The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-04 00:00:00

THE KING OF DELHI.
In our report of the proceedings at the last Court of
the East India House, only a summary of the debate
with respect to the Royal Family of Delhi appeared in
this paper ; but as the subject is an 'important one,
we give below a full report of the speech of Mr. Sul-
livan, the proprietor who brought the question before
the attention of the Court.
Mr. SULLIVAN rose to move for the production
of all the correspondence that had taken place
hetw een the Marquis of Wellesley and the Emperor
of Delhi, and between the Government of India and
the Court of Directors, during the years 1803,
1804, and 1805, in relation to the recognition
of the rights of the Emperor of Delhi, as
the Great Mogul of Hindoostan. He said
his attention had been attracted lately to several
extracts from the Indian newspapers on the subject of
a meditated aggression on the rights of the King of
Delhi. Among others was the following, which re-
vealed some curious particulars of the relations between
the King of that city and the British Government:—
"It is asserted by the native papers, and we
believe on the whole with correctness, that the
King having applied to Government for a sum
sufficient to relieve him of his debts, and
for the increase of stipend, sanctioned by the
home authorities, has been told in reply by the
Lieutenant-Governor, N. W. P., that such increase
shall be paid him, and his debts discharged (they are
said to be tour and a half lacs) on conditions of which
the following are some :--That the King and all the
members of the Royal Family shall give up for ever
all right and title in the lands, villages, houses, &c.,
he and they may respectively possess in and
about Delhi, including the Chendney Choke
Garden (a very hotbed of malaria in the peen), Kote
Kasesim, and other places. That the peneront ofindi;
viduas, members of the family, shall cease on their
demise. That a specified number of the present inha-
bitants of the palace (including all collateral branches,
not the immediate descendants of Shah Alum), shall
quit its precincts, and reside elsewhere. That the King
shall send in quarterly to the agent a return of the
deaths that may have occurred among the pensioners.
That a school shall be established in the palace at the
expense of the King, for the benefit of the children.
That the palace shall be repaired under the superin-
tendence of the agent, at the expense of the King.
That the pensions of all members of the family shall
be disbursed by the agent or his assistant; and lastly,
that the King shall defray the expenses of the palace
guard. His Majesty is understood to have declined
compliance with those very realoneble terms."
Now I have heard, from what I consider undoubted
authority, that the Governor- General has actually
announced not only his intention of doing all me-
ditated in this dispatch, but also his determination
to deal with the property and rights of the Royal
Family of Delhi in much the same way in which, and
he was sorry to say with the sanction of that Court,
they had recently dealt with the rights of the Royal
Family of Sattara ; and he therefore thought it his duty
to take the earliest opportunity of raising up his hand
against what he conceived to be a second violation of
the sacred rights of the native princes of India, and
that without the least pretence at justification. That
this would be a violation of a sacred right he felt
persuaded would be proved by the production of the
papers for which he intended to move, and
he should show that all those papers ought
to be la:d before the Court. He would now give
rapid sketch of the relations between the Emperor of
Delhi and the British power in Lelia, and for this
purpose he should refer to Lord Wellesley's dis-
patches, which had already been before the public,
and to other sources of information of an equally in-
disputable character. Iu 1803 the Emperor of Delhi,
Siadi Alum, placed himself under the protection of
Lord Wellesley, and that Noble Lord, as the repre-
sentative of the British Government, entered
into certain obligations with the then Mogul.
What was the nature of those obligations ? It was
to that point he desired the attention of the Court.
