to be reduced. This arrangement was made by the East-India Company, for the purpose of avoiding all complaint by the immediate reduction of Batta allowance to officers then enjoying them, and with a view also, of giving to the supreme government in India a full and ample time for considering the expediency of the measure, and of furnishing to the authorities at home their opinion upon it. The period for the reliefs was calculated at a term of three years, which afforded ample time for further communication with Eng. land. It did not appear that this part of the arrangement had been yet notified to the army of Bengal; and therefore the hon. mover could not ground any feeling of discontent of the Indian army on this part of the answer to lord Hastings's letter. In justice to the East-India Company, he was bound to state that, with a view of carrying the principle of equalizing the situation of the European officers of the native a my into effect, they had increased their expenses, in this branch of the government, in a sum exceeding 200,000l. per annum [hear, hear]. With regard to the proceedings of lord Amherst, which had been very unnecessarily introduced into this debate, he did not think himself now called upon to say one word. He was, however, fully sensible to all the calumnies and unfounded reports which had been industriously spread abroad to injure and defame that noble lord's character; but his right hon. friend had pledged himself to enter fully into that subject, whenever the hon. mover of the proposition was disposed to discuss it. He (Mr. F.) repeated the same declaration, and even with the limited and partial information which had reached the country, he should be greatly disappointed if it were not found, that lord Amherst so far from deserving those censures and that condemnation which had been passed upon his conduct, had acted with a judgment and a firmness throughout the whole of his ardu. ous and difficult administration, that would ultimately lead to a firmer bond of peace, and to a more permanent state of tranquillity throughout the vast empire over which he presided. Colonel Baillie said, that gentlemen ought not to indulge in anticipations of the final ill-success of a war, because it had commenced unfavourably. In the beginning of the Nepaul war our arms were not successful. One part of the army, commanded by a most excellent VOL. XII. and gallant officer, had suffered a reverse; but yet that war was conducted to a successful termination. He agreed entirely in the eulogium which had been pronounced on the Indian army. It was as loyal and gallant an army as any in the world. But amongst that body, as amongst all others, disaffection would sometimes appear. He recollected, that 30 years ago a mutiny broke out amongst a regiment of those troops, who expressed a determination not to embark on service. They were commanded by one of the most gallant and humane officers in our service. He, however, found it necessary to have recourse to force; and that mutiny was put down in a manner fully as calamitous, and as much to be deplored, as that which the hon. member for Aberdeen had described. The regiment in question was degraded from its station. The 15th regiment was for ever excluded from the list of the company's force. Some of the mutineers were brought to a court-martial. A part of them were capitally punished; and many others were punished in degree, according to the extent of their guilt. Some of them, on expressing their contrition, were admitted into the service again; and the same result might, perhaps, occur in this instance. From a knowledge of the Indian army during 30 years, he came to this conclusion, that a mutiny could not be brought to a head in that army without the knowledge of the native officers [hear]; and therefore he looked upor the officers, in this instance, to have been conniving, at least to a certain extent, at the conduct of those who were placed under them [hear]. By such a preceeding they were unquestionably subjected to the punishment which had been inflicted on them. The native officers were connected with the Sepoys, in many instances, by the nearest degrees of blood. Many of the non-commissioned officers and privates were the children of men who have served 30 or 40 years in the Indian army; and it was impossible to conceive that a mutiny could be in progress under such circumstances as these, without the senior native officers knowing something of the matter. The hon. member for Aberdeen certainly laboured under a considerable mistake, when he asserted that a great proportion of the native troops were Brahmins. The fact was, that the number of Brahmins amongst the native troops was very small. They 4 G consisted of Rajpoots, and men of other high castes, but there were very few Brahmins among them. The information which had reached this country, as to the number of men who had been cut off, was not to be depended on. It was exceedingly contradictory. He had seen three or four letters from India, in one of which the number of men killed in the suppression of the mutiny was stated to be 580, in another 470, in a third, 360; and in a fourth, 130. As to the character of the governor-general, he thought they ought to know something more about it before gentlemen proceeded to stigmatize it. They ought not to stigmatize his conduct at a moment when it was impossible to judge of the wisdom and necessity of the measures he had adopted. Sir C. Forbes said, that, in spite of any observations which might be made by gentlemen in office, he would speak his sentiments, as to the course of policy pursued by lord Amherst, with the utmost freedom. With respect to any prejudice which might have been raised