The Sun.
London, England, 1810-05-05 00:00:00

INDIA AFFAIRS.

CREEUY, pursuant to -notice-, rose -to call
the attention Of the House to the circumstances
which 'occurred, at Madras, into a detail of which he
did not think it necessary to go. He principally al-
luded to the events -Of the rebellion last summer.
One thing he wished to premise,. that the affeelion
of ihe people can only preserve otrr-eMpire there,
andmat art handful of Europeans. When an-army
of 150;000 men, which was colleted from the great
population of India, when that army were spectators
and parties in the con.flia between British Officers
and the British Government ; under such circum-
stances it was next to a miracle, bow the Indian
Empire could.sustain such a shock.. It was for the-
purpose Of br ingine particular objet is before'Parlia-..
went that he was about to move for papers.--,The
first- set contained statements, accusing Sir G. Bar-
low's Gov.ern.nent, and taxing him with wantonly
insulting the army and officers. The next desclip-
tion were connected with
,the Courts of Law ; but
first be wished to state some laels. When the Cat-
natic was Ceded;the CiirriFiny look on themselves
to dis Charge tide debts of the Prances; in consequence
of this, the year before last a.,certain number of per-;'
sons were prosecuted for conspiracy and perjury, the
Government took part with' the prosecuted persons,
and this too against the call:of bona-fide credit.
'',Viiree trials were instituted; and then the Govern-
ment exercised the greatest severities on the aCCI.:I-
- ordered them to
.depart from Madras
immediately;. and it appears that 'though One Pre-
sented- a certificate fromhis-pliysieian, declaring on
account of his health, that-he could not be removed
withontt endangering his life, they were inhinnan
enouvh 10 persist, and the consequence was, that
the man died. Thete were, Other charges besides
front Officers .for unjust removal, which, together'
Vith the trials, and applications of persons sent-
vq, form -the next set of" papers. He wished that
proce.edings.of the Council, and Of Mr. Petrie,* se-
ion& in Council to Sir G., Barlow, could be obtained.
The next objea which the produEtion of these pa.-
s would eluoidate was, the view in which all-thee

s

proceedings.in,lndiahad.becn considered at borne
bY the Conti ot areEtors. He had been informed
that the opinions of that Court were equally diVided
between Sir George, Barlow .and Mr. Petrie, and
that by an accidental molive they leaded to the side
of the latier. These papers were calculated, to
bring before the House the whole of this important
subject. lie ConclUded by moving,- that there be.
laid on the Table a copy of all the correspondence
that had passed between the Commander in Chief
and the Governor and Conricil of Madras relative to
the arrest- of. Lieut. Col. Munro, and the right of
the Commander in Chief to consider his authority
as definitive in Courts Martial.