First, let him show them Lord Wellesley's opinion of
the Mogul as a political character. In writing to the
Secret Committee, on the 13th of July, 1804, his
Lordship said—
" Notwithstanding his Majesty's total deprivation
of real power, dominion, and authority, almost
every state and every class of people in India
continue to acknowledge his nominal sovereignty
The current coin of every established state is struck
in the name of Shah Alum. Princes and persons of
the highest rank and family still bear the titles and
display the insignia of rank which they or their
ancestors derived from the throne of Delhi, under
the acknowledged authority of Shah Alum, 'and his
Majesty is still considered to be the only legitimate
fountain of similar honours. The pride of the
numerous class of Mussulmens in India
is gratified by a recognition of the nomi-
nal authority of the illustrious representa-
tive of the House of Timour over territories
which once constituted the extensive and
powerful empire of the Mogul, and the Mussulmans
are still disposed to acknowledge the legitimacy of
pretensions or demands ostensibly proceeding from
the authority of the imperial mandate. Under these
circumstances, the person and authority of his Ma
jesty Shah Alum might form a dangerous instru-
ment in the hands of any state possessing
sufficient power, energy, and judgment to
employ it, in prosecuting views of aggrandizement
and ambition. The Mogul has never been an im-
portant or dangerous instrument in the hands of the
Mahrattas, but the augmentation of M. Perron's
influence and power, and the growth of a French
interest in Hindustan had given a new aspect
to the condition of the Mogul, and that unfor-
tunate Prince might have become a pozcerfu
aid to the cause of France in India under the direct
tion of French agents."
The accomplishment of that object, viz., placing
the Mogul under the protection of the British Go-
vernment, was also considered by the Governor-
General " to be a principal object, though not a cause
of the war, and an indispensable condition of the peace."
There they had Lord Wellesley disclosing that such
was the importance of the Mogul's political character,
that on no account would he make peace with the
Mahrattas. Again, Lord Wellesley, in writing to
Lord Lake, evinces his extreme anxiety to have this
important political character in his own hands. Lord
Wellesley says, in
writing to Lord Lake—" The
point of most urgent importance connected with the
destruction of M. Perron's force is, in my opinion,
the security of the person of the Mogul and of the
heir apparent, and it is therefore my earnest wish that
early measures should be taken for the purpose."
And then, under the date of the 27th July, 1803,
they had Lord Wellesley's urgent invitation to Shah
Alum to place himself under British protection, and
his Lordship's promise if he did so. " Should your
Majesty (says Lord Wellesley) be disposed to accept
this offer, you may he assured that every demonstration
of respect and every degree of attention which can con-
tribute to the ease and comfort of your Majesty and
the Royal Family will be manifested on the part of the
British Government and that adequate provision will
be made for the support of your Majesty, and of your
family and household." Then let him (Mr. Sullivan)
call the attention of the Court to the instructions
given by Lord Wellesley as to the manner in which
his Majesty Shah Alum was to be received. " When
that event shall have taken place (says his Lordship,
writing to his representative,) it is my anxious desire
that his Majesty and the Royal Family should imme-
diately experience the benefit of the change, receiving
from your Excellency and from all persons acting under
your authority every demonstration of reverence, re-
spect, and attention." Then let the Court observe how
the instructions were observed by the representative of
the Governor. General. Writing to his Royal Highness
the Duke of York, Lord Lake says, " In testimony
of the sentiments his Majesty entertained on this oc-
casion he conferred on me a title, the second in the
empire in rank and importance, and would have con-
ferred the first, had it not been previously bestowed
on Dowlut Rao Sindiah. On my part I paid every
deference, respect, and honour to the royal dignity,
and encouraged every hope of future comfort and
independence from the genercus conduct and acknow-
ledged liberality of the British Government." Now
he (Mr. Sullivan) would point out to the Court Lord
Wellesley's distinct recognition of Shah Alum as
Emperor of Hindostan, with all the hereditary rights,
prerogatives, and privileges which belonged to that
high office. On the IGth
.November 1804, Lord
Wellesley wrote thus to Sir D. Ochterloney
" It is not his Excellency's intention to solicit
any concession from the Emperor, or to interdict
or oppose any of those outward forms of sovereignty
to which his Majesty has been accustomed. His
Excellency is desirous of leaving his Majesty in the
unmolested exercise of all his usual privileges and
prerogatives. The Governor. General, therefore,
directs the Resident to continue to observe towards
his Majesty all the forms of respect considered to be
due to the Emperor of Hindostan, and upon all occa-
sions to employ his utmost efforts to promote the
ease and comfort of his Majesty and of the Royal
Family." Now, the next point to which he wished to
draw the attention of the Court was a letter from
the obligation which he had voluntarily come under,
Shah Alum, in which he reminded Lord Wellesley of
to provide an adequate support for himself and his
family. Writing to Lord Wellesley, under the date
of the 6th October, 1833, the Emperor said—"Be this

great victory and splendid success happy and
prosperous to us and to all the servants
of our illustrious Court, especially to your
Lordship. As the designs of our faithful
servants have happily succeeded, the time has arrived
for your Lordship, in conforinizy to the distinct and
obligatory engagement described to us by your Lord-
ship in the letter which you lately transmitted, to se-
cure to yourself happiness, temporal and eternal, ant
permanent reputation, by fulfilling that engagement,
and by carrying into effect that which may provide
for the ieteres's and welfare of the servants of the
Imperial Court (meaning his Majesty and family),
and for the happiness of the people of God, through
the aid and services of the officers of the Company's
Government." Now let him (Mr. Sullivan) show.