against lord Amherst, on account of the alteration he had made in the table of precedence, he certainly did not participate in it. On the contrary, he gave him the highest credit for his conduct on that occasion; and he also gave credit to the president of the Board of Control, who, he believed, had supported the alteration proposed by lord Amherst, which gave a certain degree of precedence to the lady of commodore Hayes. With respect to the suppression of the mutiny, he considered it one of the most barbarous murders that had ever been perpetrated. How had the mutiny originated? The troops were ordered, at a day's notice, to march from Putra to Barackpore (a distance of 1,000 miles) to join the British army. He knew this from a letter which he had received, and which was written, not after the mutiny, but before it broke out. This march was ordered in the monsoon season-a very unhealthy period of the year. On ordinary occasions, these troops, when chang. ing their cantonments, were allowed 'coolies, bullocks, &c., to carry their luggage; but, on this occasion, that was not the case. They were ordered to fall into the ranks with their arms and accoutrements: their knapsacks, in particular, were directed to be fastened on. They declined this. They said "We are not coolies; we will not degrade ourselves by carrying our cooking utensils on our backs." It was this circumstance which gave rise to the ill-feeling amongst the troops, which at last broke out into open mutiny. If the public press in India had been at all free, this event would not have happened. He did not contend for the unlimited freedom of the press in India. He was not prepared to say that the complete and unrestricted freedom of the press there, would, under existing circum stances, be proper. But he certainly did wish, that the press of India was far removed from its present state, which was one of the most slavish degradation. It was the defender of tyranny and oppres sion, instead of being, as it was in this country, the detector of abuses. It was here the birth-right of British subjects; but, in India, all and every part of that birth-right was withheld. How, then, could they receive information from India? They must either take such intelligence as the government chose to afford them, or that which they received through the medium of private correspondence. He had received a letter from a lady on the subject of the present state of India, part of which he would read to the House. He saw the chairman of the Court of Directors smiling at this statement, but he would, nevertheless, read an extract from that letter. His hon. friend (Mr. Hume) had, it appeared, received letters from civil, military, medical, and commercial characters, on this subject: but, he repeated, that the letter he was about to read, and it was a very sensible one, was the production of a female. It was not from the lady of commodore Hayes, nor from the wife of any civil officer; but it was from the lady of a gallant officer, who was with the army at Rangoon at the time it was written. It was dated the 18th of November, and had been received by the very latest arrivals. The writer said "lord Amherst must have enough on his mind at this moment. Certainly it is a most nervous and critical time for every one of us. The public prints will have told you of the mutiny at Barackpore before you receive this." Unfortunately the public prints of India did not tell the whole of the business. If the public prints were suffered to notice passing events there, government would not have been surprised by this mutiny at Barackpore. The writer went on to say -"the 47th regiment has been struck off the army-list in consequence. The artillery and two European regiments were course, as the memoirs of some persons who introduced into them the expressions of female correspondence. He appealed to the House whether it was fit that the character of the Governor-general should be called in question on the authority of any lady. When the question of lord Amherst's conduct was brought fairly before them, on the authority of official papers, he would enter fairly into the consideration; and if he thought that the noble lord was to blame, he would, notwithstanding his friendship, be as ready as any man to do justice to the public. The hon. gentleman had challenged any private friend of lord Amherst's to stand up and contradict the statement he had made. He was that friend, and he could not but regret that the House should have been induced to listen to an attack from any quarter, however respectable, unsupported by proper documents, and founded only on the communication of a private letter from a lady. Sir C. Forbes denied, that he founded his opinions on that private letter. He had received scores of letters, all in the same tone; and was of the same opinion long before he had seen the letter to which he had referred. brought out against the mutineers; and it is hoped that sir E. Paget's decided conduct will have a good effect. Yet the feeling of discontent is apprehended to have spread widely through the native troops; and there is no knowing whether it may not show itself somewhere else, where there are no European troops to put it down." The letter went on to complain of that economy, as very illjudged, which had curtailed the native troops of their accustomed allowances. He perfectly concurred with the gallant officer opposite, that the unfortunate mutineers ought never to have been pursued after they had taken to flight. The bringing the artillery upon them, dreadful as it seemed, might be necessary; but the pursuit was a cruel and needless piece of butchery, and one which would never have occurred, had such men as sir Lionel