ARTICLES OF charge

means of the presidency of Fort St. George upon prin ciples of justice and honour, and which established peace in India; and thereby exposing the British possessions there to the renewal of the dangers and calamities of war-has, by these several acts, been guilty of sundry high crimes and misdemeanors.

XXI. CORRESPONDENCE.

THAT by an act of the 13th year of his present majesty, entitled," an act for establishing certain regulations for the better management of the affairs of the East India company, as well in India as in Europe," "The governor general and council are required and directed to pay due obedience to all such orders as they shall receive from the court of directors of the said united company, and to correspond from time to time, and constantly and diligently transmit to the said court an exact particular of all advices or intelligence, and of all transactions and matters whatsoever, that shall come to their knowledge, relating to the government, commerce, revenues, or interest of the said united company."

That in consequence of the above recited act, the court of directors, in their general instructions of the 29th March, 1774, to the governor general and council, did direct" that the correspondence with the princes of country powers in India should be carried on through the governor general only; but that all letters to be sent by him should be first approved in council, and that he should lay before the council, at their next meeting, all letters received by him in the course of such correspondence for their information."

And the governor general and council were therein further ordered, "that, in transacting the business of their department, they should enter, with the utmost perspicuity and exactness, all their proceedings whatsoever; and all dissents, if such should at any time be made by any member of their board, together with all letters sent or received in the course of their correspon and that broken sets of such proceedings to t period possible be transmitted to them (the ce rectors;) a complete set at the end of every a duplicate by the next conveyance.”.

That in defiance of the said orders, and [72]

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the above recited act of parliament, the said Warren Hastings has, in sundry instances, concealed from his council the correspondence carried on between him and the princes or country powers in India, and neglected to communicate the advices and intelligence he from time to time received from the British residents at the different courts in India to the other members of the government; and without their knowledge, counsel, or participation, has despatched orders on matters of the utmost consequence to the interests of the company.

That moreover, the said Warren Hastings, for the purpose of covering his own improper and dangerous practices from his employers, has withheld from the court of directors, upon sundry occasions, copies of the proceedings had, and the correspondence carried on by him in his official capacity, as governor general, whereby the court of directors have been kept in ignorance of matters, which it highly imported them to know, and the affairs of the company have been exposed to much inconvenience and injury.

That in all such concealments and acts done or ordered without the consent and authority of the supreme council, the said Warren Hastings has been guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.

XXII. RIGHTS OF FYZOOLA KHAN, &c.

BEFORE THE TREATY OF LALL-DANG.

I.

THAT the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, who now holds of the vizier the territory of Rampore, Shawabad, and certain other districts dependent thereon, in the country of the Robillas, is the second son of a prince, renowned in the history of Hindostan under the name of Ali Mohammed Khan, some time sovereign of all that part of Rohilcund, which is particularly distinguished by the appellation of the kutteehr.

II.

That after the death of Ali Mohammed aforesaid, as Fyzoola Khan, together with his elder brother, was then a prisoner of war at a place called Herat, "the Rohilla chiefs took possession of the ancient estates" of the captive princes; and the Nabob Fyzoola Khan was from necessity compelled to waive his hereditary rights for the inconsiderable districts of Rampore and Shawabad, then estimated to produce from six to eight lacks of annual

revenue.

JII.

That in 1774, on the invasion of Rohilcund by the united armies of the Vizier Sujah ul Dowla and the company, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan, "with some of his people, was present at the decisive battle of St. George," where Hafiz Rhanet, the great leader of the Rohillas, and many others of their principal chiefs were slain ; but, escaping from the slaughter, Fyzoola Khan "made his retreat good towards the mountains, with all his treasure." He there collected the scattered remains of his

countrymen; and as he was the eldest surviving son of Ali Mohammed Khan, as too the most powerful obstacle to his pretensions was now removed by the death of Hafiz, he seems at length to have been generally acknowledged by his natural subjects, the undoubted heir of his father's authority.

IV.

That, "regarding the sacred sincerity and friendship of the English, whose goodness and celebrity is every where known, who dispossess no one," the Nabob Fyzoola Khan made early overtures for peace to Colonel Alexander Champion, commander in chief of the company's forces in Bengal: that he did propose to the said Colonel Alexander Champion, in three letters, received on the 14th, 24th, and 27th of May, to put himself under the protection either of the company or of the vizier, through the mediation, and with the guarantee of the company; and that he did offer "whatever was conferred upon him, to pay as much, without damage or deficiency, as any other person would agree to do;" stating at the same time his condition and pretensions herein before recited, as facts "evident as the sun;" and appealing, in a forcible and awful manner, to the generosity and magnanimity of this nation, "by whose means he hoped in God that he should receive justice;" and as "the person who designed the war was no more;" as “in that he was himself guiltless ;" and as "he had never acted in such a manner, as for the vizier to have taken hatred to his heart against him; that he might be reinstated in his ancient possessions, the country of his father."

V.

That on the last of the three dates above mentioned, that is to say, on the 27th of May, the Nabob Fyzoola Khan did also send to the commander in chief a vakeel, or ambassador, who was authorized on the part of him (the nabob Fyzoola Khan, his master) to make a specific offer of three propositions; and that by one of the said propositions," an annual increase of near 400,000l. would have accrued to the revenues of our ally, and the imme