the Court the nature of the arrangement which Lord
Wellesley contemplated. In writing to the Em-
peror on the Bth October, 1803, his Lord-
ship said, " My attention is now directed with
great solicitude to the formation of a permanent
arrangement calculated to provide durable security-,
for the happiness, dignity, and tranquillity of your
Majesty and Royal Family, conformable to the inti-
mation contained in my former address to your
Majesty. I trust that the testimony of my early
attention to your Majesty's service may be acceptable
to your Majesty, until his Excellency, General
Lake, under my orders, can be enabled to offer to
your Majesty's consideration the plan of a permanent
settlement of your affairs, secured by the power of
the British Government." Again, two years after-
wards, namely on the 23d of May, 1805, Mr. Secre-
tary Edmonstone, in addressing the Resident at
Delhi, communicated for his information and guid-
ance, " the final determination of his Excellency in
Council on the important question of the establish-
ment o a permanent arrangement for the support
of his Majesty Shah Alum and of the Royal Family
at Delhi." Mr. Secretary Edmonstone's communi-
cation went on to say—" That in consequence of the
Emperor having at his instigation placed himself
under the protection of the British Government, his
titles, dignities, rights, and prerogatives should be
preserved to him, and that a permanent provision
should be made for his family of not less than thirty
lacs of rupees per annum, exclusive of the jagheers of
his family." That permanent arrangement was an-
nounced in the same letter to he " the assignment
to his Majesty of all that portion of the territory on
the right bank of the Jumna, ceded to the Company
under the treaty of Serjie Anjengaum. The revenue
will be collected and justice administered in the name
of his Majesty, who is requested to appoint a dewan
and other officers, for the purpose of ascertaining
and reporting to his Majesty the amount
of revenue received,' and to see that no
part of such revenue be misappropriated."
At the same time it was ordered that no capital sen-
tence should be carried into execution without the
previous sanction of his Majesty. In conformity
with these instructions, an agreement was delivered
by Sir D. Ochterloney, to the King, on the 23,1 of
June, 1805, the first article of which ran thus :
" All the Mehals to the west of the Jumna, situate
between the west and north of Mowza Kabilpoor,
shall be considered the crown lands of his Majesty ;"
and the arrangement for the Mozul was not to be
of temporary importance. In 1804, the preceding
year, Lord Wellesley had sent instructions to the
Resident at Delhi for the instant recognition of the
heir apparent as the sovereign, in the event of the
King's death ; and in writing to the Secret Committee
of the Court of Directors, in July, 1804, his Lordship
said he considered the arrangement he had made for
placing the Mogul under the protection of
the British Government to be a subject of
national and political importance. Now, there
the Court of Directors had Lord Wellesley's
distinct enunciation of his intention to make a
permanent arrangement for the support of the
Emperor of Delhi and the Royal Family, a perma-
nent, not only es contradistinguished from a tempo-
rary provision, which had been made for his support
when he first placed himself under the protection of the
British Government, but in point of duration. A
territory was ceded to him, the revenues of which were
to be administered in his name; his son was recog-
nised as the heir to that territory, and his grandson,
now on the throne, subsequently received the same
recognition. It was in Lord Wellesley's opinion an
object of national importance thiit the titular Emperor
of Delhi should be known to ail the ,inhabitants of
Hindostan as living under the protection of the
British Government until he died. How could the
restoration of an old man, then 84 years of age, and
whose death was daily anticipated, be a question of
political and national importance ? That could not
be ; but the perpetuity of the title and honours
of Emperor of Hindostan in the family of
Shell Alum, under the protection of the
British Government, was, in the eye of Lord
‘Vellesley, an object of great national importance,
and it was for the accomplishment of that object that
Lord Wellesley made a permanent provision for the
support of the imperial dignity. It was Lord
The
who made those promises to the Mogul.
the language of Lord Wellesley to the royal house
had been religiously observed. But had not Lord
Wellesley's successors frequently violated the pecu-
niary part of those obligations on the plea that there
was no specific contract in the case, and that it was a
mere intimation of an intention of doing cer-
tain things for the Mogul, but no formal deed.
