Let us now return to the intrigues set up by Menny-begum. It is very probable that this haughty Princess, who does not love to see Mahmed-reza-qhan in power, and could not bear his meddling with the affairs of the Nizamet, did write to the Governor to insinuate, that if he intended to keep that department in his own power, he must prevail on Aaly-hibrahim-qhan to accept the above office, as the only method for keeping it under his own controul. The Governor, for these reasons, engaged both Menny-begum and Mubarec-ed-döwlah to renew their solicitations to that nobleman, and to say to him: “If you be apt to mistrust our sincerity, we shall give you an obligatory paper under our hands, by which we shall bind ourselves to do nothing without your consent and permission; nay, that we shall not meddle with any thing at all, if you will have it so. Or, if you feel any inquietude about the expenditure of the money which may come to take place upon some particular emergencies, for which Mahmed-reza-qhan, in consequence of the power which he enjoys, might bring you into trouble; and you should find yourself at a loss how either to account for it or to refund the same; then we take that case upon ourselves, and will give you a writing under our hands, by which we shall acknowledge, that whenever such a case shall happen, we shall account for it ourselves, and shall bear you harmless.” But all these solicitations availed nothing, nor would the Qhan lend an ear to them.

These divisions in the Council, which had deterred Aly-hibrahim-qhan, had not produced less considerable effects else­where, and especially at Lucknow. Two or three years after Shudjah-ed-döwlah’s demise, that is, in the heighth of General Clavering’s influence, Mr. Djan Brishtoo, a very sensible young man, had been appointed to the residency at Lucknow: a modest word which implies no less than the absolute disposal of every thing in the provinces of Aood and Ilah-abad. That young man availed himself so well of his own talents, as well of Assuf-ed-döwlah’s John Bristow transfers the province of Benares to the English. ignorance, and of Moqhtar-ed-döwlah his Minister’s supineness, that he transferred to the immediate dominion of the Company, the country of Benares, which was part of the lease of the son of Radja Balvent-sing’s. But the General being now dead, this service of his availed but little, and he was turned out of his office. Brishtoo, who had made money, and likewise done very well the Company’s business, set out for his country, with intention to come back after having established his interest in England. But as long before his departure, the General and the others had wrote home to recommend him as a man of merit, that had rendered eminent services, there came after his depar­ture, an order from Europe to continue him in his office, with many commendations and encomiums upon his conduct. Whilst that order was coming, Brishtoo himself arrived in England; and he availed himself so well of the services he had rendered, and of the General’s recommendation, as well as of the joint efforts of that officer’s friends, that he obtained a new order for himself, and another for reinstating Mahmed-reza-qhan in the Fodjdary; which two orders he brought himself to Calcutta. It was at a time when some appearance of a reconciliation was taking place betwixt the two parties. The defeat of two English armies in Decan had induced Mr. Doocreel, (Mr. Ducarell), heretofore Governor of Pooraniah, and who now was at the head of the Qhalissa or Finance office, to become mediator between the Governor and Mr. Francis, to whom he was a common friend. He made them understand, that this was not a time for them to dispute and to wrangle between themselves; and that they had better postpone their differents for such times as would follow afterwards on a cessation of troubles And as on the other hand Mr. Barwell, who had hitherto had but one heart and one mind with the Governor, to whom he had shewed a constant attach­ment, was now resolved, either out of some discontent against him, or for some purposes of his own, to repair to England; of course some union and friendship between the Governor and Mr. Francis had become the more necessary; and it took place accordingly, after some stipulations in favour of the latter, amongst which, the appointing of Mahmed-reza-qhan to the Fodjdary was a principal one. The Governor, who wished to oblige him, A.D.1780-81 agreed to it; and on the twentieth of Sefer, of the year 1194, that Minister retook possession of that office; so that the water that had quitted his shore, commenced flowing again. They report on that occassion a very strange ancedote: A man well acquainted with Séyd-mahmed-qhan himself (who is the same person to whom the Minister is so much attached, as to admit him to every one of his secrets, and to undertake nothing without his advice and approbation) averred, as holding it from his own Mahmed-reza-qhan in office again, for the third time. mouth, that Mahmed-reza-qhan had vowed and promised to the Divine Author of all gifts, and had written with his own hand upon a Coran of one of his friend’s, “That if he ever recovered his offices and dignities, he would, as an offering to God, distribute twelve thousand rupees to the poor.” What is strange, is