Consultation on this recall he
refers to his former Minutes; and he adds, that he has "a recent motive
in the necessity of removing any circumstance which may contribute to
lessen his _influence_ in the effect of any negotiations in which he may
be engaged in the prosecution of his intended visit to Lucknow." He here
reverts to his old plea of preserving his influence; not content with
this, as in the case of Mahomed Reza Khan he had called in the aid of
the Nabob of Bengal, he here calls in the aid of the Nabob of Oude, who,
on reasons exactly tallying with those given by Mr. Hastings, desires
that Mr. Bristow may be removed. The true weight of these requisitions
will appear, if not sufficiently apparent from the known situation of
the parties, by the following extract of a letter from this Nabob of
Oude to his agent at Calcutta, desiring him to acquaint Mr. Hastings,
that, "if it is proper, I will write to the king [of Great Britain], and
the vizier [one of his Majesty's ministers], and the chief of the
Company, _in such a manner as he shall direct, and in the words that he
shall order_, that Mr. Bristow's views may be thwarted there." There is
no doubt of the entire cooeperation of the Nabob Asoph ul Dowlah in all
the designs of Mr. Hastings, and in thwarting the views of any persons
who place their reliance on the authority of this kingdom.

As usual, the Court of Directors appear in their proper order in the
procession. After this third act of disobedience with regard to the
same person and the same office, and after calling the proceedings
unwarrantable, "_in order to vindicate and uphold their own authority,
and thinking it a duty incumbent on them to maintain the authority of
the Court of Directors_," they again order Mr. Bristow to be reinstated,
and Mr. Middleton to be recalled: in this circle the whole moves with
great regularity.

The extraordinary operations of Mr. Hastings, that soon after followed
in every department which was the subject of all these acts of
disobedience, have made them appear in a light peculiarly unpropitious
to his cause. It is but too probable, from his own accounts, that he
meditated some strong measure, both at Benares and at Oude, at the very
time of the removal of those officers. He declares he knew that his
conduct in those places was such as to lie very open to malicious
representations; he must have been sensible that he was open to such
representations from the beginning; he