Now certainly there was no formal deed;
that was impossible. Equals treated with
equals, princes with princes, serfs with serfs,
but subjects did not treat with princes. The
Court of Directors had acknowledged in former times
the Mogul as their sovereign, and they did so when
he placed himself under their protection. Now, when
it was contended there was no specific contract, it
was quite obvious that the instructions which Lord
Wellesley addressed to the Resident at Delhi, under
the date of the 231 May, 1805, were entirely over-
looked. His Excellency in Council, in that docu-
ment had been pleased to say, " The territory to be
assigned to his Majesty is to comprise all that portion
of the territory on the right bank of the Jumna,
ceded to the Honourable Company under the treaty
of Serjie Anjengaum, which is situated to the north-
west of a town or village named Kahoolpoor in the
map of the ceded and conquered provinces constructed
by Lieutenant Colebrooke." And so his Lordship
went on in express terms to assign that territory to the
Emperor of Delhi and his family. Well, now, he
(Mr. Sullivan) would leave the Court of Direstors
to jug' .e whether it was possible to be a more distinct
obligaNn to assign those Crown lands to the Empe-
ror of Delhi ? All those obligations were fulfilled
by Lord Wellesley; but the pecuniary part of them
had been violated by his successors, whilst those
which had reference to prerogatives and privileges
had, by the Marquis of Cornwallis, Lord
Amherst, Lord Hastings, and others, been
respected. Those were so highly valued by the Mogul
that he had refused Lord Hastings to be seated in his
presence. In the time of Lord William Bentinck his
Lordship administered a rebuke to the President at
Delhi, who proposed to discontinue the presentation
of Nuzzurs to the Mogul. " His Lordship in Coun-
cil (wrote Lord William Bentinck) strongly disap-
proves of the proposition submitted, as it would tend
to create alarm in the mind of his Majesty, and at
the same time throws down a long established custom
without any reasonable grounds whatever." Then
came a Governor-General of another mind who was
less tenacious of the national usages. Now that was
the story that the papers for which he (Mr. Sullivan)
im
portant
part would tell, but that was the least
part of the story. Those papers would leave the
Court of Directors under the mischievous impression
that the Mogul was, to use a favourite expression of
their own, a creature of their bounty, that he received
everything from them and they nothing from him ;
whereas the page of history would tell them that that
was the result of their connexion with the family,
which had begun 50 or 60 years ago, and which had
continued for 20 years almost without interruption;
and during all that time the Court of Directors had
received almost inestimable benefits. The nego-
tiation of 1803 was but a renewal of the connexion,
and did not date its origin from that time. In the
year 1764 the Mogul granted the valuable Zeman-
dary of Benarea to the British Government, and in
1765 he granted Dewaney ; after that the Northern
Circars, Burdware, and confirmed all the Company's
possessions in Bengal and the Carnatic. Now, at
what time was it that Use Mogul made all those con.
cessions ? It was when England was first emerging
from a desperate struggle with France for ascen-
dancy, and when it was considered that the Mogul
might be made a great means of offence in the hands
of France. The Mogul granted an empire to the East
India Company in 1765 ; and, in return for those
benefits, the Company, in 180.5, settled a pittance
upon the Emperor, which they had since diminished,
little by little, till now it was proposed to an-
nihilate it altogether. New it would he said, and
said
dhat political
withtru tihm,pothrtaatnetehteha Mogul was
But tempera mutantur, and he (Mr. Sullivan)
might add, et nos mutamur in illis. So long as the
thnoose longer
of
n days.
of
Mogul could be of use to the Company, the Company
made use of him; and they promised to make a per-
manent provision for himself and his family. They
had allowed his grandson to receive all; and now
because the Mogul had fallen into a state of com-
parative insignificance, they were about to break

Lieutenant-General Bircas seconded the motion,
and expressed his regret that the Government of India
should make these repeated attempts to infringe upon
solemn treaties one after another. Their strength in
India depended upon public opinion. They had only
ab.)ut 740 European civil servants, administering the
whole affairs of the social government of that coun-
try, while the population consisted of 150 millions.
