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 Statement of Facts Delivered 
 to the Right Honourable Lord ...into, 
 Governor-General of India... 
 
 By 
 Llliam Petrie 

 
 READ,,'i
 
 STATEMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 FACTS 
 
 DELIVERED TO 
 
 The Right Honourable Lord Minto, 
 
 GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA, &c. &c. 
 
 ON HIS LATE ARRIVAL AT 
 
 MADRAS. 
 
 By WILLIAM PETRIE, Esq. 
 
 SENIOR MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL AT MADRAS. 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 OF 
 
 OFFICIAL MINUTES. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED FOR J. J. STOCKDALE, 
 
 41, PALL-MALL. 
 1810. 
 
 Price Three Shillings and Sixpence.
 
 \5 i 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE following documents relate to the 
 recent transactions at Madras, and are the 
 most valuable which have yet appeared on 
 this important subject ; because, they bear 
 the signatures of persons high in office, and 
 may, therefore, be considered to be the only 
 ^authentic and official statements which 
 have yet been laid before the public. 
 
 A 2
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 They consist, ^rstf, of a statement of facts, 
 drawn up by Mr. Petrie, senior member of 
 the council at Madras, and presented to 
 Lord Mmto, upon his lordship's arrival at 
 that settlement : secondly , of Sir G. Barlow's 
 minute respecting the conduct of Mr. Petrie: 
 thirdly, of Mr. Petrie's minute in reply to 
 the strictures of Sir George Barlow. 
 
 These documents will supply the public 
 with at least one very singular and novel 
 piece of information, the total contempt 
 which the governor of Madras appears to 
 entertain for the usual forms and practice 
 of British jurisprudence. They also exhibit 
 the remarkable example of the principal law 
 officers (the attorney-general and solicitor,) 
 of the Madras government, being employed 
 by that government to defend persons 
 charged with forging bonds, of which, one of
 
 INTRODUCTION, 5 
 
 those law officers was a considerable proprietor; 
 and, also, of the punishment of the prose- 
 cutors and of the jury,* who, being on their 
 oaths, ventured to find a verdict against 
 criminals,-)- supported by such high autho- 
 rity. 
 
 It appears, however, that the govern- 
 ment of Madras have not mistaken the prin- 
 
 * The jury, who tried the last case, was principally 
 composed of the civil servants of the company, most of 
 whom were removed from their offices, and sent to diffe- 
 rent stations in the country, on reduced allowance. The 
 coses of two of the prosecutors, Messrs. Roebuck and 
 Maitland, are too well known to require notice here. 
 See a short pamphlet, published by Ridgeway, called 
 " A Defence of the Civil Servants at Madras." 
 
 f There were three distinct trials, for forgery, perjury, 
 and combination, on all of which the parties, though 
 defended by the government law-officers, were found 
 ic GUILTY," by three separate juries.
 
 ciples of their superiors in England ; since 
 the court of directors have, in the true spirit 
 of the proceedings at Madras, dismissed Mr. 
 Petrie (after a faithful and zealous service of 
 forty years) from his situation in council, for 
 no other reason, than his having presumed, 
 (in compliance with his duty as a counsel- 
 lor, and with the repeated orders of the 
 court of directors, to the members of their 
 different councils, for this express purpose,) 
 to record, in decorous and modest language, 
 his dissent to proceedings, which he con- 
 sidered to be subversive of the law and 
 dangerous to the public service. 
 
 LONDON, 
 Cith April, 1810.
 
 BEFORE I left the presidency, in the month of 
 May last, on account of my health, Sir George 
 Barlow had become very unpopular; and, in the 
 following month, when at Cuddalore, I heard of 
 considerable discontents in the army. The causes, 
 as correctly as I could trace them, appeared to be 
 more in the manner, than in the measures of his 
 government. His cold and repulsive manners 
 gave very general ; offence and his wishing, in 
 almost every case, to make Bengal the standard 
 or criterion for conducting the affairs of this 2:0- 
 
 C7 *> 
 
 vermnent made an unfavourable impression on 
 the service, and gave an appearance of prejudice, 
 or partiality, which ought to have been studiously 
 avoided on the commencement of his administra- 
 tion. On general principles rcspcctii:^ policy, 
 finance, commerce, and revenue, aa uniformity 
 of system is just and beneficial to the public in-
 
 8 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 terests; but, in the details of business, and in ar~ 
 rangements which are affected by local circum- 
 stances, by physical or moral distinctions amongst 
 the native inhabitants, it is unwise and inexpedi- 
 ent to attempt it. 
 
 Experience universally admits, that the laws, 
 customs, forms, and practice, which may be be- 
 neficial to one state, government, society, or 
 people, may form irreconcilable differences and be 
 radically and totally inapplicable to others. 
 
 While at Cuddalore, a report reached me, that 
 the reductions in the military appointments, and 
 the alterations in the civil establishments had been 
 imputed to Sir George Barlow, and was the prin- 
 cipal cause of his unpopularity ; although I gave 
 little credit to the report, for reasons I shall state 
 hereafter, yet I thought it my duty to explain to 
 the commander in chief, and to the principal 
 officers of the army, with whom I was in corres- 
 pondence, as well as to the civil servants, that these 
 reductions were in strict conformity to the orders 
 of the court of directors, and to the directions of 
 the supreme government; that they had been acted 
 upon by Lord William Bentick, Sir J. Cradock, and 
 myself, and that many of them had been actually 
 carried into effect before I delivered over the go- 
 vernment. The answers I received convinced me 
 that no unpopularity would attach to Sir G. Bar- 
 low upon these reductions. Every projected re-
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 9 
 
 trenchment had been explained by me, in taking 
 charge of the government, to General Macdowall, 
 and such of the principal officers who were then 
 at the presidency ; and, although the reductions 
 were severely felt, I must in truth and justice 
 declare, that there was not a sentiment expressed 
 incompatible with the strictest principles of mili- 
 tary duty and subordination. On the subject of 
 the tent-contract, it was universally known, that 
 I had opposed its first adoption, when projected 
 by Lieutenant-general Stuart, commander in 
 chief during the government of Lord dive; that 
 I supported the new system, which I had strongly 
 recommended to the supreme government, and 
 only waited their sanction, to carry it into effect. 
 It is true, I had said, that I had no objection 
 to go into a discussion upon certain points in the 
 calculation; and that, if it could be made appa- 
 rent to me, that the modification proposed in the 
 contract was equally beneficial to the company, 
 and more efficient for the public service, I would 
 recommend it for adoption. At this time Sir G. 
 Barlow arrived ; and, when the. subject was first 
 brought before him, he seemed disposed to prefer 
 the modified plan of the adjutant-general, and 
 was perhaps prevented, by a very able paper, which 
 I gave him from Lieutenant-colonel Munro. I 
 was then in very bad health, and could not go into 
 all the calculations; but the various discussions
 
 10 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 this question has .given rise to since, induced me 
 to examine the two plans with much attention, 
 and I have now to regret, that I had not sooner 
 seen the superior advantages, in point of efficiency, 
 saving, and facility, of the adjutant-general's, 
 over the one I had transmitted to Bengal. la 
 candour, I thought it necessary to state these cirr 
 cumstances. 
 
 The arrangements \vere, I believe, not carried 
 into effect until the month of July, when I was 
 still absent from the presidency ; and it was re- 
 presented to me, that the unpopularity of the 
 measure was greatly increased, by the manner. in 
 which the abrogation of this contract was given 
 out in general orders. For the original measure 
 I acknowledge my responsibility, but for the 
 publication of these orders, I am, in no respect, 
 answerable. 
 
 Soon after my return to Madras, in August, I 
 found myself obliged to dissent to certain mea- 
 sures, adopted by Sir G. Barlow, against Mr. 
 Sherson, a civil servant on this establishment, 
 which I thought unnecessarily severe, unjust, and 
 unprecedented in the practice and usage of this 
 service ; but my opposition was so guarded, and 
 confined merely to the fact, that it could not give 
 offence to the most irritable disposition ; and, ac- 
 cordingly, this difference of opinion did not ap- 
 pear to produce any alterations in the usual forms
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 11 
 
 of good understanding and intercourse. The next 
 subject of difference arose on the references made 
 to government, by the commissioners for investi- 
 gating the debts of the late nabobs, on the corres- 
 pondence which ensued, and on our interference 
 in the criminal trials, which took place at that 
 time. In our support of the commissioners, I 
 thought we touched on the rights of priva're pro- 
 perty ; and in the measures we pursued for sup- 
 porting the two persons tried fora capital offence, 
 and, above all, for apparently making the govern- 
 ment a party in the trials, by measures which were 
 universally believed to have a direct tendency to 
 influence the juries, and, by the severe punish- 
 ment inflicted on those who concurred in the ver- 
 dicts, given against the two men supported by 
 government, by the commissioners, and defended 
 by the company's law officers : by these, and other 
 measures of a similar nature, I thought we acted 
 unconstitutionally, involving the company and 
 ourselves in an unnecessary and weighty respon- 
 sibility, and extending our support to the com- 
 missioners, far beyond what was in the contem- 
 plation of the couit of directors, when they trans- 
 mitted us their orders on this subject. 
 
 These being my deliberate and conscientious 
 opinions,! did no moie than my duty in record- 
 ing my dissent, which, however, I drew up in 
 terms so guarded, so respectful, and circumspect,
 
 12 
 
 that I defy the ingenuity of malice to impute to 
 me a desire to oppose, or any wish to disturb the 
 operations of government ; and. having applied 
 this observation to the case, of which I have been 
 speaking, I will, to prevent repetition, extend it 
 universally to every dissent I have recorded to 
 the measures of Sir George Barlow's administra- 
 tion. They have certainly been few, considering 
 the opinion I have entertained of them generally , 
 and I shall, probably, hereafter have to defend 
 my conduct for having, upon most of our late 
 measures, which have led to the present unhappy 
 crisis, confined my opposition to the verbal opi- 
 nions I gave to Sir George Barlow, and to the 
 discussions which have taken place in council, 
 where a dissent has been entered on the proceed- 
 ings. I will appeal to every candid mind if it is 
 not apparent, from the document itself, that I 
 performed that duty with reluctance, and, instead 
 of branching out into general and polemical rea- 
 soning, that I have confined myself to the speci- 
 fic case and object of the dissent ; and I take 
 this opportunity of declaring, before God and 
 upon my honour, that I have never given .any 
 opinion to Sir George Barlow, nor offered any 
 advice, which, to the best of my judgment, was 
 not calculated to promote the public interests, 
 and the comfort and honour of his government. 
 I dissented to the removal of Mr. Roebuck and
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 13 
 
 Mr. C. Smith from their official situations as an 
 injury to the public service, and an act of injustice 
 to the individuals. My reasons are briefly stated 
 in the minutes I recorded on these occasions, 
 
 It is necessary here to explain, that I am per- 
 fectly aware these measures have since received 
 the approbation of the supreme government ; 
 but, as my opposition to them took place before 
 any reference was made to that authority, it is 
 allowable for me to explain the view I had taken 
 of the subject, and the grounds on which my 
 opinions were formed; and this explanation will, 
 I hope, equally apply to the subsequent measures 
 respecting the army, in which I have had the mis- 
 fortune to differ widely from Sir G. Barlow, and 
 the majority of council. 
 
 In the course of our proceedings, with respect 
 to Travancore, I thought myself called upon 
 to enter two minutes on our consultations ; but, 
 as they related principally to the conduct of the 
 president, and to a general view of the subject, 
 and not as dissents to the resolutions of council, 
 I was the more surprised to discover a consider- 
 able degree of dissatisfaction on the part of 
 Sir George Barlow. He did not, he could not, 
 question this right that members in council had 
 to record their sentiments, but he did not ap- 
 prove of the exercise of this right.* 
 
 * I desired Sir George Barluw to recollect the repeated
 
 14 STATFMEVT OF FACTS 
 
 No man can be; less disposed than I am to 
 approve of the intemperate order which General 
 Macdowall published to the army previous to his 
 departure, or to palliate any misconduct which 
 can -tend to encourage sentiments of insubordina- 
 tion in the army : but, although the publication of 
 that order might, and probably had, a tendency 
 to increase the discontents which were then in 
 their infancy, the paramount duty of the gover- 
 nor in council was to, consider, not the extent of 
 their power to punish General Macdowall, but to 
 adopt such measures as were best calculated to 
 counteract the effects we apprehended, and to 
 prevent injury to the public interests. The 
 question for immediate consideration was, shall 
 we proceed on principles of severity and coercion, 
 of on those of dignified firmness, moderation, and 
 expediency. Upon every view I could then take 
 <.f the case, and, as it now appears to me, from 
 the various events and occurrences to which it 
 has given rise, I am decidedly of opinion, that we 
 ought to have abstained from any act of personal 
 
 orders i the r<mrt nf directors to the members of council to 
 record their i>epa rate opinion, when the subject appeared to them 
 r> require it, and more 'particularly requested his attention to my 
 (>u n ivcent CUM', when, by the omission of recording the opinion 
 i had expressed, I incurred the displeasure of his majasty's 
 administration ; and that this was assigned, as the vn'ij reason for 
 .'iiy removal irom the government.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 15 
 
 severity to General Macdowa.ll, to have cautiously 
 avoided what would most certainly increase the 
 agitation in the military mind ; and, while we 
 vindicated the supreme authority of government, 
 by the publication of an appropriate general order 
 to the army, have allowed the general to leave 
 India, without any farther marks of our dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 By a vain and impracticable attempt to recal 
 the ship which had sailed with General -Maedowall 
 on board, we lowered the respectability of 
 government iu the eyes of the settlement; and by 
 formally dismissing him from a command he had 
 in fact resigned, and after his departure for Eng- 
 land, we exposed our councils to the imputation 
 of weakness, undisguised resentments, and an 
 useless unavailing display of rigor. If the com- 
 mander in chief had been allowed to depart 
 without these useless manifestations of resent- 
 ment, without, in a manner, implicating the 
 army in his cause, he and the order would have 
 been forgotten in the course of a few weeks. 
 
 Did \ve improve the subordination of the army 
 bv the removal of the q-eneral? did we draw 
 
 ^ \^j 
 
 tighter the bonds of obedience? did we add 
 greater lustre to the clio-nitv of - overnment c did 
 
 O / vT> 
 
 we impress the minds of the officers with higher 
 and more just ideas of our power and authority? 
 and did this measure of impracticable coercion
 
 16 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 tend to suppress the temporary discontents, and 
 remove every cause of complaint from the mind 
 of the army ? A moderate knowledge of human 
 nature, and an intimate acquaintance with the 
 military character, induced me at the time to 
 suspect, that our measure would not produce any 
 of those salutary effects ; and subsequent events 
 have too fully verified the justness of the opinion. 
 It was foreseen, and to be expected, that the 
 feelings of the commander in chief would be much 
 wounded by the orders of the honourablecourt, 
 which deprived him of a seat in council ; but, as 
 I was convinced of the great importance, nay, of 
 the indispensible necessity, of preserving the con- 
 fidence of that officer, and that the discipline 
 and subordination of the army, their obedience to 
 the government, and submission to the consti- 
 tuted civil authorities, was intimately connected 
 with the cordial co-operation of the chief military 
 authority, whom I consider as a most essential 
 link in the chain or bond of union between the 
 civil government and the army, I spared no 
 pains, being then in the government,* to conciliate 
 the feelings of General Macdowall; and by more 
 than usual attention to his wishes and recom- 
 mendations, and by consulting him on every ini.li- 
 
 * Mr. Petrie had charge of the government of Madras during 
 the interval which elapsed between the resignation of Lord William 
 Bentinck, and the appointment of Sir George Karlow. EDITOR.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 17 
 
 tary subject which came hcfore the board, to 
 prevent any dissatisfaction being shewn, which 
 might produce a bad effect, by weakening the 
 authority of government. In this, I believe, I 
 completely succeeded ; and, while I remained on 
 the government, I received from the General 
 the most cordial co-operation in all that related 
 to the government of the army, the military re- 
 duction, and the projected alterations in the 
 establishment. 
 
 General MacdowalPs complaint against my 
 successor, for having pursued a very different line 
 of conduct, with Sir G. Barlow's reply, is upon 
 record ; and, as one asserts what the other denies, 
 people will judge according to their opinions of 
 the individuals. The general's complaint was 
 thought, by those who were in certain habits with 
 him and the government, to be well founded, 
 and that he did not experience those attentions to 
 which his rank and situation entitled him. Pre- 
 vious to General Macdo wall's departure, it was 
 proposed by Sir G. Barlow (upon a misconception 
 as it afterwards appeared) to remove him from 
 the command of the army ; and the measure 
 would have been carried into effect, if I had not 
 prevailed in persuading the governor to require a 
 more explicit declaration of the general's inten- 
 tion; which he gave, and shewed that we had put 
 an erroneous construction on his letters.
 
