The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-20 00:00:00

f that quality. But if a careful application of his facts,
and an able exposition of the law in regard to them,
may be considered as entitling him to the grati-
tude of his countrymen, he has, undoubtedly earned t
it. The continuation of the Attorney-General's ad- I
dress was looked for with great interest, as it
was expected that it would announce the acqui-
, sition of evidence which, albeit new, is said to be of
a description to surprise no one who has been a
reader of Irish newspapers for- the last few months.
Meanwhile, it is 'pleasant to be furnished with so com-
plete and practical an illustration of the absurdity of
the predictions of• our Whig-Radical Contemporaries,
as the present tranquil state of Dublin may be con-
sidered to supply; a repose which would suffer no
interruption were Mr. O'Connell already convicted, and
suffering the penalty which might be considered his
due. Some curiosity attaches to the rumoured disclo-
sures which Wednesday was to bring forth, but with this
exception, the Irish public appear wholly indifferent, as
it regards the results of these trials ; and the only parties
in this country who feel any anxiety on the subject are
the Whigs and their journalists, who rely upon such an
issue as will enable them to nurse into activity their
own little conspiracy against Sir Robert Peel's Go-
vernment.
TIMES.—The French Legitimatists betray considerable
signs of confusion under the attack which has been made
npon them by the sage Government of Louis Philippe,
as any party will do when sk'lfully pressed from with-
out, and unsupported by any definite object or clear and
understood principle of coherency within. The adhe-
rents of the Duke de Bordeaux have at present neither
the one nor the other. They have no definite object ;' for
it is impossible that they can nourish any real expectation
of replacing "Henry V." on the throne of France.
'They have no coherency of principle, else we should
hear of no coquetting with Republicanism. The more
able among theni must repudiate the one—the more
honest must abhor the other. With the influence of the
nobility extinct, with the commercial and trading classes
wholly given to the dynasty of Louis Philippe, with the
students and artisans rank republicans, the army devoted
to the power which pays it, and even the clergy,
in whose cause the elder dynasty fell, and among
whom, therefore, the spark of old-fashioned loyalty
might be expected at least to linger—with even the
clergy in its younger and more vigorous part, too deeply
tinged with the will doctrines ofLamennais to present
any firm basis for Royalist principles—with all these
things against them, it is, indeed,.difficult'to suppose that
any man of ordinary forethought, who mixes with the
world, or who even reads the daily papers, should cherish
the hope of a second restoration. There are no visible
materials for success—no locus standi—no point of con-
tact between Royalism and the French people—no body
of ancienj and familiar prejudice—no national want to
which legitimacy is the necessary correlative—no still
existing remains of a feudal interest—there is nothing,
we will not say to encourage the expectation, but even to
keep alive the most distant hope of the most modified
triumph. The revolution of the last century, of which
the present state of France is a development, was not
the mere prostration of a party, it was the extermination
of a whole mass of principles with every thing that ad-
hered to them. The entire soil which had been im-
pregnated with the traditionary feelings and ideas of
Royalism was swept away in a torrent of blood, and
the dry stone left bare below. We have now a
fresh formation to deal with—a new people, held
together (so long as it is held together), not by
habitual regard for any form of authority, but by a ra-
tional dislike of anarchy—owning no allegiance and
experiencing no reverence towards ancient associations
—and regarding those who still cling to such romantic
ideas as intrnders into a century which does not belong
to them—relics of a bygone age, whose uncongenial pre-
sence might perhaps be mischievous to modern institu-
tions, if it were not so palpably impotent. No mind has
sprung from the ruins of the 18th century—no able
enthusiast has survived the storm in which it passed
away, capable of transmitting its feelings or of infusing
its prejudices in the succeeding generation. The dynasty
of the Restoration—representative as it was of the line
of ancient monarchs—stood amidst young France, during
its short existence of fifteen years, like an alien con-
queror, maintaining itself by the mere advantage of pos-
session against an unfriendly and unapproachable popula-
tion. No impree-nati, in of principles—no amalgamation of
interests, had taken place. The Bourbon race was torn up
and thrown aside after a short trial, and almost without
an effort, like a sapless slip which has not put out
a single fibre to grasp the chilly and barren soil which
surrounded it. Such as it was such it remained, ignorant
of and unintelligible to its generation. Is it conceivable
that it should r. gain the position of power which, when
in possession, it was wholly unable to preserve France,
it is true, contains elements of confusion in plenty.
