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THE HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA,
BY
MILL & WILSON.
IN NINE VOLUMES.
VOL. IV.
THE HISTORY OF
BRITISH INDIA.
/
BY JAMES MILL, ESQ.
FOURTH EDITION WITH NOTES AND CONTINUATION,
By HORACE HAYMAN WILSON, M.A., F.R.S.
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF PARIS, BOSTON AND CALCUTTA, AND OF THE ORIENTAL SOCIETY OF GERMANY ; OF THE IMPERIAL ACADEMIES OF ST. PETERSBURGH AND VIENNA ; OF THE IMPERIAL SOCIETY OF NATURALISTS OF MOSCOW, AND OF THE ROYAL ACADEMIES OF BERLIN AND MUNICH ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF FRANCE ; PH. DR. IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BRESLAU ; MED. I)R. IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MARBURG, ETC. ETC. ; AND BODEN PROFESSOR OF SANSCRIT IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.
VOLUME IV.
LONDON :
JAMES MADDEN, 8, LEADENHALL STREET.
M.DCCC.XLVIII.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/historyofbritish04mill
CONTENTS.
BOOK V.
CHAPTER III.
Deliberations on a new Plan for collecting the Revenue, and administering Justice — Death of Colonel Monson, and recovery by Mr. Hastings of the governing Power — Plan by Mr. Hastings, for inquiring into the Sources of Revenue — The Taxes levied by annual Settlements — Resignation of Hastings, tendered by an Agent, whom he disowns — Trans- actions of Mr. Hastings, in the Cases of Mr. Middleton, Mr. Fowke, and Munny Begum — The Directors, ordering the Transactions to be reversed, are disobeyed — Relations with the Mahrattas — A detachment of the Bengal Army sent across India to Surat — Expedition from Bombay against Poona — Unsuccessful — Fruitless negotiation with the Mah- rattas — Goddard's Campaign against the Mahrattas — Con- nexion with the Raima of Gohud — Mr. Francis fights a Duel with Mr. Hastings, and returns to Europe
CHAPTER IV.
In the Carnatic, Relations between the English and Nabob — Plenipotentiary, with independent Powers from the King — English courted by Hyder Ali and the Mah- rattas, and in Danger from both — Nabob and Plenipoten- tiary desire Alliance with the Mahrattas — Presidency
VI
CONTENTS.
Page
adhere to Neutrality — Relations with the King of Tanjore — After Hesitation, War is made upon him — War upon the Marawars — A second War upon Tanjore — Condemned by the Directors — Pigot sent out to restore the Raja — Oppo- sition in the Madras Council — Pigot imprisoned — Senti- ments and Measures adopted in England — Committee of Circuit — Suspended by Governor Rumbold, who summons the Zemindars to Madras — Transactions with Nizam Ali respecting Guntoor — Censured by the Supreme Council — Governor Rumbold, and other Members of the Govern- ment, condemned and punished by the Court of Direc- tors 63
CHAPTER V.
War with the French — Pondicherry taken — War with Hyder Ali — Presidency unprepared — Colonel Baillie’s Detachment cut off — Supreme Council suspend the Gover- nor of Fort St. George, and send Sir Eyre Coote to Madras — Hyder takes Arcot, and overruns the greater part of the Country — Lord Macartney Governor of Fort St. George — Negapatnam and Trincomalee taken from the Dutch — Treaty between the Nabob of Arcot and Supreme Council — Assignment of the Nabob’s Revenues — Telli- cherry invested — Great Armaments sent from both Eng- land and France — Disaster of Colonel Brath waite’s De- tachment in Tanjore — Madras reduced to a State of Famine — Death of Hyder Ali — Tippoo withdraws the Mysorean Army from the Carnatic — Operations and Fate of General Matthews on the Coast of Malabar — Siege of Mangalore — The General at Madras, refusing to obey the Civil Authority, is arrested and sent to Europe — French and English suspend Hostilities in consequence of Intelli- gence of the Peace in Europe — Operations of Colonel Ful- larton in Coimbetore — Peace with Tippoo — Behaviour of Supreme Council to Presidency of Madras 159
CHAPTER VI.
Financial Difficulties — Campaign of General Goddard on the Bombay side of the Mahratta Country — Attack on
CONTENTS.
Vll
the Bengal side — Peace with Sindia — Supreme Court of Judicature — Efforts of the Supreme Court to extend its Jurisdiction — Their Effects upon Individuals — Upon the Collection of the Revenue — Upon the Administration of Justice — Interference of Parliament claimed — Granted — •
The Chief Justice placed at the Head of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut — Chief Justice recalled — Judicial and Police Regulations — Provincial Councils abolished, and a new Board of Revenue set up 297
CHAPTER VII.
Journey of the Governor-General to the Upper Pro- vinces— History of the Company’s Connexions with the Raja of Benares — Requisitions upon the Raja — Resolution to relieve the Company’s Necessities by forcible Exaction on the Raja — The Governor-General arrives at Benares —
The Raja put under Arrest — A tumultuous Assemblage of the People — An affray between them and the Soldiers —
The Raja escapes — War made upon him, and the Country subdued — Condemnation of Mr. Hastings by the Directors — Double Negotiation with the Mahrattas of Poonah — Treaty of Peace 359
CHAPTER VIII.
Burdens sustained by the Nabob of Oude — His Com- plaints— How received by the English — Mr. Bristow re- moved from Oude — Agreement between Mr. Hastings and the Nabob — The Begums despoiled — Whether the Begums excited Insurrection — Alleged oppressions of Colonel Hannay — The head Eunuchs of the Begums tor- tured— A present of ten Lacs given to Mr. Hastings by the Nabob — Governor-General accuses Middleton, and replaces Bristow — Treatment received by Fyzoolla Khan — Deci- sion by the Court of Directors, relative to the Begums — Set at nought by Mr. Hastings — Governor-General’s new Accu- sations against Mr Bristow — Governor-General’s Plan to remove the Residency from Oude — Governor-General repeats his Visit to Oude — Resigns the Government — Fi- nancial Results of his Administration — Incidents at Madras 417
Vlll
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
I’age
Legislative Proceedings from 1773 to 1780 — Renewal of the Charter — Select and Secret Committees of the House of Commons — Proceedings against Indian Delinquency —
Mr. Dundas's East India Bill — Mr. Fox’s East India Bills — Mr. Pitt’s East India Bill 522
HISTORY
OF
BRITISH INDIA
BOOK V.
CHAPTER III.
Deliberations on a new Plan for collecting the Revenue , and administering Justice. — Death of Colonel Monson, and recovery by Mr. Hastings of the governing Power. — Plan by Mr. Hast- ings, for inquiring into the Sources of Revenue. — The taxes levied by annual Settlements. — Resig- nation of Hastings, tendered by an Agent, whom he disowns. — Transactions of Mr. Hastings, in the Cases of Mr. Middleton, Mr. Fowke, and Munny Begum. — ■ The Directors, ordering the Transactions to be reversed, are disobeyed. — Relations with the Mahrattas. — A Detachment of the Bengal Army sent across India to Surat. — Expedition from Bombay against Poona. — Unsuccessful. — Fruitless Negotiation with the Mahrattas. — Goddard's Campaign against the
VOL. IV. B
2
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
Mahrattas. — Connexion with the Raima of Go- hud. — Mr. Francis fights a Fuel with Mr. Hastings, and returns to Europe.
book v. The state of the regulations for collecting the re-
venue had for some time pressed upon the attention
mb. 0f the government. The lease of five years, on which the revenues had been farmed in 1772, was drawing to a close, and it was necessary to determine what course should then be pursued. To remedy evils, which delayed not to make themselves per- ceived, in the regulations of 1772, a considerable change had been introduced in 1773: The superin- tendence of the collectors was abolished : The pro- vinces (Chittagong and Tipperah remaining under the original sort of management, that of a chief) were formed into six grand divisions, Calcutta, Burdwan, Moorshedabad, Dinagepore, Dacca, and Patna: In each of these divisions (Calcutta excepted, for which two members of the council and three su- perior servants, under the name of a committee of re- venue, were appointed) a council was formed, consist- ing of a chief, and four senior servants, to whom powers were confided, the same, in general, with those formerly enjoyed by the collectors : They ex- ercised a command over all the officers and affairs of revenue within the division: The members super- intended in rotation the civil courts of justice, called Sudder Adaulut : The councils appointed deputies, or naihs, to the subordinate districts of the division : These naibs, who were natives, and called also aurnils, both superintended the work of realizing the revenue, and held courts of fiscal judicature, called courts of
FAILURE OF THE QUINQUENNIAL LEASE.
3
Dewannee Aclaulut : The decisions of these courts B00K
were subject by appeal to the review of the provincial
courts of Sudder Adaulut ; which decided in the last 1775- resort to the value of 1000 rupees, but under appeal to the court of Sudder Dewannee Adaulut at Calcutta in all cases which exceeded that amount. Even this scheme was declared to be only intermediate, and preparatory to an ultimate measure, according to which, while the local management, except in those districts which might be let entire to the Zemindars or responsible farmers, should be performed by a dewan, or aumil, a committee of revenue, sitting at the Presidency, should form a grand revenue office, and superintend the whole collections of the country.1 Such were the alterations adopted in 1773.
At an early period, under the five years’ settlement, it was perceived, that the farmers of the revenue had contracted for more than they were able to pay.
The collections fell short of the engagements even for the first year ; and the farms had been let upon a progressive rent. The Governor-General was now accused by his colleagues of haring deceived his honourable masters by holding up to their hopes a revenue which could not be obtained. He defended himself by a plea which had, it cannot be denied, considerable weight : It was natural to suppose, that the natives were acquainted with the value of the lands, and other sources of the revenue ; and that a regard to their own interests would prevent them from engaging for more than those sources would afford. It was contended with no less justice on the other side, that there was a class of persons who had
1 Sixth Report of the Select Committee, 1781, Appendix, No. 1.
B 2
4
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
3V- nothing to lose ; to whom the handling of the re-
venues, and power over those who paid them, though
17/5- for a single year, was an object of desire ; and whom, as they had no intention to pay what they promised, the extent of the promise could not restrain.
The failure of exaggerated hopes was not the only evil whereof the farm by auction was accused. The Zemindars, through whose agency the revenues of the district had formerly been realized, and whose office and authority had generally grown into here- ditary possessions, comprising both an estate and a magistracy, or even a species of sovereignty, wThen the territory and jurisdiction were large ; were either thrown out of their possessions ; or, from an ambi- tion to hold the situation which had given opulence and rank to their families, perhaps for generations, they bid for the taxes more than the taxes could enable them to pay ; and reduced themselves by the bargain to poverty and ruin. When the revenues were farmed to the Zemindars, these contractors were induced to turn upon the ryots, and others from whom their collections were levied, the same rack which was applied to themselves. When they were farmed to the new adventurer, who looked only to a temporary profit, and who had no interest in the permanent prosperity of a people with whom he had no permanent connexion, every species of exaction to which no punishment was attached, or of which the punishment could by artifice be evaded, was to him a fountain of gain.
After several acrimonious debates, the Governor- General proposed that the separate opinions of the Members of the Council, on the most eligible plan
PLAN PROPOSED BY MR. FRANCIS.
5
for levying the taxes of the country, should he sent to the Court of Directors. And on the 28th of March, 1775, a draught signed by him and Mr. Barwell was prepared for transmission. The leading principle of this project was ; that the several districts should he farmed on leases for life, or for two joint lives, allowing a preference to the Zemindar, as often as his offer was not greatly inferior to that of other candidates, or the real value of the taxes to be let. The plan of the other members of the council was not yet prepared. They contented themselves with some severe reflections upon the imperfections of the existing system, an exaggerated representation of the evils which it was calculated to produce,1 and an expression of the greatest astonishment at the incon- sistency of the Governor-General, in praising and defending that system, while he yet recommended another, by which it would be wholly suppressed.
