completed and the position of England rendered absolutely paramount in
India. His first difficulties were with Nepaul, where the Goorkhas had
succeeded in establishing a power of some importance, and had not
refrained from attacking English territory. The war was a severe one; on
more than one occasion the English troops were defeated or foiled by the
strong fortifications of their opponents. But after two campaigns, in
1815, Sir David Ochterlony succeeded in securing the hill-fortresses and
compelling the Goorkha chief to come to terms. The Nepaulese surrendered
to the English a portion of the Terrai, a territory lying to the south
of their country, reinstated a considerable number of the small princes
they had lately dispossessed, and received an English resident at
Catmandoo, their capital. It was at the close of this war that Lord
Moira received his marquisate. But events, to which Lord Hastings owes
his chief celebrity, arose in a more important quarter. The centre of
India was occupied by the great princes of the Mahratta nation, who,
though subdued by Lord Wellesley, were uneasy under their altered
circumstances, and were dreaming of the restoration of their national
greatness. Their nominal head was the Peishwa resident at Poonah, and
now placed under a subsidiary treaty with the English. These princes
kept up communications among themselves. Agents from Poonah were at all
their courts, and some of them certainly engaged in intrigues both with
the Nepaulese and Runjeet Singh, the late enemies of the English.
Besides these covert and dangerous enemies, there existed a body of
freebooters called the Pindaries. Recruited from all nations and all
religions, their hordes found employment sometimes with the armies of
the native princes at war with each other, sometimes in predatory
excursions of their own. The reward for which they served was nearly
always the right to rob. Their expeditions were of the most destructive
character; all mounted and lightly armed, they crossed the country in
marches of from forty to fifty miles a day, fell upon the devoted
district, and carried off everything moveable in it, frequently burning
what they could not carry away, and having recourse to the cruellest
tortures to wring from the wretched inhabitants a knowledge of their
hidden treasure. They had found their chief support among the Mahrattas,
and had established themselves in the country between the Nerbudda and
the Vindhya hills. Till 1815 they had refrained from attacking the
English, but during the Nepaulese war they had crossed the river into
the Deccan, and had ravaged the territory of our ally the Nizam; and the
year after they had even passed the British frontiers and plundered more
than three hundred villages. Lord Hastings determined to put an end to
these robbers, supported as he believed that they were by the Mahratta
confederation, before he dismissed the army collected for the war of
Nepaul. He applied for leave to act on a great scale, and, having
received it, brought into the field large armies from all the
Presidencies, and prepared for war on such a scale as rendered it plain
that he intended to make a final settlement of Central India. It was the
complicity of the Mahrattas with the Pindaries which rendered his work
difficult. The Peishwa had already shown his intentions. His favourite,
Trimbucjee, had procured the murder of the agent of the Guicowar, who,
in union with the English, was negotiating for a new lease of the
Peishwa's property in Gujerat. The murderer was screened, and signs were
everywhere visible that the Peishwa was meditating treachery. Yielding
to the pressure of the English resident, he surrendered Trimbucjee; but
on the escape of his favourite he again gave him refuge, and eluded the
English demands. At length, yielding to the strong measures taken by
them, he apparently gave up the point, and in June 1817 entered into a
new treaty considerably more stringent than the Treaty of Bassein, and
designed to destroy the Peishwa's nominal superiority over the Mahratta
confederation, which was the source of so much danger. The effect of the
treaty was very temporary. The Peishwa continued his measures against
the English, attacked and burnt the British residency, was defeated
after a severe battle and fled, intending to make common cause with his
compatriots. Meanwhile events of a somewhat similar character had been
taking place at the courts of the other Mahratta chiefs. It was thought
necessary not only to separate them from the Pindaries, but to oblige
them to join in the suppression of those freebooters. In November Sindia
was compelled to make a treaty to that effect, containing a most
important clause, as it allowed the English to make separate treaties,
which had hitherto been forbidden, with those chiefs, especially the
Rajputs, who were dependent upon Sindia. The unity of his kingdom was
thus broken up. A treaty of a similar character was concluded with Ameer
