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admitted by the Khans to be conclusive." The Khans, notwithstanding, de- CHAP. X. clined giving any answer, on a proposition of so much importance, till they got the benefit of consultation with the different heads of the family; and they were allowed till the next day to prepare for a final declaration.

On this occasion, they began by representing, that the whole family, and the ministers of the late Nabob, having been assembled to deliberate, had come to certain conclusions. All these persons were convinced, that the British government would not insist upon the utmost severity of the terms which had been recently announced; and they had ventured to propose a different plan, by which, in their opinion, the security, which was the professed aim of the Company, would be completely attained. Their proposition was, to give up the reserved sovereignty over the Polygars, and the right of collecting the revenues in the assigned districts, and along with this to make some better regulations in regard to the debts. The commissioners repeated that "the proposition for vesting exclusively in the hands of the Company the entire administration of the civil and military government of the Carnatic contained the basis on which alone the proposed arrangement could be founded." After strong expostulation on, both sides, the Khans declared, "that they were prepared to give a decided answer; and that the propositions which they had offered, and of which they delivered a written statement, contained finally, and unequivocally, the only terms on which they could accede to an arrangement of the affairs of the Carnatic by nego tiation."

-The commissioners resolved to accept of an ultimate refusal from no lips but those of the Nabob himself. Upon their request, that he should be introduced, the Khans manifested considerable surprise; and expostulated against the propo sition, on the ground both of decorum, from the recency of his father's death, and the immaturity of his judgment, at eighteen years of age. "It was not," say the commissioners," without a very long and tedious conversation, that we obtained from the Khans the appointment of a time for our receiving, from the reputed son of Omdut ul Omrah, his own determination on the proposition communicated to the two Khans."

On the second day, which was the 19th of July, the projected interview took place. The proposition was re-stated, to which the acquiescence of the young prince was required; and the consequences held up to his view; the title of Nabob, with the dignity and emoluments of the head of the family, if he complied; the loss of all these advantages, if he refused. "He replied, the Khans being present, that he considered them to have been appointed by his father for

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Book VI. the purpose of assisting him; and that the object of his own counsels was not separate from that of the Khans." He was then given to understand that Lord Clive, the Governor, required an interview with him. To this proposition also the Khans manifested reluctance, but they were immediately informed that it was altogether useless. During a short absence of the Khans, for the purpose of preparing the equipage of the prince, "the young man," say the commissioners, "with much apparent anxiety in his manner, whispered in a low tone of voice, that he had been deceived by the two Khans. Ali Hussain, accordingly, proceeded, without further communication with the two Khans, to the tent of the officer commanding the troops at Chepauk, at which place we had the honour of a personal interview with your Lordship." The attendants of the Prince, including even the regents, were ordered to withdraw. At this meeting, it appears that the prince was even forward to declare his disapprobation of the refusal given by the Khans to the proposition of his Lordship; and "proposed that a treaty should be prepared, upon the basis of vesting the entire civil and military government of the Carnatic in the hands of the Company; and stated, that he would be ready to execute the instrument, with, or without, the consent of the Khans, at another separate conference, which was appointed, for the next day, within the lines of the British troops.'

At that interview, however, Ali Hussain withdrew his acquiescence of the former day, which he described as the sudden and inconsiderate suggestion of the moment. He was again conveyed to a tent, to meet with Lord Clive, apart from his attendants and advisers. Being informed, that his sentiments of yesterday were understood to be still his real sentiments; that his altered declaration might be the offspring of fear; that he was at present, however, within the British lines; and, if it was necessary, should receive the effectual protection of the British power; he said that he acted under no constraint, and that the determi nation he had now expressed was that of his own deliberate, clear, and unalterable judgment. "It was then explained to him," say the commissioners, "that no pains had been omitted, which could warn him of the consequences he was about to incur; that the duties of humanity towards him, and the duties of attention to the national character of the British government, had been satisfied; that he had himself determined the situation in which he would hereafter be placed; and that your Lordship, with concern for himself individually, now apprized him, that his future situation would be that of a private person, hostile to the British interests, and dependant on the bounty of the Company.-This declaration Ali Hussain received with a degree of composure and confidence,

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which denoted that he acted from no impression of fear; and a smile of compla- CHAP. X. cency which appeared on his countenance, throughout this discussion, denoted an internal satisfaction at the line of conduct he was pursuing. Being asked if he wished to make any further observation, he said that he did not; and being also asked whether he had any objection to the introduction of the Khans into the tent, he said that he had none; which being accordingly done, he was directed by your Lordship to leave the tent."

The British rulers had all along reserved to themselves an expedient against Ali Hussain, to wit, chicanery about his birth, and had regularly denominated him the reputed son of Omdut ul Omrah; though all that is stated is, that his mother, which, according to the mussulman law, is a matter of indifference, was not the principal among the women in the zenana; while, at last, too, they precluded themselves from this pretence, by choosing him, as the man with whom, in preference to all the rest of his family, they wished to negotiate, and at whose hands to accept the grant of the sovereignty.