that to this day, which is the end of the year 1195, and a full twelve month after the completion of his wish, the promise has not been fulfilled yet. Séyd-mahmed-qhan likewise had a positive order to execute, as delivered in these words: “And if you observe any tergiversation or neglect in me, after I shall have obtained the full of my wishes, then be sure to seize me by the throat, and to hold it fast squeezed, until I have paid down the money which you may then distribute yourself.” Accordingly at the appointed time, the Qhan made serious instances, but to no pur­pose. The Minister brought forth a variety of apologies, such as “that Mubarec-ed-döwlah had already distributed so much money in alms, in his intention; the necessity of putting in repair his palaces of Now-Saht and Nyshat-baqh; the urgency of some expenditures, and such other matters; all which he thought sufficient excuses.” What looks singular is, that in order to tranquillise the Qhan’s conscience, he added “That he (Séyd-mahmed-qhan) had got out of his promise, but that him­self was still entangled in it; and that he hoped to see the day when the Divine Providence would put it in his power to dis­burse and distribute that money.” Wonderful God! may I admire that variety of traces, everywhere discernible, of your Divine dispensations, by which you have spread amongst a single species of your creatures so much difference of tempers, and such a diversity of dispositions, that one individual shall spend so much of his consequence and time in covetously hunt­ing after a dignity, which another individual, a thousand times inferior to him in wealth, shall have spurned at and rejected, although offered to him with solicitations and intreaties, by the reigning powers, and by the Lords of the land! Aaly-hibrahim-qhan struck the feet of contentment and resignation into the head and breast of that office*, and remained unmoved by all its temptations, and all their prayers. But you are so, O worthy man, by a particular gift of the Author of all love!

About forty-two days before this event, Mahmed-ired-qhan, Death of Mirza-iredj-qhan, and of Ahtiram-ed-döwlah. son to Acbar-cooly-qhan, and father-in-law to Seradj-ed-döwlah, an illustrious nobleman of whom we have spoke in the history of Aaly-verdy-qhan, departed towards the regions of Divine mercy. It was the ninth of Muharrem, about the begin­ning of the year ninety-fourth of the Hedjra; and the fourteenth of second Reby of the same year, Ahtiram-ed-döwlah-mir-cazem-qhan, brother to Mir-djaffer-qhan, and uncle to Mubarec-ed-döwlah, set out likewise for the mansions of the Divine Forgiver He fell sick at Radj-mahal, where he lived, and finding himself ill, he was repairing to Moorshood-abad, to get himself treated; but the Angel of death intercepted him on his way, and con­ducted him towards the road that leads to eternity. He was entombed in the monument of his family, with his father and brothers. He bore the character of a good natured man, but not without a mixture of indolence and supineness in his com­position, as if to verify that sentence of the Coran, That most of the inhabitants of the Paradise are simple of heart. May God’s forgiveness and mercy rest upon him for ever! The changes happened at Moorshood-abad and Lucknow were followed by some further alterations at Azim-abad.

About the middle of the year ninety-third of the Hedjra, Mr. Ayoon-law, Chief at that city, was for some particular reasons dismissed from his dignity and office; and he thought proper to repair to Mendradj, from whence he went to England. He was succeeded by Mr. Macsool (Maxwell), second to him in rank, who in conjunction with the other councillors, conducted the business of that province. Mr. Neec, one of them, was a man of a violent passionate temper, although full of sense; as well as Disturbances and intrigues at Azim-abad. vigoious and stiff in his attachments. But his Divan, Ram-lochun, a Bengaly of a strange savageness of temper, was narrow-minded, and of a very uncommon cast of mind; yet such as he was, he had gained a thorough ascendant over his master’s mind. This gentleman was much displeased with Radja Hyaliram and some others, who being supported by, and connected with, Mr. Law, thought proper to keep at some distance from Mr. Neec, and his savage of a Divan. But as on the other hand, the latter drew a mighty credit and much countenance from his connections with Mr. Barwell, a leading Member of the Committee, to whom the Governor paid great deference, he had on those two accounts risen to so much power and influence in the Council of Azim-abad, that he did as he pleased. Radja Hyaliram, after Mr. Law’s departure, found it necessary to join Mr. Neec; and under a promise of presenting him with a large sum of money, should he obtain the lease of some of the public revenues, he made his peace with him, and became the disposer of all matters and transactions in the districts of Cháyn-poor, Sarseram, and Seress-cotumbah, to which places he repaired to hasten the collection with all his might. But as the money did not come in as fast as promised, Mr. Neec came forward, and let loose his Divan Ram-lochun, a man who bearing already a cordial hatred to Hyaliram, plunged him into so much chicanery and trouble, that the Radja fearful