ance of his office on the approbation of his English masters. And these pro-consuls have clearly illustrated the certain results to be anticipated, from entrusting natives with anything bordering on irresponsible power. The remaining years of Saadut Ali's government were marked by a grinding oppression, produced by an insatiable avarice. On his death in 1816, his eldest son succeeded to his post, under the designation of Ghazeeood-deen. Three years afterwards this prince was encouraged by the Marquis of Hastings, an amiable, but not particularly clear headed nobleman, to assume the royal title, and to renounce even a nominal allegiance to the emperor of Delhi. The Nawab had expressed himself somewhat bitterly on the humiliation he had suffered in making his elephant kneel, whenever he encountered in the streets the refugee brothers of the emperor, who were indeed his own pensioners. He was, therefore, advised to seize on the insignia of royalty, while the marquis was weak enough to imagine that he had achieved a great political triumph, in having raised up a rival to the Great Mogul. The titles adopted by the royal puppet were as high sounding as they were senseless. He styled himself the Victorious, the Upholder of the Faith, the King of the Age, but-and this was significant-Padshah-i-Awadh, King of Oude, and not simply Padshah, as the Delhi monarch proudly proclaimed himself to be, as if, par excellence, the only sovereign.*

The second king of Oude, Nusseerood-Deen, was a disgrace to our human nature, and, in the words of a writer in the Calcutta Review, more than perpetuated the worst practices of his predecessors.

"Engaged in every species of debauchery, and surrounded by wretches, English, Eurasian, and native, of the lowest description,

his whole reign was one continued satire upon the subsidiary and protected system. Bred in a palace, nurtured by women and eunuchs, he added the natural fruits of a vicious education to those resulting from his protected position. His majesty might one hour be seen in a state of drunken nudity with his boon companions; at another he would parade the streets of Lucknow, driving one of his own elephants. In his time all decency, all propriety, was banished from the court. Such was more than once his conduct, that Colonel Low, the Resident, refused to see him, or to transact business with his minions.

In this reign the Resident reported that "the country had reached so incurable a stage of decline, that nothing but the assumption of the administration could preserve it from utter ruin." So terrible were the details forwarded to Calcutta by Mr., afterwards Sir Herbert, Maddock, that Lord William Bentinck, incredulous of such horrors, resolved to proceed to Lucknow in person, and judge of their truthfulness with his own eyes. That his Lordship was satisfied of the accuracy of the President's statements, may be inferred from the warning he delivered to his majesty of Oude. The King was apprised that "unless his territories were governed upon other principles than those hitherto followed, and the prosperity of the people made the principal object of his administration, the precedents afforded by the principalities of the Dekhan, the Carnatic, and Tanjore, would be applied to the kingdom of Oude, and to the entire management of the country; and the king would be transmuted into a pensioner of state."

Two years later the GovernorGeneral received instructions from home to assume the government of Oude, but as some little improvement had taken place since his visit to Lucknow, his Lordship deferred the opportunity, in the hope, that the energy and ability of Mehndee Ali

Khan, would succeed in establishing a firm administration. It was a fallacious hope. The minister was disgraced and banished, and anarchy and confusion seemed to have reached their culminating point. The Governor-General at last prepared to comply with his instructions, when it was announced to him that Nusseerood-Deen, had suddenly breathed his last, not without suspicion of foul play. The deceased monarch's principal queen then attempted to place on the throne the youthful Moonah Jan, whose parentage Nusseer-oodDeer, had more than once repudiated. The Resident and his assistants were for some time virtually prisoners in the Furreed Buksh palace, and were threatened with death unless they ratified the enthronement of the pretender. They acquitted themselves in this emergency in a manner worthy of British officers, and firmly refused to compromise their government. At length five companies of the thirty-fifth regiment, B. N. I., with four guns, hastily arrived from the cantonments, and were joined by Colonel Low and his brave companions. The conspirators were allowed fifteen minutes to disperse, and on the expiration of the period of grace a few rounds of grape were poured into the riotous mob, who then fled in terror to their homes. A few hours afterwards, the crown placed on the head of Mahommed Ali, an old man and a cripple, possessed only of the good intentions that frequently accompany a respectable mediocrity of character. A new treaty was arranged between the Indian goment and their puppet, which would have entailed upon the latter the expense of maintaining an increased auxiliary force. The Court of Directors, however, refused to sanction a treaty which was clearly opposed to the spirit of that of 1801, when the maintenance of the Contingent was permanently provided for by the cession of certain districts. By the Sixth Article it was stipulated that, "if his Majesty should neglect to attend to the advice and counsel of the British government, or its local representative, and if (which God forbid) gross and systematic oppression, anarchy, and misrule should, hereafter, at any time prevail within the Oude dominions, such as seriously to endanger

