to Colonel Munro, " I think it will be allowed that your present attempt to make a reference to the civil Government is novel and unexampled, and striking a blow at the root of military authority, which cannot be sufficiently reprobated."

5. A remonstrance from Colonel Munro, addressed to the Chief Secretary of Government.-(Same date.)

6. A letter from the Chief Secretary of Government to the Commander in Chief, (dated the 24th January,) recommending him to release Col. Munro from his arrest.

7. The reply of General Macdowall, protesting against the interference of the Civil Authority, and contending that a Court Martial alone could decide between the Quartermaster-General and the officers. He censures him for communicating with the Government.

8. 9. 10. Other letters followed, in which the Commander in Chief declared, that, without the express order of the Governor in Council, he could not release the Quartermaster-General from the arrest.-The Governor, therefore, sent the order, and immediately assembled the Council, at which General Macdowall was summoned to attend. The General, who was supported by a number of the officers, several of them of rank, declined the summons, and sent in a protest against the interference of the Civil Government in a mea. sure which he considered as purely military. He then issued General Orders to the army, stating his resignation of the command, and immediately embarked on board the Lady Jane Dundas Indiaman, bound for Europe, after much difficulty in getting away, the Government having attempted to compel him to disembark.

After the General's embarkation, the Adjutant General, Col. Capper, issued the General Orders to the army, which he had received. They briefly mention the cause of his resignation, and conclude with saying, that he feels it incumbent on him to express his strong disapprobation of Lieut.Colonel Munro's unexampled proceeding, and considers it a solemn duty imposed on him to reprimand Lieut.-Col. Munro in general orders.

Attached to these general orders, is an address to the army by Adjutant-General Capper, who warmly espouses the cause of General M'Dowall. The following extract is the only part of it which alludes directly to the case at issue, or furnishes the motives for General M'Dowall's conduct:"The moment is arrived when Lieut.General M'Dowall is to take leave of the company's army, whose ardent courage, consummate discipline, and persevering firmness, have been displayed in the atchievement of those brilliant exploits which

:

have secured its own glory, and added to the British Empire extensive fertile regions of incalculable value and importance. May your patriotism, valour, and worth, be acknowledged and rewarded by the King and the East India Company, in proportion as they are known and appreciated by your Commander in Chief. Had LieutenantGeneral M'Dowall succeeded to the high and enviable office, with all the advantages enjoyed by his predecessors, he would, upon first assuming the command, have promulgated his sentiments upon so flattering an event; but the circumstances of his appointment were so humiliating and unpropitious, that he declined addressing the army, in the anxious hope that the Court of Directors might, ou a further deliberation, be induced to restore him to his right, and by altering the new and extraordinary forms of Government, have enabled him to exercise the functions of his station, as the representative of the army, with honour to the service, and credit to himself; no prospect of such an occurrence being at all probable, in justice to the army, and to his own character, he was determined to retire."

These orders were immediately followed by general orders from the government, by which General M'Dowall was formally superseded previous to his resignation. It concludes thus:

"The Governor in Council must lament with the deepest regret, the necessity of resorting to an extreme measure of this nature; but when a manifest endeavour has been used to bring into degradation the supreme public authority, it is essential that the vindication should not be less signal than the offence, and that a memorable example should be given, that proceedings subversive of established order can find no security under the sanction of rank, however exalted. The general orders in question having been circulated under the signature of the Deputy-Adjutant-General of the army, it must have been known to that officer, that in giving currency to a paper of this offensive description, he was acting in direct violation of his duty to the government; as no authority can justify the execution of an illegal act, connected, as that act obviously, in the present case, has been, with views of the most reprehensible nature, the Governor in Council thinks it proper to mark his highest displeasure at the conduct of Major-General Bowles, by directing that he be suspended from the Company's service. The general order left by the Commander in Chief for publication, and dated the 2d instant, is directed to be expunged from every public record, and the Adjutant-General of the army will immediately circulate the necessary orders for the purpose."

Besides

Besides Major-General Bowles, Colonel Capper, who signed and distributed the orders of General M'Dowall, has been superseded by the government.