Visionary aspirations—rude and dangerous theories—a
rankling jealousy of restraint, not confined in its expres
sion to the closet or the parlour, but avowed and acted
on with a certain individual recklessness which marks a
wild reality—these are, indeed, omens of change—omens
which make us dread the moment when the vigilant eye
and firm hand by which they are at present kept in
check shall be removed. But amidst all these aspirations,
and theories, and jealousies, what spot of firm ground
can the Legitimatist place his foot upon ? There is none.
Even were the French Ilenriquiste, like the Spanish
Moderado, to purchase a momentary triumph by a coali-
tion with his own bitterest enemies, nothing short of the
genius of Napoleon or the sagacity of Louis Philippe
could retain the dangerous supremacy. King Henry V.
would not hold his ground a week, and this his wiser
friends well know. It is this necessary hopelessness—
this absence of any real and practicable purpose—
which makes it, and must ever make it, impossible
that the French Legithnatists should form a compact
and united party ; and it is this necessary want of
unity which has been exposed by the Ministerial attack,
The Duke de Fitzjames declares, in the Quotidienne, his
readiness to repeat before a French jury the bold expres-
sions uttered in Belgrave-square. M. de Larey tells the
Chamber of Deputies that his oath of allegiance binds
him to "obey the laws of the country and no more."
Meanwhile the abler M. Berryer, representing, we
should suspect, a more considerable portion of those who
once composed the Royalist party, disclaims the notion
of a plot against the existing Government, appeals to
" the loyalty and sincerity which the Legitimatist party
had evinced during the last thirteen years," and assures
the Chamber that " the Legitimatist leaders who went
to London told the Duke de Bordeaux salutary truths on
the condition of the country, and the past fault's Or his
family," and now only desired " to serve France, to ex-
ercise their political rights, to avoid everything tending to
kindle civil war, and to unite wtth-the rest of their fellow, .
Countrymen in repellin'-, foreign invelsiont," even were,
it undertaken in the interest of their otir cause." Someat least of these leaders would' 4careely thrik
M. Berryer for his disclaimer. Those who saluted the
Duke of Bordeaux as the " King of the future," can
scarcely be disposed to relish that able orator's protest
against civil war, and his unthankful rejection of the
Irish brigade, to whose possible services Mr. O'Con-
nell seems to ascribe so much present offers on
the young Prince's fortunes. But whether M. Berryer
refers to the liberal efforts of the Hibernian potentate
(who might be supposed to have enough on his hands at
home, without carrying his operations across the Chao-
nel), or to the less avowed, though perhaps more sub-
stantial friendship of the Courts of Eastern Europe, he
is certainly right in supposing that neither by internal
conflict nor external aid can " the heir of a long series
of Kings" hope to occupy to any purpose the throne of
his progenitors. If he will but thoroughly impress that
conclusion upon his party, he will do France a service,
save them from a most mischievous delusion, and earn
forgiveness for many such silly expeditions as that to
Belgrave-square.
ADVERTISER.—The State trials did not after all
commence until Tuesday. Monday was spent in arguing
for and against a motion made by the traversers'
counsel, having for its object to set aside the jury, as
illegally constituted. The motion was refused by the
Court, Mr. Justice I'errin dissenting from his three
brother Judges. But though the dacision of the Court
was adverse to the parties arraigned, the discussion
raised on the question has eroved, in a moral sense, most
damaging to the prosecution. Mr. Fitzgibbon demon-
strated to the satisfaction of every one, except the
Court and the Attorney-General, that it was an act of
manifest unfairness, if not decidedly illegal, to try the
traversers with a jury constituted as is the jury imps-
nelled to try Mr. O'Connell and his alleged co-con-
spirators. This is the universal impression without the
walls of the Court, and the impression is shared by
one of the most enligiterted judges, either in the
Dublin Queen's Bench, or in any other Court in the
empire. Were there, therefore, no other damaging
circumstance connected with these ill-advised prosecu-
tions, this fact alone would be sufficient to divest a
conviction, supposing it .to take place, of all moral in-
fluence. But when, in addition to the more than
suspicious circumstances under which the sixty-three
names were omitted from the list, we remember the
various previous mishaps and ugly occurrences connected
n ith these proceedings, we unhesitatingly say, that of
all the ill-judeed measures of the present Government,
this will be found to be 'the most injudicious and most
injurious. Even, as just remarked, assuming a convic-
tion to take place, we cannot conceive the possibility of
Sir "Zobert Peel ever allowing the parties to be brought
up for judgment. 'The public mind already revolts
against these prosecutions ; should they be followed by
the infliction of punishment (always assuming a convic-
tion to ensue), a feeling of indignation will be created in
the public mind which will overwhelm and destroy the
Government of Sir I{obert Peel. If there be one thing
more than another which the people of England hold to
be essential to the integrity of the national character, it is,
-thatno suspicions attach to the proceedings in our judicial
courts. Englishmen of all classes, and of all shades of
political feeling and opinion, abhor anything in our courts
of law which could be construed into an act of harshness
or unfairness. In the present case, should a conviction
take place and punishment follow, public sympathy
in favour of the traversers will become alarmingly strong
and general—alarmingly so, we mean, fur the Govern-
ment. Even those who are most opposed to Mr.