for his honour as well as for his life, resolved to repair to Calcutta, and to refer every thing to the Governor. But the difficulty was how to get out of Azim-abad, and how to elude Ram-lochun’s clutches and watchfulness. He therefore applied by several petitions to the Governor, and represented, that should he (Hyaliram) be sent for to the presence, and rescued from the danger that hung over his head, he would demonstrate his own zeal and gratitude, by making many important discoveries. Maha-radja Calyan-sing, son to the late Shitábriá, was so slothful and so supine a nobleman, as to have lost all power and influence at the Council Board of Azim-abad, where he was looked upon as a cipher. But as he was much discontented with all the Members, he came to Hyaliram’s assistance, and wrote respect­ful letters to the Governor, setting forth the other’s good conduct, and his punctuality in business. The Governor, who at once comprehended that administration might draw some benefit from these disputes, commanded Radja Hyaliram’s attendance; and the latter thinking it a piece of good fortune to escape from the paws of Ram-lochun, repaired to Calcutta, where he soon found admittance. For although he is not always well-intentioned, The Council of Azim-abad accused of enormous infidelities in the manage­ment of finances. yet being, as he is, full of sense and wit; and the times admitting, and even requiring men of such active characters; he was handsomely received by the Governor, to whom he gave an account of the real causes of the endless failures and outstanding balances in the collections of the province of Azim-abad. He informed him of the numberless infidelities of Ram-lochun’s, and of the endless oppressions and exactions, which he had been guilty of on the inhabitants of that unhappy country, and which he was still committing by himself and his dependants, as well as by the officers of the Fodjdary-office, at the head of which he was in his master’s right. The Governor, on hearing such a dismal account of that country, could not be brought to believe that men of his nation could be guilty of such excesses, nor would he on Hyalirams’s suggestions dismiss the whole Council of Azim-abad; a necessary measure, however, and in consequence of which the people of God might have been rescued from the miseries of yeilding obedience to such a set of rulers, and the necessity of depending on their nod and pleasure. Neverthelss impressed by Hyaliram’s sense and wit, and by the flowing easiness of his delivery, the Governor granted him most of his demands, and left the disposal of the collections of those parts to his dis­cretion and knowledge, although Hyaliram had no money of his own, and he was supported by no one protector. Thus in consequence of his representations and good management, all the former collectors of revenue were dismissed, and himself was invested with full powers, and a decisive authority over the affairs of that resort. Hyaliram, out of attachment and gratitude for former benefits received from Calyan-sing, set apart for his account some districts of that province, and kept only some others for himself; and thus after having performed a voyage that did him a deal of honour and credit, he returned to Azim-abad, about the beginning of the year 95 of the Hedjra. A little after, all the Members of the Council were dismissed from All the Mem­bers of that Council dis­missed from the manage­ment of finances. their shares in the Revenue-office; and the two Radjahs addicted themselves jointly to the care of putting the finances in order. On the other hand, the people of the province, glad to return to the sway of their own countrymen, trusted to the appearance of unanimity and unity of command, which seemed to reign between them; and they imagined that the oppressed public would soon be released from the miseries of its former situation. But such are the revolutions of heavenly bodies, and such the instability which they impresss on human affairs and dispositions, that hardly was Hyaliram arrived from Calcutta; hardly was he recovered from the bodily labour he had undertaken, partly on Radja Calyan-sing’s account, than the latter, notwithstanding all the obligations he owed to his colleague, became altered at once. At the instigation of some foolish proud young men, he had the impudence to write complaints against him to the Governor, and to accuse him openly in Mr. Macsool’s presence, who was Chief of Azim-abad. But the Governor, who is the first man of his age for knowledge of the world, and who to form an estimate of a man’s character and abilities, needs only to see and to hear him once; the Governor, I say, who in a few con­ferences with Hyaliram had already with his eagle-like keen­ness of sight, made himself master of the degree of that man’s abilities and genius, and was likewise thoroughly apprised of the soft and ductile character of Calyan-sing’s, paid no attention to the latter’s imputations; but sent to the other, the investiture and honorary dress of Deputy to Calyan-sing, making him the sole disposer of all revenue matters. May God Almighty turn the dissensions and jealousies of the people of this country into union and love, so that all its inhabitants may enjoy rest and comfort, and may they exchange evil for good!