 18 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 In a letter which he wrote to us a few days, I 
 believe, before he embarked, he made .an allusion 
 to me, which, to prevent misconception, I ex- 
 plained in a minute I delivered to council, in 
 which I neither did directly nor indirectly give 
 any opinion upon the matter in dispute between 
 Sir George Barlow and General Macdowall. 
 Notwithstanding the inoffensive tendency of this 
 paper it drew from the governor a most intem- 
 perate letter, imputing to me intentions I never 
 contemplated, and a declaration that, if I persist- 
 ed in recording my minutes, he must reply in a 
 manner that would lead to serious controversy in 
 council. I immediately repelled the imputation, 
 but added, that, as the subject of my minute 
 was in itself of little importance, I should with- 
 draw it rather than engage unnecessarily in a 
 controversy, which might prove very inconve- 
 nient and embarrassing to the public intents 
 under this government. From the explanations I 
 have given, it might be supposed that government 
 would not have been disposed to carry their re- 
 sentments farther than the dismission of General 
 Macdowall, with the strong and criminating orders 
 which they published to the army upon that occa- 
 sion, and that it would not have appeared neces- 
 sary to extend punishment to the subordinate 
 officers who acted merely in obedience to the 
 orders of the General. Sir G. Barlow viewed the
 
 DELIVERED ;TO LORD MINTO. 39 
 
 subject in a different light; frtd, in an evil hour, 
 proposed and carried the fatal resolution of sus- 
 pending the adjutant and deputy-adjutant general 
 from the service, for having, in the usual forms of 
 office, circulated, agreeably to the directions of the 
 commander in chief, his fare\\'ell address to the 
 army: an address which certainly conveyed in- 
 temperate feelings on the interference of govern- 
 ment in the case of Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, 
 and an injudicious and inapplicable reprimand to 
 that officer for his appeal to the governor in 
 council against the orders of his commander in 
 chief. This farewell order, or address was consi- 
 dered by government, as tending to excite a 
 spirit of insubordination in the army against the 
 supreme, civil, and military authority, and conse- 
 quently illegal ; and as subordinate officers are 
 not obliged to obey the illegal orders of their 
 superiors, Colonel Capper and Major Boles were 
 considered to be implicated in the offence of the 
 general, and the insulted dignity of government 
 would not be vindicated without the exemplary 
 punishment of these officers. Upon this opinion 
 the government acted ; and hence has arisen con- 
 sequences which are still operating, and effects 
 produced of incalculable magnitude to the security 
 of our power in India. The publication of this 
 order gave an universal impulse to the army, and 
 led to discussions of infinite danger to the firmest
 
 20 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 principles of established authority. If we had 
 overlooked the conduct or misconduct of these 
 officers, no one will seriously affirm that the 
 authority of government would have been weak- 
 ened, the discipline and subordination of the 
 army relaxed, or the security' of the state 'en- 
 dangered ; but, by the suspension of these officers, 
 we have called forth feelings and passions in 
 the military mind, which have shaken the au- 
 thority of government to its centre, disorganized 
 and convulsed the army, and, to the conviction 
 of all, have now at this time brought our best 
 and most valuable interests into imminent danger, 
 and, I fear, insuperable difficulties. 
 
 The measure of removing Lieutenant Colonel 
 Capper, and Major Boles was universally con- 
 demned by the most respectable officers in the 
 army, and not more so by the officers in the com- 
 pany's service, than by those of his Majesty's re- 
 giments. It was felt by all as the introduction 
 of a most dangerous principle, and setting a per- 
 nicious example of a disobedience and insubordi- 
 nation, to all the gradations of military rank and 
 authority : teaching inferior officers to question 
 the legality of the orders of their superiors, and 
 bringing into discussion questions which may en- 
 danger the very existence of government. Our 
 proceedings at this time operated like an electric 
 shock, and gave rise to combinations, associations.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 21 
 
 and discussions, pregnant with danger to every 
 constituted authority in India ; it was observed 
 that the removal of General Macdowell (admit- 
 ting the experiency of that measure,) sufficiently 
 vindicated the authority of government, and ex- 
 hibited to the army a memorable proof that the 
 supreme power is vested in the civil authority. 
 
 The offence came from the General, and he 
 was punished for it ; but to suspend from the 
 service the mere instruments of office, for the 
 ordinary transmission of an order to the army, 
 was universally condemned as an act of inappli- 
 cable severity, which might do infinite mischief, 
 but could not accomplish any good or beneficial 
 purpose. It was to court unpopularity and add- 
 ing fuel to the flame, which was ready to burst 
 forth in every division of the army ; that to vin- 
 dicate the measure on the assumed illegality of 
 the order, is to resort to a principle of a most 
 dangerous tendency, capable of being extended 
 in its application to purposes subversive of the 
 foundations of all authority, civil as well as mili- 
 tary. If subordinate officers are encouraged to 
 judge of the legality of the orders of their supe- 
 riors, we introduce a precedent of incalculable 
 mischief, neither justified by the spirit or practice 
 of the laws. Is it not better to have the responsi- 
 bility on the head of the authority which issues 
 the order, except in cases so plain, that the most
 
 12-3T STATEMENT' bp- FACTS 
 
 common capacity can judge of their being direct 
 violations of the established and acknowledged 
 laws. ; the intemperance of the expressions, 
 the indiscretions of the opinions, the inflamma- 
 tory tendency of the order, so eminently danger- 
 ous, so evidently- calculated to excite to mutiny 
 and disobedience, so strongly marked with fea-^ 
 tures of criminality, as not to be mistaken : was 
 the order, I beg leave to ask, of this description, 
 of such a nature as to justify the adjutant general 
 and his deputy in their refusal to publish it, to 
 disobey the order of the commander in chief, to 
 revolt from his authority, and to complain of him 
 to tlr, j government?'. such were the views I took 
 
 O 
 
 of tluit unhappy transaction; and, as I foresaw 
 serious mischief from the measure, not only to 
 the discipline of the annv, but even to the secu-< 
 
 / ' 
 
 rity of the civil government, it was my duty to 
 state my opinion to Sir G. Barlow, and to use every 
 argument which my reason .suggested to prevent 
 the publication of the order : in this I completely 
 failed ; the suspension took effect, and the match 
 was laid, that has communicated the (lame to 
 almost every military mind in India. I recorded 
 no dissent; for, as a formal opposition could only 
 fend -to: exonerate myself from a certain degree 
 of responsibility, without effecting any good 
 public purpose, and might probably be miscon- 
 strued or misconceived by 'those to whom oui
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 23 
 
 proceedings were made known, it was a more ho- 
 nourable discharge of my duty to relinquish this 
 advantage, than to comply with the mere letter of 
 the order respecting dissents : I explained this 
 motive of my conduct to Sir G. Barlow. 
 
 From this period to the publication of the 
 orders of 1st of May, including the space of near 
 three months, the discontents, or rather the vio- 
 lent agitation in the army were rapidly increasing, 
 every day produced some new manifestation of 
 their feeling, communicated in letters, addresses, 
 appeals, and manifestoes, which, to every man 
 accustomed to observe the progress of the pas- 
 sions, exhibited an alarming view of the public 
 interests under this Presidency. Their writings 
 breathed a spirit of insubordination and resis- 
 tance, which could only be tolerated on grounds 
 of expediency, policy, or necessity. 
 
 I have often said there is a wide difference 
 between the mutiny of a corps and the disaf- 
 fection or revolt of a whole army, and the mea- 
 sures suitable to the one are totally inapplicable 
 to the other; prompt and rigorous correction will 
 compel the one, but the other must be regained 
 and subdued by the same means, which wisdom, 
 talents, and knowledge of the hitman mind, em- 
 ploys in the government of millions. 
 
 Government, or rather the head of the govern- 
 ment, was never correctly informed of the actual
 
 state of the army, or I think he would have 
 acted otherwise : he was told, and he was willing 
 to 'believe, that the discontents were confined to a 
 small part of the troops ; that a great majority 
 disapproved of their proceedings, and were firmly 
 and unalterably attached to government. It is far 
 from my wish to think or judge unfavourably 
 of any man, but, in the extreme exercise of 
 candour, I cannot form myself to believe, that 
 the officers who gave the information to Sir G. 
 Barlow could be ignorant of the general, nay 
 universal, ferment which agitated and disturbed 
 every division and station of the army. It is, 
 however, much to the honour of the officers em- 
 ployed in the expedition against Travancore, that, 
 although their commander, and nearly all the 
 officers serving under him, had taken an active 
 part in exclaiming against the measures relative 
 to General Macdowall, Colonel Capper, and Ma^ 
 jor Boles, and had signed certain inflammatory 
 papers upon what they represented to be a flagrant 
 breach of military law and rights, yet, so far from 
 relaxing in their professional duties, or abating in 
 their zeal for the service of their country, the 
 officers and men appeared to vie with each other 
 in the most gallant and arduous exertions, under 
 a variety of difficulties, which could only have 
 been surmounted by the irresistible valour, spirit, 
 and determination of the troops.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. S5 
 
 Till the publication of the orders of the 1 st of May, 
 although alarming symptoms of an organised deter- 
 mination to compel government to granta redress of 
 grievances had been formed in most of the prin- 
 cipal stations of the army, yet, I believe, a very 
 great majority contemplated measures of violence 
 with horror ; and, although unanimous in their 
 complaints, by far the greater number, and proba- 
 bly all the seniors and most respecful officers were 
 determined to await the decision of superior au- 
 thorities, rather than attempt, by illegal and un- 
 constitutional means, to wrest justice from the 
 hands of the existing government. Some divi- 
 sions had broken out into very intemperate per- 
 sonal attacks upon Sir G. Barlow ; they considered 
 him as the origin and cause of all their grievances, 
 and demanded, in terms not less reprehensible 
 than the object, his immediate recal ; but, I be- 
 lieve, this wild, extravagant, and foolish attempt 
 received no support from the general sentiments 
 and approbation of the army. 
 
 When the orders of the 1st of May were com- 
 municated to me by Sir G. Barlow, I delivered to 
 him at great length my conscientious opinion of 
 their evident tendency to drive the army into 
 measures of fatal extremity, which might endan- 
 ger our most valuable interest in India. That I 
 was convinced the orders were injudicious and 
 dangerous, as thrv concerned the public; and, as they
 
 26 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 related to individuals, they appeared to me un- 
 just, violent, and unconstitutional ; I was con- 
 vinced they would do infinite mischief; that the 
 charges appeared to me loose, irrelevant, and ill-de- 
 fined, some of them incapable of evidence, and 
 others founded on information that cannot be 
 produced ; and that the punishment of so many 
 officers, without trial or a hearing in their defence, 
 would be universally condemned as a most danger- 
 ous departure from the first and most invaluable 
 principle of British liberty. The power of sus- 
 pension or punishment, without a court martial, 
 I did not question ; but it is a power which ought 
 to be exercised with great prudence and discretion, 
 and only when reasons of state necessity rendered 
 it inexpedient to publish circumstances which 
 might be brought out in the examination of evi- 
 dences, or to propagate the causes which at that 
 time compelled government to depart from the 
 usual course of justice, and to exercise a power 
 beyond the law ; if even the sovereign availed 
 himself but seldom of this power, it certainly was 
 not for inferior authorities or distant govern*- 
 ments to resort too often to its application, 
 where a wider field is open for abuse, and more 
 danger to be apprehended from the unconstitu- 
 tional extension of authority. 
 
 I said I was convinced there was not a shade 
 of diurrnice in our ultimate objects, and that it
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MIXTO. 27 
 
 was equally the desire of both to recal the army 
 to a state of order, subordination, and confidence 
 in government : but that, with the same inten- 
 tions, it was very possible we might differ widely 
 as to the best means for attaining that end ; that 
 if the turbulence, of which he spoke, was con- 
 fined to a part, and did not extend to a majority of 
 the army, I concurred in opinion with him, that 
 it was our duty to meet the case with severity 
 and exemplary punishment ; but that if the whole, 
 or a great majority, was disaffected to govern- 
 ment, the measures he proposed were, in my 
 opinion, totally inapplicable : they appeared to me 
 rash, hazardous, and disproportioned to the mag- 
 nitude of the emergency. Instead of stifling the 
 flame, they would augment and extend it. I was 
 afraid he was not sufficiently aware of the critical 
 state of the public mind, and of the incalcula- 
 ble danger of increasing the irritation in the 
 army, which at this time is said to be only kept 
 within bounds by their attachment to their coun- 
 try, and the dread of involving themselves in the 
 crimes of revolt and rebellion. Influenced by such 
 powerful sentiments, we might operate on their 
 minds more dfcctually by other means, than by 
 punishment, severity, and intimidation. Sir G. 
 Ijarlow assured me I was "TtMtly misinformed : 
 
 v_7 - 
 
 thai he could rely upon his intelligence, and would 
 produce to council the most satisfactory and
 
 unequivocal proofs of the fidelity of nine-tenths 
 of the army ; that the discontents were confined 
 almost exclusively to the southern division 
 of the army; that the troops composing the 
 ; v force,* those in the ceded districts, in 
 the :-2ntre, and a part of the northern division, 
 were all untainted by those principles which had 
 misled the rest of the army ; hut that, whatever 
 the danger might be, he was prepared to meet it ; 
 that the contest was now brought to a crisis, 
 and we must see whether the government or 
 the army is superior. 
 
 I observed, that, although I entertained more 
 than doubts of the expediency of the measures 
 proposed, and their ultimate success, yet, as they 
 were sanctioned by the opinions and orders of 
 the government-general, as they were approved 
 by the other members of this government, and 
 as he was confident that the agitation was con- 
 fined to a small part of the army, it was no part 
 of my public duty to offer any opposition to the 
 
 * It soon afterward appeared, that the subsidiary force enter- 
 tained still greater sentiments of insubordination than the other 
 divisions, which, in an address to Sir G. Barlow, they signified in 
 the most unqualified terras; from that force, the resolutions and 
 declarations have issued, which excited the garrison of Masuii- 
 patiun in revolt, and which has been followed bv a similar act ot 
 iht'ir o'.vn. With respect to the other stations of the arms', I? 
 ha^ since been found that. Sir G. Barlow was equally misinformed
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 29 
 
 orders he proposed to publish ; I farther observed, 
 that his determination to meet and oppose the 
 danger, if it was even greater, would be judged 
 of by the magnitude and nature of the case to 
 which the resolutions applied, by the probability 
 of success, the consequences of failure, the pro- 
 portion between the utmost benefit that can 
 accrue to the public by coercion, and the utmost 
 loss the state may sustain by the defection or 
 revolt of the army : that the papers he had com- 
 municated to me were unquestionably of an in- 
 flammatory and mutinous tendency ; but, at the 
 same time, it was satisfactory to find, except in 
 those intemperate and highly disrepectful pro- 
 ductions, there was no apparent disposition shewn 
 to disobey or oppose the constituted authorities ; 
 that every order of government was executed 
 with prompt obedience, and that no inter- 
 ruption had been experienced in the usual 
 and ordinary course of military discipline and 
 subordination. In this state of things, wis- 
 dom and prudence would pause and deliberate 
 on what was best to be done for the public inte- 
 rests, and for the security of the country ; dis- 
 cretion would put aside every private feeling 
 of resentment, every personal consideration, and 
 view the subject in no other light than as it afreets 
 the interest of Britain, of our immediate em- 
 ployers, and the tranquillity of the country. I 
 repeated nearly the same sentiments in council.
 
 30 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 but the other members concurred in opinion with 
 Sir G. Barlow, and the orders were immediately 
 published. 
 
 I have dwelt the longer on this proceeding, as 
 it will appear, when all the transactions of this 
 unhappy period are brought into one general 
 view, to have been far more important in its con- 
 sequences and effects than any of the other 
 measures of this government, from these events, 
 which took place in May to the beginning of 
 July, when a part of the army broke out into 
 open mutiny, and when, in the opinion of the 
 best informed, a calamitous and destructive ex- 
 plosion was ready to burst forth on every point 
 on the Peninsula, menacing not only the over- 
 throw of the supreme military authority, and the 
 entire disorganisation of the army, but even 
 aiming a deadly wound at the existence of our 
 power in the East, at a time when there was reason 
 to fear, that the flames might spread to the other 
 presidencies, as reports were prevalent, that as- 
 surances of support and co - operation had 
 come from certain stations of the Bengal and 
 Bombay armies. 
 
