Star.
London, England, 1805-01-22 00:00:00

INDiA.

Mr. FRANCIS.—The motion which I mean to
fubmit to the Houfe.wiil not make it neceffary for
me to trouble you with many reafons in fupport of
it, or for more than a few minutes ; and, indeed, it
appeared to me In much a matter of courfe, that I
fhould not have thought it required a previous no-
. tice, bat fur a fuggcftion, which I am always
ous to comply with. In tile c,-,arle of die :Al Seffion,
• the Houfe thought tit to order a great variety of pa•
pens to be laid before them, to explain the eaufcs of
the war which began in 1803, agairill two of the
principal Mahratta Scindia and Boolla. By
the rapers before the Houfe it appears, that thole
Chiefs were fubdued and reduced to itibmillion, and
that treaties of peace had been tign-o with them
about the clofe of the fame year ; and it was natural
to conelnie that there was rut end of the war in In-
dia.—Nothing could be mete improbah!e than that
any of the remaining Mahratta powers fhould take
tip the contell, where the others had left it ; and ef-
peciaily againft an enemy flufhed with fuccefs, and
which the greaten powers of the Mahratta Empire
had not been able to refill. Neverthei-fs it known
that another war with another Chief, tailed Ho!car,
immediately, or loon after, lucceeded to the pacifi-
cation with Scindia and Boet?a. I co:-.tider it as the
final ad of the fame tratica&i,:n, and that the taut-
mation before the Houle would nut be completti
without the papers relative to thefe !aft hoflihties,'
which I propofe to move for. I ito:d it to be of im-,
portance to the good government and fatety of our
poll-dhotis in India, that a regoLr coinnidnicatian
of all material tranfadions lhould, at „3:-:7,:r
inter-
vals, be made to Parliament, and that the record of
them Ihould be preferved in this Houle. I have no
doubt that Hofear has been fubdued--bis forces, com-
pared with ours, arc fo inconhderable, that or,e can
only wonder at his venturing, at fuch a time efpe-
cially, to provoke a quarrel with a power fo much
ftyerior to him. Neverthelefs he has certainly been
able to make forte refinance, and we know that
many lives have been loft already in the courfe of
this petty war. In one of the provinces ceded to us,
called Bundelcund, a party of his cavalry furround
ed a detachment of ours, confining of two complete
companies of fepoys, fome cannon, and fifty Euro-
pean artillery, every man of whom were cut to
pieces. The lots of the fepoys is to be lamented—
that cf the artillerymen is invaluable. The maia body,
from which this little force was detached, immedt•
ately retired, and the officer who commanded it was
put tinder arrell. I need not fay more to prove that
thefe t:anladions deferve the attention of the Houfe.
1 am not aware of any reafonable ohjedion to the
Motion, but if any flueuld be male, I hcpe the Houfc
will permit me to reply to it. I move you, Sir,

That there be laid before this Hoof,: Copies or Extradts of all
Letters, or Correfpundence received from India, tei.urc or fmce the
cicfc of the Lilt Scif.,m of Parliament, rdnicc to ;nal litiL s bc-
mum the Britifb Government and the Mahratta Chief, 1:,.:1•a$
Jetlmam 11,.ta0 Hotzar, as farad may be ceniiitent with the pt.!4,.;
service, and with the good faith due to from whom facet
intelligence nuy have been recci,,,J.

Before I tit dcwn, I will: :linen:ion a (*.Nee: con-
nedlcd with the Mahratta war, on which the Houle
has received no information. I expected to find it
exp Lined in the printed papers, but in them there is
no mention of ir. In the country of Guzzerat, to :he
north welt of Bombay, there is a prince called the
Gwicoware : a part of his rerri:ory has been ceded to
the Company, partly to make good the pay of our
fubfidiary force Rationed at Poona, and for other ob-
jeCt:, of indemnification. Oat of that fund we ought
to have received a confiderable revenue; but to that
Prince the Government of Bombay have lent a fum
not rnLeh lefs than 36..),03c1. The documents re-*
lative to this extraordinary tranfaaion, I think, ought
to ha-le been laid before the Houfe under the order:.
already given, which would rave time and trouble....
duet, it mutt be the fubjtft ofz particular =dor:,

r

Lord CASTLEREAGII had no nbjeaion to the
feu Rijn of the papers the Honourable Gentleman
tad referre..l to, bit was furry the Honourable Gen-
f:man had introd.rced other circumftances that were
rot need:sr-fly conneaed with the Motion. The ob-
i‘tvations he had thrown out refpeeting the defeat of
that unfortunate detachment, went, the Houfe would
fecl, to involve the charaaer of an officer, whofe
cundca was now the fobjea of military inquiry. But,
confidering this event in a more general view, he OW
not fee that it afforded fo much room for complaint
as the Hon. Gentleman would have us believe.--
Great fuct.cfs had been obtained in other quarters,'
which much more than counterbalanced that unfor-
t.,nate circumaance. The lion. Gentleman had alfu
out of hia way in the obfcrvations he had made
.:iLting the tcrritoi it. that had been ceded as in-
•feionnir s, and the fums granted to a Prince of the
I:l,77erar. Thele, the Noble Lord thought, would
e.onc more properly under difcriffion when the India
s;i.sl,:et Ihutild be fubmittcd to the Hoof:. He had
ara objeaion, however, that the Houle fhould be in
purfsilion of all the information the Hon. Gentleman
would wilt. Indeed the qualificasion the Honour-
Gentleman himfelf had annexed to his motion,
rocnrovi.d every ohjcaion that could be made to it,
as 114; wifhes only to have fuch papers as may hot in-
terfere with the arrangements of Government, or put
them in an awkward predicament in regard to the
quarter from which they may have received fecret in-
formation.

►Mr. FRANCIS, in reply to the Noble Lord, laid,
that he by no mean: intended to throw any reflation:
on the (;fficers alluded too JIG had dated the circutn.
Rance merely as a fait. •