regulated by contingent events) was empowered to determine the actual period of time at which it might be proper for the British troops to advance into the Mahratta territory, and the amount of the force to be detached from the main body of the army for that purpose.

31. Adverting to the expediency of securing the early arrival of the British troops at Poona, and of confirming the favourable disposition which had been manifested by the Jaghiredars in the southera territories of his Highness the Peishwa, as well as to the actual march of the subsidiary force towards the Nizam's western frontier, and to the necessity of terminating the depending negotiations at the earliest practicable period of time, Lord Clive was of opinion that the time was actually arrived at which it was necessary for the British troops to enter the Mahratta territory; and his Lordship accordingly, on the 27th of February, instructed his Excellency Lieutenant-General Stuart (then present with the army on the frontier of Mysore) to adopt the necessary arrangements for that purpose.

32. In consequence of the absence of Lieutenant-General Stuart from the Presidency of Fort St. George, Lord Clive deemed it to be necessary that the extent of the force to be detached from the main body of the army, should be determined exclusively by the judgment of Lieutenant-General Stuart, and his Lordship accordingly referred that point to Lieutenant-General Stuart's discretion, under an additional reference to the general spirit of my instructious of the 24 February.

33. The extensive local knowledge and influence possessed by the Honourable Major-General Wellesley, the personal intercourse established between Major-General Wellesley and the Mahratta chieftains on the frontier of Mysore, and the confidence reposed by those chieftains in the approved talents, firmness, temper, and integrity of that officer, rendered him peculiarly qualified to dis charge the complicated duties of the command of the detachment destined to proceed to Poona. That important command required the united exertion of considerable military skill, and of great political experience and discretion. Lord Clive, accordingly, desired the Major-General Wellesley might be appointed to the cominand of the advancing detachment, and requested his Excellency the Commander in Chief to furnish Major-General Wellesley with instructions for the regulation of his conduct, according to the spirit of my instructions to his Lordship on the 24 February.

34. In conformity to the foregoing directions, the Commander in Chief appointed a detachment from the main body of the army assembled at Hurryhur, for the purpose of advancing into the Mahratta territory. The detachment consists of one regiment of European and three regiments of native cavalry, two regiments of European and six battalions of native infantry, with a due proportion of artillery, amounting altogether to 1,500 cavalry and 6,800 infantry; and to that force was added 2,500 of his Highness's the Rajah of Mysore's horse. Lieutenant-General Stuart appointed the Honourable MajorGeneral Wellesley to the command

of

of that detachment, in conformity to Lord Clive's suggestion.

35. Lieutenant-General Stuart directed the Honourable MajorGeneral Wellesley, 1st, to encourage the southern Jaghiredars to declare in favour of the Peishwa's cause, to employ every means to reconcile their mutual animosities, and to induce them to unite their forces with the advancing detachment, for the purpose of reestablishing his Highness's government; 2dly, to proceed to Meritch, and form a junction with the Peishwa, or, if the Peishwa's march to that station should be deemed unadvisable or impracticable, to unite with such of his Highness's chieftains and troops as might be there assembled; 3dly, to open a communication, and to form a junction with the subsidiary force advancing from Hydrabad, and with the contingent of his Highness the Nizam; 4thly, to proceed eventually to Poona, and to establish an order of things in that capital favoura-. ble to the return of the Peishwa, and to the accomplishment of the objects of the treaty lately concluded between his Highness and the British government.

36. For your Honourable Committee's more particular information, I have annexed to this dispatch a copy of the instructions of Lieutenant-General Stuart to Major-General Wellesley on this occasion. Those instructions are strictly conformable to the spirit of my views and intentions.

37. It is a most grateful part of my duty to express to your Honourable Committee, in the strongest terms, my entire approbation of the zeal, alacrity, and ability with which the Right Honourable Lord Clive and Lieute

nant-General Stuart have commenced the execution of my orders. I entertain the highest estimation of the judgment, skill, and promptitude manifested by his Lordship and by LieutenantGeneral Stuart, in regulating the details of the arrangement for the successful accomplishment of the objects to which my instructions were directed.

38. With the view of soliciting the special notice of your Honourable Committee to the merits of Lord Clive and of LieutenantGeneral Stuart, in this juncture of affairs, I have the honour to annex a copy of a letter from the Governor General in Council to the Governor in Council of Fort St. George, under date 4th April.

39. The conduct of Lord Clive on this occasion corresponds with the uniform tener of that exemplary spirit of public zeal and honourable co-operation with the supreme authority in India, which has animated every act of his Lordship's administration. Repeated experience has inspired me with a deliberate confidence in the prosperous issue of every important measure entrusted to his Lordship's immediate execution. In the exigency of every public crisis, and in various and extraordinary difficulties and dangers, the exertions of Lord Clive in the service of the Company, under my orders, have been employed with hereditary energy and success. My gratitude, respect, and affection, must ever attend his character and fame, and it would be a desertion of the most sacred duty of my station to omit any opportunity of recommending Lord Clive's eminent public services to the deserved gratitude of the East India Company, and to

the

the justice and honour of his Sovereign and of his country.

40. A long course of useful and honourable service has repeatedly obtained my public testimony to the distinguished merits of Lieutenant-General Stuart, and has established the reputation of that revered and respectable officer with great lustre in the high esteem of the Company and of the nation. On all occasions of service I have derived the utmost possible advantage from the zealous application of the numerous qualifications which Lieutenant-General Stuart possesses. In the present instance, his extraordinary solicitude to execute my orders according to their true spirit, the judgment, skill, and temper which have marked all his proceedings and operations, and the ardent zeal which he bas displayed for the success of the service entrusted to his discretion, demand my most cordial approbation.

