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 (iM) IIISTOKY UF INDIA. [Book III.

AD. 1761. of the treaties of neutrality which had always suljsisted between the Eiirojx-an

nations in Bengal, and especially between the English and French;" and that

" the government of Madras had refused to fulfil the conditions of a cartel con-

s.irroniier of eluded between the two crowns." Owing to this conduct it was "out of his power,

rondiiharry.

as responsible to the court of France, to propo.se any capitulation for the city of Pondicherry ;" but "the troops of the king and company surrender themselves, for want of provisions, prisoners of war to his Britannic majesty, conformably to the terms of the cartel." In consequence of this surrender " Mr. Coote rnay to-morrow morning at eight o'clock take possession of the Villenore gate ; and on the same hour the next day of the gates of the citadel; and, as he lias the force in his own hands, he may dictate such further conditions as he may think proper." This, strictly .speaking, finished Lally's part in the surrender ; but he continued as follows: — "From a principle of ju.stice and humanity alone, I demand that the mother and sisters of Rajah Saliib be permitted to seek an asylum wheresoever they shall think proper, or that they remain prisoners with the English, and be not delivered into the hands of Mahomed Ali Khan, still tinged with the blood of the father and husband, which he shed, to the shame indeed of those who delivered up Chunda Sahib to him, but to the .shame like- wise of the commander of the Engli,sh army, who ought not to have suffered such a barbarity to be committed in his camp." Lally's memorial concluded with his consent "that the members of the council of PondicheiTy make their own repre- sentations on what may more immediately concern their particular interests, and those of the colony." Terms of The govcmor and council seem to have determined that if they did not

capitulation. ...

obtain all they wished it would not be because they had omitted to ask for it. The requisitions of their memorial, accordingly, were of the following purport: — That the houses of the inhabitants be preserved, and " their effects and mer- cantile goods left to their own disposal;" that "in their favour the Roman Catholic religion was to be maintained ; the churches, the houses of the ecclesias- tics, and the religious orders, whether within or without the city, be preserved, with everything belonging to them ; the missionaries be free to go and come, and receive under the English ilag the same protection as they had under the French ; " and that " no buildings or edifices, and no -part of the fortifications be destroyed till the decision of their respective sovereigns." Coote returned a written answer to Lally's memoi-ial, declining discussion on the subject of Chandernagore as irrelevant, or to be bound by a cartel which was still the sub- ject of dispute, but offering to accept of the surrender at the time stated ; the troops becoming prisoners of war, "to be treated at his discretion, which should not be without humanity.'" As to the mother and sisters of Rajah Sahib, they "should be escoi-ted to Madras, wdiere proper care should be taken for their safety, and they should not on any account be delivered into the hands of the Nabob Mahomed Ali."