O'Connell, would, in the supposed case, consider him a
political martyr. Need we say what would be the pro-
bable effects in Ireland should O'Connell ever come to be
so considered ? We will not attempt to describe these
effects ; we leave our readers to exercise their own ima-
gination on the subject. Sir Robert Peel must by this
time be convinced that, even supposing a conviction were
ensured, no eclat whatever could accompany that result.
Whatever moral weight might have attached to these
attach to them after rwehuaratstalnces'
trials, under other circumstances, none whatever can
Fate and the Irish Attorney-General C.;ene.ralit
been a strange eventful history indeed.
Theirs has
PeurEsra's°t the
enemies, and that Fate had cesolved to
Wehe be,
Learned Gentleman in every imaginable wa i
f
not know if Mr. Smith be given to Cursing ; but
he must have given many a hearty curse to the mis-
h spa and mortifications which he has had to encounter
in every successive stage of these proceedings. Next to
the learned official, Sir Robert Peel is to be pitied. We
is re inclined to think that others, of whose names we

the omission which has been the particular subject of
the present article, has had the effect of preventing a
single member of that persuasion from being empa-
nelled for the trial of the case which, partly in conse-
quence of the omissions Much we have been discussing,
has now began to assume the appearance of a religious
prosecution. The feelings which are likely to be ex-
cited in such circumstances amongst, the vast majority of
the Irish population, are of a very serious, or rather, of
a very dangerous character ; and as all the attempts
which have been made to induce the Attorney-General
to consent to .the removal of such legitimate causes of
irritation have wholly and uniformly been rejected with
petulance as well as pertinacity, we can only again ex-
press our most earnest hope that some unexpected occur-
rence may bring to a premature con elusion a prosecution,
the effect of which must, as we believe, be in every sense
injt foils to the public welfare.

have heard but little in connection with these trials, have
had much more to do with them than the Premier. Be
this as it may, the odium rests exclusively on him. The
guilt and responsibility of the whole matter, so far as
public opinion and public feeling are concerned, attach
to Sir Robert. No one knows this better than himself.
If there be one act of his ministerial life which be
regrets more deeply than another, it is, we are sure, that
of ever having sanctioned these prosecutions.
His usual caution end worldly wisdom must have
f ifsaken him, when he gave his consent to the in•
stitution of proceedings against Mr. O'Connell and
the other parties associated with him in this in-
dictment. The difficulty with the Premier now is, how
to get out of the predicament into which he has brought
himself, without making his Government the laughing
stock of the civilised world, and drawing on himself the
contempt of friends as well as foes. He is indeed in a
pretty pickle. He is afraid to retrace his steps ;
:he
wants the moral courage to undo what ho has done, by
putting an end to the proceedings. And yet he cannot
look forward to a conviction, even supposing he were
certain to obtain it, without fear and trembling. His
only hope, we take it, lies in the possible circumstance
of some legal defect being yet discovered in the proceed-
ings, which will have the effect of stopping them, and
consequently relieving him from the :position of painful
perplexity in which he is placed. He will be a lucky
man if he be suffered to escape in that way. If he has
friends, this is the time for their prayers. He has
much need that one and all of them earnestly pray that
Heaven may send him a safe deliverance.
POST.—Whatever may be the ultimate result of the
State trials in Ireland (the result, for so far, has unques-
tionably been most salutary), the grand debateable point
will still remain—namely, the cause of Ireland's back-
wardness in all that should distinguish civilised life. We
shall still have to inquire how it happens that under the
" liberal and enlightened" Government of Great Britain
—with laws similar to those of England—with a soil
generally superior, and a climate certainly not inferior,
so large a portion of the population of Ireland continues,
from year to year, in a state of beggary and barbarism.