On the 22d of January, 1776, Mr. Francis entered a voluminous minute, in which he took occasion to record at length his opinions respecting the ancient government of the country, and the means of ensur- ing its future prosperity. Of the measures which he recommended, a plan for realizing the revenue constituted the greatest and most remarkable portion. Without much concern about the production of proof, he assumed as a basis two things ; first, that the opinion was erroneous, which ascribed to the Sove- reign the property of the land ; and secondly, that
book v.
CHAP. 3.
1776.
1 “ In the course of three years more, -we think it much to be appre- hended, that the continued operation of this system will have reduced the country in general to such a state of ruin and decay, as no future alteration will be sufficient to retrieve.” Extract of a Minute from General Claver- ing, Col. Monson, and Mr. Francis, March 21, 1775.
6
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BChapC 3.' ^ie property in question belonged to the Zemindars.
Upon the Zemindars, as proprietors, he accordingly
1/7G' proposed that a certain land-tax should be levied; that it should be fixed once for all ; and held as per- petual and invariable.
This was the principle and essence of his plan ; and the reasonings by which he supported it, were the common reasonings which prove the benefit of certainty in levying contributions for the use of the state. But Mr. Francis misapplied a common term. By certainty, in matters of taxation, is not meant security for ever against increase of taxation. Taxes may be in the highest degree certain, and yet liable to be increased at the will of the legislature. For certainty it is enough, that under any existing enact- ment of the legislature, the sum which every man has to pay should depend upon definite, cognoscible circumstances. The window-tax, for example, is a certain tax ; though it may be increased or dimi- nished, not only at the pleasure of the legislature ; but by altering the number of his windows at the pleasure of the individual who pays it. By the com- mon reasonings to prove the advantages of certainty in taxes, Mr. Francis, therefore, proved nothing at all against the power of increasing them. The sacred duty of keeping taxation in general within the narrowest possible limits, rests upon equally strong, but very different grounds.
Into the subordinate arrangements of the scheme, it belongs not to the present purpose to enter. It is only necessary to state, that Mr. Francis proposed to protect the ryots from the arbitrary exactions of the Zemindars, by prescribed forms of leases, in India
PLAN PROPOSED BY MR. FRANCIS.
7
known by the name of pottahs ; that he condemned B00K v.
the provincial councils, and recommended local
supervisors, to superintend, for a time, the executive 1776- as well as judicial business of the collections ; a business, which, by the arrangements made with the Zemindars and the ryots, he trusted would in a great measure soon perform itself. On opium and salt, of which the monopoly had generally been disposed of by contract, he proposed that government should content itself with a duty ; and terminate a large amount of existing oppressions by giving freedom to the trade.1
That the regulations which had been adopted for the administration of justice among the natives were extremely defective, all parties admitted and com- plained. That robbery and other crimes so greatly prevailed, was owing, in the opinion of Mr. Francis, to the reduction of the authority of the Zemindars.
These officers had formerly exercised a penal con- trol, which Mr. Francis maintained was fully judicial; which had reference, as Mr. Hastings affirmed, to nothing but police. As a cure for the existing dis- orders, Mr. Francis recommended the restoration of their ancient powers to the Zemindars, who, in the case of robbery and theft, were obliged, under the ancient government, to make compensation to the party wronged ; and in the case of murders and riots, were liable to severe mulcts at the hand of govern-
1 Report, ut supra, and Appendix, Nos. 14 and 15: see also a publi- cation entitled Original Minutes of the Governor-General and Council of Fort William, by Philip Francis, Esq. For the meaning of the terms Zemindar and Ryot, see i. 271 ; and for the interest which the Zemindar had in the land, see the considerations adduced on the introduction of the zemindary system during the administration of Lord Cornwallis.
8
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK A CHAP. 3.
1776.
• ment. Mr. Hastings, who judged more wisely what - effects zemindary jurisdiction had produced, or was likely to produce, treated this as a remedy which was far from adequate to the disease. In conjunction with Sir Elijah Impey, he formed the draught of a bill for an act of parliament, on the subject of the civil judicature of Bengal. It was communicated to the Council on the 29th of May. In this plan of the Chief Governor and Chief Judge, it was proposed, that in each of the seven divisions, into which, in- cluding Chittagong, the country had been already distributed, two courts of record should be esta- blished; that one should be denominated “The Court of Provincial Council that it should in each instance consist of a President and three Councillors, chosen by the Governor-General and Council, among the senior servants of the Company ; and have sum- mary jurisdiction in all pecuniary suits which regarded the Company, either directly, or through the medium of any person indebted to them or employed in their service ; that the other of these courts should be called the Adaulut Dewanny Zillajaut ; should con- sist of one judge, chosen, for his knowledge in the language and constitutions of the country, by the Governor and Council, from among the senior servants of the Company ; and should have jurisdiction in cases of trespass or damage, rents, debts, and in general of all pleas real, personal, or mixed, belong- ing to parties different from those included in the jurisdiction of the Courts of Provincial Council. In this draught no provision was made for the criminal branch of judicature among the natives, which had been remitted to the nominal government of the
POWER RESTORED TO HASTINGS.
9
Nabob, and exercised under the superintendence of B00K v Mohammed Reza Khan.1
Early in November, 1776, Colonel Monson died; 1/76- and as there remained in the Council after that event, only the Governor-General and Mr. Barwell on the one part, with General Clavering and Mr. Francis on the other, the casting vote of the Governor-General turned the balance on his side, and restored to him the direction of government.
In the consultation of the 1st of November he had entered a minute, in which he proposed, as a founda- tion for new-modelling the plan of collection, that an investigation should be instituted for ascertaining the actual state of the sources of revenue, particularly of that great and principal source, the lands. As the mode of letting by auction, which had produced inconvenience, was meant to be discontinued, and the mode of letting by valuation to be adopted in its stead, the Governor-General was of opinion, that as accurate a knowledge as possible of the subject of valuation ought first to be obtained. He proposed that this inquiry should be assigned as an exclusive duty to particular agents ; that two covenanted ser- vants of the Company should be chosen, with an adequate appointment of native officers ; and that their business should be to collect the accounts of the Zemindars, the farmers, and ryots, to obtain such information as the Provincial Councils could impart; to depute, when expedient, native officers, into the districts for the purpose of inquiry ; and to arrange
1 See Francis’s Minute, ut supra, and the .Draught of Hastings’s Bill ; Report, ut supra, Appendix, No. 13.
10
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1776.
• and digest the accumulated materials. The use of - this knowledge would be to assess the lands in pro- portion to their value, and to protect the ryots, by equitable agreements, or pottahs, imposed upon the Zemindars. The Governor-General finally proposed, for the sake as he said of despatch, that all orders issued from the office, in execution of such measures as had received the sanction of the Board, should be written in his name ; and that the control of the office should be confided to his care.
As every proposal made by the Governor-General was an object of attack to the opposite side of the Board, this measure introduced as usual a long train of debate and altercation. Mr. Francis objected, 1 . That the inquiry proposed was altogether useless ; as a rate of impost, extracting from the lands their utmost value, would be cruel to the people, and ruin- ous to the state ; while, under a moderate assessment, disproportion between the rate and the value was worthy of little regard; 2. That if an accurate valuation were useful, it ought to have been obtained through the Committee of Circuit ; by whom the lands were let at auction, for the professed purpose of ascertaining their highest value ; 3. That the inquiry would be unavailing, because the Zemindars, farmers, and ryots would not give true accounts ; 4. That if real accounts were capable of being obtained, they wrould be so voluminous, intricate and defective, as to preclude the possibility of drawing from them any accurate conclusion ; 5. That a valuation of land, if accurately obtained, is only true for one particular year, not for any future one; and 6. That with regard to the ryots, while the proposed pottahs were
DISCUSSIONS ON THE PROPOSED INQUIRY.
11
ill-calculated to afford them protection, the interest Bc°0^ 3V-
of the Zemindars, if their lands were restored under
a moderate and invariable tax, would yield the best 1776- security to the husbandman, from whose exertions the value of the land arose. A furious minute was entered by General Clavering, in which he arraigned the measure as an attempt to wrest from the Council “ the ordering, management, and government of the territorial acquisitions,” and as an illegal usurpation of the powers that were vested exclusively in the Board. This accusation wTas founded upon the pro- posal about the letters and the control of the office.
And it is remarkable, that, knowing the jealousy wTith which any proposal of a new power to himself would be viewed by the hostile party, and the imputations to which it would give birth, the Governor-General should have embarrassed his scheme with a condition, invidious, and not essential to its execution. That the objections were frivolous or invalid, it is easy to perceive. Though the inequalities of some taxes redress themselves in time, it is a mischievous notion that inequality in the imposing of taxes is not an evil : Every inequality in the case of a new imposition, is an act of oppression and injustice : And Hastings showed that in the case of India, where the land- holder paid nine-tenths of the produce of the land to government, inequality might produce the most cruel oppression. If the Committee of Circuit had fallen short of procuring an accurate knowledge of the sources of the revenue, that could be no reason why better information should not be obtained. Though it was acknowledged, that inquiry would be difficult, and its results defective, it is never to be admitted
12
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK A
CHAP. 3.
1776.
•that, where perfect knowledge cannot be obtained, - knowledge, though imperfect, is of no advantage. If it were allowed, as it was not, that the interest of the Zemindars would have been such, upon the plan of Mr. Francis, as Mr. Francis supposed, it is not true that men will be governed by their real interests, where it is certain that they are incapable of under- standing those interests ; where those interests are distant and speak only to the judgment, while they are opposed by others that operate immediately upon the passions and the senses. As the Governor- General had not proposed that letters from the office issued in his name should relate to any thing but services which had received the sanction of the Council, he insisted that they no more implied an usurpation of the powers of the Council than the letters written in his own name, in the discharge of his function, by any officer who was vested with a trust. The pernicious purposes to which it was in vague and general terms affirmed that such a power might be converted, it is not easy to understand. And the odium which it was attempted to cast upon the inquiry, by representing it as a preparation for exacting the utmost possible revenue from the lands, and dispossessing the Zemindars, Hastings answered, and sufficiently, by a solemn declaration, that no such intention was entertained.
By the ascendency, now restored to the Governor- General, the office was established. Orders were transmitted to the Provincial Councils ; and native officers, called aumeens, were sent to collect accounts and to obtain information in the districts. The first incidents which occurred wTere complaints against
QUINQUENNIAL LEASES EXPIRE.
13
those aumeens, for injurious treatment of the inha- BC^^3V
bitants ; and the opposing party were careful to
place these accusations in the strongest possible 1777 ■ light. From the aumeens, on the other hand, accounts arrived of frequent refusal on the part of the Zemindarry agents, and others, to afford infor- mation ; or even to show their accounts.
The five-years’ leases expired in April, 1777 ; and the month of July of that year had arrived before any plan for the current and future years had yet been determined. By acknowledgment of all parties, the country had been so grievously over-taxed, as to have been altogether unable to carry up its payments to the level of the taxation. According to the state- ment of the Accountant-General, dated the 12th of July, 1777, the remissions upon the five-years’ leases amounted to 118 lacs 79,576 rupees; and the balances, of which the greater part were wholly irrecoverable, amounted to 129 lacs 26,910 rupees. In his minute, on the office of inquiry, Mr. Barwell expressly de- clared that the “ impoverished state of the country loudly pleaded for a reduction of the revenue, as ab- solutely requisite for its future welfare.” 1 In the mean time despatches arrived, by which it was declared, that the Court of Directors, after considering the plans, both that of the Governor-General for letting the lands on leases for lives, and that of Mr. Francis for establishing a fixed, invariable rent, " did, for many weighty reasons, think it not then advisable to
1 Mr. Shore (Lord Teignmouth) said in his valuable Minute on the Revenues of Bengal, dated June, 1789, printed in the Appendix, No. 1, to the Fifth Report of the Committee on India Affairs in 1810, that “the settlement of 1772, before the expiration of the leases, existed, he be- lieved, no where, upon its original terms.”