Sir H. MoNTGoMERY gave his hearty support to
the motion. He contended that all the untortunate
disturbances jit India had originated in the violence
and. orpression of the Madras Government ; and.
declared, that things had been done in the Courts of
Law in India, which, had they been attempted in
this country, would inevitably have produced a re-
volution.
Mr. R. DUNDAS condemned the course which,
the Hon. Gentleman had thought fit --to,!pursue on
this business. Several weeks ago that Hob. Gen-
tleman had moved for Papers respeaing it—a mo.;
tion at which no one rejoiced more than himself, as
he was most happy that the attention of the Holise
should be called to it. Finding this, however, the
Hon. Gentleman, after along delay, gave solate as
only yesterday notice of a motion this day for a set
of additional papers, much more voluminous than
the others, and containing a great deal of matter
wholly unconnected with the -military part of the
question. With regard to that portion of the papers
now moved for, which•'really bare upon the military
question, he was as anxious as the Hon. Gentleman
fur their produdion, solicitous' as he was to have
the cause of the late unfortunate occurrences in In-
dia fully-developed and discussed. The Hon. Gen-
tleman a-serted, that any thing' like the mutiny
which had existed among the troops in India was
wholly unprecetlented., He wished that he could
confirm that assertion. Hetrusted, however, that
such an event would 'never recur; and he firmly
believed, that the means which had been resorted ,
to, to suppress the recent disturb2nces, were those
which were the best calculated to prevent their re-
currence. For his own part, he was astonished how
any.set of men could have gone the length to endea-
vour to intimidate the Government of, India into
concessions, as disgraceful and ruinous to thernSelves
as they would have been destruCtiVe of the British
Empire in that country. Deliberative meetings of
military men ought not to be permittAl. They
were wholly inconsistent with all ideas. of military
diScipline. He did not believe that any of Wein-
dividuals who went the lengths which they subse-
quently did, had the least intention of doing so in
the first instance. Of such a premeditated design he
'by no means accused them, but he trusted' that their
example would operate as' a warning to military
men how -they commenced ads' which were incom-
patible with military subordination; and which-must
ultimately lead to the subversion of good govern-.
ment, and of the whole power of the State. With
respel to Sir George Barlow, he was persuaded that
the salvation of the British interests in India was at-
tributable to his undaunted fit mness, and to his-de-
termination at all hazards to maintain the character
of the British Government It was Sir G. Barlow's
opinionan opinion in which he (nr.llundas) con-
curred, that the nation had better not have a single
acre in Hindustan, than possess it subjed to the
"pleasure of any, rnilitry body whatever: The-Hon.
Mover had stated, it as an alarming circumsthnce,
that the native troops had been called upon to sup-
port the Govefnment against their own Officers. ,It
certainly was' much to be lamented that circum-:
stances drove the British GOvernment in India to
take this step ; but he wished to know how the
Honourable Gentleman could reconcile his assertion
of the general dislike of the nativ6s in India to the
British Government, with the solid proof which
they had given of their allegiance to:that Govern-
ment, even in opposition to those very individuals
by Whom they were in the habit of being daily corn-
-madded, and,who no doubt possessed their attach-
ment. As-for the appointment bf Sir George Bar-
low to the Presidency at Madras; all he could say
was, that in coming into office 'three years ago-he
faind,the Goveirnment of Madras vacant, , It come
to be a question with We Court of Direaors whom
to appoint to that situation ; for the appointment
was vested in them,' although it was usual for them
to require ,the concurrence of his Majesty's Govern-
ment. It was his, wish that a perwn of coin=
petent qualifications should assume that Govern-
ment, either from this country or from Bengal, for
it did not appear to, him that there were any indivi-
duals at Madras on whom it •would have been expe-
dient to corner the Presidency. Sir George Barlow
had been seleaed because of his high rank in the
Bengal service, and because of his stria honour and
integrity. He was appointed, as superior to all the
petite intrigues of-the place over which he was -to
preside, and which intrigues it was the constant aim
of •Government to discountenance and suppress.—
Such was history of the appointMent of Sir George
Barlow. When the papers came to be on the table,
the House would see how far be had answered the
expectations which had been formed of him.
thing could be more censurable than The anonymous
means to Which, in the-absence of all official docu-
ments, the Officers. had'resorted for defence. He
was prepossessed against any cause -by such a mode
of advocating it. r 'He repeated that for that portion
uf the papers moved for by the Hon. Gentleman
Which -related to the military occurrences,_ lie would
vote with the-greatest satiSfadion : but these were
coupled in the Hon. Gentleman's motion with do-
cuments so voluminous, and go unconnected with
the military part of the qUestion,,that unless the Ses-
sion were protraded very much beyond its ordinary
duration, no hope could be entertained of submit-
ting them to theconsideration of the House. Se-
veral of -the papers likewise which would be in-
cluded by the -Hon. Gentleman's motion it would
.be unfit to publish. On- the breaking out of the
disturbances in India., the Government mails had
been stopped by the revolters ; Government were
consequently compelled to stop the mail 4 them-!
seltes, and there had come home a great number of
private letters, many of them containing matter of
-the most criminal nature. The House was aware,

