EAST INDIA AFFAIRS.
In the East Indies, war was carried on by land on a large scale, and with great success. Since the death of Tippoo, and the capture of Seringapatam, a new enemy had appeared in the Mahratta confederacy, and Perron, a clever Frenchman, was lending his aid in the strife. M. Perron had first appeared in India, when the government of Louis XVI. were struggling with the genius and resources of Warren Hastings for the supremacy in Hindustan. In the course of events he was raised to the rank of a general, and to the command in chief of the forces of Scindiah, in whose ranks he had entered against the British. His honours, wealth, and authority, all given him by his grateful master, excited the envy and malice of the Mahratta chiefs, for they were eclipsed by this foreigner. In 1802, when the Scindiah made war upon the Mahratta sovereign of Poonah, and expelled him from his territories, Perron, who had recently had a large portion of the Jumna region assigned him, lent his valuable assistance. This event led to a war with the British. The dispossessed chief applied for assistance to the English, and a subsidiary treaty was concluded with him at Bassein. Lord Wellesley, the governor-general, had two great objects in view—to restore the Peishwa, and to crush the forces which Perron had raised, and which had long given him uneasiness. He was joined by the Nizam of the Deccan, while the Rajah of Berar united his forces to those of Scindiah. Lord Wellesley calculated that he might detach Perron from his old Indian master by bribery; for when General Lake took the field with an army of 10,000 men, he instructed him to make every possible effort to destroy, scatter, or win over Perron and his officers. Proclamations were made to this end, but without effect; Perron took the field with about 17,000 infantry, disciplined in the usual European manner, besides a large body of irregular infantry, about 20,000 Mahratta horse, and a numerous and well-appointed train of artillery. In the mean time a younger brother of the governor-general had rescued Poonah from the Mahratta troops of Holkar, and had re-established the Peishwa in his capital. Holkar joined Scindiah and the Rajah of Berar; and this confederacy was the more dangerous, as Scindiah possessed several sea-ports from whence he could receive assistance from the French. This confederacy, however, was soon dissolved. General Lake defeated, routed, and annihilated that army of Perron which caused the governor-general such great and reasonable alarm; and, between him and General Wellesley, all the perilous portion of the Mahratta confederacy was shaken, and the power of Scindiah broken. Both the Rajah of Berar and Scindiah were compelled to sue for peace, which was granted; the Rajah agreeing to add the important province of Cuttack, with the district of Balasore, to the company; and Scindiah to yield to them all the country between the Jumna and the Ganges, besides numerous forts, territories, rights, and interests. Both the Rajah of Berar and Scindiah likewise agreed to dismiss all the French or other European officers in their service, and the latter was never to take them into his service again, without consent of the British government. In the course of the same year, two other armies were sent into the Mahratta dominions, which resulted in the conquest of much Indian territory. The varied successes of this year, indeed, gave to the British empire, not only the Mahratta dominions between the Jumna and the Ganges, but other and still more important advantages. By them the British secured the possession of Delhi, Agra, and Calpee, which gave them the mastery and free navigation of the Jumna, with an important tract of country along the right bank of the river. They secured, likewise, the greater part of the rich province of Bundelcund, the whole of Cuttack in Orissa, and the most valuable territory in Guzerat, with ports which were before accessible to our mortal enemy, France. Finally, they gave to the company a stronger frontier in the Deccan, and to our allies, the Nizan and the Peishwa, an important accession of strength. Subsequently a war ensued with Holkar; but his forces were rapidly dispersed by General Wellesley, and peace again prevailed in India; and in 1805 the victorious general returned to Europe.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament reassembled on the 22nd of November. In his speech, the king enlarged upon the successes in the West Indies, and upon the early suppression of the Irish insurrection. He alluded, also, to the conclusion of a friendly convention with Sweden, for the purpose of adjusting certain differences about maritime rights, arising out of an article in an old treaty concluded by Charles II. Mention was made of the measures adopted for a vigorous prosecution of the war; and his majesty declared, in reference to the menaces of an invasion, that as he and his people were embarked in a common cause, it was his determination, should occasion arise, to share their exertions and dangers in defence of the constitution. The usual addresses were agreed to without a division, and without opposition; and the houses occupied themselves up to the Christmas holidays with passing acts to continue the Habeas Corpus Act, and the prolongation of martial law in Ireland, and to grant certain exemptions in favour of the volunteers of Great Britain. The regular force proposed for the public service amounted to 167,000 men the embodied militia of Great Britain and Ireland, were 110,000, and the volunteer corps about 400,000. According to the statement of Lord Castlereagh, indeed, the effective force of this country, in rank and file, amounted to 615,000 men, or reckoning the non-commissioned officers, 700,000. The number of ships of war, amounted to four hundred and sixty-nine.
CHAPTER XXVI.
GEORGE III. 1804—1807
His Majesty’s Indisposition..... Change in the Ministry: Pitt Resumes Office..... The Slave-Trade Question..... Additional Force Act..... Debate on the Corn Laws..... The Budget: Parliament Prorogued..... Affairs of France: Napoleon created Emperor..... Naval Affairs..... Coalition between Pitt and Addington..... Meeting of Parliament..... Army and Navy Estimates, &c...... Debate on the Rupture with Spain..... Claims of the Catholics..... The Slave Trade Question..... Impeachment of Lord Melville..... Parliament Prorogued..... Dissensions in the Cabinet..... Napoleon crowned King of Italy..... Conquests of Napoleon in Bavaria..... The Battle of Trafalgar, &c...... Meeting of Parliament..... Death of Mr. Pitt..... The Grenville Administration..... Negociations for Peace..... Windham’s Military Plan..... The Budget..... Trial of Lord Melville..... The Slave-Trade Question..... Parliament Prorogued, &c...... Death of Fox..... Naval Successes..... Disputes with America..... Affairs of Sicily..... War between France and Prussia, &c.,..... Meeting of Parliament.