14
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. acl0pt either of those modes,” but directed that the
lands should he let for one year on the most advan-
1777, tageous terms; that the way of auction, however, should no more be used ; that a preference should always be given to natives resident on the spot ; and that no European, or the banyan of any European, should have any share in farming the revenues. On the 15th of July it was determined that the follow- ing plan should be adopted for the year ; that the lands should be offered to the old Zemindars on the rent-roll or assessment of the last year, or upon a new estimate formed by the provincial Council ; that for such lands as should not in this manner find a renter, the Provincial Councils should receive sealed proposals by advertisement ; that the salt farms should be let upon sealed proposals, a pre- ference being given to the Zemindar or farmer of the lands on which the salt was made ; that security should not be asked of the Zemindars, but a part of their lands be sold to discharge their balances. Mr. Francis objected to the rent-roll of last year as too high ; and Mr. Hastings admitted the justice of the observation with regard to a part of the lands, where abatement would be required ; but thought it good, in the first instance, to try in how many cases the high rent, for which persons were found to engage, would be regarded as not more than the taxes would enable them to pay. Instead of sealed proposals, which he justly denominated a virtual auction, Mr. Francis recommended a settlement by the Provincial Councils. And he wished the manufacture of salt to be left to the holder or renter of the lands where it was made ; the government requiring nothing hut
DIRECTORS CENSURE THE OFFICE OF INQUIRY. 15
a duty. With these proposals the Governor-General 3 •
signified no disposition to comply ; but, after fresh
commands from England, the average of the collec- 17"' tions of the three preceding years was made the basis of the new engagements.
In their letter of the 4th of July, 1777, the Directors made the following severe reflections on the institution of the office of inquiry, and the sepa- rate authority which the Governor-General had taken to himself. “ Our surprise and concern were great on finding by our Governor-General’s minute of 1st November, 1776, that after more than seven years’ investigation, information is still so incomplete, as to render another innovation, still more extraordinary than any of the former, absolutely necessary in order to the formation of a new settlement. In 1769, supervisors were appointed professedly to investigate the subject : in 1770, controlling councils of revenue were instituted: in 1772, the office of Naib Dewan was abolished, natives were discarded, and a Com- mittee of Circuit formed, who, we were told, pre- cisely and distinctly ascertained what was necessary to be known : and now, in 1777, two junior servants, with the assistance of a few natives, are employed to collect and digest materials, which have already undergone the collection, inspection, and revision, of so many of our servants of all denominations. — We should have hoped, that when you knew our senti- ments respecting the conduct of our late adminis- tration, in delegating separate powers to their President, it would have been sufficient to prevent us further trouble on, such occasions ; but, to our concern, we find, that no sooner was our Council
16
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1777.
• reduced, by the death of Colonel Monson, to a - number which rendered the President’s casting vote of consequence to him, than he exercised it to invest himself with an improper degree of power in the business of the revenue, which he could never have expected from other authority.”1
The same mode of settlement was renewed from year to year, till 1781 ; when a plan destined for permanence was adopted and employed.2
When Mr. Hastings was in the deepest depression, under the ascendency of his opponents, a gentleman, of the name of Maclean, departed for England, and was intrusted with a variety of confidential affairs, as the private agent of the Governor-General. F or the measures adopted against the Rohillas, Hastings had been censured by the Courts of both Directors and Proprietors :3 and the Court of Directors had
1 Sixth Report, ut supra, Appendix, Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Minutes of the Governor- General and Council of Fort William, by Philip Francis, Esq.
* Fifth Report of the Committee of Indian Affairs. 1812, p. 8.
3 This is not correctly slated : the Court of Directors passed resolutions condemnatory of the principles of the Roliilla War, and they were con- firmed by a Court of Proprietors, but with a very important amendment, namely — that “ the Court had the highest opinion of the services and inte- grity of Warren Hastings, Esq., and could not admit a suspicion of corrupt motives operating on his conduct, without proof.” Proceedings of a General Court, 6th December 1775. The Resolution to address the King for the Recall of the Governor, arose out of the charges preferred by the other members of the Council against Hastings and Barwell, for having taken bribes, pr exacted sums of money from natives illicitly. This Reso- lution passed the Court of Directors on the 8th of May, 1776, but at a General Court held on the 17th May, it was voted by 377 to 271, that the Court of Directors should reconsider their resolution. In the course of the following July, after several stormy discussions, the resolution was rescinded, and all question of Hastings’s removal ceased for the time. MSS. Records. The account of this transaction, and of that which follows, in the text, is taken from the Ninth Report of the Select Committee ; not, as it should have been, from
RESIGNATION OF MR. HASTINGS.
17
resolved to address the King for his removal. Upon book v.
T . & 1 CHAP. 3.
this severe procedure, a Court of Proprietors was
again convened; a majority of whom appeared 1777- averse to carry the condemnation to so great an extent ; and voted, that the resolution of the Direc- tors should be reconsidered. The business remained in suspense for some months, when Mr. Maclean informed the Court of Directors, that he was em- powered to tender the resignation of Mr. Hastings.
If he resigned, a mere majority of the Proprietors, who appeared to he on his side, could restore him to the service. If he was dismissed, a mere majority would not be sufficient. In the letters by which the authority of Mr. Maclean was conveyed, confi- dential communications upon other subjects were contained. On this account he represented the impossibility of his imparting them openly to the Court ; hut proposed, if they would appoint a confi- dential Committee of Directors, to communicate to them what was neeessary for their satisfaction. The Chairman, Deputy-Chairman, and another Director were named. They reported, that they had seen Mr. Hastings’s instructions in his own hand-writing ; and that the authority of Mr. Maclean, for the pro- posed proceeding, was clear and sufficient. Mr. Vansittart, and Mr. Stewart, both in the intimate friendship and confidence of Mr. Hastings, gave evidence, that directions, perfectly correspondent to this written authority, had been given in their pre-
the documents in the Appendix, which do not in very many instances authorize the statements of the Report, influenced as they evidently are by a spirit unfriendly to Warren Hastings. — W.
VOL. IV. C
18
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1777.
• sence.1 The two Chairmen alone concurred in the . report. The third Director regarded not the autho-
1 The detail of the Report is unfair, and in this instance the Appendix does not furnish the means of correcting it. On reference to the original MS. documents, it is evident that Colonel Macleane’s authority would have satisfied none but minds ready to catch at any plea for the removal of an opponent. The Chairman, Deputy Chairman, and Mr. Becher, report, that having conferred with Mr. Macleane, they find that from the purport of Mr. Hastings’s instructions, contained in a paper in his own hand-writing, he declares he will not continue in the government of Ben- gal, unless certain conditions therein specified can be obtained," of ‘ which,’ they add, * there is no probability.’ This is a very different thing from a resignation : no conditions had been discussed ; none had been proposed : their refusal should necessarily have preceded their consequences, and it was not for the Court of Directors to act upon their notion of a probable contingency. Again, it was only an intention that was talked of ; and a mere intention, communicated to a friend, could not by any just reasoning be converted into an official announcement of a final determination. Even this intention, however, is not explicitly stated, but is gathered from the ‘purport’ of the instructions. On the other hand, the Court had before them Hastings’s reiterated intimations that he would not resign, until the Court had passed sentence upon the disputes between him and his adver- saries. Letter to the Court, 15th August, 1777. App. No. 113. Macleane’s conduct in this business it is not easy to comprehend. The Select Com- mittee, in their usual spirit, find that motive for it which is assigned in the text, but there were no proceedings in contemplation at the time of his application to the Court, and it would have been quite early enough to have had recourse to the manoeuvre for which credit is given him, when the recall of his principal had been again proposed. It seems not impossible, however, that he was influenced by views of his own. He had come home as the unauthorized agent of the Nabob of Arcot, and in Feb. 1776, addressed the Court, explaining his reasons for having resigned their service for that object. His account is not very explicit, but it is clear that he considered himself aggrieved by the Governor and Council of Bengal, and had some important points to carry with the Court, declaring that ‘ he is, and must continue to be, a great sufferer, unless the Court should be pleased to take his case into consideration, and grant him relief.’ This is dated the 13th February, 1776. On the 10th of October in the same year, he writes to the Court to announce his being authorized to proffer Hastings’s resignation as above mentioned. During the whole interval, he had not relinquished his claims upon the Court ; for not untill the 31st of March in the next year, does he break with them finally. The whole of his proceedings display an intriguing spirit, which was very likely to have made him outstrip his instructions, in the hope of conciliating the ruling party of the Court. MSS. Records : also Ninth Report, 356. — W.
MR. HASTINGS DISOWNS HIS AGENT.
19
rity as sufficiently proved. The Directors proceeded 3V-
upon the report : the resignation was formally
accepted: and a successor to Mr. Hastings was 1/77- chosen. Mr. Wheler was named ; presented to the King for his approbation ; and accepted. General Clavering, as senior Member of the Council, was empowered to occupy the chair till Mr. Wheler should arrive. And on the 19th of June, 1777, intelligence of these proceedings was received in Bengal.
A scene of confusion, well calculated to produce the most fatal consequences, ensued. Mr. Hastings, who now possessed the power of the Council, refused to acknowledge the authority of his agent ; and de- clared his resolution not to resign. General Claver- ing claimed the attributes of supremacy ; and summoned the Members of Council to assemble under his auspices. Mr. Barwell attended upon the summons of the one, and Mr. Francis upon that of the other ; and two parties, each claiming the supreme authority, were now seen in action one against the other. An appeal to arms appeared, in these circumstances, the only medium of decision ; and Mr. Hastings showed his resolution to stand the result. The other party, it is probable, felt their influence inferior to his. At any rate they declined the desperate extremity of a civil war ; and finally offered to abide the award of the Supreme Court.
The judges decided that Mr. Hastings had not vacated his office. This transaction was afterwards made the subject of a charge against him by those who moved for his impeachment ; but he accused the Directors of rashness and injustice, in taking
c 2
20
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1777
3V • such important steps upon evidence which he af- — firmed would have been held, in a court of justice, insufficient to maintain a decision for the trans- ference of an article of property of the smallest amount.1
The power recovered by the Governor-General, and thus strenuously retained, was exhibited in other triumphs, of slender importance. One of the first mortifications to which he had been subjected upon the arrival of the hostile councillors, was the recall of his agent, Mr. Middleton, from the office of resi- dent with the Nabob of Oude. It was now his time to retort the humiliation ; and on the 2d of December 1776, he moved in Council, “ that Mr. Bristow should be recalled from the court of the Nabob of Oude, and that Mr. Middleton he restored to the office of resident.” So far from imputing any blame to Mr. Bristow, the Governor-General acknowledged that he had commanded his esteem. As the ground of his proceeding, he stated, that Mr. Middleton had been removed from his office without allegation of fault ; that he had a greater confidence in Mr. Mid- dleton than in Mr. Bristow, and as the respon- sibility was laid upon him, it was but just that his agents should be chosen by himself. The measure was vehemently opposed by General Clavering and Mr. Francis ; the usual violence of altercation ensued ; Mr. Middleton was appointed, and Mr. Bristow recalled.
The part taken by Mr. J oseph F owke in bringing
1 Ninth Report, Select Committee, 1783, and Appendix, Nos. 107, 108, 109, 112, 113, 114, 115; See also the Charges, No. 9, and the Answer of Mr. Hastings.
DIRECTORS DISAPPROVE OF HIS MEASURES.
