Star.
London, England, 1826-02-09 00:00:00

EAST INDIA HOUSE.

T}l OTIDE PAPERS:
I A Cetera' Court of Proprieto* was heid yesterday,
On the, stroject of the Oude payers.
After the minutes else last Coate had been read,
The CHAIRMAN roll tuned the proprietors, that there
was laid hetote them a return of the Company's ship-
ping, a every description, Up to the 21st of last Dec.,
tontainieig the names of the ships—the amount of
tonn,ge 'of each—the names of the Commanders—also'
an accotnt of tne number of ships employed by the
Company since 1813—the rate of tonnage—and the
number and rt. wise of the voyages made by each.
Sir JArr Dorce rose to make his motion. He ob-
served, that na order to a full understanding of the
present subject. it would be necessary to revert to the
circumstances under which these Oude papers came
befote the public. When the Marquis of Hastings had
ee,i2ried the Government of India, he threw together the
leading features of his administration, in order to lay the
account before his honourable emplayers.This statement,
on his a-rival in England, was sent to the Court of Direc-
tors, who, not thinking it of an official nature, did not
receive it in that way which would make it a matter of
rec •rd with them. The Noble Lord, after this, shewed
'it to some of his friends, who requested him to have it
published, but he sefus•d. Not long afterwards it
loappened that an Ho..ourable Director (Colonel B
lead occasion to give evidence before a Committee of
the He use of Commons on a subject connected with
India, and part of that evidence was sn much at vari-
ance with the statement given in the exposi of the
,Noble Lord, that an Honourable Baronet, a Member
rot the House, was induced to call for explanation on the
subject. The explanation was given by the produc-
Rion of the immense-volume before them, which was
)published by the friends of the Marqnis during his
;absence from the country. And now one question was,
'whose was that book? The Honourable Director
(Colonel Bailie) had at the last Court denied it to be
.his. It could not be that of the Marquis of Hastings,
ins he was out i f the country ; but he begged to ask the
:Honourable Deputy Chairman whether it was his?
The Deputy Chairman (Sir Gamma Rostuson)
;said, that if the gallant General's question went to
;the whole of the papers contained in the book, lie
;would answer that it was not his. He had one object
do view only in those parts of it for which he would
Tersonally.answer—namely, the statement on the sub-
liect of the loans to the Company from the Nawab
Vizier of Oude. It had been asserted that these loans
were voluntary on the part of the Nawab, and to mark
the gratitude he felt to the Noble Marquis for having
relieved him from the thraldom in which he had been
held by his predecessor. He would answer for the
proiuction of those documents which related to that
loan, but for the other parts he would not answer.
Sir J. Done continued.—He would now revert to
the motion which he intended to submit to the Court,
connected with those papers. He would divide the
subject into two parts—first, that which referred to
the loan by the Nawab Vizier; and next, as fit the re-
moval of Colonel Bailie, from his situation as resident
at Lucknow. One word, however, before he entered
into the subject. Now as to the loan. When the Mar-
quis of Hastings left the seat of Government iu India.
in order to car; y on the Nepaul war, he had ascertained
that the Company's finances were in a bad state; and
it. was.suggested as a resource by which the Company
might Le assisted, that application for pecuniary assist-
ance should he made to the Nawab Vizier of Onde
'The Noble Marquis approved of this, but tilt that
there would be a delicacy in doing it, as the Nawab
had but recently succeeded to the Musnud. However,
he added, that he would be determined by whlt he
should see on his arrival at the residence of that Prince.
On the Bth of December, 1814 (we believe) he arrived
at Cawnpore. A vi.it of ceremony was made the nest
day, and returned the day after. At these nothing was
done ; but on the nett day, the Nawab, in the presence
of Major ltickets and Captain M'Leod, made an offer
to the Governor• General, for the use of the Company.
of a crore of rupees (about one million sterling), and
entreated that it might be accepted, not as a loan, but
as a free gift. He stated this not merely on the autho-
ray of the Gentlemen he had named, but on that of I
Colonel Baillie himself, who, though he was not pre-
sent when this offer was made, alluded to it in a letter
which he afterwards wrote to the Government Secre-
tary, as having been mentioned to him at that time.—
The gallant Officer here requested that several extracts
from the immense volume of documents before the
Court might be read ; they consisted of passages from
letters of the Vizier to the Governor-General, with an
offer of a second crore of rupees, in which he talked of
their having no separate interests, and of his great
desire to assist the Company : also of passages of letters
from Colonel Baillie, in which he spoke of the readiness
of the Nawab to give 50 lacs of rupees (half a million
sterling) by way of gift ; and likewise a letter fro.
the Marquis of Hastings to the Directors, in s'ep-
tember last, enclosing a statement of Mr. Rickets,
in both of which there was a distinct denial of any
reluctance on the part of the Nawab in granting
the first loan. The gallant Officer next referral to
A letter addressed by Colonel Bailie to the Secre-
tary, Joseph Dart, Esq. in 1823, in which he stated,
that so far was the Nawab from offering volunta-
rily a crore of rupees, or any other sum to. Lord
Hastings for the Company's use, that it was at his
(Colonel Bailie's) earnest solicitation, and with great
reluctance, that the money bad been advanced at
all. Other extracts were read, confirming the gal-
lant General's statement. He would beg their atten-
tion to another document of a curious kind ; one
in which he thought there was a direct attack on the
proceedings not only of the Governor-General in
Council, but also OR those of the Directors. This was
a confidential letter from Colonel Baillie,dated March 2,
1315, at Lucknow, to Mr. Adam, the Secretary to the
Governor-General, in which he asks him, 41 Have you
seen all my letters to Rickets (another Secretary) on the
vexatious subject of the extortion from the Vizier ?" 14
'never, there was extortion in the case (which be
:4enied), what must be thought of the gallant Coloimib
woo was, according to his own account. the promoter
o; it? But what must that Court think at having ai
p acceding which their Directors had approved,'
cranded with the name of extortion? The gallant Ge-
neral then adverted to the circumstance of Colonel
llailiie having ;published many letters addressed to him
privately. lie would not, at present, trespass further
03 the Court. lie had, he thought, said enough to
chew, that the light in which the Marquis of Hastings
viewed the first loan as a voluntary offer on the part of
the Nawab Vizier was a just one. and was clearly
Proved by the oocunients before the Court. He would
lio.s move a kw Resolutions. reserving to himself
4, motiou should be disposed of) to move *No-