Highnes
which the followers of the young boy chief will doubtless
infuse into his mind, and which will not fail to take deep
root, -and prove in the sequel the source. of much evil
may be guarded against ; I have hesitation in saying
that the more he 'can enjoy the., /advantages i•
his Highness's society and personal example, and
the more intimately he knows the motivescalcula-
ted of
'his conduct, the licher. No ' iiteasure' .
to produce worse consequences than
Which, in a manner; draws, a, mu, that
- 'cePlmsrioraus-
tion (except for a few days ,annually of
intercourse) between his IfighneSs and the.;
boy. 'lt ap.,
pears to stamp with the Concurrence of the British .Go-
vernment all the libels „and 2.4,,re1.n.
tereste inesstrair?ttoi°l;lsbisa gmaiinnds!
t
his Highness which the
It gives them a plea for saying, that the Honourable
Board are of their opihiob'; fnd thus the: breach is
widened by the very means adopted to prevent its being
so. It is not to the point. thatsuch
from such premises are not just.' :conclusions drawn
This is not known to a
child ; and as he grows in years he will grow strong in
antipathy and hatred to Prince ; and what may be
the result of such impressionsiol‘is it may not be, difficult to
foretell, considering reckless of consequences na-
tives often are, ss'tenl actuated by powerful ;
would, therefore, suggest that, for the boy's sake, and
for the sake of the peace of the country, all restrictions
be taken off his residing at bittara, if the Raja deem it
advisable. Government have every security for the boy's
safety in the high responsibility of his Highness, and
every guarantee for his being properly trained for his
station in society, in the pride which his Highness takes
in the creditable discharge of every incumbent duty, as
well as in the desire which I know he feels to eradicate
those prejudices already imbibed against him by the
minor, and to substitute in their place, sentiments of
confidence, attachment, and gratitude."
He had reason, therefore, to assume that he was a man
of that character, because it had been vouched for also
by other residents, and he had reason also to believe that
much that had been imputed to the Raja had been
brought against him by his enemies, and that he was in-
capable of committing the crimes imputed to him. It
seemed incredible that, during the time that Court was
complimenting the Rain, he should have been concocting
the vilest intrigues and plots, and he heheved that such
proceedings were altogether inconsistent with his cha-
racter. Sir Robert Grant was. au74ilitts that inquiry
should take place, under the convieition. that there wits
room for suspicion ; and even, at tie eleventh hour, he
thought it would be becoming in that Court to consider
-estior •
that it being one which affected the character
„
of the
East India Company' throughout the world. In
the course of the morning a document had come into his
hands which he believed to have been accidentally with
held, and therefore had not been seen by many of the
Proprietors. That document would clear up a great deal
of the mystery connected with these transactions.
111 r. MA muoT thought the HOn. Proprietor was rather
Ont,of'iirder in charging the-Met:tors with withholding
any document.
Mr. SAl,oxoNs denied that hc had made any such