natural
that the Court should indulge him in them. Your Lordships shall now hear
in what sense Mr. Wheler and Mr. Stables, two other members of the
Council, understood this letter.

Mr. Wheler thus writes.--"It always has been and always will be my wish
to conform implicitly to the orders of the Court of Directors, and I
trust that the opinion which I shall give upon that part of the Court's
letter which is now before us will not be taken up against its meaning,
as going to a breach of them. The orders at present under the board's
consideration are entirely provisional. Nothing has passed since the
conclusion of the agreement made by the Governor-General with the Vizier
at Chunar which induces me to alter the opinion which I before held, as
well from the Governor-General's reports to this board as the opinions
which I have heard of many individuals totally unconcerned in the
subject, that the Begums at Fyzabad did take a hostile part against the
Company during the disturbances in Benares; and I am impressed with a
conviction that the conduct of the Begums did not proceed entirely from
motives of self-defence. But as the Court of Directors appear to be of a
different opinion, and conceive that there ought to be stronger proofs
of the defection of the Begums than have been laid before them, I think,
that, before we decide on their orders, the late and present Resident at
the Vizier's court, and the commanding officers in the Vizier's country,
ought to be required to collect and lay before the board all the
information they can obtain with respect to the defection of the Begums
during the troubles in Benares, and their present disposition to the
Company."

Mr. Stables, September 9th, 1783, writes thus.--"The Court of Directors,
by their letter of the 14th February, 1783, seem not to be satisfied
that the disaffection of the Begums to this government is sufficiently
proved by the evidence before them. I therefore think that the late and
present Resident and commanding officers in the Vizier's country at the
time should be called upon to collect what further information they can
on this subject, in which the honor and dignity of this government is so
materially concerned, that such information may be immediately
transmitted to the Court of Directors."

When questioned upon this subject at your Lordships' bar, he gives this
evidence.--"_Q._ What was your motive for proposing that
investigation?--_A._ A letter from the Cou