Our readers know that we have often glanced at this
question, and that our opinion is, that it is mere delusion
to suppose that the evils of Ireland are to be cured by
such political changes as her agitators contend for. The
schemes of Whig economists and Reformers are not less
delusive. The very long article of the Edinburgh Review,
however ingenious in its speculations, and bold in its recom-
mendations of sweeping political and ecclesiastical
change, we regard as just so much trash, so far as re-
gards the practical amelioration of the state of the
people. What signifies it to the tillers of the ground—
the savage and half-destitute millions—whether the
establishment of the Anglo-Catholic Church be territo-
rial or congregational ? How would the condition of
the peasantry be affected, either for better or worse, by
the endowment of laynooth, or the mortgaging of the
lands of the Established Church for behoof of the fund
of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners ? That which the
people want is a more comfortable way of living, and
that (except in the north) is at present forbidden
by the bad habits of the people—by the circum-
stances under which the land is overburdened by
a pauper tenantry—circumstances which exist in de-
' fiance of the law, and which nothing can cure but
some system of close superintendence to compel an
observance of the law. At present there is a close
and watchful superintendence, but it is that of the Ro-
man Catholic clergy, who do not respect the law, and
who very often have an interest in making arrange-
ments, or causing arrangements to be made, which are
at variance with the dispositions which the law, if exe-
cuted, would have itaide. In short, without denying
that, in many respects the Roman Catholic priest is
often found to be the friendly adviser, and the comfort
and stay of the poor people in their affliction, it must be
admitted (by those who know and respect the truth)
that as a superintendent and guide in civil and social
affairs, he often leads the people into courses unfavour-
able to social advancement. Our own belief is that poli-
tical reforms on a large scale will do nothing for the re-
moval of Ireland's social grievances, and that this
can only be brought about by the establishment of
a superintendence as close as that of the Romish
priest, but devoted to very different objects, and
carried on in strict conformity with the law. On a
former occasion, when speaking. of the circumstances
under which land is
.held by the swarming population,
we cited the evidence of the late Judge Forster, whose
k
nowledge of the country, and whose integrity no one
could doubt, whatever might be thought of his some-
what heavy and pedantic manner. He said that the oc-
cupiers of the soil were barbarised by a habit of gavel
kind, and by tenancy in common and at will. This
is what every one who has practical acquaintance
with the subject must be convinced of. The con-
tinual subdisivioti of the land is the monstrous evil.
Not that we are advocates for the huge holdings of
land which are common in England, We think
there are evils in farms cf three thousand acres, as
well as in farms of ten, seven, and three acres, which
may often be found in Ireland. The possession of any
portion of land—a mere potato garden—seems to the
Irish peasant a justification for taking to himself a wife,
and producing a family. He knoWs there is a rent to be
paid, but he trusts something to his pig, and much to
Providence, for the means of paying the rent. In the
meantime, the potato garden (provided the crop do
not fail) will give him enough of the lowest kind of
food to sustain life ; but if the crop should fail, then
God help him and the children, for there is literally
nothing between them and downright starvation.
They know all this well enough, if they would
but exercise their, reason, and be guided by what
they know. But they will not. It is not their habit.
They are ready to encounter any risk, however dreadful,
for the sake of setting up for themselves with a bit of
' land. They ought not ,to be allowed to do this- If the
law were respected, they would find it impossible to ob-
tain the land ; but it is not respected. Men who have
not any legal right to divide and distribute their holdings,
nevertheless do.diiide and distribute them, and the hordes
cf peasant paupers increase. Twenty years ago all this
was clearly explained to committees of both Houses of
Parliament, but the public have forgot all about these
Parliamentary inquiries, and now there are new inquiries
into the very same thing.