 During this eventful period, when every clay 
 was expected to produce some unparalleled ca- 
 lamity, I had several conversations with Sir 
 George Barlow, particularly on the proceedings 
 at Masulipatam, on the appointment of Colonel 
 Malcolm, to command the gairison of Masulipa.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. Si 
 
 tarn, and on the important communications of that 
 officer relative to the unanimous determination of 
 the army, to obtain a repeal of the orders of the 
 first of May ; and that the agitation extended 
 from Cape Cormorin to Cuttack, and strongly 
 recommending measures of conciliation : also upon 
 the dispatches of the resident* at Hyderabad, and 
 Colonel Montresor,')' representing the imminent 
 danger to the British interests in the Decan, from 
 the general disaffection which prevailed in the 
 subsidiary force, and the probable national mis- 
 fortune to be apprehended from the defection of 
 the company's troops at that station, or from 
 hostilities between them and his majesty's re- 
 giment,;]: which he had no doubt would support 
 the government, stating, in the most impressive 
 terms, the certain ruin that must inevitably en- 
 sue from either of those measures. The resident 
 says, that the discretion, judgement, and mo- 
 deration of Colonel Montresor has, alone, hi- 
 therto prevented a convulsion in that part of the 
 army, which would certainly have taken place, if 
 he had attempted to carry into effect the orders 
 sent to him from Madras. 
 
 * Captain Thomas Sydcnliam. 
 
 f Colonel Montresor commanded the subsidiary force at 
 Hyderabad. I The ,13d foot. 
 
 To remove from their corps, and send under a t;uard, to 
 the presidency, such officers as would not withdraw their names 
 from certain papers.
 
 32 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 On all these subjects we had much discussion, 
 and particularly on the suggestion and recom- 
 mendation of Colonel Malcolm, for immediate 
 conciliation with the army. He was convinced 
 that even a conciliatory appearance on the part 
 of government would produce the happiest ef- 
 fects ; but that, if it was determined to resort 
 alone to force, to reject all idea of conciliation, 
 and to insist on the unconditional submission of 
 the officers, government must be provided with 
 a force adequate to a general attack on all the 
 divisions of the army ; and in the eventual success 
 of a bloody civil war, depend upon the ac- 
 complishment of what might be obtained by in- 
 considerable concession, and judicious concili- 
 ation. 
 
 To Sir George Barlow it appeared, that govern- 
 ment must not concede under any circumstances 
 whatever, and must meet all those eventful mis- 
 fortunes rather than repeal an order once passed, 
 or rescind any of the orders of severity, which 
 have been adopted towards the army. Very dif- 
 ferent is the result of my reflections on this mo- 
 mentous subject, implicating the lives of thou- 
 sands, and national considerations of greater 
 magnitude than ever came under the deliberation 
 of a British government. On the opinion I have 
 given, I must stand or fall ; but, however I may 
 bow with submission to the will of a superior 
 authority, I do not think that torture could make
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 33 
 
 me retract the solemn dictate of my conscience, 
 that every order issued by this government, for 
 the last twelve months, had better be repealed, 
 than the country plunged into the incalculable 
 horrors of civil war, a war with our country- 
 men, Briton against Briton, and the Sepoys ap- 
 pealed to, and called in, to decide this fatal con- 
 flict. 
 
 Much inapplicable reasoning and ver} r erro- 
 neous conceptions have arisen from mistaken 
 views of the nature and effects of what is com- 
 monly termed concession, which some have as- 
 serted to be an evil of eveng reater magnitude, than 
 the actual loss of India. I apprehend tbe go- 
 vernment of England will not readily subscribe to 
 this opinion, any more than the administration 
 of the day would have preferred the loss of the 
 whole British fleet, to the concessions granted to 
 the mutinous seamen at Spithead. History, as 
 well antient as modern, abounds in examples 
 of governments having been compelled to yield 
 certain points to the general will, to fleets and 
 armies, or to the armed mass of the people. We 
 find many memorable instances of reasonable and 
 judicious concessions having averted the storm, 
 and recalled revolted armies to their duty and 
 allegiance; while, in other pages, we read of the 
 ineffectual and rash efforts of the civil power 
 having accelerated its downfal, and led to ex- 
 
 Q
 
 Ji ^TATEMEJTT OF FACTS 
 
 tremities, which were, probably not contemplated 
 when the resisting party '. had first recourse to 
 arms. 
 
 The best period of concession is when it can 
 be done with dignity, and when what is conceded, 
 may be considered as a boon, from the justice 
 and liberality of government ; but, when the re- 
 spectful request is rejected, complaints and re- 
 monstrances will ensue, one unhappy step impels 
 to another, with increasing velocity, until the 
 fatal river is crossed, when concessions assume a 
 more alarming form, and demands may be made 
 which cannot be granted without a surrender of 
 the fundamental rights of the state. An enlight- 
 ened and philosophic historian has : justly ob- 
 served, that standing armies are a certain evil ; 
 but when it is necessary to resort to them, a 
 wise government will never quarrel with them, but 
 obviate the cause of their complaints, before it 
 is preferred. One specious and common objection 
 to concession is. that, if government gives way 
 in one instance, it must continue to concede, for 
 that the demands of the army will rise in pro- 
 portion as we yield to their requisitions, and, in 
 the end, demand the resignation of the govern- 
 ment : this objection is more plausible than just. 
 It is a general proposition, taken universally, and 
 applied to a case, in which it is entitled to no 
 weight, unless instances can IK* adduced t-> jus-
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 35 
 
 tify the application. Was the government of 
 England ruined by conceding what was asked by 
 the armed volunteers of Ireland, by its yielding 
 to the demands of the fleet at Spitliead, or did 
 the loss of the Bengal provinces follow the con- 
 cessions made to the army in 17.96*'? And were 
 these seasonable acts of judicious policy pro- 
 ductive of other demands, from those who had 
 their claims attended to ? 
 
 I beg to be understood as referring merely to 
 the policy and 'expediency of those measures, 
 and that I do not presume to offer any opinion on 
 the abstract rights, or merits of the questions 
 then at issue ; for, I believe, I am not unfounded 
 in saying, that it is only on these grounds wecan 
 consider the case, as governments seldom con- 
 cede but from necessity, because a lesser is pre- 
 ferableto a greater evil. 
 
 For these reasons, and on these and similar 
 principles, I have invariably recommended conci- 
 liation. I will not here admit the term concession; 
 for until Colonel Malcolm left Masulipatam, I 
 verily believe, any manifestation almost of the 
 wish of government to a conciliatory explanation 
 with the army, would have produced the most 
 happy effects, in allaying the general agitation ; 
 and would most certainly have prevented the 
 melancholy and ever-to-be-lamented occurrences 
 which have taken place since. I have seen many 
 
 c 2
 
 36 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 openings, within the last three months, where con- 
 ciliation might have been obtained, without a sa- 
 crifice of any part of the real dignity of govern- 
 ment : and I have deeply deplored that they were 
 not acted upon. I have seen, when the ringer of 
 a child might have extinguished the spark, w'hich 
 has now grown up into a flame, from under the 
 foot of the giant. 
 
 I am sorry I have extended this narrative to a 
 length I did not foresee when I first entered upon 
 it ; but, as it is necessary I should shew the reasons 
 which guided my judgement on the opinions I have 
 given on the late momentous occurrences under 
 this government, and fully explain the grounds 
 on which I thought myself compelled to differ so 
 widely in opinion from the other members of go- 
 vernment ; I trust I shall be forgiven for having 
 gone so very largely into details and that these 
 pages will receive a candid and indulgent peru- 
 sal. 
 
 The reasoning and arguments which I have re- 
 cited are not for the information of the noble 
 person for whom this paper is immediately in- 
 tended, but in vindication of the conduct I have 
 pursued, from the commencement, to the present 
 state of the discoh-tents in the army, including a 
 series of proceedings, which deeply interest every 
 part of the British empire. 
 
 I impute to no mafc, v, itii whom I have differed
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 3? 
 
 in opinion, any other motives than the good of 
 his country and the interests of his employers. 
 I lament to have disagreed so much in opinion 
 with Sir George Barlow, on the nature and ten- 
 dency of the means, which have been employed 
 to obtain those ends : but the objects were too 
 important for me to yield up my judgement upon 
 any personal considerations, or to approve of 
 measures, to which, after mature consideration, I 
 attached infinite and unnecessary danger. I trust 
 I shall experience the same candour and justice 
 from others, in judging of me, as I have shewn 
 to them on this occasion. 
 
 More recent events to the 5th August, have too 
 fully confirmed the apprehensions I have so often 
 expressed, that a perseverance in the spirit of ri- 
 gour and severity, which has hitherto directed our 
 measures, would lead to extremities, from which 
 neither could recede ; and that the arrny might, 
 in support of their demands for redress of grievan- 
 ces, advance step by step, to the perpetration of 
 a crime, which would render the breach between 
 them and the state irreparable : and will any one 
 say, that this is not a serious calamity, and that it 
 would not have been fortunate, for the interests 
 and security of India, if it could have been pre- 
 vented? It will naturally be asked, if the mea- 
 sures, which have lead to this convulsion, were 
 of that insuperable necessity, that government
 
 38 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 was imperiously impelled to the adoption of them? 
 I certainly think not. That no such necessity did 
 exist, and that the rescinding the order of the 1st 
 May bore no proportion to the magnitude of the 
 evil, involving the country in the calamities of 
 revolt, rebellion, and civil war. If we fail, India 
 is lost; and, if we succeed, I am afraid it will be 
 by means which, at no very remote period, will 
 endanger every British foot of land in the country, 
 and certainly, at an expense of blood, at which 
 humanity revolts. 
 
 Of the late measures of this government, origi- 
 nating in the proceedings in council, on the 26th 
 and 28th of last month, I wish to say but little; the 
 subject must ever be painful to every one, who 
 wishes well to his country ; and, whatever be the 
 linal issue, I must ever deplore the disorganization 
 of an army, which, in all those qualities which 
 iTmlers the profession of a soldier valuable to his 
 country, honourable in itself, and respected in 
 society, was inferior to none in the British 
 service ; their valour, discipline, and patience under 
 hardships, have often been the theme of praise, 
 and their gallant achievements, by which the 
 most brilliant jewels have been added to the British 
 crown, will remain an indelible record in the 
 gratitude of their country, while not a trace re- 
 mains of the passing cloud, which at present ob- 
 scures the lustre of their former actions. Candour
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO, 39 
 
 will anxiously search for some palliation for their 
 present excesses. 
 
 Having, however, been a reluctant actor in these 
 melancholy scenes, it is incumbent upon me to 
 give a candid relation of facts, and also to state 
 the reasons which induced me to think most un- 
 favourable of our late measures. 
 
 On the 26th of last month, papers were laid be- 
 fore council, by Sir George Barlow, communicat- 
 ing the refusal of the subsidiary force to obey the 
 orders of government, with a variety of documents 
 to prove the determination of the army to insist 
 upon the repeal of the orders of the 1st May. In 
 consequence of this state of things, Sir George 
 Barlow proposed that a paper should be tendered 
 to all the company's officers for signature, decla- 
 ratory of their determination to obey the orders 
 of government ; and that those who should de- 
 
 it 
 
 cline signing the paper, should be removed from 
 their corps, and ordered to reside in some situation 
 where they can have no intercourse with the rest 
 of the army. It was also proposed, that the native 
 officers of the sepoys should be called together, and 
 their duties clearly explained to them, that their 
 first and most binding duty was to pay implicit 
 obedience to the orders of government, and to 
 obey such officers as that authority placed ovei 
 them. 
 This declaration or test, contained no farther
 
 40 /STATEMENT OP IACTJ 
 
 obligation than what the articles of war and their 
 commissions impose upon them; but, from the 
 manner it was tendered, implying suspicion and 
 distrust of their honour and fidelity which till then 
 had never been impeached, and, also from the of- 
 fensive and insulting manner in which, in some 
 stations, the orders of government were carried 
 into effect, a very great majority, and many who 
 have never taken any part in the late dissentions, 
 every where refused to sign this paper. 
 
 By this unhappy experiment, ten-twelfths of the 
 officers are for a time, and perhaps for ever, lost 
 to the service. The army is disorganized, and 
 distrust, suspicion, and keen resentments have 
 diffused their baneful effects through every corps 
 in the service. 
 
 With respect'to remote and ultimate consequen- 
 ces, this appeal of government to the native troops 
 is, perhaps, more pregnant with danger to our se- 
 curity in India than any other measure we have 
 yet adopted. Besides its immediate and ruinous 
 effects on the discipline and subordination of the 
 army, it leads to consequences of far more general 
 magnitude and importance. 
 
 By this appeal to the sepoy, we instruct him in 
 the fatal truth, that on the support of his arm de- 
 pends the security of the empire in the east. It 
 removes the delusion by which for so many years a 
 handful of Europeans has kept millions in awe ; and.
 
 DELIVERED tO LOUD MINTO. 41 
 
 for a temporary and no great national object, endan- 
 gers the whole machine of our Indian government. 
 I consider this to be the most fatal wound that the 
 public safety has received in the present distracted 
 conflict. Granting us complete success, it will be 
 found, I fear, at no remote period, that we have 
 purchased the victory by the ruin of our country. 
 .Great, indeed, must be the emergency, and the 
 object of infinite importance, to justify a govern- 
 ment in resorting to the dangerous and unexam- 
 pled experiment we have made on the native 
 troops : nothing less, in my opinion, than an ob- 
 vious and evident danger, which menaces the very 
 existence of the state, by a combination of the 
 officers to deliver over the army, or the country 
 to our enemies. 
 
 Since this measure was, under any circumstan- 
 ces, judged necessary, it is to be regretted that 
 its execution was not confined to those corps and 
 situations where there were good grounds for suspi- 
 cion. Unfortunately, resolutions have passed, and 
 orders have been issued, on the information and 
 feelings of men at the Presidency, instead of the 
 safer measure of resorting to the opinions of the 
 most respectable and best informed officers, serving 
 with the troops in the interior stations of the 
 army. 
 
 The excesses which have been committed in 
 Mysore are greatly to be lamented, as they render 
 conciliation more difficult, and place the army iu
 
 42 STATEMENT OF 
 
 a posture of liOvStility to the government no less 
 fatal to their own interests than alarming to the 
 peace and security of the country. Whatever 
 opinion may be formed of previous measures, no 
 differences can exist as to" the high criminality of 
 the rash and inconsiderate step they have taken in 
 openly opposing, and waging war against, the legal 
 'authority of the state. That the individuals im- 
 plicated in this lamentable occurrence have ren- 
 dered themselves obnoxious to the severest penal- 
 ty of the law cannot be questioned; but still a 
 wise and enlightened government will consider 
 whether, under the heaviest aggravations of the 
 case, it may not be more sound policy to extend 
 the hand of mercy to those unhappy men, than 
 to proceed against them with the utmost rigour of 
 unrelenting justice. Will an act of magnanimous 
 and dignified mercy, or the most exemplary 
 punishments, prove at this time most benefi- 
 cial to the public interest? In every view of the 
 subject, in all its bearings and relations, I am con- 
 vinced, that mercy shewn at this time to the mis- 
 led and unfortunate army will be productive of the 
 most salutary effects, and will contribute more 
 than ten thousand punishments to the restoration 
 of tranquillity, mutual confidence, and subordina- 
 tion. 
 
 Jty a measure of this liberal and benevolent po- 
 licy, government may yet lepa'trthe most violent
 
 DELIVBjtfcD TO LORD UIKTO. 43 
 
 shock which our power has ever received in this 
 quarter of India. 
 