After the departure of Gen. Macdowall, the Government, on the 6th of February, issued explanatory and conciliatory General orders, in vindication of the measures pursued by the Governor in Council. They state, "that it being desirable that the circumstances connected with that measure should be distinctly and publicly understood, there being reason to believe that a great degree of misapprehension has hitherto existed, the Governor in Council thinks it proper to state, that the QuartermasterGeneral was placed under arrest by the late Commander in Chief, on charges founded on a report which was submitted by the Quartermaster-General, in conformity to express orders; which report ha ving been approved and adopted by the Commander in Chief, Lieutenant-Gen. Sir John Craddock, was communicated to the Right Hon. the Governor in Council of Fort St George, and finally laid before the Supreme Government, under whose approbation and order it became the foundation of measures already known to the army. In these circumstances, the Quartermaster-General could be considered no longer responsible for proceedings so sanctioned, and it would have been inconsistent with the evident principles of justice, that a public officer should have been liable to the obloquy of a trial for an act not his, but that of his superiors. The question which, in such case, would have been submitted to the cognizance of a military tribunal, would not have involved only a discussion of the conduct of the Quartermaster-General, but would have extended to the measures of the principal civil and military authorities in this country; measures which had undergone the maturest consideration, and which had been carried into effect under the most formal sanction. It must be apparent that a discussion, involving consequences of this nature, would have been contrary to law, contrary to reason, ruinous of public confidence, and subversive of the foundations of military discipline and public authority. The Governor in Council desires that the officers of the army will be assured that this Government would not be less solicitous to vindicate their honour and reputation, by rejecting all injurious imputations, if such could have been supposed, than the officers of the army could have been solicitous in their own vindication. The Governor in Council has accordingly, under this impression, been led to an attentive consideration of the expressions which are understood to have been deemed objectionable, and he has no

hesitation in declaring, that it appears, in his judgment, impossible, under any correct construction, to attach any offensive meaning to words where injury was not meant, and where the intention of offence assuredly did not exist. Having stated this explanation, the Hon. the Governor in Council deemed it his further duty to ob serve, that the question which has been under deliberation is now considered as concluded. The further agitation of a subject of this nature would be availing for no purpose but that of disturbing the established course of public affairs, and for the excite, ment of feelings injurious to order and authority; and it will be, accordingly of importance to the public welfare, that the circumstances connected with it should be consigned to oblivion."

These orders, however, had not the effect of appeasing the army. When Colonel Capper and Major Boles were suspended, the army voted 2000l. a-year to the Col. and 1500l. to the Major, during the suspension; and a paper had been handed about, containing charges to be preferred against Lieut.-Colonel Munro, for his subsequent conduct. These charges are conceived in most virulent language. The concluding charge is," For ungentleman-like conduct, in endeavouring to avoid a trial on the charges that had orginally caused his arrest; those charges, if proved, being highly derogatory to his name, both as an officer and a gentleman; by such conduct, forgetting the respect due to his high station on the Staff of the army, shewing an utter disregard for his reputation, affording presumptive appearance of guilt, and disgra cing the honourable character of the profession."

The animosity which had been generated by this affair shewed itself on repeated occasions, in the refusal of the officers of different regiments to accept invitations fron the Governor.

On the 25th of February, the officers of the 2d battalion of the 1st regiment of royals were invited to dine with the Governor on the 1st of March. At a meeting held, it was resolved unanimously, with the exception only of the commanding officer, that they could not accept the invitation. They pleaded previous engagements. The Governor was irritated at this, and threatened to report their conduct to his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief; but, on the interference of General Gowdie, the officers yielded, and were to dine with the Governor on the 1st of March.

The 1st battalion of the 18th regiment, on arriving at Madras, waited, in a body, to pay their respects to the Governor; but, on receiving an invitation to dine with him,

an hour afterwards, all declined the invita tion.

Among the unpleasant occurrences which have arisen from these dissensions, the Government ordered some young men of the institution to join their corps, for the offence of having refused to mess with a young man who had gone to one of Lady Barlow's parties.

It appears that, connected with the principal cause of controversy, there were vari ous sources of jealousy, arising from the command the civil Government exercised, in ordering the march of the troops, with out the privity of the Commander in Chief.

These are a few of the particulars which have reached us from India; and we have, besides, heard, that the Court of Directors have already passed resolutions sanctioning the conduct of their Governor, and, by implication, censuring that of their late Commander in Chief.

It would appear, from the following General Orders, which were issued on the 1st. of May, that several officers had persisted in their opposition to the Civil Govern

ment.

GENERAL ORDERS BY GOVERNMENT.
Fort St George, May 1.

The zeal and discipline by which the military establishment of Fort St. George has long been distinguished, induced the Governorin Council to expect that the measures, which the violent and intemperate acts of the late commander-in-chief had imposed on the government, would be received by all the officers of the army, with the sentiments of respect and obedience prescribed by the principles of military subordination, and due to the government by which those measures were adopted, as well as to the authorities to which they were ultimately referred. The Governor in council has however learned, with a degree of surprize proportionate to the con. fidence which he reposed in the discipline of the army, that soon after the departure of the late commander in chief, proceed. ings of the most unjustifiable nature, and correspondent to the example which he had afforded, were pursued by certain officers of the army.

The most reprehensible of those proceedings consisted in the preparation of a paper addressed to the right honourable the governor general, purporting to be a remonstrance, in the name of the army, against the acts of the government under which it serves.

culated to destroy every foundation of discipline, obedience, and fidelity.