Smith, or sir John Malcolm been in command. After the British troops should have been marched against the Burmese, he feared that those left behind might take advantage of their absence. As well as he could judge, India, at no former period, had been in so perilous a situation. And was the man who had brought it to that state, likely to be the best man to bring it out of it. He called upon government and the directors to send out some governor-minded the House that they had been now general who possessed the confidence of the public in England, and would acquire it in India. Lord Amherst enjoyed it in neither country: opinions were unanimous as to his character and qualifications. Would any hon. member rise and contradict him, and say, that they had reliance upon the measures of lord Amherst? If not, he should infer from their silence that they assented to what he advanced regarding his lordship. Such was the rapacity of the government in India, that the more territory they obtained, the more greedy were they for fresh acquisitions. The loss in Europeans and in natives at Rangoon had been immense; and, under all the circumstances, he considered the whole government of lord Amherst imbecile, and that those who sent him to India were as little his friends as those who kept him there. No greater service could be done to the Indian empire than to recall him without delay. The Chancellor of the Exchequer re for two hours listening to speeches on the whole state of India, and containing the most pointed and extraordinary assertions he had ever heard made against any set of people engaged in the service of the public. It was not lord Amherst alone that was attacked; the commander-in-chief had been attacked also. But, what had the conduct of lord Amherst and sir Edward Paget to do with the question before the House? The motion was, to produce a military despatch-not of sir Edward Paget-not of the year 1824; but actually, a military despatch of the marquis of Hastings in the year 1819. He perceived the mode in which, with some ingenuity, but with very little fairness, the hon. member thought he had connected his attack upon lord Amherst with this despatch. It was a document which referred to the allowances of the Bengal army at that date. But the hon. member had forgotten, or perhaps was not aware, that in fact, the paper did not bring his observations within the record; for Sir J. Sebright protested strongly against the course pursued by the hon. baronet, who had read with so much emphasis ait concerned the pay and allowances of letter from a lady. No doubt he wished only the European officers. He did think to make his speech as interesting by this that, when gentlemen came forward to impugn the conduct of such men as lord | judgment until that committee should Amherst, and reproach the government have made its report. With respect to for hesitating a moment as to his recall, the army, he could say, that the whole obit was a little surprising that they had not ject of the Court of Directors with respect courage to come forward with a direct to it, had been to attend to their comforts motion, instead of throwing out charges and ameliorate the condition of the native against gentlemen, in a way which precluded troops. No case had been made out to the possibility of their being answered. For justify the production of the papers moved how could lord Amherst or sir Edward for; but it was evident that there might Paget defend themselves against attacks be many reasons which would render it such as those now so liberally made upon imprudent to make disclosures for the them? For his own part, he knew ford present; and for these grounds he should Amherst personally; but he would not, feel it his duty to vote against the motion. on such an occasion, utter one word in his defence. He did not think the course now taken ought to be answered. He did not think that it would be justice to lord Amherst or to sir Edward Paget to attempt to answer it. Let the hon. member come forward directly with a motion, calling on the House for censure, and both the individuals whom he attacked would find abundance of defenders, and of able ones; but, unless he could connect his recent observations with the despatch of the marquis of Hastings in 1819-and he defied him to do it-the hon. mover had treated lord Amherst most unfairly. Mr. Bright by no means agreed with the right hon. gentleman in his view of the subject, and strongly objected to much of the conduct which had been pursued during the late mutiny. The general order which had been issued subsequent to that event was a reflection upon the whole body of the native officers of India, and a most unjust one. The course which had been adopted with reference to the officers of the regiment which had mutinied, was still more ill-judged, for they seemed entirely to have done their duty on the occasion. The whole appearance of things in that quarter of the world was most alarming; and he trusted the House would examine into the causes of the discontent, and not rest satisfied with such answers as had been received that night. When lord Amherst went to India, all was at peace. It was now in a state of disturbance and danger; and that, as he conceived, furnished a sufficient reason for agreeing to the motion. Mr. Astell said, that the papers con'nected with the Burmese war were now on the table. As for the question of the mutiny, he should not enter into it now. It was enough for him to say, that the committee of inquiry was still sitting, and to call upon the House to suspend its Mr. F. Palmer said, he had not heard a single syllable to prevent him from voting for the motion. He was satisfied that there was as general a discontent