It is my intention to augment that garrison without delay, but even at present it is sufficient to secure us against any possible attempt of an European enemy in that quarter, it will also operate as an effectual check upon the Mahrattas. You are already informed of my opinions with regard to the importance of the possession of Goa to our security and interests in every point of view; and I should hope that the present might prove a favourable opportunity for accomplishing the great advantage of obtaining the cession of Goa either to the crown or to the Company in exchange either for Malacca or the Spice Islands, or for some equivalent pecuniary compensation. It appears to me, that the attempt to obtain this cession ought not to be delayed, and as I know you concur with me in my estimate of its value, I rely on you that the negociation with the Court of Lisbon will be immediately opened.

The claims of Portugal to any part of the Canarese dominions of the late Tippoo Sultaun are so obviously weak, that I do not think it necessary to trouble you further on that subject than to request you to advert to the length of time during which the places claimed by the Portuguese have belonged to the State of Mysore, and to the nature of the conquest which brought them under our power. The Governor and Captain General's pretensions to be considered as an Ally in the late war, appear to be founded principally on the share which his Excellency bore in issuing an order for a royal salute to be fired from Fort Alguada on the occasion of the fall of Seringapatam, and of the death of Tippoo Sultaun. Although this claim is certainly more powerful than any which can be alleged by his Highness the Peishwa, I do not expect that, in the most liberal construction, this meritorious effort of forward and active zeal of his Excellency the Governor and Captain-General will be deemed to entitle her most faithful Majesty to any portion of our conquests. Even if the principle could be applied to cases of alliance in war, I doubt whether any degree of promptitude and alacrity manifested in rejoicing over the destruction of our late enemy, could justify a claim on the part of the Governor and Captain General to the rights of an accessory after the fact.

The general aspect of affairs becomes every day more favourable in Mysore, the whole of the country is now re

duced to our authority and to that of the Rajah and Nizam; and a seasonable fall of rain affords a prospect, that even in this year we may realize no inconsiderable part of our new revenue and subsidy without injury to the country.

With regard to the Court of Hyderabad, its temper returns, and with it the establishment of an additional regiment of cavalry to the subsidiary force will soon be admitted. The Court of Poonah continues in the same state of weakness and confusion, and the distractions of the Mahratta empire have recently been aggravated by hostilities which have broken out between the Rajah of Kolapore aud Purseram Bhow. The latter is stated (by accounts which appear credible) to have fallen in an engagement with the former. Upon the whole no apprehension appears to me justifiable by the actual state of the Mahratta empire. For the present I have been compelled by the perverseness of the Peishwa's disposition to proceed to carry the second separate article of the Treaty of Mysore into effect; but I shall anxiously watch any opportunity of renewing my proposals at Poonah on their original basis; and I do not yet despair of success.

At Fort St. George the whole state of affairs is astonishingly improved, and I am perfectly satisfied with the present course of that government. You will soon receive my new Treaty with the Rajah of Tanjore, vesting the whole administration of his government and revenues in the Company. You will also, I trust, learn the success of the steps which I had ordered for disarming the Southern Polygars, who had begun to revolt even during the short period of the late war. We are now employed in framing a code for the introduction of a permanent settlement of revenue, and a system of judicature for the Company's possessions in the Peninsula, I have ordered two members of the board of revenue to proceed immediately from Madras to Calcutta for the purpose of aiding in this salutary work: and I trust that its benefits will be extended in a short time over the whole of the northern Circars, the Jaghire, the countries under the Company's dominion ceded in the last war, and those conquered in this (with the exception of Malabar and Canara) the countries of

* See Appendix.

the Southern, Eastern and Western Polygars, and the king

dom of Tanjore.

I found Bengal and the provinces in a state of profound tranquillity; the effect of our success in Mysore has utterly annihilated the spirit of insubordination and contempt which for some time past has been gaining ground among our Mahommedan subjects. I have commenced a negotiation with the Nabob Vizier for the reform of his military establishments. The resident with Scindia has proceeded to Jynagur, in order to receive from the Rajah the person of Vizier Alli. I shall soon write to you in detail on the state of our courts of justice, of the revenue and general finance, and of our commercial interests. With respect to finance I shall only say, that great and unprecedented as the effort has been which I was compelled to make within the last, and must make within the present year, our resources have corresponded with the exigency of the occasion, and public and private credit have improved to an astonishing degree, and are still progressively improving.