CHRONICLE.—Every step in the progress of the
State trials in Ireland; serves more deeply to convince us
of the correctness of the opinion, which we have already
so frequently expressed concerning the impossibility of
thomkproceedings being followed by any advantage what-
ever to any party or any interest in the State. If a
ritindict pf guilty should be the reaUlt, it will. 66 impos-
sililff-far any mortal out of the Jury-box to forin. any
conjecture as to what portion it refers of that 'ocean of
Arcumstances and occurrences which are the foundation
of-the charge. If the jury should acquit the prisoners,
it would be unwarrantable in reason to infer, from the
verdict alone, that the twelve men in the box were of
opinion that all the public proceedings of the repealers
have been in conformity with the law of the land. With
regard to the only other possible contingency—namely,
that the jury should not agree-in opinion about the case,
and be discharged without finding any verdict at all, it is,
of course, obvious that such a result would leave matters
no clearer than it ;found them. Such is, we think, the
conclusion at which every intelligent and impartial
person would arrive upon considering nothing more than
the nature of the charge, as well as that of the facts of
the proceedings, of the conduct and of the conversations
upon which it is founded ; together with the prodigious
length and illimitable multifariousness of the act of ac-
cusation. But this view of the case has been infinitely
strengthened by the occurrence of a fact, about the
existence and particular nature of which all doubt has
been removed by the discussion which took place in the
Irish Court of. Queen's Bench, on Monday last. It is
now admitted by all parties, that of the whole number of
individuals from whom the jury for the trial of Mr.
O'Connell was to be selected, according to law, about
one-tenth have been excluded from the possibility of
being selected for that purpose. The list of special
jurors delivered to the sheriffcontained about 60 names
less than it ought, and accordingly, when the foreman
came to the book to be sworn, the defendants' counsel
presented a challenge to the array, upon the ground of
its having been fraudulently and illegally composed.
Lax logic, trivial topics, and a want of decorum
in demeanour appear to be so much the characteristics of
Irish tribunids, that we do not feel surprised at the ex-
hibition, upon the present occasion, of these usual attend-
ants upon the workings of Hibernian jurisprudence.
The law officers of the Crown objected that the chal-
lenge did not state the name of the individual by whom
the fraudulent and illegal omission of sixty names from
the panel had been actually perpetrated. As if it was to
be reasonably presumed that the defendants must be as
well acquainted with the
.person who performed a clan-
destine operation " in the innermost room of the clerk
of the peace's office," as they were with that of the crier
of the Court. The Attorney-General refused to take
issue upon the averments of the challenge, and opposed
its reception upon the ground that it did not communi-
cate a fact which there was no other judicial way of as-
certaining than by allowing the challenge, which was
opposed on the part• of the Crown. The Attorney-
General contended that the challenge did not allege that
Mr. Shaw himself was guilty of the fraud and illegality
complained of. But the only nay in which this could
,be ascertained, was by examining Mr. Shaw and the
other officials who were present; and this examination
was rendered impossible, by the course which was pur-
sued by the Attorney-General himself. But of what
earthly importance to the defendants or to the public
was it. by whom the fraud was committed? The Solici-
tor-General said, that if it had been alleged that the
Sherff had committed the fraud, that fact would con-
stitute a fair ground of challenge. This distinction,
which was adopted and sanctioned by the Court, gives
rise to the gravest considerations. We do not mean to
make any personal imputations upon the integrity of
any of the officials engaged in the conduct of the pro-
ceedings. But if—alio tempore, alio consulc—there should
exist, as there has existed, a party in power determined
upon ensuring, per fits et nefas, the conviction of a po-
litical or Other antagonist, they have a reasonable as-
surance of being able, with perfect impunity, to prac-
tise the " art of packing," if they will only_take care te
act upon the intimation thrown out in the case of the
Queen v. O'Connell, and to perform the operation of
mutilating the jury list before that point of time at
which the Sheriff intervenes in the proceedings. It is a
very trite observation, but one which never can be too
often repeated, that every member of the community has
a deep interest in the purity of every proceeding con-
nected with the administration of justice, which, with
even a superabounding caution, ought to be kept free
from any liability to the smallest degree of impropriety
or even of suspicion. We believe that we make no ha-
zardous assertion in stating that, independently of all the
other considerations to which we have already adverted,
the proceedings in the Court of Queen's Bench on Mon-
day last would be alone sufficient to prevent the candid and
impartial part of even the anti-repealing community from
being 5 atistied with a verdict of guilty, obtained from a jury
selected as they have been in the present case. The strik-
ing off, in Mr. Bourne's office, of all the Catholics upon
the reduced list of forty-eight, taken in conjunction with

SIR 11. POTTINGER.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

E UN, LONDON, SATURDAY MORNING, JANUARY

measttres."—P. 36.