Khan, the head of a large body of freebooters in close connection with
Holkar, though at the time resident at Jeypoor. With the other two great
chiefs, the Rajah of Nagpoor and Holkar, more violent measures were
found necessary. Appa Sahib, the uncle of the late prince, had obtained
the government of Nagpoor, and had pretended a close friendship with
England. But the same national aspirations as had moved the Peishwa
acted upon him too. As the Peishwa was the nominal viceroy of the
Mahrattas, so was he their nominal commander-in-chief. He repeated the
treachery at Poonah, and attacked the British residency; and as his army
was strong, and consisted largely of Arabs, he was only defeated after a
battle of eighteen hours' duration. By December, however, he was
thoroughly conquered, and had given himself up to the English; Nagpoor
had been evacuated, and the Arabs dismissed. Just about the same time
the forces of Holkar had been also defeated at Mahidpoor, in the
neighbourhood of Oojein. On the insanity of Holkar himself, his power
had passed into the hands of his young wife, Toolsee-Bhye, as regent
for the young prince; but she was mistrusted by the war party, seized,
and put to death. The chiefs then plunged into war, but were thoroughly
defeated by Hislop's forces, and the young Holkar was compelled to enter
into a treaty, which, among other things, bound him to perpetual peace,
and established the Company as the arbitrator in all his quarrels. As in
the case of Sindia, the Rajput princes subject to his dominion were
allowed to contract separate treaties with the English, and gladly
seized the opportunity. Thus the great confederation was defeated in
detail, and the Peishwa alone, a fugitive from his capital, was capable
of making resistance. It was found nearly impossible to come up with
him; though combats were occasionally fought, no general battle
resulted. But a new plan was devised which before long completed his
destruction. The strongholds of his country were one by one reduced; and
among others, in February, Satara, the residence of the descendants of
Sevaji, whose nominal minister the Peishwa was. The authority of this
prince was re-established, and the Peishwa was deposed, and thus the
national character of his resistance destroyed. Soon after, also (Feb.
19, 1818), he was forced to battle at Ashtee, near Bunderpoor, and there
thoroughly beaten. His power of resistance was now at an end, his
fortresses had fallen one by one; his motley army, consisting largely of
Pindaries, was broken up, and in June, finding himself surrounded, he
surrendered to Sir John Malcolm. He accepted an allowance of £80,000 a
year, with leave to withdraw and reside at Benares, where he remained
quietly during the rest of his life. He had refused even to the last to
surrender Trimbucjee, who was, however, shortly afterwards captured, and
kept a prisoner till his death. The destruction of the Mahratta power
had gone hand in hand with that of the Pindaries. Wherever they had been
met with they had been beaten. By the end of February all their leaders
had surrendered, and such remnants of them as were left had been removed
to Goruckpoor, where they settled quietly down. There was one exception;
their great chief, Chetoo, was still at large, and when Appa Sahib of
Nagpoor, continuing his treachery after the treaty, and still holding
communication with the Peishwa, was dethroned, the two chiefs took
refuge in the Mahadeo hills on the south of the Nerbudda, and there
assembled a mixed army of Mahrattas, Arabs, and Pindaries, to the number
of about 20,000. The destruction of these troops closed the war. The
English forces were concentrated for a great attack; seeing the
hopelessness of resistance, the leaders fled, and took refuge in the
fort of Aseerghur, which belonged to Sindia, with whom no doubt Appa
had still relations. The fortress could not long shelter him. Sindia, in
fear, refused to receive him; he fled to Runjeet Singh, and was finally
allowed to return and live peaceably in Judpore. Chetoo, deprived of
most of his followers, also took flight; he attempted to retire into the
Malwa, but during his retreat sought refuge in a thicket, and was there
devoured by a tiger. As a punishment for having received the fugitives,
Aseerghur was besieged and taken, and as clear proofs were found in it
of Sindia's treachery, it was retained. This was the last act of the
war. At its conclusion the whole dominions of the Peishwa, with the
exception of a district given to the Rajah of Satara, and all Appa
Sahib's dominions in Berar, passed directly into the hands of the
English. All the Rajput rajahs had placed themselves under British
protection, and Sindia was the only prince with whom there had not been
concluded a satisfactory subsidiary treaty. Lord Hastings had thus the
merit of thoroughly completing the great plans of the Marquis of
Wellesley.