21
forward the facts, whence imputations had been B00K v
drawn upon the Governor-General himself, had ex
cited a resentment, which, having formerly appeared 1///- only in bitter and contemptuous expressions, was now made manifest in acts. The son of that gentleman,
Mr. Francis Fowke, had, on the 16th of August,
1775, been appointed by the Council, against the voice of the Governor-General, to proceed on a species of embassy to the new dependant of the Company, the Raja of Benares. On the same day on which the Governor-General moved for the recall of Mr Bristow, he moved for that of Mr. Francis Fowke, which also, after strong opposition, was carried by his own casting vote. Mr. Fowke was recalled, and his commission annulled, on the express declaration, that “ the purposes thereof had been ac- complished.” On the 22d of the same month, a letter of the Governor-General and Council was written to the Court of Directors, in which the recall of Mr Fowke was reported, and in which it was stated that the commission with which he had been invested was annulled, because the purposes for which it had been created were “ fully accomplished ; ”
On the very day after the date of this despatch, the Governor-General moved in Council, and whatever he moved was sure of acceptance, that a civil servant of the Company, with an assistant, should be ap- pointed to reside at Benares !
Upon both of these transactions, the Directors pro- nounced condemnation. In their general letter to Bengal, of the 4th of July, 1777, they say, “ Upon the most careful perusal of your proceedings of the 2d of December, 1776, relative to the recall of Mr.
22
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1777.
' Bristow from the court of the Nabob of Oude, and - the appointment of Mr. Nathaniel Middleton to that station, we must declare our strongest disapprobation of the whole of that transaction. And therefore direct, that Mr. Bristow do forthwith return to his station of resident at Oude, from which he has been so improperly removed.” And in their letter of the 30th of January, 1778, “ You inform us,” they said, “ in your secret letter of December, 1776, that the purposes for which Mr. Francis Fowke was appoint- ed to proceed to Benares, being fully accomplished, you had annulled his commission, and ordered him to the Presidency. But it appears by your letter of the 6th of January, 1777, that in less than twenty days you thought proper to appoint Mr. Thomas Graham to reside at Benares, and Mr. Daniel Octavius Bar- well to be his assistant. If it were possible to sup- pose that a saving to the Company had been your motive for annulling Mr. Fowke’s commission, we should have approved your proceedings. But when we find two persons appointed immediately after- wards, with two salaries, to execute an office which had been filled with reputation by Mr. Fowke alone, we must be of opinion that Mr. F owke was removed without just cause ; and therefore direct that Mr. Francis Fowke be immediately reinstated in his office of resident and post-master at Benares.”
On the 20th of July, 1778, the commands of the Court of Directors, with regard to Mr. Fowke, came under the deliberation of the Governor and Council, when Mr. Hastings moved that the execution of these commands should be suspended. A compliance with them, he said, “ would be adequate ” (meaning equi-
CONTROL GIVEN TO MUNNY THE BEGUM.
23
valent) “ to his own resignation of the service, because it would inflict such a wound on his authority, as it could not survive.” He also alleged that in- telligence might daily be expected from England of resolutions which would decide upon his situation in the service ; and, notwithstanding the opposition of one-half of the Council, he decided, by his casting vote, that Mr. Fowke, in spite of the command of the Directors, should not be replaced.
On the 27th of May, 1779, the Court of Directors write, “We have read with astonishment your formal resolution to suspend the execution of our orders relative to Mr. Francis Fowke. Your proceedings at large are now before us. We shall take such mea- sures as appear necessary for preserving the authority of the Court of Directors, and for preventing such instances of direct and wilful disobedience in our servants in time to come. At present we repeat the commands contained in the sixty-seventh paragraph of our letter of the 30th January, 1778, and direct that they be carried into immediate execution.”1
The place rendered vacant in the Council, by the death of Colonel Monson, had been supplied, by the appointment of Wheler, who commonly voted with Francis; but as General Clavering died in the end of the month of August, 1777, the decisions of the Council were still, by his own casting vote, at the command of the Governor-General.
Another of the transactions, which, during the ascendency of his opponents, had most deeply offended the Governor-General, was the subversion of his
book v.
CHAP. 3.
1778.
1 The original documents respecting these transactions may be found in the Appendix to the Fifth Report of the Select Committee, 1781 ; and in the Minutes of Evidence on the Trial of Mr. Hastings.
24
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 3.
1778.
regulations respecting the government and house- hold of the Nabob. As this, however, had obtained the sanction of the Court of Directors ; and the appointment of Mohammed Reza Khan in particular had met with their specific approbation, some colour for reversing these measures was very much to be desired. The period, at which the Nabob would come of age, was approaching. In the secret con- sultations on the 23rd of July, 1778, the Governor- General desired that a letter from the Nabob Mubarek-al-Dowla should be read. In this letter the Nabob stated that he had now, by the favour of God, arrived at that stage of life, his twentieth year, when the laws of his country assigned to him the management of his own affairs ; he complained of the severity with which he had been treated by Moham- med Reza Khan; and prayed that he might be relieved from this state of degrading tutelage, and allowed to assume the administration of his own government and affairs.
Mr. Wheler and Mr. Francis maintained, that it was not competent for the delegated government of India to subvert a regulation of so much importance, which had been directly confirmed by the Court of Directors ; and that the requisition of the Nabob should be transmitted to England for the determina- tion of the superior power. Mr. Hastings and Mr. Barwell insisted that justice admitted of no delay. It is remarkable, how these contending parties in India could reverse their pleas, as often as their interests required that different aspects of the same circumstances should be held up to view. In 1775, when the party in opposition to the Governor- General meant to alter the regulations which he
CONTROL GIVEN TO MUNNY THE BEGUM. 25
had formed, they represented it as their object “toBo°K
recover the country government from the state of
feebleness and insignificance, to which it was Mr. 17 /8- Hastings’s avowed policy to reduce it.” The Governor- General, in opposition to these pretences, declared, that “ all the arts of policy cannot conceal the power by which these provinces are ruled ; nor can all the arts of sophistry avail to transfer the responsibility of them to the Nabob, when it is as visible as the light of the sun, that they originate from our own government ; that the Nabob is a mere pageant, without the shadow of authority, and even his most consequential agents receive their appointment from the recommendation of the company, and the express nomination of their servants.”1 Notwithstanding these recorded sentiments, the Governor-General could now declare; “The Nabob’s demands are grounded on positive rights, which will not admit of discussion. He has an incontestable right to the management of his own household. He has an in- contestable right to the Nizamut ; it is his by inheri- tance ; the dependants of the Nizamut Adaulut, and of the Fouzdary, have been repeatedly declared by the Company, and by this government, to appertain to the Nizamut. For these reasons I am of opinion, that the requisitions contained in the Nabob’s letter ought to be complied with.” 2 In the eagerness of his passions, the Governor-General, by asserting the incontestable right of the Nabob to all the powers of the Nizamut, transferred a great part of the govern- ment. Under the Mogul constitution, the govern-
1 Minute of the Governor-General on the 7th Dec. 1775, Fifth Report, ut supra, p. 24, and App. No. 6.
2 Secret consultations, 5th March, 1778. Fifth Report, p. 29, App.
No. 6. (N.)
26
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3
1778.
■ ment of the provinces consisted of two parts ; the . Dewannee, or collection of the revenues, and the administration of the principal branches of the civil department of justice ; and the Nizamut, or the military branch of the government, with the superin- tendence of the criminal department of judicature: and of these the Dewannee was subordinate to the Nizamut. In this exalted capacity, it was never meant to recognise the Nabob ; and the language exhibits a useful specimen of the sort of arguments, to serve a purpose, which vague and imperfect notions of Indian policy have enabled those who were in- terested always to employ.1 Letters were also
1 At the time when Nuncomar accused Mr. Hastings, an indictment for a conspiracy was brought against him, Roy Radachurn, and others. Roy Radachurn was the Vakeel of the Bengal Nabob, and claimed the privilege of an ambassador. To bring him under the power of the Court, it was thought necessary to prove that his master was in no respect a Prince. For this purpose Mr. Hastings made an affidavit, that he and his council, in 1772, had appointed Munny Begum, and all her subordinates; that they had appointed courts of law, both civil and criminal, by their own authority, and without consulting the Nabob ; that “the civil courts were made solely dependent on the Presidency at Calcutta ; and that the said criminal courts were put under the inspection and control of the Com- pany’s servants, although ostensibly under the name of the Nazim; and that the revenues were exclusively in the hands of the Company.” The inference was, that not a particle of sovereign power belonged to the Nabob. Affidavits to the same purpose were made by Mr. George Vansittart and Mr. Lane. Upon this and other evidence the judges formed their decision; that the Nabob was not a sovereign in any sense, nor his Vakeel an ambassador. The words of some of them are remarkable. The Chief Justice said, that if the Nabob was a Prince, “ the exercise of their power must be an usurpation in the India Company ;” but this he affirmed was not the case, for the Nabob’s treaty with the Company “ was a surrender, by him, of all power into their hands.” After a long argu- ment to show that there was in the Nabob nothing but a “ shadow of majesty,” he concludes ; “ I should not have thought that I had done my duty, if I had not given a full and determinate opinion upon this question. I should have been sorry if I had left it doubtful, whether the empty name of a Nabob could be thrust between a delinquent and the laws.” The language of Mr. Justice Le Maistre was stronger still. “ With regard to this phantom,” said he, “ this man of straw, Mobarek ul Dowla,
THIS TRANSACTION CONDEMNED.
27
brought from the Nabob, which the known wish of book v. the Governor-General coulcl not fail to obtain, request- 1
1778.
it is an insult on the understanding of the Court, to have made a question of his sovereignty.” “ By the treaty which has been read,” said Mr. Justice Hyde, “ it appears that Mohareck ul Dowla deprives himself of the great ensign of sovereignty — the right to protect his own subjects. He declares that shall be done by the Company.” When this opinion was received,
Mr. Francis moved at the Board, that as it would preclude them from the use of the Nabob’s name in their transactions with foreign states, the Directors might be requested, “if it should be determined by them that the Subah’s government was annihilated, to instruct the Board in what form the government of the provinces should be administered for the future.” Mr. Hastings objected to the motion, as the declaration of the judges told nothing but what, he said, was known, and acted upon, before.
They had used the Nabob’s name, it was true; in deference to the com- mands of the Directors ; “ but I do not,” said he, “ remember any instance, and I hope none will be found, of our having been so disingenuous as to disclaim our own power, or to affirm that the Nabob was the real sovereign of these provinces.” He next proceeds to condemn the fiction of the Nabob’s government. “ In effect,” he says, “ I do not hesitate to say, that I look upon this state of indecision to have been productive of all the embarrassments which we have experienced with the foreign settlements
It has been productive of great inconveniences ; it has prevented
us from acting with vigour in our disputes with the Dutch and French
Instead of regretting, with Mr. Francis, the occasion which deprives us of so useless and hurtful a disguise, I should rather rejoice were it really the case, and consider it as a crisis which freed the constitution of our govern- ment from one of its greatest defects. And if the commands of our honourable employers, which are expected by the ships of the season, shall leave us uninstructed on this subject, which has been so pointedly referred to them in the letters of the late administration, I now declare that I shall construe the omission, as a tacit and discretional reference of the subject to the judgment and determination of this Board ; and will propose that we do stand forth, in the name of the Company, as the actual government of these provinces; and assume the exercise of it, in every instance, without any concealment or participation.” Minutes of Evidence on the Trial of Mr. Hastings, p. 1071 — 1079. When all these facts are known, the vehement zeal which Mr. Hastings, because it now suited his purpose, displayed for the fictitious authority of the Nabob, has a name which every reader will supply. — M. The Tight of the Nabob to control his own household, was quite compatible with the absence of political power, and as long as his administration of the Nizamut was permitted, he had a right to appoint his officers ; the point in dispute involves no ques- tion of political power, but of individual patronage. It was a very unne- cessary exercise of control to withhold from a man of twenty, all voice in the nomination of his servants and dependants. — W.