- -
SIR,—In the leading article of the Morning Chronicle
of the Bth inst., the following letter is given, and alleged
to be from Sir Henry Pottinger to a friend in Bombay :
" Your letter brought our happy and merry days in
Sinde vividly to my mind, and I lamented on reading it,
if possible more deeply than I had done, over the ' fallen
estate' of my old friends the Ameers, of whose case 1
have all along said, and ever shall say, under all circum-
starr2es, and in all societies and places where I may hear
it alluded to, is the most unprincipled and disgraceful
that his ever stamped the annals of our empire in India.
No explanation or reasoning can, in my opinion, remove
the foul stain it has left on our good faith and honour ;
and as I know more than any other man living of pre.
vious events and measures connected with that devoted
country. I feel that I have a full right to exercise my
judgment, and express my sentiments on the subject. I
was in hopes that some influential voice would have been
raised in England against the tyranny and spoliation
that had taken place, but the intelligence by the last
mail—that of July—holds forth no such prospect, and
all that I can now hope is, that the author of all this
cruelty and misery may meet with his deserts hereafter.
I shall only add, that I shall esteem it a favour if you
will let my opinions be known wherever you hear the
affair mentioned, and that you cannot use too strong
language in expressing my disgust and sorrow on the
occasion."
As Sir Henry Pottinger desires to have his opinions
respecting Sinde known, I have extracted a large body
of them from the Blue Book of correspondence relative
to Sinde, laid before Parliament last session.
The extracts are in the order given in the Book, and
every page is referred to. There can, therefore, be no
difficulty in ascertaining their correctness, or that of the
very few explanatory remarks that accompany them.
I wish to draw attention-Ist, to the character and
conduct of Sir Henry's " old friends the Ameers," as
described by himself ; and, 2d, to the tone adopted, and
measures proposed or effected by Sir Henry Pottinger, as
detailed by himself.
The extracts (if you can insert them all) extend over
a period of seven months, from 13th of August, 1838,
till the 11th March, 1839. The whole of the extracts
are from Sir Henry Pottinger's own letters or dispatches.
I shall not make any further remarks upon his letter
published in the Morning Chronicle, and the extracts I
have given from his own letters in the Blue Book (how-
ever strong the temptation to do so may be), beyond
expressing my hope that those who, without reference
to party feelings or interests, desire to know the merits
of the question, will rather investigate the public docu
ments than accept implicitly the authority, and (as the
Chronicle calls it) the " conclusive judgment" of Sir
Henry Pottinger. I am, Sir, yours, &c.
Jan. 18, 1844. R.

Ameers, to second and aid in the Governor-General's

" I expressed my astonishment that he, the Nawab,
(Noor's Prime Minister,) should fancy it possible that
the British Government should place its good faith in
the hands of such a person as Noor ..lahotned Khan."
P. 8. _ _

_
" His (Moor's) perverseness no doubt springs from
his innate suspicions and treacherous disposition, but
chiefly, I should infer, from his feeling that the matters
referred to in the secret memorandum are hanging
over him. I cannot, however, even form a conjecture
as to what he can hope from the course he is follow.
ing, for he must see that every new scneme only exposes
him to contempt. It is impossible to trust his word
in the smallest dcgree."—P. 39.
" Moor Mahomed told me himself he had dispatched
orders for every civility to be shown to Mr. Leech; but
it is impossible to believe a word he utters ; and the
treatment Lieut. Leech experienced is in good keeping
with what I myself experienced at this place."
" Not one hour passes without my obtaining addi-
tional proofs of his inimical feelings."—P. 43.
On occasion of Ncrr's dissatisfaction at Col. Pottin-
gees professing that British friendship was offered equally
to all the Ameers, he (Col. I'.) says, " What he (Moor)
meant by our friendship being equal, was my refusal to
'.creak our treaties with them at his request. . . . I sent
him back an answer, that friendship was a thing that
could not be served out in bits ; that I had met with
none whatsoever from him since I came to Hyderabad ;
that the most trifling request was cavilled at and pro-
crastinated ; and that he must not suppose I was to be
blinded by his sending me dinners and fruit, and talking
of his devotion to our cause."
"In addition to these unequivocal proofs of Noor
Mahomed's unabated enmity and treachery, my moonshee
was told by a person who was present within these few
flays, when Noor Mahomed Khan said to his cousin,
Meer Meer Mahomed,- that it was useless to trouble
themselves any longer by studying our wishes, and that
in his, Noor Mahomed's, opinion, the best course was at
()Two to send me away, and declarge their allegiance to
Persia."