:however, that the Governor-General ofilndiaL with-
the ,view-to heal the wounds of the British Eno-
pire in that country,, bad adopted the'-course (with
certain exceptions) of restoring to their rank and
confidence all the Officers of the Madras army.' 'lt
,would not be fitting, therefore, under such circuit-117
stances, that the private letters which he had men-
tioned shobld be produced.• They might find their
way back to India, and do the individuals by whom
they were written great dis-service, and the country
no good. To the comments Of the Hon. Gentle-
man
on the civil proceedings of the Government
of Madras; he was not prepared, from the short-
ness of the Hon. Gentleman's notice, fully to, re-
ply ; but in some of those comments' he was sure
that the Hon. Gentleman was totally mistaken
for instance, in his animadversions on the part of
which the Madras Government took in support of
the Commissioners appointed to consider the Car-,
natic Claims. With respeat alsO to the removal
from office of persons upon Juries, he was persuad-
ed that the Hon. Gentleman was wholly mistaken.
So far from having been removed, several of the
individuals alluded to had even been promoted. In
his observations on the removal of Mr. Petrie, the
Hon. Gentleman had omitted several Considera,
lions. He had not mentioned, that before that re,_
moval the Court of DireCtors had distinctly
proved the condu& of Sir G. Barlow. Beside's, as it
. was necessary that one of the three Councillors should*
be removed, in order to make way for Sir Samuel
Auchmuty, who had been appointed Commander in
in Chief, it became a question whether of the three
Councillors it was not expechent Co remove the one
with whom there was possitive proof that Sir G.
• Barlow could not sit at the same Council Board.
The condud therefore of Mr. Petrie .was not the
sole ground for his removal,nithough it did not fol-
low that it might not have had its influence.. He
shoufd say no more on the subject, than merely to
read a list of the letters,: which, in his opinion,
comprised all that it was necessary to lay before the
House. This'he acc'rdingly did.
Lord A. HAMILTON reprobated the condul which
had prompted the recent distubances iii India. It
appeared to him also; that Mr. Petrie had been re-
moved on ex-parte evidence. The interests" of India
could be supported only by truth and justice; and
he gave his hearty.rassent to the motion of his Hon.
Friend..
Sir J. ANSTUTHER denied that the conduct of the
Madras Government deserved the epithets bestowed
upon it. There did not exist in thiS or any other
country a more honourable man than Sir George
BarloW. He said this in answer to the charge made
•ao-ainst him of intemperance and tyranny—a charge
which; he was persuaded, the paperi, When laid on
the table, would not bear out. On thecontrary,
he was persuaded it would appear' that the conduct
of Sir George. Barlow formed a most distinguished
instance of forbearance, moderation, and justice.

Sill THOMAS TURTO.N condemned the.conduct both
of the Madras Gcivernment and.of the Directors at
home.

Mr. GRANT defended the conduct condemned by
the preceding- speaker, and spoke in high terms of
praise of the line pursued by Sir G. Barlow, to
which we were indebted for the restoration of tran-
quility in India.

Mr. GRENFELL supported the motion of his Hon.
Fi iend.

Mr. P. Moot n disapproved of the policy of the
Madras Government, and spoke highly of the state
in which the army Was when Sir G. Barlow.took
upon him the direction of the affairs of that Presi-
dency.
Atter a few observations from Mr. LI.ISHINGTON,
the motions for the various papers were put and
agreed to, omitting that part wished by Mr. Dun-
das.„

HIS MALESTY'S MESSAGE.
The House then resolved itself into .a Committee,
to take into
sconsideration his,,,Majesty's-Nlessage re-
speEting the making a provision for his Serene High-
ness the Duke of Brunswick.

Thep CHANCELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER moved,
"That his Majesty be enabled to grant out of. -the
Consolidated Fund a sum not exceeding 70001. per
annum to the Duke of Brunswick."

. .
Lord MILTON would not oppose the motion, but
thought there were
_foods that ought to have pre-
cluded the people from being called on for such an
additional advance, namely the Civil List, and the
Droits of the-Admiralty.
.. .
Mr. HAWKINS BROWNE, Sir J. NEWPORT; and
Mr. H. MARTIN, spoke, when the question was
put and agreed to,„ and the Report ordered to be re-
ceived on Monday. ..
..
The Order of the Day brought the' further consi-
deration of the Bill to prevent the Embezzlement of
Public Money, which, on the suggestion of Mr.
Rose, was referred to a Committee of the whole
House, to sit ok. Thursday • next.
Sir C. POLE gave notice of an, intention to pro-
duce a new clause on its re-commitment.