Of those 740 persons, about one-third only were
invested with power ; so that each individual had to
administer civil justice among no less than 600,000
inhabitants. lle hoped the Court would do all they
could to resist the strong anti-Indian spirit which
at present threatened to drive theta out of the country.
Mr. LEWIN suggested that the natives in India
should be represented in Parliament.
The CHAIRMAN—The question which has been
raised by the Hon. Mover of this resolution, I have to
inform the Court, is under consideration by the
Government of India, and the authorities in this
country. The Court of Directors attach great im-
portance to the subject, and the Proprietors may feel
assured that they will give it their serious attention.
Under these circumstances, I hope the Court will not
insist upon the production of any papers of this
description, and I feel myself under the necessity of
negativing the motion. _ . .

After a—short conversation the motion was put, and
;he Court divided, when there appeared—
For the motion
Against it
Majority
The motion was consequently lost.
The Court then adjourned.

FATAL VISIT TO THE ICE.
TWO BROTHERS DROWNED.
An accident on the iee occurred near Cirencester
on Saturday, by which two of the sons of Mr.
Thomas Bowly, draper, lost their lives. On the sheet
of water in the park belonging to Dal Bathurst, the
younger portion of the inhabitants of the town are in
the habit of skating and sliding, after sufficient frk st
to make the ice bear. On Saturday last there had
been two days' severe frost, and it was thought that
the ice was of sufficient consistency to bear the
weight of skaters. Accordingly, many people re-
sorted thither to recreate themselves. All went cn
well till about four o'clock in the afternoon, when
Daniel 13owly, aged about twelve years, was passing
the middle of the pond, where the ice, it is presumed
from the high wind, had not been so frozen as else-
where, as it broke, and the youth sank into the water.
An elder brother, named Thomas, aged 14, who had a
few days previously returned home from school at
Weston, near Bath, seeing his brother fall into the
water, courageously rushed in after him, and in a
fruitless effort to save his brother he also sunk. Pt r-
ceiving his danger, he endeavoured to catch at the
edge of the ice nearest him, but it broke in his grasp.
A ladder and some ropes were speedily procured, but
the spar of the ladder to which the rope was fastened
broke, and after several ineffectual efforts to seize the
rope, which he could net hold, it is conjectured, from
the benumbed state of his hands, the poor youth
uttered a cry of agony and sunk to a watery grave.
It is supposed that the cry was occasioned by the
seizure of cramp. Drags were speedily procured,
but some time elapsed before the bodies could be
secured. In the meantime Messrs. Thomas Warner
and Cripps, surgeons, bad arrived, and had caused the
necessary appliances—hot water and a fire—to be
provided at the nearest house, that of Mr. Bolton, at
the Lodge gates. In about three-quarters of an hour
the bodies were recovered, and immediately taken to
the house above named, where they were rubbed, and
every means which human art could suggest was
tuasiende,db,ua
and
d allthwe was of
bodies
no
earvea i obi
the grandfather, Mr. Richard Bowly, draper, in
'inquest.
Market place, there to await the coroners
The inhabitants of the town expressed deep and heart-
felt sympathy for the grief
.necessart y I felt by the
numerous members of a highly-respected family.
Mr. Thomas Bowly, the father of the deceased, was
at the time in London, but was expected to return
takenlA to the residence of
that night. We hear that the eldest brother, Richard,
who bad also returned from school for the Christmas'
holidays, was kept back by force, or he would have
rushed into the water, in an attempt to save his
brothers, and probably have shared their fate.

LITERARY —As some misapprehension
appearsPENSIONS.
to exist on the subject, we are enabled to state
that no pension will revert to the Government through
the death of Mr. Tytler, the historian. By the last
arrangement of the Civil List the Government has no
power to exceed the annual sum set apart for pensions,
on account of the demise of any of the recipients on the
ii_t

BRITANNIA BRIDGE.—The tube; has attained an
altitude of seventy feet, and needs only five more lifts to
pla.e it.—North Wales Chronicle.