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and every corner refounded with threats of riots and infurrections. In Barcelona, the people went fuch lengths, that the Marquis de la Mina, governor and captain-general of Catalonia, publifhed a declaration by found of trumpet, that he had already given orders, and was prepared on the first appearance of an infurrection, to burn the whole city, and to bury the inhabitants under the ruins of their houfes. The king also fent near 10,000 troops, with eight pieces of cannon, to be cantoned in and about the city of Madrid; it was alfo talked, that a French army was to march into Spain.

This ill temper, however, was not lasting, and we foon after find the king addreffed by the principal cities and towns of the kingdom; who promised to ftand by and fupport him with their lives and fortunes; fome of them alfo made him prefents of confiderable fums of money. But the most extraordinary matter we find in the whole of thefe tranfactions, is, that the king has fince received petitions from every part of the kingdom, and even from the city of Madrid, to pray, that he would revoke without exception all the pardons which he had granted during the civil commotions. The king, it is faid, has accordingly revoked fome particular pardons; but has not yet thought proper to revoke the general one. It is much to be hoped that his Catholic Majefty will perfevere in this refolution, and not fet a precedent of fo dangerous a nature, and fo totally fubverfive of that good faith, which is neceffary fhould be fupported between mankind.

1766,

The king at length 4th Dec. returned to Madrid, after an absence of eight months; and was received by the inhabitants with the greatest testimonies of joy.

During thefe violent agitations at home, the following are the circumftances of a revolution, which was very confidently faid to have happened, on the 22d day of May, 1765, in the city of Quito, the capital of the Spanish government of Peru, and in general of their dominions in South America,

A lady of the city writ, on that day, a note to Don Juan Diare Henexa, director of the customhoufe, newly established there, recommending to him to make his efcape directly, unless he chofe to lofe his life in a cruel manner. Henexa, availing himself of this notice, took refuge with the auditor and the prefident of the royal audience, in the convent of St. Dominica. In reality, at the coming on of night, a large multitude ran and fet fire to the cuf tom-houfe, thinking the director was ftill there. Sixty perfons perifhed in the tumult, and the fire confumed, among other things, 14,000 quadruples in fpecie. The people affembled alfo in all the other quarters of the city; and what is incredible, is, that, at the fame hour, all the inhabitants of that vaft counrry, compofed of upwards of 2800 cities, towns, and villages, were in motion, and affembled in confusion.

The most illuftrious the Bishop of Quito, feeing with horror a general and premeditated rebellion, propofed a capitulation,

which

which was accepted only on the following conditions.

1. That all European foreigners fhould be obliged to quit the city in eight days.

2. That the artillery, warlike ftores and arms, which were in the king's magazines, fhould be delivered up to the rebels without delay.

3. That they fhould fettle as a fundamental law, an exemption from all manner of tribute.

4. That all the flaves fhould be made free, by an indulto general.

5. That the criminals detained in the prisons, fhould be fet at liberty.

In confequence of the first article, all the foreigners that were at Quito, quitted the city.

It was added, that the confpirators, in order to fhake off entirely the Spanish yoke, had pretended to elect a king in the perfon of the Count de Herba Florida, viceroy, who in fpite of his proteftations," that he would rather die, than take away the crown from his lawful fovereign," was forced, with the dagger at his throat, to fuffer himfelf to be proclaimed King of Quito.

"

"

The Bishop of Quito, endeavouring to escape, was made a prifoner.

This news, it was faid, came to the viceroy of Santa Fe, by an extraordinary courier, difpatched from Santa Martha, on the 3d of October, 1765. It was far ther faid, that the viceroy of Santa Fe, not finding himself in fafety in his own house, had retired first to a convent of monks;

but that he afterwards quitted it, in order to go to Houda, having abandoned all the affairs of his government.