28
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. ing that his step-mother Munny Begum, of whom he CHAF' 3' had formerly complained, “ should take on herself 1778. the management of the Nizamut, without the inter- ference of any person whatsoever.”1 * Mohammed Reza Khan was accordingly removed ; Munny Begum was replaced in her ancient office : subordinate to her, Gourdass was re-instated in that of comptroller of the household ; and a person called Sudder-al-Hok was appointed to the superintendence of the judicial department. To these several offices, which were all included in the trust of Mohammed Reza Khan, salaries were appropriated amounting to 18,000 rupees beyond what he had received. The incapa- city of Munny Begum, when compared with Mo- hammed Reza, could admit of no dispute ; and the pernicious influence of the eunuchs wTho governed her delayed not to give Hastings uneasiness. On the 10th of October of the same year (1778), he was obliged to write to the Nabob, “ That the affairs both of the Phouzdary and Adaulut were in the greatest confusion imaginable, and that daily rob- beries and murders were perpetrated throughout the country ; — that his dependants and people, actuated
1 Of the mode in which such a letter was procured, nobody who
knows the relative situation of the parties can entertain a doubt. The judges of the supreme court, upon a letter of the same Nabob, in July,
1775, unanimously gave the following opinion: “The Nabob’s age, his situation is such, that there is no man, either in England or India, will believe he would be induced to write such a letter, was it not dictated to him by the agents of those who rule this settlement : or unless he was perfectly convinced it would be agreeable to and coincide with their senti- ments. We always have, and always shall consider, a letter of business from that Nabob, the same as a letter from the Governor-General and Council.” Minutes of Evidence on the trial, p. 1079, and Appendix, p. 547. According to this rule, the letter on which Mr. Hastings laid his superstructure was a letter from himself to himself.
THIS TRANSACTION CONDEMNED.
29
by selfish and avaricious views, had by their inter- B00K v ■
ference so impeded the business of justice, as to
throw the whole country into a state of confusion.” 177S- Meanwhile the report of this transaction was re- ceived in England ; and the Court of Directors, in their letter of the 4th of February, transmit their sentiments upon it in the following terms : “ We by no means approve your late proceedings on the ap- plication of the Nabob Mubarek ul Dowla for the removal of the Naib Subahdar. In regard to the Nabob’s desire to take charge of his own affairs, we find it declared by one of your own members, and not contradicted, that the Nabob is, in his own person, utterly incapable of executing any of those offices which were deemed of essential importance to the welfare of the country. The Nabob’s letters leave us no doubt of the true design of this extraor- dinary business being, to bring forward Munny Begum, and again to invest her with improper power and influence, notwithstanding our former declara- tion, that so great a part of the Nabob’s allowance had been embezzled, or misapplied under her super- intendence. You have requested the inexperienced young man, to permit all the present judges and officers of the Nizamut and Phousdary Adauluts, or courts of criminal justice, and also all the Phousdars or officers appointed to guard the peace of the country, to continue in office until he the Nabob shall have formed a plan for a new arrangement of those offices: and it is with equal surprise and concern, that we observe this request introduced, and the Nabob’s ostensible rights so solemnly asserted at this period by our Governor-General; because, on a
30
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
b0°k V. late occasion, to serve a very different purpose, he
has not scrupled to declare it as visible as the light
1778- of the sun, that the Nabob is a mere pageant, and ■without even the shadow of authority. No circum- stance has happened, since that declaration was made, to render the Nabob more independent, nor to give him any additional degree of power or consequence ; you must therefore have been well apprized that your late concessions to Mubarek-ul- dowla were unnecessary, and as such unwarrantable. As we deem it for the welfare of the country, that the office of Naib Subahdar be for the present continued, and that this high office should be filled by a person of wisdom, experience, and approved fidelity to the Company ; and as we have no reason to alter our opinion of Mohammed Reza Khan, we positively direct, that you forthwith signify to the Nabob Mubarek-al-dowla our pleasure, that Moham- med Reza Khan be immediately restored to the office of Naib Subahdar.1
’ Fifth Report, ut supra, p. 24 — 32, and App. No. 6; also the charges against Mr. Hastings, No. 17, with Mr. Hastings’s answer; see also the Evidence both for the Prosecution and Defence in Minutes of Evidence, ut supra. — M.
No comment is made upon the inconsistency of the Court in their insisting on the continuance in office of Mohammed Reza Khan, a person whom they had formerly accused of corruption, and sentenced to imprison- ment. In all these conflicting orders and opinions, the real state of things should be kept in view. The majority of the Court of Directors were friendly to the opponents of Hastings. The majority of the Court of Proprietors were his friends. In reliance on their support the governor held his post and his purposes, in defiance of what he not unfoundedly regarded as the party-spirit of the Directors ; but their opposition, and that of his council, forced him to devise arguments and assign motives intended to meet the exigency of the moment, and therefore, sometimes as much at variance with themselves as were the arguments of those by whom he was so vehemently and invariably opposed.— W.
RELATIONS WITH THE MAHRATTAS.
31
The state of the relations between the Company’s book v.
X CHAP. 3.
government and the Mahratta powers had for some
time pressed with considerable weight upon the at- 1778- tention of the Council. The treaty which had been concluded by Colonel Upton, commonly distin- guished by the title of the treaty of Poomnder, had left the minds of the governing party at Poonah, and those of the Bombay Presidency, in a state of mutual jealousy and dissatisfaction. The occupation of Salsette, and the other concessions which had been extorted, but above all the countenance and protec- tion still afforded to Ragoba, rankled in the minds of the Poonah ministry ; while the Bombay rulers, condemned and frustrated by the Supreme Council, but encouraged by the approbation of the Court of Directors, stood upon the watch for any plausible opportunity of evading or infringing the treaty.
Colonel Upton, though he remained at Poonah till the commencement of the year 1777, departed before any of the material stipulations had been carried into effect. Futty Sing, as by the treaty it had been rendered his interest, disavowed his right to alienate in favour of the Company any portion of the Guica- war dominions ; and the Poonah Council made use of the favour shown to Ragoba, as a pretext for de- laying or evading the concessions they had made.
A new feature was soon added to these disputes, by the arrival of a French ship in one of the Mahratta ports, and the reception given at Poonah to some gentlemen whom she landed, as on a mission from the king of France. This circumstance strongly excited the English jealousy and fears.
The object at which the French were supposed to
32
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. aim, was the establishment of a factory at Poonah ;
CHAP. 3. j . . . .
and the acquisition oi a sea-port on the coast oi
1778. Malabar. These advantages would enable them, it was apprehended, to sustain a competition with the English in matters of trade, and to annoy them seriously in a period of war. The asseverations of the Mahratta government, that nothing was in view prejudicial to the interests of the Company, gave little satisfaction. Colonel Upton, whose partiality was engaged to the treaty which he had concluded, and the party whom he served, accused the Bombay Presidency, and answered for the sincerity and pa- cific designs of the Mahrattas. Mr. Hastings leaned to the suspicious side; his opponents urged the propriety of yielding contentment to the Mahrattas, especially by the abandonment of Ragoba. The probability of a rupture between France and Eng- land was already contemplated in India ; and, as it was to be expected that the French would aim at the recovery of their influence in India, so Mr. Hastings, at least, thought that the western coast was the place where they had the best prospect of success ; and the support of the Mahrattas was the means most likely to be adopted for the accomplish- ment of their ends.
The progress of inquiry respecting the agent from France discovered, that his name was St. Lubin; that he was a mere adventurer, who had opened to the French Minister of Marine a project, supported by exaggerated and false representations, for acquiring an influence in the Mahratta councils, and an esta- blishment in the Mahratta country; and that he had been intrusted with a sort of clandestine commission,
THE FRENCH INTRIGUE ALARMS THE ENGLISH.
33
as an experiment, for ascertaining if any footing or advantage might be gained. The Presidency of Bombay represented to the Supreme Council, that St. Lubin received the most alarming countenance from the Poonah ministers ; that nothing could be more dangerous to the Company, than a combined attack from the Mahrattas and French: And they urged the policy of anticipating the designs of their enemies, by espousing the cause of Ragoba ; and putting an end to the power of men, who waited only till their schemes were ripe for execution, to begin an attack upon the Company. The Bombay Presi- dency were more emboldened in their importunity, by a letter from the Court of Directors, containing their observations on the conduct of the Supreme Council in taking the negotiation with the Mahrattas out of the hands of the Bombay government, and on the treaty which the Supreme Council had concluded with the Poonah rulers. “We approved,” said the Directors, “ under every circumstance, of keeping all territories and possessions ceded to the Company by Ragoba, and gave directions to the Presidencies of Bengal and Fort St. George to adopt such measures as might be necessary for their preservation and de- fence. But we are extremely concerned to find, from the terms of the treaty concluded by Colonel Upton at Poonah, that so great a sacrifice has been improvi- dently made ; and especially, that the important cession of Bassein to the Company by Ragoba, has been rendered of no effect. We cannot but disap- prove of the mode of interference of the Governor- General and Council, by sending an ambassador to Poonah without first consulting you, and of their VOL. IV. D
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1778.
34
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
3V- determination to disavow and invalidate the treaty
formerly entered into by an agent from your Presi-
1//8‘ dency, and solemnly ratified under the seal of the Company. We are convinced that Bassein, which is so great an object with us, might have been obtained if they had authorized you to treat either with Ra- goba, or with the ministers at Poonah ; reserving the final approval and ratification of the treaty to them- selves. This is the precise line we wish to have drawn ; and which we have directed our Governors- General and Council in future to pursue. We are of opinion, that an alliance originally with Ragoba would have been more for the honour and advantage of the Company, and more likely to be lasting, than that concluded at Poonah. His pretensions to the supreme authority appear to us better founded than those of his competitors ; and therefore, if the conditions of the treaty of Poonah have not been strictly fulfilled on the part of the Mahrattas, and if, from any circum- stance, our Governor-General and Council shall deem it expedient, we have no objection to an alliance with Ragoba, on the terms agreed upon between him and you.”
While these circumstances were under the consi- deration of the Supreme Council at Calcutta, intelli- gence arrived, that the rivalship of Siccaram Baboo and Nana Furnavese had produced a division in the Council at Poonah ; that a part of the ministers, with Siccaram Baboo at their head, had resolved to declare for Ragoba ; that they had applied for the assistance of the English to place in his hands the powers of government ; and that the Presidency of Bombay had resolved to co-operate with them in his
CO-OPERATION WITH RAGOBA.
35
favour. This subject produced the usual train °fBc^rKJ‘
debate and contention in the Supreme Council; where
Mr. Francis and Mr. Wheler condemned the resolu- 1/78, tion of the President and Council of Bombay, first, as illegal, because not taken with the approbation of the supreme authority; next, as unjust, by infringing the treaty ; and finally, impolitic, by incurring the dan- gers and burdens of war: The Governor-General and Mr. Barwell approved it, as authorized by the sud- denness and greatness of the emergency, and the de- clared sentiments of the Court of Directors ; as not unjust, since the principal party with whom the treaty was formed now applied for the interference of the Company ; and as not impolitic, because it anticipated the evil designs of a hostile party, and gave to the Company an accession of territorial re- venue, while it promised them a permanent influence in the Mahratta councils. It was resolved, in conse- quence, that a supply of money and a reinforcement of troops should be sent to the Presidency of Bombay.
The Governor-General proposed that a force should be assembled at Calpee, and should march by the most practicable route to Bombay. This also gave rise to a warm debate, both on the policy of the plan, and the danger of sending a detachment of the Company’s army to traverse India through the domi- nions of princes, whose disposition had not been pre- viously ascertained. It was finally determined, that the force should consist of six battalions of Sepoys, one company of native artillery, and a corps of cavalry ; that it should be commanded by Colonel Leslie; and anticipate, by its expedition, the obstruc- tion of the rains. That commander was instructed
d 2
36
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I CHAP. 3
1778.