[Sidenote: Lord Amherst. 1823-1828.]
[Sidenote: The Burmese War.]
When Hastings left his office, which he had held for nine years, he was
succeeded by Lord Amherst, who reached Calcutta in August 1823, and held
the Governor-generalship till 1828. During that period the dominions of
England received a still further accession, and the difficulty of
putting a stop to a course of conquest once begun was shown. At the same
time that Clive had laid the foundation of the English Empire, a man of
the name of Alompra had established a great empire on the other side of
the Ganges. He had succeeded in bringing into one the kingdoms of Siam,
Pegu, Ava, and Aracan. By degrees the two empires of Burmah and of India
had become conterminous. The Burmese had been rendered so confident by
their successes that they had demanded of Lord Hastings the surrender of
Chittagong, Dacca, and other places, as having been originally
dependencies of Aracan; their demand had of course been absolutely
disregarded, but they were now proceeding to conquer Cashar, a district
in North-Eastern Bengal, the rajah of which applied for help to the
English. A further act of encroachment on their part brought on a war;
they seized, on the coast of Chittagong, a little island in the
possession of a small British outpost. No satisfaction could be
obtained, and in March 1824 war became inevitable, much against the
will, and somewhat to the surprise, of Lord Amherst, who had intended to
be peaceful. The attack of the English was made upon Rangoon at the
mouth of the Irawaddi. It was easily occupied, but the Burmese were a
warlike race, and being strengthened in their wish for resistance by
successes on the Bengal frontier refused to come to terms. Again and
again the great pagoda of Rangoon, which had become the English citadel,
was assaulted. In December a final unsuccessful attack was made under
the command of Maha Bundoola, who had distinguished himself in the
north. From May to February the fighting about Rangoon had continued,
the chief difficulty met with being the skill of the enemy in the
defence of stockades. Then, at last, Sir Archibald Campbell found it
possible to advance up the Irawaddi towards Prome. In April he reached
that place and found it deserted. There the English remained during the
rainy season. In November hostilities were renewed, and the English
gradually forced their way up to within forty-five miles of Ava, the
capital. There at length, in February 1826, a treaty was concluded by
which the Burmese ceded Assam, Aracan, and the country south of Martiban
along the coast. They also gave up their claims upon the English
provinces, paid a large sum of money, and established friendly relations
between the courts, to be kept up by an interchange of ambassadors.
[Sidenote: Capture of Bhurtpore.]
The occupation of England in a foreign war had given rise to hopes among
the princes of India that an opportunity had come for reasserting their
freedom. But all such thoughts were dashed to the ground by the capture
and destruction of the fortress of Bhurtpore, hitherto considered
impregnable. At the beginning of 1825 a disputed succession had
occurred. The expelled Prince was under British protection; it remained
to be seen how far it now availed him. Lord Amherst was at first
inclined to non-intervention, but the army was in the hands of Lord
Combermere, an old Peninsula officer, not likely to shrink before
difficulties. He at once undertook to reduce the stronghold. Having
demanded the dismissal of women and children, which was refused, he
proceeded to bombard the town. After two months of siege, the assault
was given, and in two hours the town was secured; the fortress was then
razed to the ground, and the rightful prince reinstated, and the great
movement against the English which had been dreaded by many thinking men
in India thus at once checked. The Indian Empire had now reached the
limits which were not increased for many years. The subsequent conquests
of the Punjaub and Sinde have set a natural and geographical boundary to
it, which, it may be hoped, will prevent the necessity of those wars of
conquest, which were really wars of defence, to which it owes its
present gigantic dimensions.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Taught by experience, Mackay invented the bayonet fitting
round the barrel.]
[Footnote 2:
Philip III., 1598-1621.
|
+---------------------------+-----------------------+
| | |
Philip IV., 1621-1665. Maria=Ferdinand III. Anne=Louis XIII.
| b. 1606.|Emperor, b. 1601. |of France,
| |1637-1657. |1610-1643.