Meer Mahomed, however, refused to join him.—P. 49.
Terms had been proposed by Col. Pottinger for the
purpose of confirming Noor Mahorued's supremacy, but,
(adds he) " he has proved himself so totally unworthy
of the confidence and support we have bestowed on him,
that I respectfully recommend that I may be authorised,
when a fitting opportunity shall occur, to amend the
agreements, by omitting the words in question."—P. 50.
" They (the Moonshees) told him as I had directed
them, that if he fancied his having agreed to receive a
British Resident had led to our armies coming into
Sinde, he was entirely mistaken--that under all circum-
stances we should have required a road through this
province, so that there was nothing contrary to friend-
ship in doing so."
An unexpected message from Noor, of his great
anxiety to meet our wishes in every way, surprised
Colonel Pottinger, but (says he), " the cause of this
sudden change I had no difficulty in divining the next
morning, when I heard that the Ameers had received
intelligence, to which they gave full credence, the pre-
ceding afternoon from several quarters, that Mahomed
Shah (of Persia) had gone back from Ilerat."—P. 51.
" Noor Mahomed abused the King of Persia and the
chiefs of Candahar and Caubul as faithless rulers, who
had met with their proper reward, and evinced that
utter absence of all shame or veracity which has formed
so striking a feature of his recent demeanour."— P. 51.
He praises Nusseer Khan thus—" Of Nusseer Khan
I should say that he is well disposed towards us, but
that his religious bigotry and the influence which Noor
Mahomed has established over him led him away. There is
a warmth and sincerity in Nusseer Khan towards us that
none of the other Ameers ever evince," and he then
I describes his manner. _ _

lie also speaks favourably of Meer Meer Mahomed Khan
and Solider Khan, saying, " they are both always kind
and polite in their intercourse with me, and I think they
are well inclined to be friends with us."
"The Chief of Meerpore, Sheer Mahomed, is a low,
violent, and ignorant Beloochee. He is said to view our
intercourse with Sinde with great dislike, so I believe
there is not the least doubt but he has been of late en.
deavourirg to prevail on all the other Ameers to come to
an open rupture with us ; should he attempt to interfere
in any arrangements which his Lordship may direct to
be made, either here or at Khyrpore, I would strongly
advise his being instantly called to account, and if any of
the other Ameers support him they must stand the con-
sequences."—P. 52.
After recapitulating Noor's misconduct in various in-
stances, which " form altogether in my humble judgment
a concatenation of circumstances that, laying all the
secret intelligence aside, and supposing that no one s:eps
forward to make further disclosures, places Noor Ma-
'homed at the mercy of the Governor-General."
" I think it also more than probable that some of the
Ameers of this place will object to our troops remaining
at Shikarpore, and to our forming any new treaty with
Meer Roostum Khan (of Khyrpore), in a manner that
may oblige us to use force to put them down."—P. 53.
He then speaks of Roostum (the chief Ameer of Khyr-
pore), to Sir A. Burnes, in reply to his proposing "to
take that principality under our protection :—" I cannot
help viewing it as saddling ourselves with a serious and
troublesome responsibility in favour of a family who were
at the very instant betraying their want of confidence in
us by the minuteness and tautology of the terms which
they required, who were assuming a tone of equality and
dignity totally opposed to their relative station with the
British Government, and who had not (and have not as
far as I can discover), made any single sacrifice, or
evinced any single sentiment that gave them a shadow of
claim to the vast boon of our protection.
" My own decided opinion is, and it also strikes me
that it accords with the intention of his Lordship the
Governor-General of India, that any new treaty which
we may vouchsafe to Meer Roostum Khan and his fa-
mily should have as the basis of it a distinct and un-
equivocal renunciation of their adherence to, and all
connexion, save friendly intercourse, with the Ameers
of Hyderabad ; that they should further bind themselves
to hold no correspondence with the said Ameers or any
other foreign State, on political topics, without our
knowledge ; that they should pledge their fidelity and
allegiance to us ; and finally that they should agree to
submit such disputes as they may have at present or
hereafter with foreign States to our arbitration."—P. 57.
" Experience has taught me to place little or no value
on the outward demonstrations of the friendly feelings'
of the Sindees. I do not intend by these remarks to
impugn' Meer Roost= Khan's individual sincerity, but
I most-certainly ..alo doubt that of Meer Mooharuck,as
I am obliged AO Aissent in tote from the opinion you have
expressed -in. the '6th paragraph of your letter to Mr.