was

the public tranquillity, the British government reserves to itself the right of appointing its own officers to the management of whatever portions of the Oude territory, either to a small or great extent, in which such misrule as that above alluded to may have occurred, for so long a period as it may deem necessary," &c., &c. Through some strange neglect or oversight, the Court of Lucknow received no intimation that this treaty was null and void, except so far as related to the auxiliary force. It has, therefore, been regarded as binding on the contracting powers, and thus constituted the greatest difficulty in the way of the recent annexation. On his death, in 1842, Mahommed Ali was succeeded on the throne by his son Mahommed Umjud Ali, whose reign proved a counterpart to that of the worst of his predecessors. So deplorable was the condition of the country, that any further deterioration might have been deemed impossible, had not Wajid Ali ascended the musnud. This prince commenced his tenure of the royal power early in the spring of 1847, and so conducted himself that in the autumn of the same year Lord Hardinge felt himself constrained to proceed to Lucknow, and address a final and solemn warning to his Majesty. Two years were allowed as a period of probation, on the expiration of which, if no improvement was observable in the administration, the king was warned of the consequences that would result in the direct assumption of the government of his country by the East India Company. No change, however, took place except in the wrong direction, but nevertheless the period of grace was extended for yet two years. When this, too, had expired, Colonel Sleeman reported to government that,

His majesty has not in any way changed his course he continues to show the same utter disregard of his duties, and the responsibilities of his high office, and of the sufferings of many millions of those subject to his rule. His time and attention are devoted entirely to the pursuits of personal gratification; he associates with none but those who can contribute to such gratifications, women, singers, and eunuchs; and never, I believe, reads, or hears read, a report, or complaint, or public document of any kind; he takes no interest

whatever in public affairs, nor does he seem to know anything or care anything whatever about them.

Unhappily for the people of Oude, the second Burmese war, which then broke out, deferred for a time their emancipation from such heart-crushing tyranny. Lord Dalhousie, indeed, was well aware that the overthrow of the royal dynasty could be effected by the simple withdrawal of the British contingent. But his lordship naturally shrank from a course which would have brought upon Oude all the horrors of revolutionary warfare, Every powerful talookdar would have sought to establish an independent state of his own, and the inevitable result would have been an internecine "war of the barons," and unutterable misery to the helpless cultivators of the soil. He, therefore, abided his time, and was at length rewarded for his longanimity by closing his useful and distinguished career as GovernorGeneral by the annexation of 24,000 square miles of territory to the British empire, and the liberation of four millions of human beings from a condition worse than under a Dutch or Spanish colonial government.

On the morning of the 4th of February, 1856, the British Resident, Major-General Outram, proceeded to the palace to urge his majesty to accept a new treaty, resigning to the East India Company the exclusive government of his territories, and receiving in return an ample provision for the dignity, affluence, and honour of himself and family. The interview was most affecting, and must have wrung the heart of the "Bayard of India." After carefully perusing the draft of the proposed treaty, his majesty gave way to a passionate burst of grief, exclaiming :

"Treaties are necessary between equals only; who am I, now, that the British government should enter into treaties with? For a hundred years this dynasty has flourished in Oude. It has ever received the favour, the support, and protection of the British government. It has ever attempted faithfully and fully to perform its duties to the British government. The kingdom is a creation of the British, who are able to make and to unmake, to promote and to degrade. It has merely to