 Some of his Majesty's officers, commanding di- 
 ^isions of the army, have delayed carrying the 
 orders of government into effect, for tendering 
 the declaration to the Company's officers for sig- 
 nature, because, they knew it would not be obey- 
 ed, and that the execution of the subsequent or- 
 ders would expose the provinces where they com- 
 manded to the danger of insurrection and revolt* 
 The Honourable Colonel Stuart, commanding at 
 Quilon, reports this explicitly in these words: 
 " I am also given to understand, that even a pro- 
 " posal of the kind would most likely produce an 
 " open and immediate revolt." He states, that, 
 in the district where he commands, the company's 
 troops amount to seven battalions of sepoys, two 
 companies of pioneers, with a company and half 
 of artillery, while the force that he can rely upon 
 is only his Majesty's 19th regiment of foot. On 
 the receipt of this letter, Colonel Stuart was or* 
 dered, without delay, to carry the orders into ef- 
 fect. Is this to be justified under the information 
 
 */ 
 
 received from Colonel Stuart? If he fails, and 
 any misfortune ensues to his regiment, or the 
 country, how can we acquit ourselves under the 
 awful responsibility which will rest upon us. 
 Shall we not place ourselves in a degree of higher 
 criminality to our country, than the deluded troop.-
 
 44 - . 3TATMENT. .OF PfcCTS 
 
 who have opposed our autliority at Seringapatam ? 
 And will not the responsibility fall the heavier 
 upon us from its haviftg been officially communi- 
 cated to us, that the governor-general is now on 
 his way to this Presidency, for the express pur- 
 pose of inquiring into the discontents of the army, 
 and for adopting such means as he shall judge ex- 
 pedient for averting the calamities of anarchy and 
 insubordination; may it not materially increase the 
 difficulties of the governor-general in accomplish- 
 ing that desirable object? 
 
 Colonel Forbes, commanding in Malabar and 
 Canara, writes : " That every thing there is per- 
 " fectly quiet, and will remain so, if the declaration 
 " is not proposed ; but, if it is pressed upon the offi- 
 " cers, they will refuse it, and, from that moment, 
 *' the sepoys will be in open mutiny." When he re- 
 ceived the order, he concluded that government 
 was not aware of the profound quiet which reigned 
 in Malabar and Canara, and the mutual confidence 
 which exists between his Majesty's and the honour- 
 
 J */ 
 
 able company's forces ; that he had communicated, 
 privately and confidentially, upon honour, with 
 Major Vernon, who commanded the company's 
 troops, and that this officer assured him, if the 
 contents of the government-order were made 
 known, lie would not answer for the consequen- 
 ces, and was rather disposed to dread a mutiny
 
 DELIVERED TO- tORtr'MrNTO. $5 
 
 among the sepoys, whose miads had been" much 
 agitated by itinerant emissaries.* 
 
 Although I have already extended this narra- 
 tive to a length which I apprehend may in some 
 respects be judged unnecessary, I hope it will be 
 admitted, that I have confined myself generally to 
 the principal facts, measures, and proceedings, 
 which have, step by step, led to the present un^ 
 happy state of things. There are, however, a 
 number of lesser and subordinate causes which 
 have occurred, and which have had no small effect 
 in blowing up the flame and producing the present 
 general irritation in the public mind. 
 
 I shall at present only advert to the very inju- 
 dicious, indiscreet, and frivolous, disputes which, 
 for the last six or seven months, have taken place 
 with respect to toasts, invitations, and other cir- 
 cumstances of the same nature, in the private soci- 
 eties of the settlement The power and influence 
 of government on one side, and the general unpo- 
 pularity of its measures on the other, produced 
 parties in society, which very extraordinary ta- 
 lents might have reconciled, but which authority 
 could not suppress. In the commencement of the 
 discontents, the military in general, at the Presi- 
 dency, declined accepting of the governor's invita- 
 
 * No answer that I have soon has yet been sent to Colonel
 
 4<> STATEMENT OF FACfS 
 
 tions to dinner. This was taken up in a manner 
 which gave importance to a circumstance of no 
 moment in itself, and, by making the refusal a 
 breach of military discipline, it increased the spi- 
 rit of resistance ; and many officers preferred in- 
 curring the severest displeasure of government, ra- 
 ther than give this invokintary test of obedience. 
 The young men of the institution were ordered to 
 their corps, because they would not attend a ball 
 of Lady Barlow's. A battalion of sepoys was sent 
 across the peninsula to Goa, because the officer* 
 refused to dine with the governor : this was cer- 
 tainly undignified and injudicious, and shewed lit- 
 tle knowledge of the world, or of the human cha- 
 racter ; at no period could it have been more re- 
 quisite to seek, by every conciliatory expedient^ 
 to heal the sores which, for some time past, had 
 been festering in the military mind, to bury in 
 oblivion the causes of irritation, and to allow 
 the passions to subside into their usual course; 
 but, on the contrary, every occasion appeared to 
 be anxiously sought for to provoke, tease, and 
 exasperate, the feelings, to keep alive the recol- 
 lection of their first grievances, and to confirm 
 them in the opinion, that they had still further to 
 fear from the displeasure of government. The 
 general tenor of our orders breathed sentiments 
 which seemed to justify these suspicions; we 
 seldom appeared but in menace, i> 'prehension, and
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 47, 
 
 punishment. Measures of severity followed one 
 another so rapidly, that men had not time to, 
 cool, or to reflect, either on present effects, or fu- 
 ture consequences. 
 
 As to myself, I shall wait with patience for the 
 judgement that may he passed on my conduct. 
 The wisest men are fallible, and it would ill be- 
 come me to be confident of having been free from 
 error. The subjects on which I have offered 
 opinions certainly appeared to me of that nature, 
 which I thought precluded the possibility of a 
 difference of sentiment, where the mind was free 
 from bias, and the judgement not deceived by 
 misrepresentation ; and if I have gone wrong, I 
 can urge no other excuse than that my errors 
 have been unintentional. The wisdom or pru- 
 dence of measures should not be tried by the 
 event ; they may have been unwise and danger- 
 ous, although, by great and improbable good for- 
 tune, the result has proved successful : should 
 those which we have pursued be crowded with 
 the most complete and brilliant success, if it 
 should, nevertheless, appear that more has been 
 risked than in wisdom should have been en- 
 dangered, we cannot expect a verdict in our 
 favour. 
 
 With this narrative, I have given copies of the 
 address, lately presented by certain inhabitants 
 of this place to the governor in council, of my
 
 48 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 letter to Sir G. Barlow on that subject, and his. 
 reply; upon the last I shall offer no remark. 
 Many judicious and respectable men have thought 
 as I did, that any measure of the community, at 
 this time, which could tend to increase the ge^ 
 neral irritation, and to wound the feelings of the , 
 army, was unseasonable, useless, and imprudent. 
 
 I will appeal to the most active supporters of 
 the measure, if the effects have not been the Tery 
 reverse of what was expected ; has it strength- 
 ened the government ? Has. it united the settle- 
 ment more firmly in support of our measures ? 
 Has it contributed to restore harmony, mutual 
 confidence, and goodwill, which, for the last 
 seven months, have been unknown in this com- 
 munity? On the contrary, has it not increased 
 animosity, rancour, and contention, by giving 
 one subject more for virulent discussion, and the 
 collision of contrary opinions, which, in the 
 present feverish state of the public mind, dis- 
 tracts and disturbs all the gradations of society 
 in this settlement ? The disposition of the com- 
 munity was not favourable to the measure, and 
 the promoters of it ought to have been aware, 
 that by the indiscreet means they used to obtain 
 signatures, they were weakening, instead of 
 strengthening the arm of the executive autho- 
 rity. 
 
 Within these few days the j>vospect has not inK
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 49 
 
 proved : the accounts from every quarter an- 
 nounce a systematic arrangement for opposition, 
 which this government did not expect. 
 
 The continued resistance at Seringapatam ; the 
 refusal to admit Colonel Close's authority, at Hy- 
 derabad,* and the subsequent proceedings there ; 
 the preparations for offensive operations at Ma- 
 sulipatam ; and every public and private report 
 from the southward, shew, if not a connection 
 of system, or place, yet evidently a decided co- 
 incidence of opinion and sentiment, as to the 
 cause and object of their measures. It does not 
 appear, by our recent communications from the 
 officers commanding stations, that the European 
 officers had any communication with their men, 
 until the government had adopted the measure of 
 detaching the sepoys from their officers, which 
 they all understood to be an open avowal of the 
 intention of proceeding to the utmost extre- 
 mities against them. In this they have been con- 
 firmed by the general amnesty offered to the non- 
 commissioned and privates, and consequently 
 leaving them no hopes of pardon from the mercy, 
 if they cannot exact it from the necessity or the 
 policy of government. 
 
 * Sir G. Barlow would never admit almost the possibility ol 
 a civil war, from our disputes with the nrmy. He ridiculed the 
 idea, and said cu'ry tiling would be settled in lour days, after 
 the arrival of Colonel Close, at Hyderabad 

 
 50 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 Awful and menacing, as the prospect is, I do 
 not yet despair of a speedy restoration of tran- 
 quillity : I am still of opinion, that the army will 
 seize the first favourable opportunity of being 
 reconciled to its government. From the arrival of 
 the governor-general, the most happy and bene- 
 ficial consequences, may be expected, and I in- 
 dulged a lively confidence, that, in his wisdom, 
 such measures may be adopted, as will arrest the 
 progress of this destructive flame, and restore in- 
 ternal peace and security to our valuable posses- 
 sions in India. The means, I trust, are fully in 
 his power : nothing will, I hope, be required, but 
 what justice will be disposed to grant, and dig- 
 nity may concede. Many think, with me, that 
 an indication of conciliations from the governor- 
 general will be received with raptures by the 
 army,t hat they will grasp the olive-branch with 
 gratitude ; and, from the confidence they repose 
 in his wisdom, justice, and beneficence, that 
 they will place his lordship in the high and envia- 
 ble situation of conferring an inestimable bles- 
 sing on his country ; of stopping the effusion of 
 blood, which is ready to flow in this calamitous 
 contest ; of arresting the progress of anarchy 
 and confusion; and of rescuing the best interests 
 of Britain, from the unmeasurable danger to 
 which they are, at present, most imminently ex- 
 posed. 
 
 T have just seen an order of the governor, to be
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MFNTO. 51 
 
 published to the army, dated yesterday,* and 
 probably issued last night, although it was not 
 brought to me until to-day, at noon. If it is the 
 intention and object of the governor to render the 
 breach irreparable between the army and us, to 
 apply the torture instead of conciliation, to drive 
 to absolute despair and destruction nearly all the 
 officers of this army, and to convince them they 
 have nothing to expect from the mercy and cle- 
 mency of government, that their arms are now 
 their only resource ; if such is the object of this 
 publication, it must -be allowed, that it is clearly 
 and unequivocally expressed, that there is no am- 
 biguity in our terms, and that the words are ap- 
 propriate to the severest measures which can be 
 in the contemplation of government : this I sin- 
 cerely deplore, but cannot prevent. The irrita- 
 tion of government seems little less than that of 
 the army; and whoever does not entirely and un- 
 conditionally concur in all their opinions and 
 measures is considered as hostile to the legal go- 
 vernment, and an abetter of the general discon- 
 tents. 
 
 The intemperate and rash measure of a part of 
 the army, who are actually in arms against the 
 constituted authority, makes it more than ordi- 
 narily difficult for me to act. Conciliation, and 
 
 " August l.j. 
 D '2
 
 52 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 to avoid the horrors of a civil war, are the most 
 ardent wishes of my heart ; and, if I knew myself, 
 I would lay down my life to avert such a calamity 
 to my country. By open opposition to the pre- 
 sent measurse I may dangerously implicate 
 myself; I may perhaps do wrong; and most as- 
 suredly opposition from me now could do no 
 good. I shall, however, signify to Sir G. Barlow, 
 by letter, my sentiments on the proposed order, 
 which I consider unseasonable, injudicious, and 
 disrespectful to the governor-general, who may 
 be hourly expected at Madras to investigate those 
 very subjects on which we so peremptorily decide; 
 and that, by shutting the door of mercy against 
 any part of the army, we may throw considerable 
 embarrassments in the way of Lord Minto, in 
 the measures he may judge expedient to pursue 
 for the return of tranquillity, and to stop the 
 farther progress of resistance, anarchy, and dis- 
 order. 
 
 Orders have been sent to Colonel Wilkinson, at 
 Trichinopoly, and to Colonel Davis, at Mysore, 
 to proceed immediately to offensive measures 
 against the company's troops who have not submit- 
 ted to the orders of government; and, if they do not 
 surrender at discretion, to destroy them at Serin- 
 gapatam, where the garrison is in a state of open 
 revolt. The order cannot be objected to on the 
 grounds of justice; but, under all circumstances,
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 53 
 
 and referring to the inadequacy of our means at 
 present, the expediency of the order is not so 
 apparent. To the southward I deprecate the 
 consequences of such instructions to Colonel 
 Wilkinson. This officer, doubtless from motives 
 of zeal for the public service, has hitherto carried 
 the orders of government into effect with great 
 
 o o 
 
 rigor and severity; and there cannot be a doubt 
 of his attempting to execute the present with 
 equal promptitude and energy. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Vesey, commanding at Palam- 
 cotah, apprehends the most fatal consequences to 
 the tranquillity of the southern provinces, if Colonel 
 Wilkinson makes any hostile movements from 
 Trichinopoly. In different letters he states, that 
 such a step must inevitably throw the company's 
 troops into a state of open revolt. He has ventured 
 to write in the strongest terms to Colonel Wilkin- 
 son, entreating him not to march against the 
 southern troops, and pointing out the ruinous con- 
 sequences which may be expected from such a 
 measure. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart, inTravansore, and Co 
 lonel Forbes, in Malabar, have written, that they are 
 under no apprehension for the tranquillity of those 
 provinces, or for the fidelity of the company's 
 troops, if government does not insist on enforcing 
 the orders for the signature of the test: but that if 
 
 o 
 
 this is attempted, the security of the country will
 
 ,54 STATME^ 7 T OF FACTS 
 
 be imminently endangered. These orders are to 
 be enforced, and I tremble for the consequences. 
 
 The order to the army, which was brought to 
 me on the 14th of August, has this day appeared in 
 the Government Gazette, in some passages 
 considerably softened ; but still the tendency and 
 probable effect of such a publication will be gene- 
 rally understood to be directly hostile to concilia- 
 tion, and calculated to excite the misguided 
 officers to farther acts of violence and revolt. 
 What public good can result from this ? The fol- 
 lowing passage is taken from a letter I have this 
 day received from a deplomatic officer of much 
 respectability in this country : " You have made a 
 " trial of one system, and I fear it has completely 
 " failed. Try its opposite, for there is now no me- 
 rt dium ; concede and conciliate and all will go on 
 " well." 
 
 A letter received from the Honourable Colonel 
 Stuart, comanding his majesty's 19th regiment, 
 at Quiloon, appears to me entitled to serious con- 
 sideration, and I have therefore extracted the 
 following passages, as the dispatch may not offi- 
 cially come under the observation of the Governor 
 General.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 55 
 
 From the Honourable Colonel Stuart, Qutioon, to 
 the Chief Secretary to Government, dated the 
 7th of August, 1809. 
 
 It is with extreme regret that I am obliged to 
 report, for the information of the honourable the 
 governor in council, that the two corps at this place, 
 viz. 2d and 1st battalion of the 4th regiment, which 
 had been under marching-orders for some time past, 
 and only waited for the necessary camp-equipage 
 and pay, have now refused to move. 
 
 The late measures of government, as carried into 
 effect at the presidency and Trichinopoly, have 
 created a most violent ferment among the corps 
 here. At those places where the European force 
 was so far superior in number to the native, the 
 measure probably was executed without difficulty ; 
 but here, where there are seven battalions of sepoys, 
 and a company and a half of artillery, to our one 
 regiment, I found it totally impossible to carry the 
 business to the same length, particularly as any 
 tumult among our own corps would certainly bring 
 the people of Travancore upon us. 
 
 It is in vain, therefore, for me, with the small 
 force I can depend upon, to attempt to stem the 
 torrent here by any acts of violence. 
 
 Most sincerely and anxiously do I wish that the 
 present tumult may subside without fatal conse-
 
 56 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 quences ; which, if the present violent measures 
 are continued, I much fear will not be the case. 
 If blood is once spilt in the cause, there is no 
 knowing where it may end ; and the probable con- 
 sequence will be that India will be lost for ever. 
 So many officers of the army have gone to such 
 lengths, that, unless a general amnesty is granted, 
 tranquillity can never be restored. 
 
 The honourable the governor in council will 
 not, I trust, impute to me any other motives for 
 having thus given my opinion. I am actuated 
 solely by anxiety for the public good and the bene- 
 fit of my country ; and I think it my duty, holding 
 the responsible situation I now do, to express my 
 sentiments at so awful a period. 
 
 Where there are any prospects of success it 
 might be right to persevere ; but, where every 
 day ? s experience proves that the more coercive 
 the measures adopted, the more violent are the 
 consequences, a different and more conciliatory 
 line of conduct ought to be adopted. 
 
 I have the honour, &c. 
 
