latter part of the year 1813. Although the design of his administration had been to inculcate the advantages of peace, and demonstrate the futility of war, it can hardly be said to have answered the end proposed. On the continent of India the Pindarees were gathering strength for another campaign, while the north-eastern frontier was menaced by the Burmese and the wild tribes of Nepaul. The policy of Lord Minto deferred the evil day, but it did not prevent the possibility of its recurrence. On the other hand, the armaments to Java and the Dutch possessions, while they crushed the intrigues of the French in the eastern seas, and added materially to the reputation of the English nation, produced few substantial and lasting benefits, in return for the immense outlay that had been expended upon them.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

AFFAIRS OF THE COMPANY IN ENGLAND-WAR WITH NEPAUL- DISTURBANCES AT HYDERABAD-TRIMBUCKJEE DAINGLIA-HIS CAPTIVITY AND ESCAPE.

1811-1816.

For five years previous to 1813, a strong feeling of opposition to the commercial privileges of the East India Company had been gaining ground in England. On the 22d of February, 1813, the Directors addressed Parliament in defence of their monopoly, pleading that it was necessary, as a means of supplying funds for the numerous political expenses in which they were called upon to engage. The determination of ministers, however, to annihilate the Company's privileges remained unshaken, and in the month of July, 1813, a bill passed through both Houses, which permitted all persons to trade with India, if furnished with a licence from the Court of Directors. The liberty of withholding this permission was not even left at the option of the latter, since, upon their refusal to issue the requisite passport, an appeal might be made to the Board of Control. The Board also acquired increased power in matters of finance and education; the college at Haileybury and the seminary at Addiscombe, belonging to the Company, being placed under their supervision. All governors, commanders-in-chief, and the governor-general, were now rendered almost entirely dependent on the Crown; no servant of the Company could be dismissed or reinstated without the consent of the board, nor might the Court of Directors make any grant exceeding 6007., unless it had pre

viously received the sanction of the controlling powers. Numerous petitions having been presented to Parliament praying that measures should be taken for the better support and extension of Christianity in India, an episcopal establishment was also authorized, a subject which will be more fully discussed in a succeeding chapter.

Lord Minto had been replaced in his government by the Marquis of Hastings, then Earl of Moira; this nobleman had served, with some distinction, during the American war, and appeared, therefore, the better qualified to grapple with the numerous military questions which arose about this time. The first of these, that called for his attention, was connected with the affairs of Nepaul.

The region known by this name, stretches along the foot of the mountain range called Kuchar, which divides Thibet from Northern Hindoostan. Its inhabitants are remarkable for their bravery and want of civilization. Ancient remains scattered throughout the country, attest the prevalence of the Brahminical superstition in it from the earliest ages, while the neighbourhood of China accounts for the existence of Bhuddism among a certain class of the inhabitants. The bravest and most warlike tribe of Nepaul, was that of the Ghoorkas, so called from the province of Hindoostan, whence they migrated nearly a century ago. Their incursions having attracted the notice of the Bengal government, in 1796, a force was despatched against them under Captain Kinlock, but the progress of the troops being arrested by sickness, the expedition returned without accomplishing its object, and since this period the Ghoorkas adopted a system of perpetual encroachment. During the interval between 1787 and 1812, they possessed themselves of more than two hundred villages, situated beyond the frontiers of Nepaul. Colonel Bradshaw, who had been deputed by the governor-general to arrange amicably

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the various points in debate, found his friendly advances misconstrued and rejected. The overbearing demeanour of the Ghoorkas seemed to be increased by the pacific policy of the Company. The British envoy was often perplexed to discover the just limits of their frontier, since the Nepaulese commissioners equivocated without scruple, and lied without shame.

Hostilities now appeared unavoidable. The governorgeneral prohibited all commercial intercourse with the state of Nepaul, and at once turned his attention to the organization of an invading army. Four divisions were appointed to act upon as many different points; MajorGeneral Marly was entrusted with the reduction of the capital, Catmandoo; Major - General Wood received. orders to possess himself of Bootwal; Major-General Gillespie had been instructed to occupy the passes of the Jumna and Ganges; while Major-General Ochterlony marched into the western provinces of the Ghoorkas. The hill chieftains, under the protection of the English government, were commanded to support these movements at the head of their irregulars, and the Company opened, through the medium of General Ochterlony, a friendly correspondence with Runjeet Sing.

The forces of the Ghoorkas numbered about twelve thousand men, clothed, armed, and disciplined like the Company's sepoys. They were brave, intelligent, and active; their country possessed many natural defences, and their new and unusual mode of warfare proved, at the outset, formidable and embarrassing to the invaders. The Ghoorka officers issued a public order that the wells and springs should be poisoned; to which the governorgeneral replied by intimating his intention to inflict the punishment of death on any person who might be concerned in this nefarious design.

Of the four divisions mentioned above, those under Generals Wood and Marly proved signally disastrous; General Gillespie succeeded in possessing himself of the

Kheree pass, but he afterwards fell during the assault on Kalunga. The operations in Kermaon were, however, more fortunate; while Major-General Ochterlony performed several brilliant exploits on the heights of Maloun. Seriously affected by these reverses, Ummeer Sing, the Ghoorka leader in the west, agreed to retire across the Kali river, and a treaty of peace was once more proposed.

The fickle mountaineers, however, soon repented of their pacific measures; the war broke out afresh, and was now committed wholly to the charge of General Ochterlony. The prolonged and obstinate resistance offered by the Nepaulese to the efforts of the English troops, may be attributed to their skilful use of stockades, a species of defence with which the sepoys had not yet come in contact. Perceiving their advantage in this respect, General Ochterlony was not ashamed to take lessons from a semi-civilized enemy in the art of war. After some masterly evolutions in the forest of Saul, the English advanced to Muckwanpoor, where they gained a complete victory over the Nepaulese, who, in consequence, found themselves obliged to sue for peace.

They had invoked the aid of the Emperor of China, their nominal sovereign, against the Company, endeavouring to alarm the fears of the Chinese for the safety of their own territory. The authorities at Pekin remained some months inactive, doubting, apparently, whether the audacity of the foreign barbarians would proceed so far as this. At length, moved by reports from their officers on the frontier, they condescended to despatch an army from Pekin, but these forces marched so slowly, that two campaigns were terminated before they arrived.

The affairs of Oude now attracted the attention of the governor-general, who sought to extract from the Nabob-Vizier some assistance towards defraying the expenses of the Nepaulese war. A meeting was to have