Finally, his majesty "recapitulated the favours which his ancestors had received at the hands of the British government, and pathetically dwelt upon his helpless position. Uncovering himself, he placed his turban in the hands of the resident, declaring that now his titles, rank, and position were all gone, it was not for him to sign a treaty, or to enter into any negotiation. He was in the hands of the British government, which had seated his majesty's grandfather on the throne, and could at its pleasure consign him to obscurity." As no arguments availed to induce Wajid Ali to sign the treaty, the resident had no alternative but to inform his majesty that his instructions were to assume the government at the expiration of three days. When that period had elapsed, the resident issued a proclamation announcing to the inhabitants of Oude that they must henceforth consider themselves as subjects of the British government, and calling upon them to submit to its authority without murmur or dispute. In only one instance was the slightest resistance offered. The Toolseepore Rajah, finding that he could no longer gratify his rapacity and cruelty as he had hitherto done, refused to acknowledge the new régime. An armed force was, therefore, despatched against him, but he prudently declined the arbitration of the sword, and fled into the jungles. The Oude army was disbanded without the slightest tumult. The best soldiers were draughted into the company's service, and liberal arrangements were made for the others, as well as for all meritorious civil servants of the crown. The system of government introduced was founded on that which had been found to answer so well in the Punjab, and Major-General Outram was appointed the first chief commissioner. A fair and equitable assessment has already been made, justice is administered without fear or favour, confidence is restored to the agriculturists, every man possesses his own without dread of mo

lestation, and, saving the Royal Family and their favorites, none regret a change which secures to them life and property, and the enjoyment of the domestic ties. The King himself would have proved more docile had he not fallen into the hands of interested counsellors. The chief of these was an individual named Brandon, the proprietor of a retail shop or store at the station of Cawnpore. In consequence of his restless intriguing propensities, this person had twice been expelled from Lucknow, but was at last enabled to establish a newspaper at the former place, called the "Central Star," for the avowed purpose of advocating the King's pretensions. His Majesty was assured that the home government might be prevailed upon to restore him to the throne, Mr. Brandon at the same time volunteering his own valuable services to effect the desired consummation.

More strange and marvellous is it to find that a gentleinan formerly in the military service of the East India Company, and at one time actually assistant to the Resident at Lucknow, has also identified himself with the cause of the deposed monarch. The public would scarcely have been more scandalised to hear that Mr. Petre had renounced. the service of his Sovereign, and declared himself the "guide, counsellor, and friend" of his Neapolitan Majesty. Acting on the representations of these and such-like advisers, the Queen Dowager-humorously described as 66 the only man in the family"--has travelled to this country, attended with a numerous but tawdry suite, and provided with an ample treasure. The many-coloured retinue are intended to impress the British public with a due sense of the divinity that hedges in monarchs; while the barbaric pearls and gold are to teach British senators the wisdom of second thoughts, and to purchase commiseration for a King who has abused his "ticket-of-leave." We believe that all hope of obtaining his Majesty's restoration to the throne has been laid aside. A humbler prize is now aimed at. The cares of royalty can be dispensed with-not so the enjoyment of royal pleasures. The

responsibilities of the kingly office are whistled down the wind-but the craving for vicious indulgences still continues, and can only be fully gratified by the possession of Aladdin's lamp. In the absence of that valuable article of household furniture, his Majesty has been led to deem himself ill-used because his annual income has been limited to £120,000. Had Wajid Ali Shah turned a deaf ear to his evil counsellors and accepted the treaty, he would have received an additional sum of £30,000 a-year for his body-guard. However, the experience furnished by the conduct of other native princes leaves no cause to regret that a larger amount of money is not to be squandered in frivolous and base pursuits. His Majesty further enjoys the use of a palace at Lucknow, and of two spacious parks in the neighbourhood, in which he possesses exclusive jurisdiction, but without the power of inflicting capital punishment. At his decease his descendants and other members of the Royal Family will continue in receipt of his splendid income, which they will probably employ in no more worthy manner than that which has rendered the King of Delhi, the Nawab of the Carnatic, and so many other native princes a curse to their dependents, a nuisance to their neighbourhoods, a scandal to the British government, and a disgrace to humanity. The titular dignity, however, expires with the present holder of the shadow. In former times the ruler of Oude had, on trying emergencies, advanced considerable sums of money to the gover nor-general of the day, the whole of which have since been returned, with the exception of about two millions sterling. This the King was induced to claim as his private property, but the Court of Directors have wisely decided that as it was originally advanced from the public revenues of Oude, it must again be applied to public purposes. It will, therefore, be expended in meeting the liabilities of the late government, in paying the arrears due to the soldiery and the stipendiaries, and in acquitting the debts incurred by a reckless and unprincipled monarch.