The secrecy observed in preparing this seditious paper prevented, for some time, the discovery of the persons engaged in that proceeding; but it has now been ascertained, that Captain Josiah Marshall, late secretary to the military board, and Lieutenant-colonel George Martin, lately permitted to proceed to England, were principally concerned in preparing and circulating the memorial in question, and that Lieutenant-colonel the honourable Arthur St. Leger, was active in promoting its circulation, employing the influence which he derived from the important command confided to him by the government, for the purpose of attempting the subversion of its authority, and spreading disaffection mong the troops which it had entrusted to his charge,

It has also been ascertained, that Major 1. De Morgan has been active in the circulation of the memorial.

The Governor in council is also under the necessity of noticing another paper, of a most dangerous tendency, lately in circulation at some of the military stations, purporting to be an address from the officers of the army to Major Boles, the late deputy adjutant general. In this address, a right is assumed to decide on the acts of the government, by condemning, in unqualified terms, the sentence of suspension passed on Major Boles; and an encouragement is held out to other officers to violate their duty to the government, by affording a pecuniary indemnification, not only to Major Boles, but to all such officers as shall suffer by any act of the government, which the subscribers to the address may deem exceptionable. This paper, so incompatible with the military character, and so repugnant to the fundamental principles of military discipline and government, was forced on the attention of the governor by Captain James Grant, commandant of his bo dy-guard, who, while holding that confidential situation, and employed, by order of the Governor in council, under the Resident at Travancore, transmitted a copy of the paper to be laid before the Governor, with an avowal that he had affixed his signature to it, and a defence of the grounds on which he adopted that proceeding.

It has also been ascertained, that a paper, of a similar tendency, has been circulated among the officers of the corps of artillery at the Mount, and that its circulation has been promoted by Lieutenant-colonel Robert Bell, the officer commanding that corps.

ing in Travancore,) and Lieutenant-colonel Cuppage (lately commanding at Malabar, and employed with the troops under his command in Fravancore,) who appear to have taken no steps whatever, either to repress or report to the government the improper proceedings pursued by part of the troops under their orders. It is not suflicient for officers holding commands to avoid a participation in such proceedings; it is their positive and indispensable duty to adopt the most decided measures for their suppression, and to report them to their superior authorities.

It has further been ascertained that Captain J. M. Coombs, assistant Quarter-master-general in Mysore, has been concerned in these reprehensible proceedings.

It becomes the painful duty of the Governor in Council to mark with the displeasure of the government, the conduct of the above.mentioned officers, who have been engaged in a course of measures equally dangerous to the existence of discipline, to the foundations of legal government, and to the interests of their country. The under-mentioned, officers are accordingly declared to be suspended from the service of the honourable the company, until the pleasure of the honourable the Court of Directors shall be known:

Lieut.-Col. the Hon. Arthur St. Leger.
Major John De Morgan.
Captain Josiah Marshall.
Captain James Grant.

Lieutenant-colonel Commandant Robert Bell is removed from all charge and command until the pleasure of the honourable the Court of Directors shall be known, but he is permitted to draw his regimental pay and allowances.

Lieutenant-colonel commandant J. M. Chalmers is removed from the command of the subsidiary force in Travancore.

The under-mentioned officers are removed from their staff appointments, and ordered to join the corps to which they stand attached:

Lieutenant-colonel John Cuppage.
Captain J. M. Coombs.

The Governor in Council considers it to be proper to avail himself of this occasion, to correct a misapprehension, highly dangerous in its tendency, which has arisen in the minds of some of the officers of the army, with regard to the nature of the authority of the Governor in council. This misapprehension appears to have originated in the general order published by the late commander in chief, on the 28th of January last, from which it might be inferred, that the authority of the Governor in council is only of a civil nature; whereas, by the express enactment of the legis lature, the entire military government of

the presidency of Fort St. George, and its dependencies, is vested in the Governor in council. It is, therefore, to be distinctly understood, that no officer, of whatever rank, while serving under the presidency of Fort St George, can, without incurring the penalties of disobedience to the legis lature of his country issue any order in violation, or to the derogation of the authority of the government; and that every officer, complying with an order of that description, under any pretence whatever, renders himself liable to the forfeiture of the service, and to such legal penalties as the nature of the case may demand.

While the Governor in Council deems it to be proper to afford the foregoing explanation, he feels himself, at the same time, bound to acknowledge that the principles to which he has adverted had never been called in question, until the publication of the above-mentioned order of the late commander in chief. On the contrary, these principles had been invariably acted. upon by the government, and by the offi cers of the army of this presidency, whe have been no less distinguished for their obedience and discipline, than for their atchievements in the field. The Governor in Council also experiences the most sincere satisfaction in publishing his conviction, that the majority of the army have resisted all participation in the improper and dangerous proceedings described in this order; and it is an act of justice to the troops of his majesty's service to declare his entire approbation of the order, discipline, and steady adherence to duty, which they have invariably manifested.