There are circumftances in this narrative that do not appear very probable; to mention no other, the concurrence of 2800 towns and villages, at the fame hour, has a great air of fable. It is to be prefumed too, that a revolt of this extent could not, at this day, but have been more particularly known. Armaments would probably have been made in Old Spain; the very means that must have been necessary to have quieted disturbances of that magnitude, would have discovered them.

We may therefore reasonably doubt of the veracity of the ftory in its full extent. But it is certainly fact, that the court of Madrid was made to believe, that there were great frauds and abufes practifed in the collection of its American revenue, which by proper attention might be much improved. An entire new mode of collection was accordingly projected, and fome new impofitions laid. There is room to believe, that the whole project, in confequence of fome difturbances, has been laid afide, or at least fufpended, by order of the court.

It is to be prefumed, that the relinquishing the fcheme, has been thought fufficient to appease the troubles. If fo, we muft conclude, either that the power of Spain is indeed very weak in her colonies, and that he had no hopes of reducing them by any poffible force to be fent out, or that the difturbances were of no great extent, and that the ftrength of the [C] 2

crown

crown existing in the country, was fufficient to quell them, when the Caufe of complaint was removed. It is after all difficult to decide upon a question of this nature. Even at the Havannah, the very fervants of the crown have, in more than one inftance, fhewn great difrefpect to the King's commands. It were not furprising, that this fpirit fhould be ftill ftronger upon the Spanish main, where there are many families of the old people of the country, who are of great weight; and indeed Scarcely any native Spaniard, of

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CHA P. IV.

State of affairs in Indoftan. The Marattas make an irruption in favour of Sujah Doula: are routed by General Carnac. Sujah Doula furrenders bimself a prisoner to the General. Mir Jaffier dies; is fucceeded by his fon Najiem il Doula. Advantageous treaty concluded by the company with the young Nabob.

HE great acquifitions of power, dominion, and riches, which have been made in the Eaft Indies, and which we hope are now fully fecured in our poffeffion; whether regarded with refpect to the nation in general, or to the East India company in particular, are become objects of the highest importance and confideration. We have not been exempt from fears, that, by the carrying on of a continual courfe of war in Indoftan, we might in time have beaten the natives of that country into good foldiers. The order and difcipline which Coffim Aly Kawn began to introduce, and the firmness and perfeverance fhewn by his troops in confequence of

thefe regulations, fo different from any thing that had ever been obferved before among them, feemed ftrongly to countenance this opinion. But thefe beginnings were not followed. There seems to be an inferiority of genius, a natural imbecility, in the natives of thefe vaft countries, with refpect to military affairs, which may probably prevent their being ever able to cope with Europeans in the field.

We have in our two laft volumes given an account of the fuccefsful actions which brought the late dangerous war nearly to a pe. riod: it now remains to fhew in what manner it was finally concluded, and the advantages we

have a right to expect in confequence of thefe succeffes. It muft be confefled, that the authenticated accounts of transactions in that part of the world, are far from be ing fo clear, full, or precife, as could be wifhed; and that thofe which come from private hands, through the diffenfions which have arifen among the company's servants there, are much to be fufpected of being tinged with the colours of the parties whofe hands they came through. It remains, that we give the beft account of things that we have been able to procure, and that we cautioufly abstain from giving any opinion in matters which are fo far from being fufficiently cleared up.

We clofed our last year's account with the taking of Eliabad. The tract, of which Eliabad is the capital, is called the Gorrah country, lying between the rivers Ganges and Yumna, and extending to the point where these rivers join. Near this point Eliabad is situated. Soon after the taking of this place, General Carnac af fumed the command of the army, having fuperfeded Sir Robert Fletcher. He difpofed of his troops to the best advantage, for fecuring the new conquefts, and quieting the country; in which operations, we do not find that he met with any difturbances or oppofition worth notice for some

time.