' • to take his route through the province of Berar, of - which the rulers were friendly; to obtain, where pos- sible, the consent of the princes or chiefs, through whose territories he might have occasion to pass ; but even when refused, to pursue his march ; to he careful in preventing injury to the country or inhabi- tants ; to allow his course to be retarded by the pur- suit of no extraneous object; and to consider himself under the command of the Bombay Presidency from the commencement of his march. That Presidency were at the same time instructed to use their utmost endeavours to defeat the machinations of the French; to insist upon the execution of the treaty ; to take advantage of every change of circumstances for ob- taining beneficial concessions to the Company ; and, if they observed any violation of the treaty, or any refusal to fulfil its terms, to form a new alliance with Ragoba, and concert with him the best expedients for retrieving his affairs.
In the mean time another change had taken place in the fluctuating administration at Poonah. The party of Siccaram Baboo had prevailed over that of Nana Furnavese without the co-operation of Ragoba; and it was immediately apprehended at Bombay, that they would no longer desire to admit as an associate, a party who would supersede themselves. The argu- ments, urged, upon this change, by Mr. Francis and Mr. Wheler, did not succeed in stopping the march of the troops ; because the unsettled state of the government of Poonah, and the machinations of the French, rendered it highly expedient, in the opinion of the Governor-General, that the Presidency of Bombay should be furnished with sufficient power,
VIEWS OF HASTINGS.
37
both to guard against dangerous, and to take advan- B(^K ^ •
tage of favourable, circumstances and events.
The detachment experienced some slight obstruc- 1/78- tion at the commencement of its march, from some of the petty Mahratta chiefs ; upon which, as indi- cating danger if it proceeded any further, Mr. F rancis renewed his importunities for its recall. Mr. Hast- ings opposed his arguments, on the ground, that after a few days’ march the troops would arrive in Bundel- cund, which was independent of the Mahrattas ; would thence pass into the territories of the Raja of Berar, in which they would be received with friend- ship ; that, on quitting the territories of the Raja, more than two-thirds of the march would be com- pleted ; that the consent of the Peshwa had been obtained ; and that the Mahratta chiefs, whatever their inclinations, were too much engaged in watch- ing the designs of one another, to be able to oppose the detachment.
Yaiious were the orders by which its movements were affected. The Presidency at Bombay, having taken up hopes that the presiding party at Poonah would favour the views of the English, and dismiss the agents of the French, wrote a first letter to the detachment, requiring them to halt, and wait till subsequent directions ; and presently thereafter another letter, desiring them to prosecute the march.
In the mean time intelligence had reached Calcutta, that war was declared between the English and the French. Upon this, instructions were despatched to Colonel Leslie by the supreme Council, not to advance, till further orders, beyond the limits of Berar.
38
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1778.
According to the Governor-General, the Company had nothing to dread from the efforts of the French, at either Calcutta or Madras : it was the western coast on which, both from the weakness of Bombay, and the inclinations of the Mahratta government, those enemies of the English had any prospect of success ; and where it most behoved the servants of the Company to provide against their attempts. He recommended a connexion with some of the leading powers of the country ; pointed out the Raja of Berar as the prince Avith whom it was most desirable to combine ; and mentioned two services by which the co-operation of that Prince might be ensured. One of these services Avas to assist him in the re- covery of the dominions which had been wrested from him by Nizam Ali. The other was to support him in a pretension to the Mahratta Rajaship. The legitimate, but impotent King of the Mahrattas, had recently died in his captivity at Sattarah, without leaving issue : and the Raja of Berar, as a branch of the house of Sivajee, might urge a claim to the succession. In pursuance of these objects, an em- bassy to the court of Berar was voted by the majority, and despatched. In the mean time another revolution had ensued in the government at Poonah. The party of Siccaram Baboo Avas again overthrown ; and that of Nana Fumavese exalted by the powerful co-operation of Madajee Sindia. The party of Nana still appeared to favour the French. The defeated party, now led by a chief named Moraba, as the age of Siccaram Baboo in a great measure dis- qualified him for business, were eager to combine with the English in raising Ragoba ; and the Presi-
WAR WITH THE MAHRATTAS.
39
deucy of Bombay had no lack of inclination to 3V>
second their designs. A resolution to this effect was
passed on the 21st of July, 1778 ; but it was not till 1779, the beginning of November, that any step was taken for its execution. The activity of the Presidency had been repressed by news of the confinement of the leading members of the party at Poonah, from whom they expected assistance, and by instructions from the Supreme Council not to pursue any measures which might interfere with the object of the em- bassy to Moodajee Bonsla, the Regent of Berar.
Early, however, in November, a plan of operations was concerted; a treaty was concluded with Ragoba; a loan to a considerable amount was advanced to him ; and, upon intelligence that the ruling party at Poonah had penetrated their designs, and were making preparations to defeat them, it was deter- mined to send forward one division of the army im- mediately, and the rest with all possible despatch.
The force which was sent upon this enterprise amounted in all to nearly 4500 men. A committee, consisting of Colonel Egerton, Mr. Carnac, a mem- ber of the Select Committee, and Mr. Mostyn, for- merly agent of the Presidency at Poonah, were appointed a Committee for superintending the expe- dition, and settling the government at Poonah. The army set out about the beginning of December ; on the 23d completed the ascent of the mountains, and arrived at Condola. The enemy now, for the first time, appeared. From the head of the Ghaut, or pass, which they secured by a fortified post, the English, on the 4th of January, began their march toward Poonah, with a stock of provisions for twenty-
40
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book gv • five days. They were opposed by a body of troops,
who retired as they advanced, but cut off their
1/79‘ supplies, and seized every opportunity to harass and impede them. They were not joined, as they had encouraged themselves to expect, by any chief of importance, or numbers to any considerable amount. And it was in vain, as they were informed by Ra- goba, to hope, that his friends and adherents would declare themselves, till the English, by some impor- tant operations and success, held out to them a pro- spect of safety. The army continued to advance till the 9th of January, when, at the distance of about sixteen miles from Poonah, and eighteen from the summit of the pass, they found an army assembled to oppose them. The Committee,1 to whom, by a strange policy, the command of a military expedition was consigned, began to despair ; and, on learning from the commissary in chief, that only eighteen days’ provisions were in store, and from the officer commanding the forces, that he could not protect the baggage, without a body of horse, they made up their minds to a retreat. It commenced on the night of the 11th. But secrecy had not been preserved ; and they were attacked by the enemy before day-
1 Mr. Moslyn was soon taken ill and returned to Bombay, where he died. On arriving at Tullygaum, Colonel Egerton was obliged to relin- quish the command to Colonel Cockbum, but continued to act as a Member of the Committee. In either capacity he may be considered as principally answerable for the failure of the expedition. After crossing the Ghaut, the movements of the army were so slow, that it had advanced but eight miles in eleven days, without any excuse for such deliberate pro- cedure : and when it became a question what was to be done, Colonel Cockburn expressed no doubt of making good his march to Poona, and other well-informed officers were ol opinion, that at least they should maintain their ground whilst the negotiations were carried on. History of Mahrattas, ii. 366. — W.
WAR UNSUCCESSFUL.
41
1779.
break ; when they lost a part of their baggage, and 3V'
above three hundred men. It was not until four
o’clock in the afternoon that the enemy desisted from the pursuit, when the English had effected their retreat as far as Wargaum. Hope now deserted not only the Committee, but the Commander of the troops ; who declared it impossible to carry back the army to Bombay.1 An embassy was sent to the Mahratta camp to try upon what terms they could have leave to return. The surrender of Ragoba was demanded as a preliminary article. That unfortunate chief was so impressed with the danger of waiting another attack, that he had declared his intention of surrendering himself to Sindia, and had been in correspondence with that chieftain for several days ; the Committee were less scnrpulous therefore, in bar- tering his safety for their own. When this com- pliance was announced, and the English expected a corresponding facility on the part of the Mahrattas, the leaders of that people informed them, that the surrender of Ragoba was a matter of the utmost in- difference ; that the treaty, which had been concluded with Colonel Upton, had been shamefully violated ; the territory, of the Mahrattas invaded ; and that unless a new treaty were formed upon the spot, the army must remain where it was, and abide the con- sequences. The declaration of the Committee, that they possessed not powers to conclude a treaty, was disregarded. The commanding officer declared, that
1 Captain Hartley, who had distinguished himself in command of the rear guard during the retreat, proposed a plan by which it might be ensured. The commanding officer, however, despaired of its accomplishment. Hist, of Mahrattas, ii. 375. — W.
42
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1779.
the attempt to force a retreat could lead to nothing but the total destruction of the army. It was, there- fore, agreed to submit to such conditions as the Mahrattas might impose ; and a treaty was signed, by which all the acquisitions were relinquished, which had been made in those parts by the English, since the treaty with Madhoo Rao in 1756 ; Baroach was given up to Sindia ; 1 Ragoba placed in his hands ; the detachment from Bengal was ordered to return ; and two Englishmen of distinction were left as hostages for the due fulfilment of the terms.
No approbation could be more complete than that which was bestowed by the court of Directors on the object of this expedition. In a letter from the Com- mittee of Secrecy, dated the 31st of August, 1778, “ The necessity,” they say “ of counteracting the views of the French at Poonah appears to us so very striking, that we not only direct you to frustrate their designs of obtaining a grant of the portofChoul, but also to oppose by force of arms, if necessary, their forming a settlement at that or any other place which may render them dangerous neighbours to Bombay. As the restoration of Ragoba to the Peshwaship is a measure upon which we are determined ; and as the evasions of the Mahratta chiefs respecting the treaty of Poonah justify any departure therefrom on our part, we, therefore, direct, that if, on the receipt of this letter, you shall be able to obtain assistance from
' It was the policy of the Committee to appeal to Sindia, which, as Captain Grant observes, flattered him exceedingly, and accorded with his plans of policy : he nevertheless availed himself of the opportunity to take every advantage of the English, as far as was consistent with the control he wished to preserve overNana Furnavees. Mahratta History, ii. 377. — W.
THE DETACHMENT FROM BENGAL.
the friends of Ragoba, and with such assistance find yourselves in force sufficient to effect his restoration without dangerously weakening your garrison, you forthwith undertake the same.” In proportion to the satisfaction which would have been expressed upon a fortunate termination of this enterprise, was the displeasure manifested upon its failure. The first object which strikes us,” say the Directors, “ is the slow progress of the army. This we deem an irreparable injury to the service ; and in this respect the conduct of the Commander-in-Chief appears ex- tremely defective. The consequence was obvious ; the enemy had full opportunity to collect their strength ; the friends of Ragoba, instead of being encouraged, by the spirited exertion of our force, to join his standard, must, as we conceive , have been deterred from declaring in his favour, by the languor of our military proceedings.” They condemn the first resolution to retreat, when “ the army was so far advanced, the troops full of spirits and intrepidity, and eighteen days’ provisions in store.” And the utmost measure of their indignation and resentment is poured on the humiliating submission which was at last preferred to the resolution of a daring, though hazardous retreat ; preferred, on the pretext that the troops would not again resist the enemy, though they had behaved with the utmost intrepidity on the for- mer attack ; and though Captain Hartley declared that he could depend upon his men, urged every argument in favour of resolute measures, and even formed and presented to the commanding officer a disposition for conducting the retreat. The two military officers who had shared in the conduct of the
44
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. expedition, the Directors dismissed from their ser-
.vice; and the only remaining member of the Field
1779- Committee, who had been selected from the civil branch of the service, for one had died during the march, they degraded from his office, as a member of the Council and Select Committee of Bombay.