41. If the important arrange ments now in progress should terminate with success, you will be indebted in a great degree to Lieutenant-General Stuart for the accomplishment of a plan which promises a most powerful augmentation to the security of the Brtish possessions in India; nor can I conceive a more glorious termination of a long and illustrious career of public service.

42. The detachment under the command of Major-General Wellesley commenced its march from Hurryhur on the 9th ultimo. By the latest accounts, it appears, that the defachment had advanced to a station near Meritch, with the cordial support and co-operation of the majority of the southern Jaghiredars, and with every appearance of general satisfaction

among the inhabitants of the Mahratta territory. It was expected that the detachment would arrive at Meritch on the 3d April.

43. The Honourable the Governor of Bombay will communicate to your Honourable Committee the progress of events in the province of Guzerat to the period of time when this dispatch shall reach Eombay.

44. By the latest accounts from that quarter, it appears that the rebels, after having sustained several defeats by the combined army of the British government and the Guick war, had evacuated Guzerat, under circumstances which justify a confident expectation of future permanent tranquillity in that province.

The

45. This situation of affairs in Guzerat is highly favourable to the successful issue of the measures now in a course of operation for the restoration of the Peishwa to the Musnud of Poona. arrival at Bombay of H. M. 78th regiment, which embarked from Fort William for that Residency on the 10th February, has probably coincided with the period of time when it might be expedient that his Highness the Peishwa should commence his march towards Poona.

46. Reviewing all the circumstances of affairs connected with the states of the Mahratta empire, I trust that your Honourable Committee will receive by this dispatch intelligence from Poona and Bombay of the pacific settlement of affairs in the state of Poona, and of the establishment of a British subsidiary force in the service of the Peishwa.

47. Your Honourable Committee will appreciate the importance of the successful accomplish

ment

ment of the proposed arrangements at Poona in its relation to the maintenance of peace, and to the general security of our interests in India, and in its particular reference to the exclusion of the interests and influence of France from the Mahratta empire.

48. The importance of this object is considerable, with a view to the contingency either of peace or war between Great Britain and France in India: in order to improve our relations with the Peishwa, and to oppose, in the preseiw. crisis, every attainable barrier to the progress of France in India, I deemed it necessary to issue instructions to Lieutenant-Colonel

To his Excellency the Most Noble Richard Marquis Wellcsley, K. P. Governor General, &c. &c. &c.

My Lord, KNOWING from experience that the ministers of this Durbar would endeavour to evade giving me any kind of explanation, I proposed to Dowlut Rao Scindia, through Gunput Rao, that the conference which had been agreed on should be private between theMaharaja and me. Scindia declared that he should have great pleasure in complying with my request; but observed, that as it was not customary to exclude his confidential ministers from any secret debate, they would probably take umbrage were this mode now adopted. At the same time, this prince bade Gunput Rao to assure me, I might rely on

his opening his heart to me at the proposed interview.

2. Yesterday afternoon I wait ed on Dowlut Rao Scindia, and was immediately conducted to a private tent. The persons present on the part of the Maharaja were Unna Bhasker, Rajah Ambajee Rao, Eithal Punth, Bappoo Chit navees, and Moonshee Kavel Nyn. I commenced the discourse, by observing how highly gratified I was in having a personal conference with the Maharaja, since! expected to obtain from it a knowledge of his real sentiments with regard to the objects of my mission, and also an explanation of his intentions respecting the line of conduct which he had determined to adopt in the present critical situation of the Peishwa's affairs. I then proceeded to remark, that

your

your Excellency had very naturally supposed that the propositions with which I was charged, being obviously of the most friendly tendency, could not fail to please the Maharaja, inasmuch as they afforded the most convincing proofs of your Lordship's solicitude to improve the existing amicable connection between our respective governments. Never theless, that from the replies deli vered by Moonshee Kavel Nyn to those propositions, it seemed evident to me that this Durbar was by no means disposed to coincide with the humane views and friendly wishes of your Excellency, since those replies were not only indecisive with respect to the objects of my mission, but had also been so expressed as to afford grounds for supposing that the Maharaja entertained designs incompatible with the relations of friendship subsisting between the Sircars; and hence I was led to infer that this court was dissatisfied with the part which the English had taken in the late disturbances that had arisen in the Mahratta empire; and yet this dissatisfaction appeared to me unaccountable, as, in my judgment, the line of conduct pursued by the British government on the occasion alluded to tended to promote both the honour and the interest of the Maharaja: that, in support of this opinion, I must beg leave to give a concise statement of the actual situation of affairs when his Highness the Peishwa contracted a defensive alliance with the British government. At this time, I observed, Jeswunt Rao Holkar had defeated the united forces of his Highness and of Dowlut Rao Scin dia, had driven the Peishwa from his capital, and had taken

3. Pursuing my argument, I affirmed, that had this meditated revolution been effected, the dignity and influence of the Maharaja must have suffered materially; and that his general interest would have been greatly injured by the elevation of his enemies to the supreme authority in the Mahratta empire, was a truth too apparent to be insisted on; and yet these consequences must necessarily have ensued but for the timely interposition of the British government, since the Maharaja was at too great a distance from the scene of action to have rendered his Highness the Peishwa that assist. ance which the pressing exigencies of his situation so immediasely re- quired. Adverting, therefore, to the advantages actually derived by the Maharaja on the foregoing occasion, I said, I was altogether at a loss to account for the marked reserve and coldness with which your Excellency's friendly proposals had been received at this

court;