 The following is a Copy of an Address from the 
 Officers referred to in the Letter of Colonel 
 Stuart to the Chief Secretary of Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Things of importance, when required to be told 
 at a juncture like the present, admit of no pream-
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 57 
 
 ble ; we, therefore, proceed to inform you, that, 
 authentic information having been received of the 
 determination of government to exert every re- 
 source, under every circumstance and at all risks, 
 to stifle the voice of the army, which has mere- 
 ly been calling aloud for justice, under the assumed 
 designation of quelling a dangerous insurrection 
 and mutiny, a shadow of which we are convinced 
 never existed, it becomes to us a bounden duty 
 not only to deny a fact, thus unwisely, as well as 
 unjustly, asserted, but to exert every active mea- 
 sure within our power to prevent the operation of 
 an assumption so palpably destructive in its ten- 
 dency. 
 
 The orders of government, appointing certain 
 officers of his majesty's service to do duty with 
 the native corps of the honourable the company's 
 army, which were circulated at this station yester- 
 day, and which are so diametrically opposite to 
 the spirit of the regulations for the guidance of the 
 army, together with the very alarming communica- 
 tions respecting threatened proceedings in different 
 parts of the Madras establishment, which have 
 from day to day been received from Travancore, 
 combined with the late measures of government, 
 calling on their officers for a pledge ot allegiance, 
 beyond the sacred obligation of their commissions, 
 have all conspired to excite such a degree of alarm 
 in our minds, which it is impossible to describe.
 
 5$ 
 
 We feel that a new order of things is intended, 
 and perceive in the change nothing less than a 
 subversion, by force, of the constitution, established 
 by the united wisdom of the British legislature for 
 the government and preservation of our country's 
 empire in the East. 
 
 The dispersion of the honourable company's 
 troops, and in particular instances their aggrega- 
 tion under the controul of a superior European 
 force of his majesty's service, plainly confess the 
 object in view: considering that the success of this 
 system of .dividing, in order to destroy, must inevi- 
 tably be attended by consequences as shocking to 
 individuals as ruinous to the state, and firmly be- 
 lieving that the object (if legitimate,) is attainable 
 by measures of a very different complexion, we 
 feel ourselves compelled to state to you, that we 
 see a strict propriety of urging, that the execu- 
 tion of the order for separating the force under 
 your immediate command at this place should be 
 postponed until the determination of government 
 be known, on the address* forwarded by you, on 
 the night of the 4th instant, by which time we are 
 sanguine in the hope that affairs will bear a more 
 favourable aspect. 
 
 We have, &c. &C. 
 Signed by 50 officers, 
 
 August 7, 1809. II. C. S. 
 
 * This address I iui\e never ^cen.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 59 
 
 A dispatch* from Captain Sydenham, stating that 
 the company's troops in the subsidary force had deter- 
 mined to march to take up a position at some dis- 
 tance from the cantonments, which they had signi- 
 fied to Colonel Montresor ; but, on a spirited and 
 very impressive appeal from that officer, they had 
 given up the intention, and remained under his or- 
 ders for the present. 
 
 Received an express from Seringapatam to an- 
 nounce the attack and dispersion of two native 
 battalions, marching from Chittledroog to reinforce 
 the garrison of Seringapatam, by the Sillidar horse 
 of Sevenca : no correct particulars have been re- 
 ceived, but the resident says it is probable the 
 two battalions have been cut to pieces. It is al- 
 lowable for humanity to drop a tear over this me- 
 lancholy event, to deplore the loss of so many 
 lives, which had on former occasions been so use- 
 fully employed in the British service many of these 
 had fought arid bled ; for as at the battle of Assage, 
 and to one of the corps, the gallant general who 
 commanded the troops in that desperate engage- 
 ment thought himself much indebted for the for- 
 tunate issue of that battle : may this be the last 
 blood that is shed in this lamentable contest. 
 
 Received the reports^ from the Resident, at My- 
 sore, and from Colonels Davics and Gibbs, of the 
 
 * August 16. t August 17-
 
 60 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 attack and defeat of the two native corps, with the 
 measures connected with that occurrence, but still 
 indistinct and contradictory as to the action, and 
 the number killed and wounded : Captain Mackin- 
 toch, who commanded one of the battalions, is 
 wounded and a prisoner, and in his opinion most 
 of the other officers are either killed or desperately 
 wounded; it appears the garrison sallied, but were 
 driven back, and that another sortie with a consi- 
 derable force and ten guns from the fort had attacked 
 our camp, but were compelled to retire into the 
 fort, by the party left for its defence. 
 
 An important dispatch from Hyderabad, with 
 a letter to the governor-general, signed by all the 
 company's officers in the subsidiary force, sub- 
 mitting unconditionally to his orders and decision, 
 
 O v * 
 
 requesting only a general amnesty for themselves 
 and brother officers ; they have also signed the 
 
 * / c_> 
 
 test. 
 
 I have invariably expressed the most perfect 
 confidence, that the arrival of Lord Minto, or 
 even the intelligence of his determination to 
 proceed to Madras, would produce the most 
 happy consequences, and that his orders would 
 be immediately obeyed by every officer on the 
 establishment. I confess, however, this step of 
 the subsidiary force has outstripped my most 
 .sanguine expectations, may it be the happy pre- 
 lude, as I think it will be, of returning tranquillity,, 
 confidence, .subordination, and obedience.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MTNTO. 61 
 
 A letter from Colonel Forbes, commanding in 
 Malabar : to prevent a revolt in the province, and 
 the probable march of the company's troops to- 
 wards Seringapatam, he had accepted of a mo- 
 dification in the test, to be signed by the officers 
 on their parole,, to make no hostile movements 
 until the pleasure of the government was known. 
 
 Disapproved by government and ordered to 
 enforce the former orders. 
 
 From General Pater, at Masnlipatam, announc- 
 ing the submission of that garrision: the officers 
 have signed the test and thrown themselves on the 
 mercy and generosity of Lord Minto. General 
 Pater takes the command of the fort on the 8th; 
 the garrison was to have marched towards Hy- 
 derabad, with their guns, stores, and a native 
 corps, when the fortunate arrival of a Bengal 
 paper,' with Lord Minto's last communication to 
 the Bengal army, produced an instantaneous 
 effect : the officers submitted and returned to 
 their duty. 
 
 A dispatch from Colonel Close, in which, I 
 think, he imputes to his exertions the favourable 
 change in the subsidiary force. I trust I have 
 misconceived his meaning, for, as far as I can 
 judge from the official papers, all that Colonel 
 Close had in his power to do at Hyderabad had 
 no more eifect in reclaiming the refractorv officers, 
 
 o ^ 
 
 than in producing the revolution in Portugal.
 
 62 STATEMENT OF FACTS 
 
 An order to Colonel Close to return and resume 
 the command of the subsidiary force : lie is di- 
 rected lo carry the orders of government into 
 effect, to vindicate its authority, and to order the 
 immediate march of the native troops to Goa, 
 which had been the subject and cause of their 
 first opposition to government. The object is 
 just, but I fear the measure is inexpedient and 
 dangeous in the moment of returning loyalty. 
 Is it safe to recur to subjects of irritation and 
 suspicion ? Is it wise to put them to this test 
 before their submission and obedience are con- 
 firmed and established ? Just as the wound is 
 bemnniii"; to heal the bandage is torn off, and the 
 
 O O O ' 
 
 cure not only protracted, but, probably, rendered 
 more difficult than when the wound was first 
 inflicted. 
 
 Orders dispatched to Colonel Close not to 
 carry the former one, respecting the march of the 
 native corps to Goa, into effect, and to conceal 
 from the force that such an order had been sent 
 them. 
 
 The public treasure at Vizagapatam and Samul- 
 cotah seized by the officers commanding the 
 native corps in those districts, who delivered 
 receipts for the amount to the collectors. 
 
 By dispatches from Colonel Davis and Mr. 
 Cole,* we ar? informed of the unconditional sur- 
 
 * Brother to Lore! Ennibkellen, and resident at Mysore.
 
 DELIVERED TO LORD MINTO. 6$ 
 
 render of Seringapatam to the authority of Lord 
 Minto, and that the officers of the garrison have 
 thrown themselves upon his lordship's clemency. 
 Colonel Davis expected to take possession of the 
 fort on the ensuing day : there is every reason to 
 look for a similar determination on the part of the 
 Travancore troops. 
 
 On the recent occurrences which I have related, 
 it is unnecessary to make any observations ; the 
 facts speak for themselves ; and on them I hope 
 the ultimate decision will be passed. It is, however, 
 allowable for me to remark, that my prediction of 
 the good consequences which would immediately 
 result from Lord Minto's communication to the 
 Bengal army, and the knowledge of his coining 
 round here, have been fully confirmed. Previously 
 to this being known, three-fourths of the Madras 
 army were in a state of direct and avowed opposi- 
 tion to government : the strong fortress of Seringapa- 
 tam was in complete possession of the insurgents ; 
 seven or eight native corps, with a strong detach- 
 ment of artillery, were concentrating themselves in 
 Travancore; Masulipatam was in open revolt ; and 
 measures had been taken by the subsidiary force at 
 Hyderabad, and the troops at laulnah, for a most 
 alarming, and probably fatal, plan of operations in 
 support of what they term the general cause of 
 the armv. From the southernmost point of the
 
 64 STATE&ENl OF F 
 
 peninsula to the borders of Cuttack the authority of 
 government was resisted, and openly opposed. 
 Intimidation and coercion had completely failed ; 
 and, by a perseverance in the same system, every 
 reflecting mind trembled for our empire in the 
 east. 
 
 In this crisis, on this volcanic ground, the army 
 received the communication of Lord Minto's noti- 
 fication to the army of Bengal, and of his intentions 
 of proceeding to Madras, with enthusiastic plea- 
 sure ; every measure of violence, which had been 
 either adopted or contemplated, was immediately 
 abandoned. The force at Hyderabad, and the 
 garrison at Masulipatam, who had been the first to 
 resist the orders of government, took the lead in 
 returning to the allegiance of duty and obedience. 
 Their submission was unconditional ; but to the 
 governor- general, and not to the governor of Madras. 
 Their example has been every where followed; 
 the gates of Seringapatam have been thrown open 
 to the same authority ; and we have reason to 
 expect the most favourable accounts from Travan- 
 core. In that quarter we were particularly vul- 
 nerable ; and, on the first hostile movements, a 
 general revolt of the people was to be appre- 
 hended.
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 SIR GEORGE BARLOW'S MINUTE. 
 
 Fort St. George, August 21 1809. 
 
 the contest between legitimate authority and faction 
 in these territories is now rapidly advancing to the most 
 desirable termination, I consider it to be necessary to re- 
 cord my sentiments on some of the occurrences which 
 Lave agitated the public mind, since my succession to the 
 government of this Presidency. In stating these senti- 
 ments, it will be my painful duty to advert particularly 
 to the line of conduct which lias been pursued by Mr. 
 Petrie, whose opinions must, from his situation, be 
 received by all as next in importance to my own in their 
 influence on the public welfare. 
 
 Among the subjects which have necessarily engaged 
 the public feelings, the investigation of Mr. Shcrson's 
 conduct, and that of his servant?, in the grain dep-irt-
 
 2 Statement of Facts [Barhw. 
 
 ment, holds the first place in order, and from the pro- 
 ceedings founded on that investigation, is scarcely less 
 distinguished in importance. When I arrived at this 
 Presidency, I found that circumstances had led to a sus- 
 picion of the correctness of the accounts of that depart- 
 ment, which had already been submitted to the inves- 
 tigation of a committee nominated by my predecessor, 
 Mr. Petrie. The investigation which followed, betrayed 
 the grossest scene of fraud to an immense amount, by 
 means of double accounts; and the conduct of Mr. 
 Sherson during the enquiry, in breaking open the desks 
 of his absconded servants, in endeavouring to obtain the 
 suppression of the suspected accounts, by offering, in 
 the event of his being replaced in the management of 
 the department, to take on himself the responsibility of 
 all the deficiencies, notwithstanding the large quantity 
 of grain which appeared to have been embezzled, and 
 his subsequent attempt to cloak the frauds already de- 
 tected by a chain of estimates and calculations to which 
 these frauds had been but too plainly adapted, left me no 
 doubt as to my duty in proceeding to punish him as the 
 principal delinquent. The case was of a nature which 
 admitted of its being easily misrepresented : the real 
 merits of it could be known only to a few. The Board 
 are well acquainted with the clamour which was indus- 
 triously and too successfully raised against the Govern- 
 ment upon every point of the inquiry, and on its final 
 decision regarding it, is well known to the Board, and 
 indeed to every person at. this Presidency. The clear 
 detection of delinquency (.MI the part of Mr. Sherson, 
 aggravated by peculiar circumstances of violation of 
 
 r? ~ * 1 
 
 confidence, which ought, in well- regulated minds, to 
 have rii:cJ but one feeling, was drowned in the cry 
 >f ;i numerous ;;nd active party against the motives
 
 Barlow.'] delivered to Lord Minto. 8 
 
 of the first author and promoters of the discovery, 
 while Mr. Sherson was openly and notoriously up- 
 held as the innocent victim of violence, injustice, and 
 tyranny. 
 
 Mr. Petrie continued to support Mr. Sherson, in 
 whose favour that clamour had been raised, when sus- 
 pended by this Government, first from all employments, 
 and afterwards from the service, by habitually receiving 
 and countenancing him at his house, as well as by his 
 minutes in Council, 17 and 23 September, and 29 
 Nov. 1808. A principal object of these minutes, as well 
 as Mr. Sherson's voluminous papers, is to shew that the 
 original vouchers and documents of the departments, the 
 examination of which has so completely exposed the 
 frauds committed, and to which Mr. Petrie, while 
 governor, had attached the greatest importance, by ap- 
 pointing a committee of three gentlemen to translate 
 them, were undeserving of credit or attention. I refer 
 to the above minutes of Mr. Petrie, as best shewing 
 whether they are written in the spirit of fair reasoning 
 and cool judgment upon the merits of the case, or whe- 
 ther they are not more calculated to furnish topics of de- 
 clamation, and to afford encouragement to those who Were 
 already loud in the general outcry against the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The clamour of party in favour of Mr. Sherson, and 
 against the Government, received material support from 
 the conduct of Ms. Smith the civil auditor, in attempting 
 to cloak the peculations of the grain depattment, by 
 forcing upon the Government an audit not justified by 
 any rules or principles of accounting, and by pertina- 
 ciously excluding from his notice the clear fact of actual 
 detected fraud : those irregularities were so flagrant, and 
 the disrespect to the Government was so little
 
 4 Stqtemvit of Facts [Barlow. 
 
 that the conduct of Mr. Smith could not be attributed 
 to any other pause than the blindness of factious party 
 zeal ; it could not have originated in any motives of self- 
 interest in Mr. Smith, nor was he suspected of such 
 motives. The removal of Mr. Smith from the duties 
 of an office which he had perverted, added to the vio- 
 lence of the factious clamours against the Government, 
 which the minute of Mr. Petrie, of the 13th March 
 1809, naturally tended to foment. In that minute, and 
 in the public clamour, the absence of corrupt motives 
 was considered as entitling Mr. Smith to an acquittal 
 frc-m blame, and it was forgotten that the Government 
 had to protect itself against factious opposition as well 
 as to punish corruption. 
 
 Another fruitful source of obloquy against the govern- 
 ment has been its conduct with reference to the prosecu- 
 tions in the supreme court, connected with the subject of 
 the Carnatic debts. 
 
 The commissioners appointed by the Right Honoura- 
 ble the Governor General in council, and invested by 
 the covenants entered into between the Honourable Com- 
 pany and the creditors, and by the legislature, witli 
 powers wholly independent of the Governor, applied to 
 this Government for the professional assistance of their 
 law officers in certain cases in which they considered that 
 assistance to be of importance to the objects of their 
 appointments. Their Government complied with th 
 request of the commissioners, whom they considered to 
 be the only competent judges of the question, in this, as 
 well as in every oilier part of that discussion, our view of 
 (lie subject has since been fully confirmed by the Gover- 
 nor General in council, in his letter to this Govern- 
 ment, dated ~itli April last. This interference of the 
 Government soon became, in the then agitated state of
 
 Barlow."] deliver cd to Lord Minto, 5 
 
 the public mind, an additional source of loud com- 
 plaint; the cause of Government Was identified with 
 that of the servants of the Nabob, who had been ap- 
 pointed to assist the Company in the examination of 
 the Durbar accounts ; and these servants stood their seve- 
 ral trials under all the load of public odium which fac- 
 tion could heap up against a cause to which the Govern- 
 ment had considered it to be its duty to afford its support. 
 Three successive verdicts, to each of which the supreme 
 Court has refused to give effect, shewed the misguided 
 state of the public feelings. That constitutional interpo- 
 sition of the Court became in turn the object of invec- 
 tive : a body of gentlemen, headed by Mr. Roebuck, 
 voted an address and a piece of plate to the counsel for 
 the late prosecutions, as the champion of the rights of 
 juries, which were pretended to have been violated by 
 the acts of the Court under the influence of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 I have most sensibly felt the support and countenance 
 which that factious outcry received from the minutes of 
 Mr. Petrie, dated 30th December 1808, and 10! h and 
 15th February 1809, in which he insists that the inter- 
 ference of the commissioners and of the Government 
 was improper. 
 