+-----------+---------------+ | |
| | | | |
Charles II., Marie=Louis XIV. | | |
1665-1700. Therese.| (1)Margaret=Leopold I.,=(2)Princess Louis XIV.
| | 1658-1705.| of Neuburg. 1643-1715.
| | | of France
| | |
| | +-+--------------+
| | | |
Louis, the Dauphin, Electress of Joseph I., Charles VI., the
died 1711.| Bavaria. 1705-1711. Archduke, called
| | Charles III. of
+---------+--------+ | Spain, 1703.
| | | Emperor 1711-1740.
Louis, Duke of Philip, Duke Joseph, Electoral Prince, |
Burgundy, Of Anjou, died 1699. |
died 1712. King of Spain Maria Theresa.
| as Philip V., 1700-1746.
Louis XV., 1715-1774.
]
[Footnote 3: Afterwards Emperor Charles VI., now called Charles III. of
Spain in opposition to Philip V.]
[Footnote 4: The applications of the passages in the "Beggars' Opera"
must have been after-thoughts, as the play was brought out in 1728,
before the quarrel at Mrs. Selwyn's, if quarrel there was, took place.]
[Footnote 5: In that year Hozier, probably by the orders of Government,
had hesitated to attack that place. Glover, in his ballad of "Admiral
Hozier's Ghost," makes him say,
"I with twenty sail attended,
Did this Spanish town affright;
Nothing then its wealth defended
But my orders not to fight.
Oh! that in this rolling ocean
I had cast them with disdain,
And obeyed my heart's warm motion
To have quelled the pride of Spain."
]
[Footnote 6: Brother of Francis, Maria Theresa's husband.]
[Footnote 7: For the consecutive history of India, see p. 1113.]
[Footnote 8: See p. 1119.]
[Footnote 9: He seldom spoke. When Lord Sandwich was one day attacking
him, a friend asked him, "How could you worry a poor dumb creature so?"]
[Footnote 10: The old Duke of Cumberland had died in 1765.]
[Footnote 11: The patronage was worth more than £300,000 a year; besides
the governor and the councils, there was one place of £25,000 a year,
one of £15,000, five of £10,000, five of £9000, one of £7500, three of
£2000, and so on.]
[Footnote 12: To show how paramount he was in Parliament, and how
powerless the Opposition, it is only necessary to read the list of the
Acts which passed Parliament that year. Motion in the House of Peers by
Lord Stanhope for non-interference in the internal affairs of
France--unanimously rejected. Motion of a like tendency in the House of
Commons--negatived. Motion in the House of Peers for facilitating the
opening of negotiation with France--negatived. Motion for a vigorous
prosecution of the war--carried. Sundry motions for preparing the way
for peace with France--negatived. Motion in the House of Commons for
inquiring into the state of the nation--negatived. Another to the same
intent in the House of Peers--negatived. Motion in the House of Commons
tending to a general pacification by Mr. Wilberforce--negatived. Motion
of a similar tendency in the House of Lords--negatived.]
[Footnote 13: It is a curious fact that the subscription was filled in
fifteen hours and twenty minutes; two on Thursday, six on Friday, six on
Saturday, and one hour and twenty minutes on Monday.]
[Footnote 14: This worthy gentleman, who used to compel the peasantry to
prostrate themselves before him, who flogged a man within an inch of his
life for writing a note in French, which he could not understand, and
kept another for some days in prison without the slightest shadow of a
charge, was rewarded with a considerable pension and a baronetcy.]
[Footnote 15: The views of the Armed Neutrality have been since accepted
by Europe.]
[Footnote 16: The error of Grenville's position lay in this, that the
law of supply and demand can only work _universally_. It does not follow
that it will act beneficially in a single country under protective
laws.]
[Footnote 17: Malta had been ceded by Charles V. to the Knights of St.
John in 1530, after they had been deprived of Rhodes by the advancing
Turks. Bonaparte had taken possession of the island in 1798, while on
his road to Egypt.]
[Footnote 18: Massey, vol. iv. 336.]
