He expressed his approbation of the candid manner in which the Honourable Gentleman had introduced his motion, and joined issue completely with him in regard to the general principle, "That the cause of the war, is a very proper subject of parliamentary inquiry." Independant of the acts, he was ready to admit the policy and justice of an inquiry; but the question was at present, whether such an inquiry could be safely made in present circumstances? and here he differed from the Honourable Gentleman. Independently of the disadvantages which might arise from such an investigation, during a war not yet terminated, he bad stronger and very ostensible reasons for objecting to the motion. Government was not in possession of the circumstances which preceded the rupture, and therefore any investigation of the kind proposed must necessarily terminate unsatisfactorily and to the obvious prejudice of the Noble Lord (Wellesley) to whom the government of India was entrusted. Without possessing all the circumstances that led to the war, it would be impossible to form a proper estimate of the case, or to do any justice to the conduct of the Governor General. The house must wait therefore till the necessary communications be re'ceived by His Majesty's govern ment. Such a communication was soon to be expected. That it should have been made sooner was impossible, from the date at which the war took place. It has been "said that the war commenced in the beginning of June, but instead of this, it was not until the 6th August that hostilities took place. The communications between the Mysore and Poona could not be

effected in less than a month, and the latest communications received from Madras were of 1st Septem ber. There must be, necessarily, many documents, therefore, in regard to the preliminaries, of which Government could not be in possession, and which were absolutely necessary to do justice to the Noble Lord's conduct. He had no objections to the principle; but was unable at present to comply with the motion; he was ready, however, as soon as Government should be in possession of the necessary documents, not only to comply with the motion, but even to apprize the Honourable Gen tleman as soon as such dispatches were received.

Mr. JOHNSTONE was of opinion that, although the war might not have commenced till the period stated by the Noble Lord, yet there must necessarily be many circumstances previous to open hostilities which ought certainly to have been communicated to Government. It was not to the 6th August only, to which he wished to look back, but to trace the war to its source: from the moment that orders had been given to march the troops from the Mysore, the war certainly com menced. The very march of that army, he would insist, was against the acts and resolutions of that house, as much as any event on the 6th August. The moment Lord Wellesley issued orders to his army, he ought to have sent dispatches to this country giving his reasons for such a measure; but he was apprehensive there was too frequently a suppression of documents. All the proceedings of the Government of India ought to appear on the records of the Company, and be regularly transmitted to this country. Were

this the case we should at all times have the fullest information. He was afraid that the war had originated in aggressions on our part, and was owing to that spirit of ambition that had been too pre. valent in India, and which particularly had characterized the government of the Noble Lord. But whatever be the issue of the war, he contended, it must be disastrous in its consequences. If attended with success, our empire in India must be as large as the two peninsulas, and consequently ready to fall to pieces by its own weight; but should we be defeated in our attempts at aggrandizement, the most probable consequence is, that we shall be turned out of India, and a period put, at once, to our empire. Here the Honourable Gentleman insisted on the power and influence of the Mahrattas. In our former wars in India, our resources had been derived from the revenues of Bengal, which always remained untouched: but here the was extremely different. The revenues of Bengal would be immediately affected, and, in case of defeat, or in case, (which was not at all improbable) of the enemy laying waste the country, the consequences might be fatal. The present case resembled, in some degree perhaps, that of the Carnatic. The dispatches to which the Noble Lord alludes, and for which he desires us to wait, may in all probability contain nothing.Such was the case exactly in the dispatches from Lord Clive, in regard to the Carnatic.

case

Lord CASTLEREAGH was ready to admit the importance of the communications in regard to, the causes of the war; but the end also of that correspondence was

certainly equally important,' and absolutely necessary, either to justify or condemn the conduct of the Governor General in his com mencement of hosulities.

Mr. FRANCIS thought that reasons might have, been assigned by the Governor General for the issue of his orders to the troops to march, which had happened two months previous to the period alluded to by the Noble Lord. He was willing, however, to rely on the engagement which the Noble Lord had taken on, himself, to apprize him of the first arrival of the necessary dispatches, and begged leave, therefore, at present to withdraw his motion. Adjourned.

APRIL 6.

WAR IN INDIA.