 It will be remembered, that those trials took place at 
 the same moment when Lieut. General Macdowall, 
 after visiting several of the divisions of the army, and 
 disseminating those principles of insubordination, the 
 direct consequences of which have of late been so dread- 
 fully felt, had returned to the Presidency, where li is pre- 
 sence contributed to unite into one mass the whole body 
 of oppositions against the interests of the Government : 
 to him also, a number of gentlemen, principally in the
 
 6 Statement of Facts 
 
 civil and military services of the government, headed 
 by Mr. Roebuck, paid the tribute of approbation by the 
 vote of an address and a service of plate, to; which his 
 true claims with most of the subscribers cannot be mis- 
 understood . 
 
 When the opposition to the Government had acquired 
 such a strength as to impede the public measures, it be- 
 came the duty of the Government to suppress it. Among 
 others, the conspicuous part taken by Mr. Roebuck in 
 every point in which the public interests had been op- 
 posed, led to his removal to a situation in which it was 
 supposed that his exertions might be better employed. 
 Upon this occasion also, I had to lament that, by the 
 minute of Mr. Petrie, dated the I5th February last, 
 this act of the Government was attributed to causes very 
 different from those in which it originated, and that it 
 received a construction calculated to inflame the mind of 
 the public, already but too much agitated. 
 
 Thus, in every question in which the Government has 
 had to contend against the public clamour, until it found 
 itself obliged to repel the seditious acts of the officers of 
 the Company's army by the strong hand of authority, 
 Mr. Petrie had withheld from the act of the Govern- 
 ment the support of his opinion, which was, on the 
 contrary, thrown into the opposite scale. 
 
 When the subsequent questions relative to the seditious 
 conduct of the army, which directly involved the public 
 safety, came successively under the consideration of 
 Government, Mr. Petrie, although he did not in coun- 
 cil oppose the suspension of Major Boles and Lieut. 
 Col. St. Leger, or of the other officers from the service 
 of the Honourable Company, yet, uhcn it became gene- 
 rally known that a large portion of the army had sub-
 
 Barlow.'} delivered to Lord M into. 7 
 
 scribed for Major Boles's indemnification, and openly- 
 treated him as a martyr in their common cause, it is no- 
 torious that this officer was habitually received at Mr. 
 Petrie's house. It is equally notorious that, when Lieut. 
 Col. St. Leger had been suspended for conduct which 
 seriously endangered the authority of the Government, 
 and was permitted to come to the Presidency only to 
 prepare for his embarkation, he also was received at 
 the house of Mr, Petrie. 
 
 It was of the utmost importance to the Government, 
 in the late struggle, that there should appear to be a de- 
 cided unanimity in the councils of Government on all 
 the points connected with the support of its authority 
 against every encroachment ; the countenance, therefore, 
 which Mr. Petrie afforded to the suspended officers could 
 not fail to be productive of the most prejudicial effects 
 on the public interests, and there accordingly appears to 
 have been but one impression abroad, as to the feelings 
 and opinions of Mr. Petrie, with regard to the late mea- 
 sures of the Government. 
 
 This general impression was confirmed by a late occur- 
 rence, which presented to Mr. Petrie, equally with the 
 other members of the Government, an opportunity of 
 giving the most public and decided proof of their senti- 
 ments on the conduct of the officers of the Company's 
 army. In the commencement of a rebellion, apparently 
 most formidable, I had acquiesced in the proposal of an 
 address being presented to me from the nur>t respectable 
 persons in station and rank in the Settlement, in the 
 hope that their opinion might have some influence in re- 
 calling the infatuated officers to a sense of thecnormit}' 
 of the crimes into which they Avere plunging. That 
 paper will remain for ever in my mind one amon<.'
 
 8 Statement of facts [Barlow. 
 
 many instances of the benefit which has resulted to my 
 Government from the loyalty and public spirit of that 
 revered Magistrate, the Chief Justice, Mr. Thomas 
 Sharpe, of Mr. Oakes and Mr. Casamajor, two of the 
 members of the council, and of Major-General Gow- 
 die, commanding the army in chief, whose names were 
 at the head of a list of highly respectable individuals 
 who came forward at that critical moment to support 
 the cause of legitimate government. 
 
 Above all in importance at that juncture would have 
 been the signature of Mr. Petrie to that address. One 
 body of the army was actually in rebellion, two others 
 were upon the brink of it. It seemed to be possible that 
 a knowledge of the unanimous opinions and determina- 
 tions of the members of Government respecting the cri- 
 minal course which the officers of the army were pur- 
 suing, and of the certainty of the consequences of their 
 adhering to it, might have made them pause. The 
 address contained no reference to the past acts of the 
 Government, in approval of its measures ; it was con- 
 fined to the mere pledge of support to lawful authority, 
 and disapprobation of the mutinous acts of the army. I 
 cannot understand upon what principles any member of 
 this Government, or any faithful subject of the King, 
 could withhold his signature from that address, holding 
 the important situation which Mr. Petrie fills. I view 
 his refusal to sign it as a public avowal that he did not 
 wish to be considered as disapproving the acts of the 
 army, and that he did not desire to discountenance, by 
 the additional weight of the name of the second mem- 
 ber of the Government, the criminal designs which that 
 
 ' O 
 
 army had formed against it. 
 
 It will remain, with Mr. Petrie to explain his motives
 
 .] delivered to Lard Miv>to^ 9 
 
 for having thus systematically countenanced the corrupt, 
 factious, and seditious proceedings to which I have ad- 
 verted: it is my duty to notice his conduct, from the 
 prejudicial example vfhjch it Has aflforcled to the service, 
 from the serious impediments which I have received from 
 it in the administration of the affairs of Government, 
 and from the injury which it lias occasioned to the 
 public interests. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 G. II. BARLOW.
 
 10 Statement of Facts \JPetrie. 
 
 MR. PETRIE'S MINUTE, 
 
 Madras, September 8, 1809. 
 
 IN a short minute which I delivered on the 30th ul-. 
 timo, I acknowledged having received, the preceding 
 evening, the minute of the Honourable the President, 
 dated the 21st of last month, and signified my intention 
 of replying with all practicable dispatch to the nume- 
 rous and severe animadversions which that paper con- 
 tained upon my public conduct for the last twelve 
 months, and imputing to me a considerable part, if not 
 the whole of the effects, which have resulted, in the 
 natural and almost necessary order of things, from causes 
 of much greater magnitude and importance. 
 
 Although the minute of the Honourable the President 
 professes to be a record of his sentiments, on some of the 
 occurrences which have agitated the public mind since 
 the commencement of his administration, I cannot dis- 
 cover that it contains any other matter, or that it has 
 been written with any other intention than to convey a 
 severe invective, anil general accusation against my con- 
 duct as a member of this government.
 
 Petrie."] delivered to Lord Minto. 11 
 
 From a series of occurrences, of which at present I 
 shall only speak as far as is necessary for the explanation 
 and vindication of my conduct, the British interests 
 under this government have been brought into a state of 
 more imminent risk, and danger, than was ever expe- 
 rienced in the most arduous struggles of former times, 
 when our possessions were overrun by a hostile force, and 
 when the army of Hyder Ally approached to the walls 
 of Madras ; and, although we have most providentially, 
 I had almost said miraculously, escaped from the imme- 
 diate effects of the storm with which we were threatened, 
 it is natural to suppose that government, our immediate 
 superiors, and the public at large, will require to know 
 from what cause, or by what means, the state has been 
 exposed to such an alarming crisis, which, in my opinion, 
 is to be traced to an origin, and to causes of a very diffe- 
 rent nature to the one assigned by the Honourable the 
 President. 
 
 To judge from the tenor, the evident temper, and 
 apparent tendency of the minute of the Honourable the 
 President, I cannot avoid concluding, that the intention 
 is to throw the responsibility of the late events, or at 
 least a considerable part of them, upon me ; and to im- 
 pute, to my opposition to his measures, the consequences 
 which are, in my judgment, deducible in a great degree 
 from those measures themselves, and unconnected with 
 any other cause. 
 
 In this part of my reply, I shall confine myself as 
 closely as possible to the subject of Sir G. Barlow's mi- 
 nute, and however acute my feelings, on being obliged, 
 after more than forty years public service, to defend mj 
 character, from such di-liberate, unexpected, and un- 
 founded charges, I trust these feelings will not for a 
 moment induce me to lose sight of the respect and atten-
 
 12 Statement 'of Facts [Petrie. 
 
 lion which is due, and which I have always paid to the 
 President of the Council. 
 
 In explanation of certain circumstances on which the 
 Honourable the President has founded his first causes of 
 complaint against me, but which he has not fully nor 
 distinctly detailed, it is necessary that I should advert to 
 some circumstances which occurred previously to my 
 opposition to the measure against Mr. Sherson. 
 
 When absent from the Presidency, in the month of 
 Jane, last year, on account of my health, I first heard of 
 considerable discontents in the army, and understanding 
 that they partly arose from the reductions which were 
 then carrying into efiect, I wrote to such of the prin- 
 cipal officers of the^army as I was acquainted with, and 
 explained to them that the reductions were in conse- 
 quence of orders from the Court of Directors, and the 
 Supreme Government ; that they had been commenced 
 under the administration of Lord W. Bentinck, carried 
 on by myself, and that Sir G. Barlow was now only fol- 
 lowing up, and earring into effect, the same orders. At 
 the same time I took considerable pains to remove the 
 misconceptions which had been formed, relative to the 
 abolition of the tent contract, and to shew that, whatever 
 unpopularity attached to that measure, no part of it 
 ought to fall on the present Governor. 
 
 Much about the same time the late Mr. Hardis visited 
 roe at Cuddalorc, and strongly urged my immediate 
 return to the Presidency, as he thought I might be of use 
 in stopping the growing discontents of the Settlement, 
 which he said had arisen from the apparent harsh 
 and severe tendency of the measures of Government, es- 
 pecially on the proceedings against Mr. Sherson, which 
 to many appeared to be repugnant to the rules of the 
 service, and the rights of the Company's servants, when
 
 Pttrie."] delivered to Lor.d J\linlo. 13 
 
 under accusation. Mr. Hurdis is not alive to confirm 
 the statement, but there is a gentleman now in the Settle- 
 ment who was present with me at that time. 
 
 On my arrival at Madras, the ensuing month, I found 
 a very general dissatisfaction, not only among the Com- 
 pany's servants, but in the society at large (as I was in- 
 formed, for my health did not enable me to mix much in 
 company), and that the proceedings against Mr. Sherson 
 were very generally condemned. 
 
 However much it may be the wish to impute every im- 
 pression unfavourable to the government, to my mean*, 
 it will not, I suppose, be said that I participate in the 
 causes which gave rise to the unpopularity that then 
 prevailed in the Settlement. I had been absent, I had 
 given no opinions on the subjects under discussion, nor 
 was my judgment made up on Mr. Sherson's case until 
 some time after my return ; Mr. Sherson was not, I 
 think, calculated to collect, nor to head a party, nor was 
 his cause likely to interest the service; but it was the un- 
 precedented manner in which the enquiry into his con- 
 duct was carried on, which was generally considered to 
 be a dangerous departure from principles, not less 
 sanctioned by law, than by the established practice of 
 the service, and introducing an innovation in the forms 
 of enquiry, which might operate with equal disadvan- 
 tage to the innocent as well as to the guilty. It was my 
 positive duty to investigate the subject to its bottom, not 
 only with regard to the public, but to myself, from 
 having concurred with Lord W. Bentinck in the ar- 
 rangement which placed Mr. Sherson in charge of the 
 public grain. Kvery paper and statement I considered 
 and examined with unbiassed attention. I iicMilJi'r gavu 
 up my judgment to the opinion.- of" the Advoc.Ur 
 General, nor to the CommiUe'j. bui i ^.-avcIicJ I'ji Irn.b
 
 14 Statement of Facts [Petrie. 
 
 myself in those documents and papers, of which I was 
 as capable of judging as either of those authorities. 
 
 During this examination I had frequently occasion to 
 send for Mr. Sherson, to explain certain entries in the 
 accounts and statements, which he could best do ; but, 
 except on those occasions, I believe Mr. Sherson very 
 seldom came to my house, but, if he had, I should not 
 have conceived that I was doing- wrong in receiving him, 
 because I have been taught to consider every man inno- 
 cent until he is proved to be guilty. The result of my 
 examination, and every opinion 1 formed upon that sub- 
 ject, I communicated fully to the Honourable the Presi~ 
 dent; I stated at much length, in different conversations, 
 the grounds on which I disagreed with the majority of 
 the committee in their reports against Mr. Sherson ; and 
 when 1 found that I could not conscientiously concur in 
 the sentence of the President in Council, it was my duty, 
 as it has been repeatedly explained, and enforced by the 
 Honourable Court of Directors, to record my dissent. 
 *To that paper, which is on record, I must again refer, 
 and although I must be mortified by the manner in which 
 the Honourable the President has noticed that minute, it 
 is allowable for me to hope for a more favourable deci- 
 sion from our superiors at home ; my reasoning may be 
 weak, and facb may be mi>conceivecJ, but I apprehend 
 there never was a minute entered on our proceedings 
 more free from declamation than, the paper to winch I 
 now allude. 
 
 Wiili respect to the opinions I recorded on the remo- 
 val of Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Cecil Smith from their 
 offices, however much 1 regretted the necessity I was 
 
 * Yule my Mimsle in consultation, C 20th and 23d Septenv 
 L.-r, H<>S dated 17rh and 2>d of that month.
 
 Petrie."} delivered to Lord Minto. 15 
 
 under of disagreeing with the Honourable the President, 
 on the justice and expediency of these measures, I must 
 still adhere to those opinions, and trust to the candour of 
 the Honourable Court for a more favourable construc- 
 tion of my motives than they have received in the stric- 
 tures to which I am now replying : I had no interest in. 
 these discussions I could have none ; if I were con- 
 vinced of the innocence of these gentlemen, was it not 
 my bounden, ray indispensable duty, to oppose their 
 punishment? I thought them valuable servants of the 
 public, and it was my duty to support them : I thought 
 the service would suffer from their removal from impor- 
 tant situations, for which they were peculiarly well qua- 
 lified, and it was my duty to dissent to the measure. 
 I did not know, until now, tliat I had incurred the dis- 
 pleasure of the Honourable the President for so doing. * 
 
 Is a member of council, merely to give his asssent, 
 his name, to record or register the acts of the Gover- 
 nor ? Very different duties arc allotted him, by the Hon. 
 Court, who enjoin him, under pain of their displeasure, 
 to record his opposition, if the subject shall appear to 
 him of importance to require it. 
 
 I regret that it has been found necessary by the Hon. 
 the President to bring into the list of accusations against 
 me the name of the late Mr. Roebuck, who has sunk 
 under his misfortunes with circumstances of peculiar dis- 
 tress to his family, and whose death has been sincerely 
 deplored by all who knew him, and justly appreciated 
 
 * Vide Act of Parliament, and repeated orders of the 
 Court, pajticulariy with respect to the dissents of Mr. Saun- 
 \iers during- the Government of Lord Hobart, and in my 
 o\vn ca^e during the administration of Lord Clivs and Lord 
 \V. Bentinck.
 
 ]6 Statement of Facts [Petric. 
 
 hii hieriffe. 'I have known Mr. Roebuck intimately for 
 more than 20 years ; I was his friend while living-, and 
 Ivill not abandon his memory when dead ; more espe- 
 cially, as that event has taken place without his having 
 had an opportunity of clearing himself of the accusa- 
 tions recorded against him. 
 
 J was not connected with, nor did I communicate with 
 any of the parties to which the Honourable the Presi- 
 dent alludes ; but I have been assured, by those who can- 
 not be deceived, that Mr. Roebuck neither " headed" the 
 party of gentlemen who voted the piece of plate to 
 General Macdowall, nor to Mr. Marsh, and that his 
 being the chairman at the meeting, was entirely acciden- 
 tal, without any previous intention or arrangement. 
 