The detachment which was proceeding from Ben- gal had wasted much time on its march. Having advanced as far as Chatterpore, a principal city of Bundelcund, early in June, it halted till the middle of August. During this season, when the rains, ac- cording to Colonel Leslie, interrupted ; according to the Governor General, favoured the march ; the com- mander of the troops engaged himself in negotiations and transactions with the local chiefs ; measures severely condemned by his superiors, and very open to the suspicion of selfish and dishonourable motives. The President and Council of Bombay, on the re- ceipt of intelligence of a rupture with France, had earnestly exhorted him by letter to accelerate his motions. They renewed their solicitations on the 21st of July, when they came to the resolution of supporting Ragoba. And they urged the delay of this detachment, and the uncertainty of its arrival, as a reason for having undertaken the expedition to Poonah, without waiting for that addition of strength which its union and co-operation would have be- stowed. Dissatisfied with the long inactivity of the detachment at Chatterpore, the Supreme Council wrote to the commanding officer on the 31st of August, desiring him to explain the reasons of his conduct, and to pursue the march. He had put himself in motion about the middle of the month,
THE DETACHMENT FROM BENGAL.
45
and was at Rajegur on the 17th, where a party of book v
Mahrattas disputed the passage of the river Kane
On the 17th of September he despatched a letter to 1779- the Supreme Council from Rajegur, where he still remained, stating, that the retardation of the de- tachment had been occasioned by the weather ; that he had concluded friendly engagements with Goman Sing, and Koman Sing, two rajas of Bundelcund ; and had received satisfactory assurances from Moo- dajee Bonsla, the Regent of Berar, to whom the pro- position of an embassy from the English rulers ap- peared to have yielded peculiar gratification.1
The person2 who had been chosen to conduct this embassy, died upon the journey, before he reached the capital of Berar. After some fluctuation of opinion, it was determined not to continue the negotiation by appointing a successor; but rather to wait in expectation of some advances from the Regent.
The party of Mr. Francis now urgently pressed for a distinct declaration of the design with which the detachment on its way to the western Presidency,
1 The sentiments of the Court of Directors were unfavourable to this attempted alliance. In their letter of the 14th of May, 1779, to the Governor-General and Council, they say, “ The undertaking appears to us contrary to the Company’s former policy, to our engagements with Ragoba and Nizam Ali, and doubtful respecting any reasonable prospect of advantage.” And in another letter dated on the 27th of the same month, to the President and Select Committee of Bombay, they say, “ We earnestly hope, that upon your negotiation and treaty with Ragoba being communicated to our Governor-General and Council, they would concur with you in giving full effect thereto, and desist from entering into any new connexions which may set aside, or counteract, your recent agreements with Ragoba.” Sixth Report, Committee of Secrecy, 1781, p. 84.
2 Mr. Elliot ; — he died on the 12th September. — W.
46
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. was directed to continue its march. There was not
CHAP. 3.
only a complication, they affirmed, hut a contrariety
t779. 0f objects ; the alliance for raising Moodajee Bonsla to the throne of Sivajee, being inconsistent with the scheme for establishing Ragoba in the office of Peshwa. The Governor-General, without any defi- nite explanation, alleged that the re-instatement of Ragoba, had never been pursued as an end, but only as a means ; that his hopes and expectations were placed on Moodajee ; that the detachment, whether its services should be required for the resto- ration of Ragoba, or in prosecution of engagements with Moodajee, or in opposing the French, ought equally to continue its march. The opposite party once more urged in vain their reasons for its recall. But all parties agreed in condemning Colonel Leslie for the delay which he had incurred, and the engage- ments which he had formed ; in pronouncing him unfit to be any longer intrusted with the command which he held ; and in transmitting orders that he should resign it to Colonel Goddard, the officer next in command. Leslie, however, survived not to re- ceive the intelligence of his disgrace ; nor to produce, it ought to be remembered, what he might have urged in vindication of his conduct. He was an officer of experience and reputation. It is known, that he held a high language, that he complained of the Governor-General, to whom, by his special directions, he had communicated a private journal of his trans- actions, and to whom he had trusted for the explanation of his proceedings. But no inference can safely be founded on the allegation that the Governor-General, who had previously defended his conduct, was
OPERATIONS OF THE DETACHMENT FROM BENGAL.
informed of the deadly nature of his disease, and the hopelessness of his recovery, at the time when he condemned him and voted for his recall.
By the death of Leslie, the command devolved on Colonel Goddard on the 3d of October. On the 22d he wrote a private letter to the Governor-General, informing him of the progress which the detachment had made towards the Nerbudda, or the boundary of Berar. At the same time with the letter from Colonel Goddard, arrived despatches from Moodajee, expressing his lamentation upon the death of the late ambassador, and his hopes that such an event would not frustrate the plan of friendship which it had been the object of that embassy to establish. Upon the receipt of these letters the Governor-General moved, that the negotiation with Moodajee Bonsla should he resumed ; and that powers to treat with him should be communicated to Colonel Goddard. The opposite party contended, that an alliance with the Begent of Berar would he equivalent to a declaration of war against Nizam Ali, and involve the Carnatic in misfortune ; that neither did Colonel Goddard possess the qualifications of a negotiator, nor did the duties of his command enable him to devote his mind to the business which a negotiator was required to perform ; and that the Presidency of Bombay, under whose orders the detachment had been placed, might take measures in favour of Ragoba, with which the instructions which might he given in regard to Moo- dajee would not be reconcilable.
On the 7th of December, after intelligence had arrived of the second revolution at Poonah, which the Governor-General regarded as defeating the
48
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1779.
• original design upon which the assistance of the . detachment had been sent to Bombay, he proposed that it should no longer act under the orders of that Presidency, lest the designs of those rulers should defeat the negotiation with Moodajee, intrusted to Colonel Goddard. While this proposition was under debate, a despatch was received from the resident at Poonah, stating his expectation of being immediately recalled, as the Select Committee at Bombay had determined to proceed against the governing party at Poonah. After this intelligence, the proposition of the Governor-General, for retaining the detach- ment of Colonal Goddard under the immediate authority of the Supreme Council, received the sanc- tion of the Board. In the mean time Moodajee Bonsla, for whose alliance so much anxiety was expressed, had written an evasive letter to Colonel Goddard, dated the 23d of November ; manifesting pretty clearly a wish to embroil himself as little as possible either with the English or with the Poonah confederacy. Goddard crossed the Nerbuddah on the 1st of December; and sent an agent to Nagpore, to ascertain how far he might depend upon Moo- dajee. In conclusion, he inferred, that no engage- ment could be formed between that chieftain and the English ; but that a friendly conduct might be ex- pected toward the detachment, while it remained in his dominions.
By this time the army of Bombay was on its march to Poonah. But though Colonel Goddard had transmitted regular intelligence of his movements to Bombay, he had received no communications from that quarter ; and remained in total ignorance of
ITS OPERATIONS.
49
their designs, except from some intimations com- B00K v
... CHAP. 3.
municated by Moodajee, that an expedition against
Poonah was in preparation. Uncertain as was the 1/79- ground upon which he had to proceed, he had come to the determination, that the balance of probabili- ties required his proceeding to Poonah ; when he received despatches from the Council at Bombay, unfolding what they had done, and what they were intending to do ; and pressing it upon him to march to Poonah, with the smallest possible delay. To the question why the Presidency at Bombay had not sooner made Colonel Goddard acquainted with the design of the expedition, and taken the precautionary steps for securing co-operation between his detach- ment and their own, the answer must be, either that they exercised not the degree of reflection necessary for that moderate display of wisdom ; or that, they wished to have to themselves the glory of setting up a Mahratta government ; or that, to avoid the expense of the detachment, they wished it not to arrive. Moodajee, who was afraid to embroil himself with the Poonah government, if he gave a passage to the troops of Goddard, and with the English government if he refused it, was very earnest with him to wait till he received satisfactory letters from Calcutta.
But, notwithstanding his solicitations, Goddard, on the 16th of January, began his march from the banks of the Nerbudda.
He took the great road to Boorhanpoor and Poonah, and arrived at Charwah on the 22d, where he received intelligence that the army from Bombay had advanced as far as the Bora ghaut, a place fifty miles distant from Poonah.
VOL. IV. E
50
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. Oil the 24th, he received a letter dated the 11th,
CHAP. 3.
from the Field Committee, who conducted the Bom-
1779- bay expedition, representing, that in consequence of an alteration which had taken place in the state of affairs, it was not expedient he should advance ; that he should either proceed to Surat, if he found him- self in a conditon to make his way in spite of the Mahratta horse, hy whom his march would he an- noyed ; or remain in the territories of the Raja of Berar, till further instructions. This letter placed him in a state of perfect uncertainty, whether the Bombay army had sustained a disaster which cut off their hopes, or had so flattering a prospect of success, that all additional force was accounted unnecessary. On the next day a letter arrived from the Council at Bombay, apparently written without a knowledge of the circumstances which dictated the letter of the Field Committee, and urging him to proceed. Under the perplexity which this lack of information, and discrepancy of injunctions, inspired, he resolved to proceed to Boorhanpoor, in hopes of obtaining intel- ligence, and arrived at that ancient capital on the 30th.
There, on the 2d of February, he received another letter from the Field Committee, dated on the 19th of January, more mysterious than any which had yet arrived. It shortly cautioned him against obeying the order in their letter of the 16th, which on better consideration they deemed themselves incompetent to give. Goddard could ill conjecture the meaning of this warning, as he had not received the letter of the 16th ; but he believed that it indicated evil rather than good; and saw well the dangers which
THE DETACHMENT FROM BENGAL.
51
surrounded him in the heart of the Mahratta country, book v.
CHAp. 3.
if any serious disaster, which might produce a change
in the mind of Moodajee himself, had befallen the 1779- army from Bombay. He waited at Boorhanpoor till the 5th, in hopes of receiving more certain informa- tion, when he was made acquainted with the nature of the disaster pretty exactly by Moodajee. He re- solved to retreat to Surat, and marched on the 6th.
On the 9th a vakeel arrived from the Poonah govern- ment, hearing the letter written by the Field Com- mittee on the 16th of January. It was the letter in which, under the dictation of the Mahrattas, they had commanded his immediate return to Bengal. This injunction it was the business of the vakeel to en- force. But Goddard replied, that he was marching to Bombay in obedience to the orders of the Supreme Council ; and with the most friendly intentions toward the Mahratta state. The march was con- ducted with great expedition. The troops were kept in such exact discipline, that the people having nothing to fear remained in their houses, and sup- plied the army by sale with many conveniences for the march. They arrived at Surat on the 30th ; a distance of nearly three hundred miles, in nineteen days.1
In consequence of these events, it was resolved at
1 It is worthy of remark, that Gazee ad din Khan, formerly Vizir of the empire, and grandson of the great Nizam-al-Mulk, was at this time found at Surat, in the disguise of a pilgrim, and confined, till the Supreme Council, being consulted, disapproved of all acts of violence, but forbade his appearing within the territories of the Company. See the Letter from Governor-General to Directors, dated 14th January, 1780. Sixth Report to the Secret Committee, Appendix, No. 246. — M. It is still more worthy of remark, that by the expedition of their march, the detachment avoided a body of 20,000 horse sent from Poonah to intercept them. — W.
E 2
52
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
chap.
1779.
3V- the Supreme Board, to vest Colonel Goddard with — full powers for treating with the Poonah government ; to disavow the convention concluded with the Bombay committee ; hut to express a desire for accommodation on the basis of the treaty of Poorunder, if the Mahrattas, on their part, would afford encourage- ment by relinquishing all claims founded on that convention, and by a promise of forming no connexion, either commercial or political, with the French. If they should reject these proposals, Colonel Goddard, whom the Supreme Council now promoted to the rank of general, was empowered to renew the war, and if possible to form connections with the head of the Guicawar family, and the government of Berar.