[Footnote 19: Owing to change of relations with France the punishment
was not carried out.]
[Footnote 20: Lord Stanhope gives in his Life of Pitt the following list
of the broad administration as planned by Mr. Pitt:--Treasury, Mr. Pitt;
Secretaries of State, Lord Melville, Mr. Fox, Lord Fitzwilliam. The
other offices were to have been given to Lord Spencer, Lord Grenville,
the Duke of Portland, Lord Eldon, Lord Chatham, Mr. Windham, Lord
Castlereagh, Lord Hampden, Lord Harrowby, Mr. Grey, and Mr. Canning.]
[Footnote 21: The representative of the Bourbon Dukes of Parma and
Placentia. His father had received Tuscany, with the title of King of
Etruria, in exchange for his Duchies, by the Treaty of Lunéville.]
INDEX
CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY
Abercrombie at Ticonderoga, 1027, 1029
Abercromby in Ireland, 1213;
in Egypt, 1232
Aberdeen, Colonial Secretary, 1456
Acts of Parliament--
Abjuration, 874, 876;
Additional Force Bill, 1248;
Alien, 926, 927, 1165, 1356;
American Customs, 1047;
Boston Port, 1070;
Calendar, 1014;
Canada, 1072, 1156;
Catholic Emancipation, 1408;
Coercion, 1438, 1450;
Conciliation, 1085;
Convention, 1207;
Corn Laws altered, 1386, 1402;
Coronation Oath, 811;
Corporation, 823;
Corporation and Test repealed, 1401;
Foreign Enlistment, 1360;
of Grace, 825;
Hovering, 1135;
India, Dundas's, 1129, 1130,
Fox's, 1129,
Pitt's, 1135;
India Company, 861, 1069, 1442;
Insurrection, 1211;
Irish Church, 1436;
Jews Naturalization, 1015;
Libel, 1157;
Marriage, 1015;
Massachusetts, 1070;
Municipal reform, 1460;
Navigation Act changed, 1379;
Occasional Conformity, 906-909;
Peerage, 947, 948;
Pension, 972;
Poor Law, 1452;
Prison Inquiry, 973;
Recoinage, 850;
Reform, of election petitions, 1060, of Scotch burghs, 1360,
the Reform Bill, 1425-1432;
Regency, 1048, 1049, 1143, 1324, 1358;
Resumption, 868;
Riot, 932;
Sale of office, 1299;
Schism, 923, repealed, 947;
Sedition and Treason, 1183, 1354;
Septennial, 938, 939;
Silk trade regulation, 1380;
Six Acts, 1363;
Slave trade abolished, 1271;
Slavery abolished, 1445;
Stamp, 1048, 1051, 1052;
Succession, 871, altered, 940;
Test, altered, 947,
repealed, 1401;
Toleration, 810, 1087, 1094;
Traitorous Correspondence, 1178;
Treason, trials for, 855;
Triennial, 844;
Union with Scotland, 928;
Union with Ireland, 1219;
Wool trade regulation, 1381
Adams, at Preston's trial, 1061;
ambassador to France, 1083
Adams, secretary of Constitutional Society, 1180
Addington, Premier, 1230;
his weakness, 1238, 1239;
declares war, 1240;
his difficulties, 1243;
resigns, 1245;
in opposition, 1247;
becomes Lord Sidmouth, rejoins ministry, 1252;
dislikes Melville, 1258;
resigns, 1259;
Lord Privy Seal, 1267;
opposes Slave Trade Bill, 1272;
opposes Catholic claims, 1273;
President of the Council, 1325;
his repressive measures, 1354, 1355;
retires, 1369
Addison, Secretary of State, 942
Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, his marriage, 1358
Agriculture, introduction of turnips, 973;
backward state of, 1014;
improvement in, 1150;
state of, 1333, 1350, 1361
Aislabie implicated in the South Sea frauds, 954
Albemarle. [See Keppel.]
