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than the Delta of the Ganges; in a land fruitful of soldiers, who have been found worthy to follow English battalions to the charge and into the breach. The Rajah was popular among his subjects. His 5 administration had been mild, and the prosperity of the district which he governed presented a striking contrast to the depressed state of Bahar under our rule, and a still more striking contrast to the misery of the provinces which were cursed by the tyranny of 10 the Nabob Vizier. The national and religious prejudices with which the English were regarded throughout India, were peculiarly intense in the metropolis of the Brahminical superstition. It can therefore scarcely be doubted that the Governor15 General, before he outraged the dignity of Cheyte Sing by an arrest, ought to have assembled a force capable of bearing down all opposition. This had not been done. The handful of sepoys who attended Hastings would probably have been sufficient to over20 awe Moorshedabad, or the Black Town of Calcutta. But they were unequal to the conflict with the hardy rabble of Benares. The streets surrounding the palace were filled by an immense multitude, of whom a large proportion, as is usual in Upper India, wore arms. 25 The tumult became a fight, and the fight a massacre. The English officers defended themselves with desperate courage against overwhelming numbers, and fell, as became them, sword in hand. The sepoys were butchered. The gates were forced. The captive 30 prince, neglected by his gaolers during the confusion, discovered an outlet which opened on the precipitous bank of the Ganges, let himself down to the water by a string made of the turbans of his atten

dants, found a boat, and escaped to the opposite

shore.

The build

If Hastings had, by indiscreet violence, brought himself into a difficult and perilous situation, it is only just to acknowledge that he extricated himself with 5 even more than his usual ability and presence of mind. He had only fifty men with him. ing in which he had taken up his residence was on every side blockaded by the insurgents. But his fortitude remained unshaken. The Rajah from the other 10 side of the river sent apologies and liberal offers. They were not even answered. Some subtle and enterprising men were found who undertook to pass through the throng of enemies, and to convey the intelligence of the late events to the English canton- 15 ments. It is the fashion of the natives of India to wear large earrings of gold. When they travel, the rings are laid aside, lest the precious metal should tempt some gang of robbers; and, in place of the ring, a quill or a roll of paper is inserted in the orifice to 20 prevent it from closing. Hastings placed in the ears of his messengers letters rolled up in the smallest Some of these letters were addressed to

compass. the commanders of English troops. One was written to assure his wife of his safety. One was to the 25 envoy whom he had sent to negotiate with the Mahrattas. Instructions for the negotiation were needed; and the Governor-General framed them in that situation of extreme danger, with as much composure as if he had been writing in his palace at Calcutta.

Things, however, were not yet at the worst. An English officer of more spirit than judgment, eager to distinguish himself, made a premature attack on the

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insurgents beyond the river. His troops were entangled in narrow streets, and assailed by a furious population. He fell, with many of his men; and the survivors were forced to retire.

This event produced the effect which has never failed to follow every check, however slight, sustained in India by the English arms. For hundreds of miles round, the whole country was in commotion. The entire population of the district of Benares took arms. 10 The fields were abandoned by the husbandmen, who thronged to defend their prince. The infection spread to Oude. The oppressed people of that province rose up against the Nabob Vizier, refused to pay their imposts, and put the revenue officers to flight. 15 Even Bahar was ripe for revolt. The hopes of Cheyte Sing began to rise. Instead of imploring mercy in the humble style of a vassal, he began to talk the language of a conqueror, and threatened, it was said, to sweep the white usurpers out of the land. But 20 the English troops were now assembling fast. The officers, and even the private men, regarded the Governor-General with enthusiastic attachment, and flew to his aid with an alacrity which, as he boasted, had never been shown on any other occasion. Major 25 Popham, a brave and skilful soldier, who had highly distinguished himself in the Mahratta war, and in whom the Governor-General reposed the greatest confidence, took the command. The tumultuary army of the Rajah was put to rout; his fastnesses 30 were stormed. In a few hours above thirty thousand men left his standard, and returned to their ordinary avocations. The unhappy prince fled from his country for ever.

His fair domain was added to the

British dominions. One of his relations indeed was appointed Rajah; but the Rajah of Benares was henceforth to be, like the Nabob of Bengal, a mere pensioner.

By this revolution, an addition of two hundred 5 thousand pounds a year was made to the revenues of the Company. But the immediate relief was not as great as had been expected. The treasure laid up by Cheyte Sing had been popularly estimated at a million sterling. It turned out to be about a fourth 10 part of that sum; and, such as it was, it was seized by the army, and divided as prize-money.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE BEGUMS OR PRINCESSES OF OUDE ARE
PLUNDERED.

DISAPPOINTED in his expectations from Benares,
Hastings was more violent than he would otherwise
have been in his dealings with Oude. Sujah Dowlah 15
had long been dead. His son and successor, Asaph-
ul-Dowlah, was one of the weakest and most vicious
even of Eastern princes. His life was divided be-
tween torpid repose and the most odious forms of
sensuality. In his court there was boundless waste, 20
throughout his dominions wretchedness and dis-
order. He had been, under the skilful management of
the English Government, gradually sinking from the
rank of an independent prince to that of a vassal of
the Company. It was only by the help of a British 25
brigade that he could be secured from the aggressions

of neighbours who despised his weakness, and from the vengeance of subjects who detested his tyranny. A brigade was furnished, and he engaged to defray the charge of paying and maintaining it. From that 5 time his independence was at an end. Hastings was not a man to lose the advantage which he had thus gained. The Nabob soon began to complain of the burden which he had undertaken to bear. His revenues, he said, were falling off; his servants were 10 unpaid; he could no longer support the expense of the arrangement which he had sanctioned. Hastings would not listen to these representations. The Vizier, he said, had invited the Government of Bengal to send him troops, and had promised to pay for 15 them. The troops had been sent. How long the troops were to remain in Oude was a matter not settled by the treaty. It remained, therefore, to be settled between the contracting parties. But the contracting parties differed. Who then must decide? 20 The stronger.

Hastings also argued that, if the English force was withdrawn, Oude would certainly become a prey to anarchy, and would probably be overrun by a Mahratta army. That the finances of Oude were 25 embarrassed, he admitted. But he contended, not

without reason, that the embarrassment was to be attributed to the incapacity and vices of Asaph-ulDowlah himself, and that, if less were spent on the troops, the only effect would be that more would be 30 squandered on worthless favourites.

Hastings had intended, after settling the affairs of Benares, to visit Lucknow, and there to confer with Asaph-ul-Dowlah. But the obsequious courtesy of

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