I think it necessary to apprize you of my intention to adopt without delay a plan for the improvement of the civil service at Bengal in a most important point. The state of the administration of justice, and even of the collection of revenue throughout the provinces affords a painful example of the inefficacy of the best code of laws to secure the happiness of the people, unless due provision has been made to ensure a proper supply of men qualified to administer those laws in their different branches and departments. This evil is felt severely in every part of this government, and it arises principally from a defect at the source and fountain-head of the service-I mean the education and early habits of the young gentlemen sent hither in the capacity of writers. My opinion, after full deliberation on the subject is decided, that the writers, on their first arrival in India should be subjected for a period of two or three years to the rules and discipline of some collegiate institution at the seat of government. In such an institution they might attain the groundwork of the several native languages necessary for their respective stations, together with the principles of general law, those of the Mahomedan and Hindoo Codes, and the voluminous regulations enacted by the Governor-General in Council for the ad

ministration of justice in Bengal and the provinces; other branches of knowledge, also, suitable to their intended duties might be acquired, and habits of activity, regularity and decency formed instead of those of sloth, indolence, low debauchery, and vulgarity now too apt to grow on those young men, who have been sent at an early age into the interior parts of the country, and have laid the foundations of their life and manners among the coarse vices and indulgencies of those countries. I shall not pursue this topic further at present, intending to make it the subject of ample discussion at an early period. But I now wish to inform you that I feel the mischief to be so pressing, that I intend, without waiting for orders from home, to proceed to found such an institution at Calcutta. I have already taken some steps towards the measure, and I hope to be able to carry my plan into effect with little (if any) additional charge to the company.

I rely on your active and zealous support of this arrangement, in which I feel the greatest interest.

Ever, my dear Sir,

Yours sincerely and affectionately,

MORNINGTON.

No. XL.

The Earl of Mornington to his Excellency the Vizier of Oude.

Fort William, 5th November, 1799.

Some days have elapsed since I had the honour to receive your Excellency's letter, wherein your Excellency, after observing "that the benefits even both immediate and future, of a reform of your military establishment, are even more strongly impressed on your Excellency's mind than they were described by me," assures me that you would, "without a moment's delay, consult with Colonel Scott upon what was practicable and what occurred to your Excellency's mind, and communicate to me what should be conjointly determined upon as advisable."

From the period of my receiving this letter, I have anxiously expected to learn from Lieutenant-Colonel Scott that your

Excellency, in conformity to your promise, and in pursuance of the suggestions of your own discernment, had entered fully and unreservedly with that gentleman upon the discussion of this urgent and important business. But although this expectation has been hitherto disappointed, such is my confidence in the punctuality and prudence of your Excellency, that I continue to be firmly persuaded that I shall soon have the satisfaction of learning from Lieutenant-Colonel Scott that considerable progress has been made in the new arrangement.

The general considerations which render it extremely necessary that this arrangement should he carried into execution without delay, have been already fully explained to your Excellency, and you have concurred with me in my views on the subject. One argument in favour of a speedy determination on this subject, possibly may not have occurred to your mind, and I, therefore, take this occasion explicitly to state it to your Excellency.

The Company are bound by existing treaties "to defend the dominions of your Excellency against all enemies;" but the number of British troops ordinarily stationed in your Excellency's dominions not exceeding 13,000 men, would not, it is obvious, be adequate to that purpose in the event of an invasion of those dominions; while, on the other hand, it must be evident to your Excellency, that various circumstances in such an event might render it impossible for the Company's Government to augment the ordinary force, either to the extent or within the time required by the emergency. The probable result of such a situation of things requires no explanation to a person of your Excellency's penetration.

If this danger were even remote and doubtful, it would behove a prudent government to guard against it by seasonable precautions. What then must be your Excellency's duty and mine when that danger certainly menaces your dominions? Of the hostile intentions of Zemaun Shah against your Excellency's possessions no doubt can be entertained, since the discoveries made at Seringapatam. Whether these intentions will be carried into effect at a more early or more distant day, may be a question; but it is the part of wisdom to preclude the possibility of their success. But Zemaun Shah is not, perhaps, the only power against whose restless and unprincipled ambition your Excellency should be protected,