Alberoni, his schemes, 943-945;
his fall, 946
Albuquerque at Cadiz, 1306
Alexander I., Czar, 1233;
remonstrates with Napoleon, 1250, 1260;
character, 1261;
alliance with England, 1281;
at Tilsitt, 1283;
excuses for his conduct, 1284;
at Erfurth, 1294;
estranged from Napoleon, 1312;
determines on war, 1313;
successful, 1320;
mediates in American War, 1326;
visits England, 1335;
desires Poland, 1336, 1338;
dies, 1397
Allen, takes Ticonderoga, 1072;
acknowledged by Congress, 1073
Althorp, head of a Finance Committee, 1394;
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1423;
his Irish Church Bill, 1434, 1437;
his opinion of the Coercion Bill, 1439, 1448;
his Budget, 1440;
desires gradual emancipation, 1444;
his influence in the House, 1447, 1455;
wishes to resign, 1449;
becomes Lord Spencer, 1455
Amelia, Princess, dies, 1323
America, trade with, 980, 1014;
Wesley in, 1016;
war with the French in, 1019, 1025, 1029-1031;
origin of the thirteen provinces, 1045, 1046;
trade with, 1046, 1047;
petitions against the Stamp Act, 1048, 1051, 1052;
excitement caused by Townshend's measures, 1054, 1055, 1056;
the tax on tea insisted on, 1057;
increased irritation in, 1061;
organizes opposition, 1068;
first Congress, 1071;
war with, 1072-1084, 1087, 1088, 1094-1103;
conclusion of the war, 1107, 1108, 1110;
suffers from the orders in Council, 1279;
war with, 1325, 1328
Amherst succeeds Loudon, 1026;
takes Louisburg, 1027;
at Quebec, 1029;
suppresses the Gordon riots, 1094
Amherst, Governor-General of India, 1471, 1472
André, his trial and death, 1097
Anglesey, quoted, 1394;
resigns, 1406;
restored, 1439;
resigns, 1448
Anne, Duchess of Marlborough's influence over, 833;
her quarrel with her sister, 834;
reconciled to William, 847;
acknowledged successor by Louis XIV., 858;
death of her son, 870;
influence of Marlborough over, 876;
love for her husband, 878, 912, 913;
her love for the Church, 905, 908, 911;
anger against Nottingham, 909;
a Tory, 909, 914;
dismisses Sunderland and Godolphin, 915;
dismisses the Duchess, 917;
announces the peace in Parliament, 921;
her failing health, 922;
sensitive as to the succession, 923;
Bolingbroke's influence over, 924;
dies, 924
Anson, captures treasure ships, 984;
rebuked by Bute, 1037
Argyle, Earl of, his power, 819;
his share in the massacre of Glencoe, 835;
thwarts Bolingbroke's schemes, 924;
Lord Commissioner, 926;
jealousy of his power, 933;
given the command against Mar, 935;
defeats him at Sheriffmuir, 937;
puts the Pretender to flight, 937;
hostile to Walpole, 983;
Master of the Ordnance, 987
Arnold, his origin, 1072;
takes Ticonderoga, 1073;
attacks Quebec, 1075;
his treachery, 1096;
joins the English, 1097;
his expedition against Virginia, 1099
Artois, Royalist leader, 1175;
at L'Ile Dieu, 1177;
joins Pichegru's conspiracy, 1251
Ashburton. [See Dunning.]
Assassination Plot, 853
Assiento, explained, 919;
restored by Spain, 1011
Atterbury, his plot, 954;
arrested, 955;
banished, 956;
dies, 969
Auchmuty at Monte Video, 1280;
at Buenos Ayres, 1281
Auckland, his treaty with Dumouriez, 1166;
prejudices George against Pitt, 1230;
in the Cabinet, 1423;
First Lord of Admiralty, 1447
Augusta, influence over George III., 1035;
her favour to Bute, 1036, 1042;
her name omitted from the Regency Bill, 1048, 1049
Augustus of Saxony, driven from Poland, 896
Augustus, elected King of Poland, 975
Aurungzebe, his treaty with the India Company, 1114;
dies, 1115
Aylesbury, election disputes, 908, 909
Baird in Egypt, 1232;
in Spain, 1294
Balcarras. [See Lindsay.]