 As this subject has been brought forward on the present 
 occasion against me, I have inquired into the occur- 
 rences, and have obtained more information than I pos- 
 sessed .before ; J have also seen the list of the names of 
 the gentlemen who subscribed to the complimentary pre- 
 sents to General Macdowall and Mr. Marsh, and find 
 amongst them some of the most respectable members of 
 our society, and whose attachment to the present Go- 
 vernment has not only never been called in question, 
 or doubted, but, on different occasions, some of those 
 gentlemen have been distinguished by public and very 
 merited approbation. 
 
 Till now, I am not certain that I ever saw the letter, 
 or address to General Macdowall ; 1 have read it since, 
 and find the compliment paid is merely confined to his 
 private and social qualities, without one expression that 
 by the most forced construction can be made to apply to 
 those subjects, which soon afterwards produced such an 
 unhappy misunderstanding wifh the (Government. 
 
 The Honourable the President is perfectly correct in
 
 Petric."] delivered to Lord Mintv. 17 
 
 imputing to the trials, verdicts and proceedings in the 
 supreme Court, relative to the forged bonds of the late 
 nabob, (he very general agitation and interest which 
 appeared to affect the community, and to produce, not 
 the clamour of a faction as it is termed by the Pre- 
 sident, but a sentiment nearly unanimous throughout the 
 Settlement, not in its origin or object manifesting either 
 opposition or disrespect to the government, which cer- 
 tainly ought not to be considered as a party in these trials, 
 as we act merely for the company, and should have no 
 other interest in the investigation of the claims, than to 
 prevent the misapplication of the fund they had gra- 
 tuitously granted to the creditors of the late nabobs; 
 and it should have been the same to us whether frauds and 
 forgeries were detected by the talents of Mr. Marsh, or 
 by the ability and labours of the Company's Counsel 
 and the Commissioners. 
 
 The subject of the trials was a struggle and contest 
 not. only for the division of property, but, in the course 
 of the proceedings, questions of great moment and im- 
 portance, upon more general rights and principles, were 
 brought into discussion, in which, in my opinion, 
 Government ought to have remained perfectly neuter. 
 
 That three successive verdicts, of as respectable juries 
 as were ever empanelled at Madras, should prove the 
 misguided state of the public feelings, appears to me a 
 most extraordinary mode of establishing the fact, which 
 is assumed, but not proved. To an English mind I ap- 
 prehend the premises would lead to the opposite conclu- 
 sion ; at any rate, whatever might be our private feelings 
 or opinions on this singular case, a variety of reasons 
 existed at that time, which should, in my judgment, 
 have prevented the open interference of Government in 
 those trials ; it was from that interference, and in soin
 
 18 Statement qf Facts [Pet fie. 
 
 instances not a common interference, that <he Settlement 
 expressed an alarm at the executive supreme authority 
 having thrown its influence and power into the scale of 
 one of the parties. It is necessary, for my defence, that I 
 sbquld explain the grounds of my opinions more fully 
 than I have hitherto done*. 
 
 To avoid the appearance of a wish to oppose, the 
 minute I recorded at the time contains little more than 
 a general disapprobation and dissent to the proceedings. 
 I am now sensible I acted too much under the influence 
 of that wish, and that, to prevent controversy, I have on 
 too many occasions avoided to record the conviction I 
 felt on the danger and inexpediency of the resolutions of 
 Government. If this charge is brought against me, I 
 must plead guilty. 
 
 In the unlimited support which we gave to the com- 
 missioners for investigating the Carnatic debts, it ap- 
 peared to me that we were unnecessarily interfering in 
 discussions of private property, and, in the measures 
 W adopted for supporting the persons convicted of 
 capital offences, by means which were generally under- 
 stood to have a direct tendency to influence the juries, 
 and to mark the displeasure of Government in cases 
 where the executive pmver should never be seen 01 
 felt. Is it not more probable that the agitation in the 
 public mind was produced by the verdicts, and the 
 Subsequent measures, than that the verdicts were in- 
 fluenced by the clamour of the Settlement, and the 
 misguided feelings of the juries ? I thought we acted 
 uuconstitulionaUy) and involved the company and our- 
 selves in an unnecessary and weighty responsibility. 
 I was also of opinion, that we extended the support 
 
 * Vide Consultation.
 
 Petric."] delivered to Lord JMinto. 19 
 
 of Government far beyond what was in the contem- 
 plation of the Honourable the Court of Directors, when 
 they transmitted to us their orders on this subject. 
 
 These being my deliberate and conscientious opi- 
 nions, I did not more (lian my duty in recording ray 
 dissent, in which I defy the ingenuity and malice of 
 my enemies to point out an expression, or to mark a 
 sentiment, which indicates a desire to oppose, or to 
 disturb the operations of Government ; nay, I will ap- 
 peal to every candid mind, if it is not apparent, from 
 the style and manner of every dissent which I have 
 entered on our proceedings, during the government of 
 Sir G. Barlow, that I performed that duty with re- 
 luctance, that I have avoided every thing like decla- 
 mation or controversy, and that I have confined my- 
 self briefly to the object of the dissent. But, even if 
 my dissents had been of the nature and tendency de- 
 scribed by the President, how could they have fur- 
 nished topics of declamation, or encouraged the outcry 
 against the Government, unless they had been pub- 
 lished, or circulated in the Settlement ? By me they 
 certainly never were. 
 
 It is necessary here to explain, in order to prevent the 
 effect which was perhaps intended by the remark, that 
 the Governor-General had approved of those proceed- 
 ings of the Madras Government, that I am fully aware of 
 his approbation, which has since been given to those 
 measures ; but as my opposition to them took place 
 before any decision was received from that authority, I 
 am now justified in explaining the view I took of the 
 subject, and the grounds on which ray opinions were 
 founded. 1 beg leave to be understood as applying the 
 same explanation to certain subsequent measures of this 
 Government, in which I did not concur, and which haw
 
 20 Statement of Facts [Petrie. 
 
 since been sanctioned by the supreme authority ; no dis- 
 respect can be imputed to me for indulging a hope, that, 
 if all the circumstances connected with the cases on 
 which references were made, had been known to the 
 Governor-General, his decision might, in some respects, 
 have been different. In expressing this sentiment, it is 
 far from my intention to insinuate that this Government 
 withheld from the Governor-General in Council any in- 
 formation which it was judged necessary to communicate 
 to him. 
 
 I have now to answer those parts of the Honourable 
 the President's minute which appear to me the most 
 serious and important, as they impute to my conduct 
 consequences with respect to the army, which, by insi- 
 nuation and inference, may be worked up into an offence 
 of a very criminal nature. 
 
 Jt is certainly altogether unexpected, and not a little 
 painful to me, to be called upon at this advanced period 
 of my public service, to repel an accusation of this de- 
 scription and tendency ; but, the charge has been pre- 
 ferred, and it is incumbent on me to reply to it with 
 firmness, moderation, and respect. 
 
 The President states*, that when Government was 
 obliged to repel the acts of the army by the strong hand 
 of authority, I withheld from the act of the Government 
 the support of my opinion ; and that, on the contrary, I 
 threw it into the opposite scale. 
 
 As I thought the measure of Government was calcu- 
 lated to create a dangerous ferment in the army, I could 
 not support it with my opinion, but I positively deny 
 that I gave any support to those who opposed the 
 Government. 
 
 * Vide Minute of the Honourable the President.
 
 Petrie.~] delivered to Lord Minto. 21 
 
 The Honourable the President proceeds to say, that 
 although I did not in council oppose the suspension of 
 Major Boles, and Colonel St. Leger, or of the other 
 officers from the service, yet, when it became generally 
 known that a large part of the army had subscribed a 
 sum of money for Major Boles, and treated him as a 
 martyr in their common cause, it is notorious that this 
 officer was habitually received at my house ; and when 
 Colonel St. Leger, after his suspension, was allowed to 
 come to the Presidency, it is equally notorious that he 
 Mas also received in the same manner : How the notoriety 
 of these visits at my house has been established, or by 
 what means the Honourable the President acquired this 
 knowledge, I shall not at present enquire, but 1 positively 
 deny the accuracy of the report that has been made; and 
 affirm, that, in the sense the expression of the Honourable 
 the President will be generally taken, those officers were 
 not habitually received at my house. 
 
 That Colonel St. Leger, Major Boles, and Captain 
 Grant, who, with honourable distinction commanded the 
 body-guard during three administrations previous to 
 the present, occasionally, not habitually called upon me. 
 I acknowledge and avow ; for as all the objects of my 
 communications with these officers was, through their 
 influence, to allay the alarming ferment which was rapidly 
 spreading from one station of the army to the other, to 
 preserve peace, and to prevent disorder, I can have no 
 desire to conceal them. I was assured by Colonel St. 
 Leger, on the honour of an officer and a gentleman, that 
 he was guiltless of the charge for which he was degraded, 
 as he could have proved to universal conviction, if he 
 had been allowed a hearing', that, so far from exciting 
 the officers under his command to insubordination and 
 disobedience, he had incontrovertible evidence to shev*'
 
 22 Statement of Facts [Petrie. 
 
 that lie had endeavoured to check their agitation, and to 
 discourage every idea of openly opposing tlie authority 
 of Government. 
 
 Part of this evidence he communicated tome, which 
 was not less honourable to his feelings and his intentions, 
 than it was conclusive of the alarming fact of a most 
 
 o 
 
 dangerous combination in Ihe southern army to resist the 
 orders of Government, and to insist on a redress of 
 grievances : this, with many other proofs of encreasing dis- 
 satisfaction, I have reason to believe were communicated, 
 although not directly, by Lieutenant-Colonel St. Leger 
 and Captain Grant to Sir G. Barlow : of this fact I was 
 assured by these two officers. 
 
 I must beg leave to call to the recollection of the 
 Honourable the President , that, when he expressed a wish 
 to the members of Council, after our meeting of the Jst 
 of May, that the officers who had fallen under the public 
 displeasure of Government should not l>e invited to the 
 houses of the members of Council, I remarked that 
 such had not been the usual practice of this Settlement, 
 unless the offence of the officer was of such a nature as 
 to affect his moral character, and to render him unworthy 
 of being admitted into general society ; but that, agree- 
 ably to the wish of the Honourable the President, I 
 should obscrte the rule he desired to be established ; from 
 that time until the departure of Colonels Bell and St- 
 Leger, Major Boles, and Captain Grant, none of these 
 officers was ever asked to my house ; Colonel Bell I never 
 saw after his removal from his command, although I had 
 long known arid greatly esteemed that respectable officer, 
 of whose fidelity and attachment to the Government and 
 the service I had received the most unequivocal proofs. 
 
 Colonel St. Lcger, whose rank in the army, whose re- 
 cent brilliant services in Travancore, so publicly and
 
 Petrie."] delivered to Lord Minto. 23 
 
 honourably acknowledged by Government, tile tank and 
 distinction of his family, entitled him to attentions in so- 
 ciety, which were certainly not obliterated liy his Iftte sus- 
 pension, called upon me on his arrival at the- Presidency", 
 (it the hour of breakfast, which* according to the cus- 
 tom of India, is the usual time when visits ate 1 re"- 
 ceived by people of a certain rank in the Settlement. 
 I trust even the President will not be dispofled to 
 blame me for admitting Colonel St. Leger, under 
 these circumstances, to take a sent at my table. I am 
 not certain, and really do not remember if Major Doles 
 ever breakfasted with me after the orders of the 1st of 
 May; it is possible he might, but not within ray ref- 
 collection. 
 
 These officers, whom, I have said, occasionally called 
 upon me, did not do so on the subject of thdif own stiffer- 
 ings, or to prefer complaints against the Government, for 
 I declare most solemnly, that on those topics they nevef 
 once addressed fne, except to give the most posftfv6 
 assurance that they asked for no revocation 1 of the otders 
 respecting themselves, and would wait with patience the 
 decision of the Court of Directors. Their communica- 
 tions with me were on very different subjects; arid, what- 
 ever prejudice I may do my owrt cause by defend i rig* 
 theirs, I should be guilty of the most unmanly injustice 1 , 
 if I were not to declare, that these officers laboured titost 
 zealously and sincerely to prevent the violent measure 1 .* 
 which have since taken place. 
 
 Major Boles, I have grounds fof believing, wns not 
 previously informed of the intentions of the army, with 
 respect to himself; and 1 am further convinced, that hd 
 would cheerfully have relinquished the pecuniary assist- 
 ance they proposed to give him, to hrtve nllnyed the a^i-
 
 24 Statements of Facts [Pet 
 
 tat ion which was then beginning to assume an alarming 
 aspect. 
 
 I could not imagine that, by endeavouring to ascertain 
 the real state of the public discontents by fair and honour- 
 able means, and by encouraging those gentlemen in 
 .using their influence with their brother officers to repress 
 the spirit of insubordination, which had already broken 
 out in different divisions of the army, I was departing 
 from my duty, or subjecting myself to the imputa- 
 tion of encouraging the complaints of the officers. 
 
 The Honourable the President thought the discontents 
 of the army were confined to a /ktf, to a faction composed 
 of a small number of seditious officers; whereas my in- 
 formation induced me to believe, that the sentiment of 
 irritation under the late measures was general, and agi- 
 tated nearly all the corps in the army. The inquiry was* 
 not for myself ; it was not for the gratification of idle 
 curiosity, and still less for such improper purposes as is 
 more than insinuated in different parts of the President's 
 minute; but it was to be well informed upon one of the 
 most important subjects that ever came under the con- 
 sideration of an Indian government. The results of my 
 inquiries were not concealed from the President; and, as 
 often as he afforded me an opportunity of speaking to 
 him, I fully communicated my opinions and senti- 
 ments, and the serious apprehensions I entertained, that 
 we were urging on a crisis, which might prove the ruin 
 of our power in India. 
 
 In the conviction produced in my mind, from the in- 
 formation which I received from these and other res- 
 pectable sources, I thought it my duty to recommend, 
 and to support, by every argument I could suggest, the 
 policy, the expediency, nay the indispensable necessity,
 
 Petrie.'] delivered to Lord Minto. 25 
 
 of adopting measures of lenity and conciliation, and to 
 avert the consequences which have in part been so fatally 
 felt. 
 
 I contemplated the revolt of the army, or a civil war, a$ 
 a calamity of such infinite magnitude, that hardly any 
 sacrifice was too great to prevent it. As to my own sen- 
 timents and opinions on the late deplorable occurrences, 
 I trust they are well known, and I flatter myself they 
 will do me no discredit with my employers and my 
 country, when it may be necessary to produce evi- 
 dence in defence of my conduct. They were confined to 
 a few points, and may be explained in a few words. 
 
 The grievances of the armj', or of individuals, what- 
 ever they may be, can only be redressed by the means 
 presented by our blessed constitution, and that to attempt 
 retlress by force, violence, and aggression, would pro- 
 bably lead to scenes of bloodshed, horror, and convul- 
 sion, unparalleled in our eastern history. No man has 
 exerted the means he possessed with more unremitting 
 zeal than I have done, to check the excesses of the army, 
 by my own influence, which, from having been known 
 for a number of years to the higher class of officers in 
 this army, I was told was considerable; and, by the influ- 
 ence of others, with whom f communicated at the Pre- 
 sidency, I never ceased to point out the fatal conse- 
 quences of revolt against the legal authority, and by 
 every argument and inducement, which seldom fail to 
 operate on an English mind, 1 endeavoured to moderate 
 and restrain their exasperated feelings, within the bounds 
 of reason, propriety, and duty. 
 
 I have had but few correspondents amongst the officers 
 at the out stations, and for the last 2 or 3 months, none : 
 but I have communicated confidentially and fully with 
 sonic public officers at the Presidency, of acknowledged
 
 26 St-atement of Facts [Petr'U. 
 
 honour, respectability, and experience, andvrhen neccs* 
 Kiry, I shall be happy to call upon them to bear testimony 
 to my opinions, to the horror I invariably expressed 
 at the excesses of the arrni', and to the anxious solicitude 
 which I manifested for the restoration of tranquillity and 
 subordination ; and I .iviM pirad guilty lo the whole of the 
 charge, if it can be proved, or even rendered probable, 
 that I expressed a sentiment, or uttered one word which 
 tended to encourage the discontents of the army. 
 