NPNaughten, above quoted, namely, that Roostum's
letter to Noar was ' a very explicit document.'" Colonel
Pottinger then states his own opinion of the letter thus
—" As to the nature of the letter from Meer Roostum
to Noor Mahomed Khan, it seems to me to be a speci-
men of the most abject servility, and there is no expres-
sion in it that conveys, in my estimation, the least cor-
diality towards us."—P. 58.
" I stated in my letter of the 9th inst. (October), that
I was sure ti inr Mahomed would join our enemies to-
morrow, did he see they were stronger than we, and
every day's events have confirmed that opinion."—P. 59.
Alluding to a letter and messenger from Roostutu to
himself, Colonel Pottinger says—" You may imagine
that I was greatly surprised at this important communi-
cation. I conceive that it was chiefly his (Roostum
Khan's) duty, had he been sincere, to have apprised his
agent of the change in his views and ideas which had
subsequently taken place ; and to forbid him to lend his
weight to the unfriendly and disgraceful course which
the Hyderabad Durbar has adopted." —P. 62.
" I have had the honour to receive your letter of the
28th ult. Nothing that it contains has tended in the
least degree to alter my opinion of the absence of sin-
cerity in the Chief of Khyrpore."—P. 64.
" Since I have been here, Meer Roostum has allowed
a most insolent and threatening letter, addressed to him
by that low Beloochee, Sheet Mahomed of Mecrpore,
to be sent here for the purpose of being used in intimi-
dating and insulting me. Ile (Roostum Khan) has
written, as well as his relations, the most slavish and
obsequious assurances that the Persian language can ex-
press, of their readiness to be guided by Noor Mahomed
Khan's orders with regard to us ; and he (Roostum
Khan) has deputed a person to support and comfort this
Government (Hyderabad) in its heartless and shameless
oonduct towards the British Resident," &c.—P. 64.
" To conclude, I can only repeat my intention to re-
vise our treaty with deer Riostum Khan, when I shall
obtain satisfactory and unequivocal proofs of his having
acted up to his professions, but not till then."—P. 65.
"In dosing this letter, I may respectfully observe,
that two courses strike me as being now open to his
Lordship—the one, to order me to return to Cute!), and
to declare all friendly relations with Noor Mahomed
Khan to have ceased; the other, to direct certain de-
mands, such as his Lordship shall see fit, to be made on
the Hyderabad Government, with an intimation that if
they are not complied with, we shall enforce them.. . .
Perhaps the best demand that could be made, with re-
ference to our future supremacy iu this country, would
be for a cession,' say Kurachee, or tribute, to cover, in
part, the expense of a body of troops." He then states
the great difficulties that would attend any plan, and
ends thus :—" One point, I hope, however, will be in-
sisted upon from all parties, namely, the free and un-
limited use of the Indus for merchants, and the total
abolition of every description of toll between Roopur and
the sea."—P. 65.
"I said that hod the Ameer met us half way' we
should have been obliged to him, and felt sure of his
friendship ; that had the road (through Sinde) not been
given, we should have taken it."—P. 73.
"To believe that there is any sincerity in his (Noor's)
professions would be absurd. . . . . His fears will now,
I think, keep him in the right path ; but on them alone
can we calculate for doing so ; and were he a single
ruler at the head of this country, I should unhesitatingly
recommend our setting him aside."
He then states the difficulties of remodelling this Go-
vernment without crushing the innocent as well as
the guilty,—that he can offer no better suggestion than
" to keep a body of our troops always in this pro-
vince, and oblige the Ameers to pay a part of the ex-
pense."—P. 74.
" I particularly pointed tcrthe warnings I had about
treachery. I distinctly stated that had anything of the
sort been attempted, the race and name of Talpoor
would have been extinguished ; that no man would have
dared to say he belonged to it, and that it would here-
after have been spoken of as a tribe, only known for
their infamous attacks on ambassadors at their Court.
I declared over and over again, that I was ready to quit
Hyderabad, if Noor Mahomed Khan desired it, that
very day ; that we would take a road through Slade,
were it not given, and do as we considered necessary for
the great interests we had at stake."—P. 81.
" I think it incumbent on me to remark that I can-
not reconcile to Meer Roostum Khan's professions of
devotion and friendship towards us, his having asked you
to fix Ghotkee as the point at which the Bengal armies
were to cross the Indus."