*

Negotiation being in this manner closed, on the part of Ali Hussain, the son of Omdut ul Omrah; the English rulers directed their attention to Azeem ul Dowlah, a son of Ameer ul Omrah, who since the death of his father had been kept in a state of great seclusion and indigence. To make known the intention of dealing with him as successor to the Nabob might shorten his days. But the English soon found an occasion of delivering themselves from this difficulty. The family resolved to place the son of Omdut ul Omrah on the musnud, to which they held him entitled equally by his birth, and by the will of his deceased father. The English held it necessary to prevent that ceremony; for which purpose the troops, already commanding the entrance, took possession of the palace; and placed a guard of honour about Azeem ul Dowlah. He was not long kept ignorant of what was to be done with him. The forfeiture of the government by Omdut ul Omrah; and "that satisfaction and security," as they expressed it, which the English rulers "deemed to be necessary to the preservation of their interests in the Carnatic," were explained to him; and he was asked whether, if acknowledged as head and representative of the family, these were terms to which he would submit. He made as little difficulty in expressing his compliance, as the circumstances in which he was placed gave reason to expect.* A reflection, however, suggests itself, which, at the time, the English rulers were

* The report from which the above particulars and quotations are taken, is in the volume of papers, (p. 8-25), ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 21st and 23d of June, 1801.

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BOOK VI, probably too full of their object to make. If Azeem ul Dowlah had to the inheritance of the family any title whatsoever beside the arbitrary will of the English rulers, his title stood exempt from that plea of forfeiture on which the measure of dethronement was set up. It was not so much as pretended that his father, Ameer ul Omrah, had any share in the pretended criminal correspondence of the late and preceding Nabob; and to punish a man for the sins of his grandfather, however it may be reconcileable with some systems of law, will not be denied, it is presumed, to be utterly irreconcileable with the essential principles of justice. Besides, though in a certain sense of the word, a prince may forfeit his crown to his subjects, it was not in the relation of subject and prince, that the British Company and the Nabob of Arcot stood; and in what sense it can be said that one prince forfeits his crown to another, it would not be easy to explain. A treaty was immediately drawn up and signed, according to which all the powers of government were delivered over in perpetuity to the English, and totally and for ever renounced by the Nabob. Yet such is the memorable harmony, between the language which the English rulers desired to employ, and the actions they performed, that the first article of the treaty stands in the following words; "The Nabob Azeem ul Dowlah Behauder is hereby formally established in the state and rank, with the dignities dependant thereon, of his ancestors, heretofore Nabobs of the Carnatic; and the posses sion thereof is hereby guaranteed by the Honourable East India Company to his said Highness Azeem ul Dowlah Behauder, who has accordingly succeeded to the subahdarry of the territories of Arcot,"

As a provision for the new Nabob, including the maintenance of the female establishment, or Mhal, of his father, one fifth part of the net revenues of the Carnatic were pledged. The Company engaged to make a suitable maintenance for the rest of the family; and took upon itself the whole of the debts of the preceding Nabobs.*

Against this revolution there was transmitted to the home authorities a remonstrance in the name of the regents. A letter, as from the rejected Nabob, setting forth, in vehement and pathetic language, the proceedings which had taken place, and the cruel effects as regarded himself, with which they were attended, was transmitted to two gentlemen in England, of the names of Hall and Johnstone, who acted there as agents of the deceased Nabob. The rest of the family continued to vent their indignation, in acts of disrespect to the new Nabob, and

* See the Treaty, and Papers, ut supra, i. 74.

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in such other 'demonstrations as they dared to risk. The displays of their dis- CHAP. X, satisfaction were sufficiently active and manifest to give not only displeasure, but some degree of disturbance, to the government. In due time, the approbation of the Honourable the Court of Directors, as often as acquisitions were made, a favour which was seldom denied, arrived in proper form. "We have been induced," said their Secret Committee, "to postpone expressing our opinion on the late important transactions in the Carnatic, from a desire to be previously furnished with every information which could bear in any material degree upon the question; and we have accordingly waited with impatience for a review of the circumstances which led to the late arrangement in the Carnatic, which the Governor-General, in his letter of the 28th of September, 1801, to the Secret Committee, acquainted us he was then preparing, and which he proposed to forward by the Mornington packet." The Mornington packet arrived, and the promised review was not received. It never was sent. The Directors accordingly were compelled to approve without it. "We do not," they say, "feel ourselves called upon to enter into a detail of the circumstances connected with this case; or to state at length the reasoning upon those circumstances which has led to the conclusion we have come to, after the fullest and most deliberate consideration. It is enough to state to you, that we are fully prepared upon the facts, as at present before us, to approve and confirm the treaty in question; and we are of opinion, that, acting under the instructions of the Governor-General, you stand fully justified, upon the evidence, written as well as oral, on which you proceeded, in deeming the rights of the family of Mahomed Ali, as existing under former treaties, to have been wholly forfeited by the systematic perfidy and treachery of the late Nabobs of the Carnatic, Wallajah, and Omdut ul Omrah, in breach of their solemn treaties with the Company. The claims of the family having been thus forfeited, and right having accrued to the Company of making provision, at their discretion, for the future safety of the Carnatic, we are further of opinion that the nature of the security which has been provided by the treaty, for the defence and preservation of our interests in that quarter, is of a satisfactory description." *

One expression alone, in this quotation, appears, on the present occasion to require any comment. The Directors say, that the Nabob Mahomed Ali forfeited the rights which he enjoyed "under treaties with the Company." But

Letter from the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors, dated 29th of September, 1802, to the Governor in Council of Fort St. George; papers, ut supra, i. 153.