 If the Honourable the President means to say that I 
 r corded no dissent to the suspension of Major Boles and 
 the many others which took place from the orders of the 
 Jst May, lie is perfectly correct ; but if it is the intention 
 to infer from this, that I concurred in those measures, 01 
 that I expressed no disapprobation of them, or appre.- 
 hension of their injurious consequences I roust posi* 
 tively deny the fairness of the inference. I flatter myself 
 the Honourable the President will recollect that, in- ra- 
 Tious conversations on these subjects, I stated clearly and 
 explicitly my opinion of the impolicy of the measures 
 of severity we were pursuing; that I considered them 
 inapplicable, hazardous, and totally disproportioned to 
 the object and to the magnitude of the emorgfnry. I 
 thought we were risking by far too much, and that, 
 rather than conciliate the army, we were endangering 
 the security of our Indian empire; that greater potters 
 than ours had conceded to expediency or necessity, and, 
 by wisely bending for the moment to circumstances, 
 which power cannot control, have averted and turned 
 aside the tempest which menaced the overthrow of the 
 state, and the extinction of all constituted authorities. 
 
 To my judgment the rejx^al of every order, passed 
 for the last 8 months, would be a lesser evil than the 
 shedding of a drop of British blood in a civil contest.
 
 Petrie."] deliver ed to Lord Minto. 27 
 
 Upon tlie whole of this subject, I had the misfortune to 
 differ widely from the Honourable the President. To 
 him it seems to have appeared, than under almost any 
 circumstances concession must be the greater evil ; where* 
 as it seemed to me as a feather when placed in the scale 
 against the revolt of the army, a civil war, and the pro- 
 bable loss of the country. In this difference of opinion 
 there was I hope nothing criminal; men with equally 
 good intentions may see subjects of great importance in 
 a different light : he thought it better to risk an im- 
 mense stake, an empire, than rescind an order ; but in 
 a case so disproportioncd,. in which we might inflict a 
 mortal wound on the interests of our native country, I 
 wished to yield the form, rather than endanger the sub- 
 stance. 
 
 I impute to no man who differs in opinion with me on 
 these subjects, any other motives than what are honoura- 
 ble and just, but I must regret that I have not expe- 
 rienced the same liberal candour from others as I have 
 shewn to them. One might infer, from the apparent 
 construction of certain facts in the Honourable the Pre- 
 sident's minute, that criminality attaches to me generally 1 , 
 for having opposed any of the measures of his Government ; 
 and I am the more induced to take this interpretation 
 of his sentiments, from the disapprobation he has avow- 
 ed, at recording dissents, even on occasions where every 
 tie of duty called on a member of council to exercise his 
 judgment and record his opinion. Opposition and contro- 
 versy are always painful to me ; but, until the Honoura- 
 ble Court is pleased to rescind its repeated orders upon 
 this subject, and the legislature to relieve the members of 
 council from any joint responsibility} I shall consider it 
 to be my duty to obey those orders, and to conform to 
 the sanctioned practice of this service. It is therefore, I
 
 28 Statement of Facts [Petrie. 
 
 trust, evident, that opposition to the measures of the 
 Honourable the President, cannot in itself constitute 
 any ground of criminality or offence, and that such 
 opposition is only culpable, if it betrays great \vant 
 of judgment, or a dereliction of proper principles. I 
 hope I am guilty of no disrespect in observing, that, on 
 the merits or expediency of iiie measures, \ve are still at 
 issue. 
 
 Jt is my duty to obey any order of Government while 
 I remain in the service of the Honourable Company ; 
 and I have invariably done so, to the best of my judg- 
 ment; but where a difference of opinion has arisen, I am 
 justified, nay it is my duty to support my opinions by 
 the best reasons and arguments in my power. 
 
 The Honourable the President cannot feel more pleasure 
 than I do, on the prospect of returning tranquillity, but 
 I cannot admit that it is conclusive, or satisfactory evi- 
 dence against my judgment, or to the sound policy of 
 the proceedings 1 thought myself obliged to disapprove. 
 The wisdom or expediency of measures ought not to be 
 tried by the event ; they may have been impolitic and 
 dangerous, although, by great and singular good fortune, 
 the result has proved successful. Should those we have 
 pursued be crowned with the most complete and brilliant 
 termination, yet, if it should nevertheless appear that 
 more has been risked than in wisdom should have been 
 exposed to danger, I apprehend a decision will not be 
 passed in our favour. 
 
 I sincerely rejoice in the present calm, which has suc- 
 ceeded the rudest tempest that ever assailed our eastern 
 empire, and I ardently hope that the consequences of this 
 unnatural conflict, this new aera in the history of Hin- 
 dostan, may have no unfavourable effects on the secu- 
 rity and permanency of these valuable and important
 
 PetrieJ] delivered to Lord Minto, 29 
 
 possessions. Although not immediately nordir ectly con- 
 nected with the charges against me, yet, from the singular 
 nature of the present case, the situation in which I am 
 placed, and the evident intention of criminating my 
 judgment, or my principles, for the opinions I have en- 
 tertained on the subjects which led to the unhappy agi- 
 tation in the minds of the army. I hope I mny be per- 
 mitted to offer a few observations, in order to shew the 
 grounds and principles on winch I formed my judg- 
 ment, and adopted the opinions which at different times 
 I have explained to the Honourable the President. 
 
 No man can be less disposed to approve of the intem- 
 perate order which General Macdowall published to 
 the troops, previous to his departure, or to palliate any 
 misconduct which tends to encourage sentiments of in- 
 subordination in the army; and, although 1 fully admit 
 that the publication of that order was disrespectful to 
 Government, and called for a suitable manifestation of 
 our displeasure, yet in my opinion our paramount duty 
 was to have considered, not the extent of our power to 
 punish General Macdowall, 1 but to have taken such mea- 
 sures as in our deliberate opinions were best calculated to 
 counteract the effects we apprehended, and to prevent 
 injury to the public interests. Upon every view I then 
 took of the case, and as it now appears to me not from 
 the subsequent events, but from circumstances connected 
 with the opinions I tlien formed, I am docidedly of 
 opinion that we ought to have abstained from any act of 
 personal severity to General Macdowall : to have cau- 
 tiously avoided a measure which would most certainly 
 increase the agitation in the army ; and, while we vindi* 
 cate the authority of Government, by the publication of 
 an appropriate order, to have allowed the General to 
 leave India, without any further marks of our displea-
 
 30 Statement of Facts [Petrie- 
 
 sure. If we had fortunately pursued this course, I am 
 convinced, that the General and the order would 'have 
 been forgotten in the course of a few weeks; and in this 
 opinion I have been fully confirmed by the concurring 
 sentiment of the most respectable officers in the army, 
 and of some who disapproved of the General's last order 
 as much as any member of Government : the measure 
 we adopted neither intimidated nor convinced ; the sub- 
 ordination of the army was not improved ; the bonds 
 of obedience were not strengthened; nor did we add 
 lustre to the dignity of Government, by impressing the 
 minds of the officers with more just and suitable ideas of 
 our power and authority. 
 
 The removal and suspension of Colonel Capper and 
 Major Boles, the Adjutant and Deputy- Adjutant General, 
 for acting officially in publishing the General's order to 
 the army, was regretted and condemned by almost every 
 officer on the establishment, and not less so by those of 
 his Majesty's service, than by those in the Company's 
 army. 
 
 It was a new, a singular, and generally thought to be 
 a dangerous case to punish officers for obeying the orders 
 of their superiors, and for doing, what the military af- 
 firm, could not be construed into an illegal act ; nor 
 could the most extravagant conjecture impute to these 
 two officers the remotest intention of creating a mutiny 
 in the army; it was universally considered as a dangerou 
 innovation in military practice, and a new feature in the 
 constitution, which, by encouraging the army to form it- 
 self into a deliberative body, would naturally lead to 
 insubordination and disobedience in all the gradations of 
 military rank and authority. 
 
 It was said, that, if subordinate oflicvrs are taught to 
 discuss and decide upon the legality of the orders of
 
 Petrie.*] delivered to Lord Minto. 31 
 
 their superiors, we introduce a practice of incalculable 
 evil, neither justified by the spirit or practice of the 
 laws : Is it not better, they said, to let the responsibility 
 rest with the authority which issues the order, except in 
 cases so plain that the violation of the established law 
 is evident to the meanest capacity ? But whether these 
 opinions, with the force of which I was so strongly im- 
 pressed, at the period of the suspension of the two offi- 
 cers on >the General's staff, were well or ill founded, is 
 not for me to decide. The highest authority in India, to 
 which I shall ever bow with submission, has established 
 the distinction, and has defined the bearings and relations 
 of this most delicate question. 
 
 It is not, I conceive, necessary on this occasion to 
 ofler any observations on the subsequent measures pursued 
 by this Government towards the officers of the army ; 
 many of them appeared to me inexpedient and hazardous; 
 and although, for the present, general tranquillity has 
 been re-established, f must ever regret that it was 
 judged necessary to resort to extreme measures, which 
 have given a serious shock to the constitution, the disci- 
 pline, and subordination of the Company's native army ; 
 which have agitated and disturbed the minds of the 
 native troops, and taught them to contemplate distinc- 
 tions of infinite danger to their future fidelity and at- 
 tachment. 
 
 I think happier effects might have been produced, at a 
 less expetice : the coast army I bave known from my 
 earliest youth ; I have ever respected and admired their 
 gallant services, which have so often been the theme of 
 praise and exultation j I have lamented their errors, and 
 have bitterly deplored, and hold in abhorrence, their 
 excesses..
 
 32 Statement of Facts [Petrie. 
 
 Whatever influence I have had, has been zealously 
 employed to check the progress of disorder, and to recal 
 the misguided officers to a sense of their duty. To the 
 very few with whom I have communicated, I can con- 
 fidently appeal for my sentiments and conduct on the 
 late melancholy events; and although I will not now 
 agitate a question (however favourable its result might be 
 to myself) which can in any respect embarrass the pro- 
 ceedings of Government, yet, when this cause no longer 
 exists, it may hereafter be allowable to shew, that in 
 some cases my exertions have not been altogether in- 
 effectual. 
 
 I am obliged to the Honourable the President for 
 having given me an opportunity of explaining the cir- 
 cumstances respecting the late address of a part of the 
 inhabitants of this Settlement to the President in Council, 
 or the Government, as far as I am interested in that 
 transaction, although it is too evident that sentiments of 
 a very different nature than kindness to me have ren- 
 dered this explanation necessary. 
 
 Before I enter into any general observation upon the 
 Address itself, itsmerits, and tendency,! will takethe liberty 
 of inserting the following copy of it, with the letter I wrote 
 to the Honourable the President, which assigns my reasons 
 for not signing the Address, and which I thought would 
 have prevented any unfavourable construction of my 
 conduct. 
 
 I never heard, until I saw the minute of the Honourable 
 the President, that he had been consulted by the gentle- 
 men who promoted the Address, previous to its being 
 presented to him, nor did I then know, 1 mean when I 
 wrote to the Honourable the President, that he attached so 
 very much importance to it, or to the insertion of my 
 signature.
 
 Petrie."] delivered to Lord Minto. 33 
 
 Had propriety been attended to, with respect to me, or 
 had the person or persons who prepared, or who were 
 connected with the preparation of the Address, intended 
 to pay me the compliment that was due to my rank, I 
 ought most certainly to have been consulted on the subject, 
 at an earlier period, and before the address was presented 
 me for signature. A variety of reasons, which peculiarly 
 applied to the period when the Address was agitated in 
 the Settlement, induced me to think that it might increase 
 irritation, and produce an unfavourable effect on the 
 disposition of the Army, which had then manifested 
 unequivocal proofs of returning subordination and 
 obedience, that it might tear open the wounds which were 
 beginning to heal, and, by applying terms to the conduct 
 of the officers (however just, abstractedly considered), 
 descriptive of a capital offence, might have a most 
 unfnvourable effect on a very considerable part, which 
 appeared balancing between the calls of duty, and a 
 determination to insist on what they termed a redress of 
 grievances. I thought that such a public manifestation 
 of the sentiments of u part of the Settlement, so strongly 
 expressed, could do no possible good, but might add to 
 the difficulties which still opposed our recalling a consi- 
 derable part of the officers to their duty. In such a case 
 as this, I may appeal to the result, and ask any candid 
 and impartial person, if the hands of Government were 
 really strengthened by this Address? did it unite the 
 Settlement more firmly in support of our measures ? or 
 has it contributed to restore harmony, mutual confidence, 
 and good will, which, for the last seven or eight months, 
 have been estranged from this society ? On the contrary, 
 the discussions produced by that Address have, I believe, 
 increased animosity and contention, by giving one subject 
 more for the collision of contrary opinions, which, in the 
 
 d '
 
 34 Statement of Facts [Petrie. 
 
 present state of the public mind, disturbs and agitates the 
 general society of the Presidency. I must further observe, 
 the disposition of the community was not favourable to 
 the measure, and the promoters of it ought to have been 
 aware, that they were weakening, instead of strengthening 
 the hands of Government by the means which they used 
 to obtain signatures. I cannot believe that these means 
 were reported to the Honourable the President. 
 
 The Address, the President states, was signed by the 
 most respectable persons in the Settlement. There were 
 many respectable names to it, I allow ; but I must at the 
 same time observe, that several of the inhabitants, of 
 acknowletlged respectability, both in character and 
 station, declined giving their signatures to this Address, 
 and in this number, were some whose attachment to the 
 present Government, during all the preceding contentions, 
 has never been even suspected. I speak of what has 
 come to my knowledge since the Address was presented, 
 for I have no reason to believe that my intention not to 
 sign it was known until the list of signatures was pub- 
 lished to the Settlement. Notwithstanding, however, the 
 very strong conviction which was impressed in my mind, 
 unfavourable to the expediency of the Address at that 
 time, so sincerely desirous was I to avoicl any improper 
 construction which might be applied to the circumstance 
 of my withholding my name, that, in order to ascertain 
 the importance which was attached to my signature, 
 I applied to a person whose public situation was similar 
 to my own for information in this point, which I did in 
 the following terms: " Although I think fny reasons just, 
 yet if the Government in Council, or the general sense 
 attaches any beneficial importance to the public interests, 
 or that it can aflect the peace of the Settlement, mislead 
 any one, or prevent any mischief, it will become my duty
 
 Petrie.'] delivered to Lord Minto. 35 
 
 to yield my opinion to theirs, and I shall, in that case, 
 affix ray name.'* The reply to this enquiry did not give 
 me reason to suppose, that either the Address itself, or 
 my signature was essential to any public purpose. It will 
 be apparent, from the terms of the Honourable the 
 President's letter to me, that I could not again address 
 him on that subject, however much inclined to have 
 entered into further explanation of the sentiments by 
 which I was actuated. 
 
 The Honourable the President has expressed his asto- 
 nishment and disapprobation at this exercise of my 
 judgment, in terms of uncommon severity and repre- 
 hension ; but I trust it is not by the asperity or harshness 
 of language, by inference and implication, that my 
 fidelity to my Sovereign, attachment to my country, and 
 gratitude to my immediate employers, will be rendered 
 liable to suspicion. The imputation of improper motives 
 is not unfrequently resorted to, but it can obtain no 
 credit, when totally unsupported by proof, or proba- 
 bility. Although inferior to the Honourable the Presi- 
 dent as a member of this Government, I may be allowed 
 to say, that my motives are as pure and honourable as 
 his, and that I do not yield to him in loyalty to my king, 
 or in zeal to promote the interests of the Honourable 
 Company. He calls on me to explain my motives, and 
 I reply to the call, with confidence and (ruth That my 
 motives have been throughout solely directed to the pros- 
 perity of my country, the interests of my employers, 
 the honour of the Government, and the preservation of 
 my own character. 
 
 Sorely wounded as my feelings have been, by many 
 parts of the minute of the Honourable the President, 
 yet, I flatter myself, in the reply I have now the honour 
 to deliver in, that no expression or sentiment hu< ec,ipeJ
 
 36 Statement of Facts, $c. \Petrie. 
 
 me, inconsistent with ray public situation, and incom- 
 patible with the respect which is due to the President of 
 the Council, under the weight and peculiarity of the 
 accusation. I trust I may be allowed to say, without 
 infringing those necessary restraints, that no man, how- 
 ever exalted his station or office, can be justified on such 
 grounds as the President assumes, of imputing to me 
 disloyalty to my Sovereign, and a disposition to encou- 
 rage mutiny and sedition in the army. My general cha- 
 racter, the situation I have filled in the public service, 
 aud the estimation in which I have been held by mj 
 revered superior?, should have exempted me from such 
 a cruel and unfounded imputation. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 W. PETRIE 
 
 JFlnU, 
 
 kii4 ..;. fn.rt.-
 
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