ments made by Bristow, and stating a very reduced list, which he was willing to allow for, amounting to £30,000 a year, the said Hastings did affect to be alarmed at the magnitude even of the list so curtailed, expressing himself as follows, in his minute of the 7th of December, 1784—“ for my own part, when the vizier's minister first informed me, that the amount, which his master had authorized, and was willing to admit, for the charges of the residency, and the allowances of the gentlemen at Lucknow, was 25,000 rupees per month, I own I was startled at the magnitude of the sum, and was some days hesitating in my mind whether I could with propriety admit of it." Whereas he well knew, that the three sums alone, of which the necessities aforesaid had compelled the discovery, did greatly exceed that sum, of which, at the first hearing, he affects to have been so exceedingly alarmed, and thrown into a state of hesitation, which continued for some days; and although he the said Hastings was conscious, that he had at the very time authorized an establishment to more than four times the amount thereof.

XCV.

That in the said deceits, prevarications, contradictions, malicious accusations, fraudulent concealments, and compelled discoveries, as well as in the said secret, corrupt, and prodigal disposition of the revenues of Oude, as well as in his breach of faith to the Nabob, in continuing expensive establishments under a private agent of his own, after he had agreed to remove the Company's agent, the said Warren Hastings is guilty of a high offence and misdemeanour.

XVII. MAHOMED REZA KHÂN.

I.

THAT it was the declared policy of the Company, on the acquisition of the Duannee of Bengal, to continue the country government under the inspection of the resident at the Nabob's durbar, in the first instance, and that of the president

and council, in the last; and for that purpose they did stipulate to assign, for the support of the dignity of the Nabob, an annual allowance from the revenues, equal to four hundred thousand pounds a year.

II.

That, during the country government, the principal active person in the administration of affairs for rank, and for reputation of probity, and of knowledge in the revenues and the laws, was Mahomed Reza Khân, who, besides large landed property, was possessed of offices, whose emoluments amounted nearly, if not altogether, to one hundred thousand pounds a year.

IV.

That the Company's servants, in the beginning, were not conversant in the affairs of the revenue, and stood in need of natives of integrity and experience to act in the management thereof. On that ground, as well as in regard to the rank, which Mahomed Reza Khân held in the country, and the confidence of the people in him, they, the president and council, did inform the court of directors, in their letter of the 30th of September, 1765, that "as Mahomed Reza Khân's short administration was irreproachable, they determined to continue him in a share of the authority;" and this information was not given lightly, but was founded upon an inquiry into his conduct, and a minute examination of charges made against him by his rivals in the Nabob's court, they having insinuated to the Nabob, that a design was formed for deposing him and placing Mahomed Reza on his throne; but on examination the president and council declare, that "he had so openly and candidly accounted for every rupee disbursed from the treasury, that they could not, without injury to his character, and injustice to his conduct during his short administration, refuse continuing him in a share of the government."

4.

That the Company had reason to be satisfied with the arrangement made, so far as it regarded him; the president and council having informed them, in the following year, in

their letter of the 9th of December, 1766, that "the large increase of the revenue must, in a great measure, be ascribed to Mr. Sykes's assiduity, and to Mahomed Reza Khan's profound knowledge in the finances."

VI.

That the then president and council, finding it necessary to make several reforms in the administration, were principally aided in the same by the suggestion, advice, and assistance of the said Mahomed Reza Khân; and, in their letter to the court of directors of the 24th of June, 1767, they state their resolution of reducing the emoluments of office, which before had arisen from a variety of presents, and other perquisites, to fixed allowances; and they state the merits of Mahomed Reza Khân therein, as well as the importance, dignity, and responsibility of his station, in the following manner:

Mahomed Reza Khan has now of himself, with great delicacy of honour, represented to us the evil consequences, that must ensue from the continuance of this practice; since, by suffering the principal officers of the government to depend for the support of their dignity on the precarious fund of perquisites, they, in a manner, oblige them to pursue oppressive and corrupt measures, equally injurious to the country and the Company; and they accordingly assigned twelve lacks of rupees for the maintenance and support of the said Mahomed Reza Khân, and two other principal persons, who held in their hands the most important employments of that government; having regard to their elevated stations, and to the expediency of supporting them in all the show and parade requisite to keep up the authority and influence of their respective offices, as they are all men of weight and consideration in the country, who held places of great trust and profit under the former government. We further propose, by this act of generosity, to engage their cordial services, and confirm them steady in our interests, since they cannot hope, from the most successful ambition, to rise to greater advantages by any chance or revolution of affairs. At the same time it was reasonable we should not lose sight of Mahomed Reza Khân's past services; he has pursued the Company's interest with steadiness and diligence; his abilities qualify him to perform the most important services. The

unavoidable charges of his particular situation are great; in dignity he stands second to the Nabob only;-and as he engages to increase the revenues, without injustice or oppression, to more than the amount of his salary, and to relinquish those advantages, to the amount of eight lacks of rupees per annum, which he heretofore enjoyed, we thought it proper, in the distribution of salaries, to consider Mahomed Reza Khân in a light superior to the other ministers. We have only to observe further, that great and enormous as the sum must appear, which we have allotted for the support of the ministers of the government, we will not hesitate to pronounce, that it is necessary and reasonable, and will appear so on the consideration of the power, which men employed on these important services have, either to obstruct or promote the public good, unless their integrity be confirmed by the ties of gratitude and interest."

VII.

That the said Mahomed Reza Khân continued, with the same diligence, spirit, and fidelity, to execute the trust reposed in him, which comprehended a large proportion of the weight of government, and particularly of the collections; and his attachment to the interest of the Company, and his extensive knowledge, were again, in the course of the year 1767, fully acknowledged and stated to the court of directors: and it further appears, that by an incessant application to business his health was considerably impaired, which gave occasion in the year following, that is, in February, 1768, to a fresh acknowledgment of his services in these terms: " We must, in justice to Mahomed Reza Khân, express the high sense we entertain of his abilities, and of the indefatigable attention he has shown in the execution of the important trust reposed in him; and we cannot but lament the prospect of losing his services from the present declining state of his health."

VIII.

That as in the increase of the revenue the said MalReza Khân was employed as a person likely to imp. same without detriment to the people, so, w the

any province seemed to require a remission, he was employed as a person disposed to the relief of the people, without fraud to the revenue; and this was expressed by the president and council as follows, with relation to the remissions granted in the province of Bahar: "that the general knowledge of Mahomed Reza Khân, in all matters relative to the Duannee revenues, induced us to consent to such deductions being made, from the general state of that province at the last poonah, as may be deemed irrecoverable, or such as may procure an immediate relief and encouragement to the ryots in the future cultivation of their lands."

IX.

That the said Mahomed Reza Khân, in the execution of the said great and important trusts and powers, was not so much as suspected of an ambitious or encroaching spirit, which might make him dangerous to the Company's, then recent, authority, or which might render his precedence injurious to the consideration due to his colleagues in office; but, on the contrary, it appears, that a plan having been adopted for dividing the administration, in order to remove the Nabob's jealousies, the same was in danger of being subverted by the ambition "of two of his colleagues, and the excessive moderation of Mahomed Reza Khân." And for a remedy of the inconveniencies, which might arise from the excess of an accommodating temper, though attended with irreproachable integrity, the president and council did send one of their own members, as their deputy, to the Nabob of Bengal at his capital of Muxadavad; and this measure appears to have been adopted for the support of Mahomed Reza Khân, in consequence of an inquiry made, and advice given, by Lord Clive, in his letter of the 3rd of July, 1765; in which letter he expresses himself of the said Mahomed Reza Khân as follows: "It is with pleasure I can acquaint you, that the more I see of Mahomed Reza Khân, the stronger is my conviction of his honour and moderation; but that, at the same time, I cannot help observing, that either from timidity, or an erroneous principle, he is too ready to submit to encroachments upon that proportion of power that has been allotted him."