But this repole was of no long continuance: Sujah Doula, the Nabob of Oude, a man of steadinefs, courage, and refources, was determined not to fall in a weak and inglorious manner; abandoned by the Mogul, who quitted his

camp after the battle of Buxar, and went over to the English; ftripped of the name and authority of vizier; wafted by frequent and bloody defeats; he ftill maintained his activity and refolution. Hé gathered together, with great affiduity, the remains of his routed armies; and feeing that his own territories were unequal to the fupply of troops, fufficient, either in numbers or spirits, to face the Englifh, he turned himself to the Ma rattas. The Marattas are a people of the mountainous country, fituated fouth west of his territory. Of all the tribes originally Indian, they are almost the only one which can be in any fenfe confider ed as warlike. They never had been perfectly fubdued by the Mogul Tartars, who extended their empire over all the other parts of India. Their great ftrength is in horfe; with which (efpecially of late years) they held all that vaft peninfula in continual alarms, wafted many provinces, and obliged most of them to purchase a temporary ceflation of hoftilities by a sort of tribute or annual ranfom. Sujah Doula threw himself on this alliance as his last recourle. But the terror of the Marattas ceafed, when they were oppofed to the English arms. General Carnac,

having affembled his troops, marched immediately to engage them, and On the 20th having come up May, 1765, with them at a place

called Calpi, they were, after a weak refiftance, totally routed, obliged to recrofs the Yumna with the greatest precipitation, and feek for refuge in their own country. Foiled in all his military at[C] 3 templs,

tempts, Sujah Doula took a refolution, altogether worthy of the fpirit and policy of his character. He thought it better to throw his life and fortune on the generofity of a brave enemy, than to wander a forlorn and fugitive exile, dependent on the uncertain and dangerous hofpitality of neighbours, to whom his fafety would be a burthen, and who might be obliged to purchase their own peace, by delivering him to the vengeance of his enemies. He determined therefore to have the merit of anticipating his fate. But firft, with a fpirit of fidelity unufual in that country, he permitted Mir Coffim, and the affaffin Someraw, who had taken refuge with him, to elcape. Having taken thele meafures, he furrendered himself, in three days after the action, to General Carnac, without any other ftipulation in his favour, than to await the determination of Lord Clive concerning him.

Thus ended the war, which began on account of Mir Coffim. It was conducted on our fide, with a degree of ability, bravery, and fuccefs, which few military annals can equal; and fupported by our enemies, in many parts of it, with a fpirit, firmnels, and difcipline, unknown in any former period of the Indian wars. And thus were the two most powerful princes of Indoftan reduced to the melancholy neceffity, the one of wandering as a fugitive, cut off by his own cruelty from every hope of peace, or clemency from the conquerors; and the other, after the lofs of his country, of being obliged to make the most abject fubmiffion to his provoked enemies, of furrender

Beginning of Feb. 1765.

ing himself a prifoner at difere tions and of feeling the mortification to be obliged to await the fate that should be allotted him, by the fervants belonging to a company of English merchants; thus affording a degree of triumph, unknown even to antient Rome. During these tranfactions, died Mir Jaffier Aly Cawn, the Nabob of Bengal; a man who had experienced a great variety of fortunes; first a fubject, then a fovereign; depofed; and afterwards again elevated to the rank, if not the power of a prince. There were two competitors for his fucceffion, viz. Najiem il Doula, his eldeft furviving fon, then about eighteen years of age; grandfon by Miran his deceased eldest fon, a child about feven years old.

and a

It was debated in the English council at Calcutta, which of these two fhould fucceed. The right of fucceffion, according to the rules eftablished in European countries, was in favour of the latter. The Muffulman cuftom was in favour of the former; which permits the father to leave the fucceffion to his own fon, in preference to his grandfon in the elder branch. Najiem il Doula had alfo the Nabob's nomination upon his death-bed; had been pointed out by him as his fucceffor fome months before, and had been invefted with the title of Chuta Nabob, which is only given to the intended fucceffor. For these reafons, and others drawn from a confideration of his perfonal character, which rendered him likely to be contented with a moderate

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