Mr. FRANCIS said, it must be in the recollection of several members of the house, that he had lately made some propositions to the house respecting the war that was entered into, and carried on by the direction of the British Governor General in India, without the consent or knowledge of the government of this country. Since he had offered that proposition to the house, he had seen published in the Court Gazette of this country, as well as in dispatches coming from the Indiahouse, the accounts of many important events, of which the advices had been recently received. From the circumstance of these accounts having been published in the Gazette, he was justified in concluding, that: ministers must have received some further advices from India. - And he thought it might be useful to bring this subject again before the house, in order that the No

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ble Lord (Castlereagh) might have an opportunity of giving some explanation upon it. He thought it necessary to observe, that the military successes obtained by our army in India formed no part of the question on which he meant to rest his proposition. A war might be attended with the most brilliant success, and yet have been undertaken contrary to law, and on the most unjustifiable grounds. On the other hand, a war might be undertaken on the most wise and just principles, and prove disastrous in the end. Therefore, the circumstance of the war in India having been successful, could form no part of the consideration, whether that war had been improperly under taken or not. His object now was, to know from the Noble Lord whether it would be convenient to him to state to the house, any communication that might have been received from the government in India, relative to the cause of that war. It appeared from the official dispatches, that the army under General Wellesley was in motion in the beginning of August last; therefore, there was ground to conclude, that the orders he had received must have been of a much earlier date than that period. Such great operations as those, which appeared to have taken place in India, must have been a subject of long deliberation; much preparation must have been made, and the business must have been determined upon in the council at Calcutta three months at least before the commencement of hostilities. That determination must then have been made in May last. What he wanted to ask, therefore, was, whether the Marquis of Wellesley had advised the Court

of Directors of such a resolution; whether a report had been made to them of the plan, the grounds, and the projects of the intended hostilities? There certainly was sufficient time for them to have received an account of any resolutions that might have been taken in Calcutta since May last. This was all he wanted the Noble Lord to explain. He should then move, "That there be laid before the house, copies or extracts of all dispatches received by the Directors of the East-India Company, from the Governor-General of Bengal, or from either of the presidencies of Fort George or Bombay; so far as the same related to the hostilities lately carried on with the Mahratta states.”

Lord CASTLEREAGH thought it would be much more proper to wave the discussion of this subject until the practical question should come fully before the house. The same reasons which had induced him on a former day to resist a proposition brought forward by the Honourable Gentleman made it necessary for him to oppose the present. In point of fact he could assure the Honourable Gentleman, that no direct communication had been received from Bengal, either by sea or land, concerning the hostilities in question. The advices that were received came from the presidencies; and it was from these the court of directors had the accounts of the brilliant successes which took place in India. He was ready to admit, that these successes made no part of the question, whether the war had been properly undertaken or not. At the same time, he thought it necessary, in order that no conclusion might be drawn to the prejudice

prejudice of the Noble Marquis at the head of the government in India, to state that no advices had been received from him later than the 20th of June last. With respect to communications overland, they had of late been very slow; and he could not account for the delay of these advices through that conveyance, which were long expected. It was true, the measures which led to the war arose out of a treaty that had been concluded some months before; but government was not yet in possession of the resolutions of the government and council relative to the war. He hoped, however, the business would be looked upon as a whole, and not in a contined or partial manner. It would be impossible to form an accurate judgment on the transaction, until dispatches were received from the supreme government in India, and until then, he wished the honourable gentleman might for bear making any motion on the 'subject.

Mr. JOHNSTONE said, he could not forbear expressing his astonishment that government had received no information as to the grounds upon which hostilities had been commenced in India. There were three opportunities of conveying information on the subject from Bengal. An overland dispatch was sent off on the 9th of September from that place; and two vessels had since sailed from thence. The act of parliament positively prescribed, that information concerning war should be conveyed as speedily as possible; and it was extraordinary, that no information had been sent to this country relative to the causes of the war; and even if

the information should arrive, there was danger, from its probable length, and the time necessary for printing it, that it could not be taken into consideration before the present session of parliament should pass away. As far as he was able to judge of the battle which took place on the 23d of last September, he could not see in it any of the fruits of a victory. He hoped he should be disappointed in his apprehensions concerning that combat; but he thought it most extraordinary and unaccountable that the information the house had a right to expect, had never been conveyed to it.

Lord CASTLEREAGH said, that his Majesty's ministers were in possession of the discussions which took place between Scindia and General Wellesley, and which led to hostilities in the Mahratta country, but they were not in possession of any documents that could shew what had been the Governor General's view of the subject, when he gave directions to commence hostilities. sent it was not candid to suppose that he had neglected any opportunity of making the necessary communications, because one or two ships might have happened to sail from Bengal, without bringing any dispatches from him.

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Mr. FRANCIS said, he knew none of the parties concerned in those transactions to which he alluded, and therefore he could not be supposed to act from prejudice towards any of them. But this he knew, and from the knowledge he had of India, and his re sidence there, he thought it his duty to state it; that one of the leading principles always inculcated there was, to preserve the peace

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