The information before the government does not enable the Governor in Council to distinguish, by the expression of his approbation, all the troops of the company's service that have manifested the same disposition; but he deems it to be proper to notice, on this occasion, the satisfactory and exemplary conduct of the part of the army composing the Hyderabad subsidiary force. The Governor in Council is also confident that such officers as have inadvertently yielded to the misrepresentations of individuals, who have been engaged in the prosecution of designs equally fatal to the honour and to the interests of the army, will in future manifest, in the service of the government, the obedience, fidelity, and zeal, which constitute the first principles of their profession, which have hitherto distinguished the army, and which are indispensable to the prosperity of the British empire in India.

By order of the Honourable the Gover nor in Council,

(Signed) A. FALCONER,
Chief Secretary to Government,

May 1, 1809.

The Honourable the Governor in Council has been pleased to make the following appointments:

Major T. H. S. Conway to be Adjutantgeneral of the army, with the official rank of Lieutenant-colonel, vice Cuppage.

Captain P. V. Agnew to be Deputy Adjutant-general of the army, with the official rank of major, vice Conway.

Lieutenant-colonel T. Clarke to be commandant of artillery, with the staff allowance annexed to that station, and a seat at the military board, vice Bell.

Major Sir John Sinclair, Bart. to be commissary of stores, in charge of the arsenal of Fort St. George, vice Clarke..

Lieutenant A. E. Patullo to command the Honourable the Governor's body-guard, vice Grant.

Captain J. Doveton, of the 7th regiment native cavalry, to be paymaster at Vizagapatanı, vice Marshall.

The following officers, who have been suspended from the service of the honourable company until the pleasure of the court of directors shall be known, are directed to hold themselves in readiness to proceed to England, by such opportunities as the honourable the Governor in council may think proper to point out, viz.Lieutenant-colonel the Honourable Arthur St Leger.

Major Thomas Boles.
Major John De Morgan.
Captain Josiah Marshall.
Captain James Grant.

Lieutenant-colonel St. Leger is further directed to repair to the presidency with out delay.

The honourable the Governor having been pleased to appoint Lieutenant-colonel Henry Conran, of his majesty's royal regiment, to command the whole of the troops composing the garrison of Fort St. George; the Governor in council directs, that Colonel Conran shall be considered to be entitled to the same allowances as other offi. cers holding commands under the appointment of the Governor in Council. By order of the Honourable the Governor in Council,

CHINA.

The Portuguese priest, Father Rodrigo, who acted as interpreter to Admiral Drury and to Mr Roberts, in all the transactions that occurred during the late misunderstanding between the English and Chinese, incurred, by the active and zealous part that he took in the affairs of that time, the high displeasure of the Viceroy and principal mandarins of Canton. Father Rodrigo had been long regarded by the Chinese with an unfavourable eye; possessing an inquisitive mind, and great personal enterprise, he some time ago, with danger and difficulty, succeeded, under the disguise of a Tartar, in making his escape to Pekin; and after residing some time unknown in that capital, he returned safely to Macao. This clandestine visit became known sometime afterwards to the government of Canton, upon which the mandarins expressed their abhorrence and indignation at the imposition, as they termed it, that had been thus practised by the father.

On Admiral Drury's proposed visit to Canton, with the fleet of armed boats, Father Rodrigo accompanied the admiral; and on the Chinese firing from their fort and war-boats upon the admiral's barge, this spirited priest stood erect upon the stern sheets, and taking his cowl in his hand, cheered with three loud huzzas; thence intending, as the Chinese allege, and as was probably the truth, to incite the English seamen to attack, and reduce the fort and war-boats to instant subjection. In this and the whole course of the transaction, the Padre proved a willing and useful agent to the English interests. The Chinese, though silent, particularly remarked his conduct, and determined to take the first opportunity to sacrifice the father Rodri go, as a proper victim of their resentment.

All the differences with the English were allowed to be adjusted; Admiral Drury, with the principal men of war, the transports and troops, were allowed to leave China, before the viceroy and mandarins judged it prudent that their resentment should burst upon the head of the Padre, As soon as the English ships and the troops had sailed, and the usual tranquillity was restored, Father Rodrigo was treacherously inveigled beyond the Portuguese boundaries, when he was seized and sent a pri soner to Canton. The Chinese were elated with their success, they gloried in the possession of their captive, and the chief mandarins did not conceal the determination

of their government to put him to death, as an atonement to the offended dignity of the empire.

The Portuguese government were fully satisfied