in the army of India against the government at home, as ever made its appearance in any army. He believed that the comforts alluded to by the hon. director, were withdrawn from the army by the paltry and miserable economy of the directors; that the army was not in a state to take the field; and that young and raw cadets were sent to take command, without understanding a military movement, or a word of the language. Mr. Wigram opposed the motion, and vindicated the conduct of the East-India Directors towards the army. Mr. Trant observed, that the state of the army was not worse than it had been some years ago, and believed that the regulations intended for its advantage had been carried into effect. Mr. Warre expressed his surprise at the charge which was thrown out against the hon. mover, and the hon. baronet, for sliding into discussions upon the state of India, with which the papers moved for were intimately connected. Nothing could be more consistent with parliamentary usage than to introduce matter, though not strictly and technically before the House, provided such matter had an obvious, though a general, connexion with the subject. So far was he from feeling that there was any unfairness in the motion, that his only surprise was, that so many weeks should have been permitted to pass over without bringing the question before the House. When the Sepoys were disaffected-when the British troops were repulsed, and the regiments returned skeletons from the seat of war it was time to feel alarm and adopt inquiry; and upon that ground he should support the motion. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, he had never found fault with any member | Leycester, R. Mr. Hume, in reply, said, that the right hon. the chancellor of the Exchequer could not have understood his speech, or not have heard it: he must have been asleep while he (Mr. Hume) was making his statement, for he could not have so far departed from his usual candour, as to have taken it up in the manner he had done, if he had attended to him. He would defy the right hon. gentleman, or any friend of lord Amherst, to produce a single letter in which the conduct of that noble lord was approved of. As to the conduct of the Sepoys, he was confident that it arose from an improper interference with their prejudices. An hon. baronet had said, that the House ought to be in the possession of official papers before they condemned. It was for official papers that he was now asking, and yet government had refused to produce them. It was said, that the changes with respect to the army were not to take place for three years; but, were not the rumours of such changes likely to have an effect at present? They were already in possession of a few meagre details, and why were they refused a full disclosure, if there was no reluctance on the part of government to meet the question? He held in his hand a gazette, printed under the authority of the government of India, out of which he could condemn them upon their own shewing. He had also a circular addressed to the editors of newspapers, desiring them, in the name of the government, not to notice the conduct of the forty-seventh regiment. He was sorry that his hon. friend, (Mr. Trant) had not expressed in the House the opinion which he had delivered elsewhere, on the total want of confidence in lord Amherst's government, which pervaded not only the Bengal community, but every department of India. He had done his duty in bringing the question before the House, and he had heard no valid reason for opposing it. The House divided: For the Motion 15; Against it 58. Martin, J. Tulk, J. A. TELLERS. Bright, H. Hume, J. HOUSE OF LORDS. Friday, March 25. EQUITABLE LOAN BILL-JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES.] The Earl of Lauderdale presented sundry petitions against the Equitable-Loan Bill. After which, the noble lord said, that when the noble lord who was to move the second reading of the bill, should do so, he should move their lordships that these petitioners be heard by counsel at their lordships' bar, against the principle of the bill; and he thought he should then be able to make out such a case, that their lordships could not refuse to grant the prayer of the peti tion. He would not then enter into any observations on the fury for Joint-Stock Companies which has taken possession of the people. But, in dealing with the present bill, their lordships would have to consider, not only this measure but in what way they should stem the torrent for speculation, which bid fair to do more mischief in this time of peace than he ever recollected. He would ask their lordships to consider, what might be the consequence to the country, and to the persons involved in those speculations, if a war were to break out? There were at present placed at the command of the directors and other managers of JointStock Companies, more than 200,000,000%; one-fourth of which, he believed, was more than the minister had raised by loan, at once, during any year of the late war. The Earl of Liverpool wished to take that opportunity of saying a few words on the subject which had just been alluded to, not, however, with reference to this particular bill, or any measure of the kind. In a country like this, where extensive commercial interests were constantly at work, a great degree of speculation was unavoidable, and, if kept within certain limits, this spirit of speculation was attended with much advantage to the country. In a moment like the present, in a time of profound peace, and when the interest of money was low, it was to be expected that speculation would exist in a very considerable degree. To this he had no objection; but he wished that the |