Goddard had commenced his correspondence with the Poonah ministry, when Ragoba made his escape, and repaired to Surat, where he received an asylum. Discordance prevailed among the Mahratta chiefs, and much uncertainty hung over their proceedings. Dissension broke out betAveen Nana and Sindia, by whose united power Siccaram and Moraba had been subdued. With profession of a desire for peace, they kept aloof from definite terms ; reports were re- ceived of their preparations for war ; and negotiation lingered till the 20th of October, when Goddard sent his declaration, that if a satisfactory answer to his proposals was not returned, in fifteen days, he should consider the delay as a declaration of Avar. A reply arrived on the 28th. Without the surrender of Ra- goba, and the restoration of Salsette, it was declared that the Mahratta powers would make no agree- ment. The General upon this broke off the nego-
GODDARD NEGOTIATES.
53
tiation, and repaired to Bombay, to concert with that BC^IK3V' Council the plan of hostilities.
The President and Council of Bombay had 178°- received, with considerable indignation, the intelli- gence of the power, independent of themselves, with which General Goddard had been invested at the Superior Board. They regarded it as an encroach- ment upon the rights conveyed to them, both by the act of parliament, and the commands of the Di- rectors ; and they had declared that they would sustain no responsibility for any of his acts. At first they alleged the great exhaustion of their resources, as a reason against taking any considerable part in the war; but when the General held up, as the first object of his operations, the acquisition, on which they had long fixed their affections, of a territorial revenue adequate to all the demands of the Presidency, they agreed to supply as great a portion of their troops, as the security of Bombay would allow ; and furnished him with powers and instruc- tions to treat with Futty Sing Guicawar, whose assistance, as placing a friendly country in the rear, it was of the greatest importance to obtain. With regard to Ragoba it was proposed to feed him with such hopes, as should ensure the advantage of his name ; but to engage themselves as short a way as possible for a share in the advantages of the under- taking, to the success of which it was so little in his power to contribute.
On the 2d of January, 1780, General Goddard had crossed the Tapti, with a view both to stimulate the good inclinations of Futty Sing, and to reduce the fortress of Dubhoy. On the 19th the army ap-
54
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
I!(°I<^ 3 ' peared before the place. On the next day it was
evacuated by the enemy, when the whole district,
17b0‘ yielding by estimate a revenue of two lacs of rupees, was taken possession of in the name of the Company. On the 26th, Futty Sing was at last, with some difficulty, brought to trust so far in the power of the Company, as to accede to the terms proposed; and it was agreed that the Guzerat country should be divided between the Company and himself, the Com- pany obtaining that proportion which had formerly accrued to the Mahrattas ; and the remainder being rendered independent of the Poonah government, and freed from every exterior claim. Being joined by the cavalry of this chief, the General marched towards Ahmedabad, the capital of the province, be- fore which he arrived on the 10th of February, and in five days carried it by storm, with inconsiderable loss. The united armies of Sindia and Holkar, amounting to 40,000 men, were in the mean time advancing towards Surat. The English General, by rapid marches, arrived in the neighbourhood of their encampment, near Brodera, on the 8th of March, and intended to attack them in the night ; but was prevented by a letter from one of the gentlemen, left as hostages with Sindia, signifying that professions were made by the Mahratta chiefs of a desire to establish amity with the English government. Of this desire, Sindia afforded a favourable indication the following day, by sending back the hostages, and along with them a vakeel, or commissioner, who acknowledged the hatred borne by his master to Nana Furnavese, and his desire of a separate arrange- ment with the English. Upon further explanation
OPERATIONS OF GODDARD.
55
it appeared, that he was anxious to set into his B00K v-
hands Ragoba and his son, as an instrument for
aggrandizing himself in the Mahratta state ; a pro- 178°- position to which General Goddard would by no means accede. Sindia, at the same time, was offering terms to Govind Row, the brother and opponent of Futty Sing, and had actually received him in his camp. Not convinced of his sincerity, and suspecting his design to waste the season, till the commencement of the rains, when he would return home to the business of his government, and to his intrigues, General Goddard was desirous of forcing him to a battle, which he constantly avoided, by retreating, as the English army advanced. To defeat this stratagem, the General, on the 3d of April, marched silently from his camp, about two o’clock in the morning, with four battalions of Sepoy grenadiers, four companies of European infantry, and twelve pieces of field artillery. The distance was about seven miles to the camp of the enemy, which he entered at dawn. He reached the very centre of the encampment before he was perceived. The enemy were thrown into their usual confusion ; and, though some troops were collected, and made a show of resistance, they soon abandoned their camp, and occupied a neighbouring ground. The English made no delay in proceeding to charge them, when the Mahrattas dispersed, and left them masters, not only of the field, but of the country in which it was contained. A detachment from Bombay took pos- session also of Parsek, Bellapore, Panwel, and Callian, and extended the territory of the Presidency along the coast and towards the passes of the hills in
56
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1780.
• the way to Poonah. On the 6th of April the - General was joined by six companies of European infantry, and a company of artillery, which had been sent to his assistance from Madras ; and about the same time five companies of Sepoys arrived for him at Surat. As the rainy season had now com- menced, Sindia and Holkar withdrew into then- own countries ; and the General, after sending back the Bombay detachment, put his troops into canton- ments, and prepared for the succeeding campaign. Sir Eyre Coote, who had been appointed to suc- ceed General Clavering, both as Commander-in-Chief, and as a member of the Supreme Council, had arrived at Calcutta in the beginning of April, 1779 ; and without showing an unvarying deference to the opinions of the Governor-General, commonly sup- ported his measures. Early in November of that year, in consequence of an application from the Raja of Gohud, commonly known by the name of the Rana, a Hindu chieftain or prince, who governed a hilly district of considerable extent, lying on the Jumna, between the territories of Sindia and the Nabob of Oude ; the Governor-General proposed a treaty, by which the Rana might be empowered to call for the assistance of the English against the Mahrattas, of whom he stood in constant danger, and should agree to assist the English with his forces, when they should undertake any enterprise against the contiguous powers. The Governor- General, who contemplated the continuance of the war with the Mahrattas, proposed this alliance, both as a barrier against an invasion, in that direction, of the territory of the Company or their allies ; and
WAR WITH THE MAHRATTAS.
57
as an advantage for invading the territory of the book v.
Mahrattas, and operating a diversion in favour of the
enterprises wrhich might be undertaken on the side 178°- of Bombay. The measure was opposed by the opposite side of the Board, both on the ordinary and general ground of the importance of abstaining from war, and also in consideration of the weakness of the Rana, who had few troops, and not revenue to pay even them ; whose aid, in consequence, would he of little avail, and his protection a serious burden. In the objections of the opposing party the General concurred ; and even transmitted his protest against the terms of the connexion. But, as he was absent, the casting vote of the Governor-General gave his opinion the superiority, and the treaty was formed.
In the mean time intelligence arrived by a letter from General Coote, dated the 20th of November, of an invasion of the territory of the Rana, by a body of Mahrattas, whom his want of resources made it impossible for him to resist. Instructions were dispatched to afford him such assistance as the exi- gency of the case might require, and the state of the English forces permit. A detachment of the company’s army had been prepared in that quarter, under the command of Captain Popham, for the purpose of augmenting the forces of Goddard ; but from the consideration, partly that they could not arrive in time on the Bombay coast, partly that they might contribute to the success of his operations by an attack upon the part which was nearest of the Mahratta frontier, they had not been commanded to proceed; and in the beginning of February, 1780, they were sent to the assistance of the Rana of
58
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 3.
1780.
Gohucl. Captain Popham found means in tliis service of distinguishing his enterprise and talents. With a small force, and little assistance from the Rana, he expelled the Mahrattas from Gohud ; crossed the Sind, into their own territory ; laid siege to the fortress of Lahar, the capital of the district of Cuchwagar ; and having effected an im- perfect breach, which the want of heavy cannon enabled him not to complete, he, on the 21st of April, successfully assaulted and took possession of the fort.
It had, however, been importunately urged, both by Coote and Goddard, and was acknowledged by the Governor-General, that the force employed on the Mahratta frontier under Captain Popham, was far from adequate to any such important operations as could materially affect the result of the war. After some fluctuations of plans, and great debate and opposition at the Superior Board, in which Mr. Francis in particular vehemently opposed the exten- sion of military efforts, it wTas determined that a detachment of three battalions, stationed at Cawnpore, under Major Camac, with a battalion of light infan- try, under Captain Browne, should threaten or invade the territories of Sindia and Holkar. In the mean time Captain Popham, with the true spirit of mili- tary ardour, after securing with great activity the conquest of the district of Cuchwagar, turned his attention to the celebrated fortress of Gualior, situated within the territory of the Rana of Gohud, but wrested from his father, and now garrisoned by the Mahrattas. This fortress was situated on the sum- mit, three coss in extent, of a stupendous rock, scarped almost entirely round, and defended by a
WAR WITH THE MAHRATTAS.
59
thousand men. By the princes of Hindustan it had book v.
J r a CHAP. 3.
always been regarded as impregnable. And Sir Eyre
Coote himself, in his letter to the Supreme Council, 178°- dated the 21st of April, had pronounced it “ totally repugnant to his military ideas, and even absolute madness,” to attack it with so feeble a detachment, and without a covering army to keep off the Mah- rattas in the field, and preserve the line of commu- nication. Captain Popham moved to the village of Ripore, about five coss distant from Gualior, and employed his spies in continually searching if a spot fit for escalading could be found. After many and dangerous experiments, they at last brought him advice that one part only afforded any appearance of practicability. At this place the height of the scarp wras about sixteen feet, from the scarp to the wall wras a steep ascent of about forty yards, and the wall itself, was thirty feet high. “ I took the resolution,” says Captain Popham, “ immediately. The object was glorious ; and I made a disposition to prevent, as much as in my power, the chance of tarnishing the honour of the attempt, by the loss we might sustain in case of a repulse.” At break of day, on the 3d of August, the van of the storming party arrived at the foot of the rock. Wooden ladders were applied to the scarp, and the troops ascended to the foot of the wall. The spies climbed up, and fixed the rope ladders, when the Sepoys mounted with amazing activity. The guards assembled within, but were quickly repulsed by the fire of the assailants. The detachment entered with rapidity, and pushed on to the main body of the place. In the mean time the greater part of the garrison escaped by another quar-
60
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 3.
1780.
ter, and left the English masters of one of the greatest and most celebrated strong-holds in that quarter of the globe. This brilliant achievement, for which Captain Popham wTas rewarded with the rank of Major, struck the Mahrattas with so much conster- nation, that they abandoned the circumjacent country, and conveyed the alarm to Sindia in his capital.1
The opposition which was made by Francis to these proceedings for pushing the war on the Jumna, brought to a crisis the animosities which the struggle between him and the Governor-General had so long maintained. On the 20th of July, 1780, Mr. Hast- ings, in answering a minute of Mr. Francis, declared, “I do not trust to his promise of candour, convinced that he is incapable of it. I judge of his public conduct, by my experience of his private, which I have found to be devoid of truth and honour.” The ground of these severe expressions, the Governor- General stated to he a solemn agreement formed between him and Mr. Francis, which Mr. Francis had broken. Of this transaction the following appear to have been the material circumstances. When the parliamentary appointment, during five years, of the Governor-General and Council, expired in 1778, the expectation of a change in the Indian administration
1 For the transactions relative to the Mahratta war the materials arc found in the Sixth Report of the Committee of Secrecy in 1781, and the vast mass of documents printed in its Appendix ; the twentieth article of the Parliamentary Charges against Hastings, and his answer; the Papers printed for the use of the House of Commons on the Impeachment ; and the Minutes of Evidence on the Trial of Mr. Hastings. The publica- tions of the day, which on this, and other parts of the history of Mr. Hastings’ Administration, have been consulted, some with more, some with less, advantage, arc far too numerous to mention.
PARTICULARS OF THE ACCUSATION.
61
was suspended, by the re-appointment, upon the 3V
motion of the king’s chief minister, of Mr. Hastings,
for a single year. Upon the arrival of this intel- 178°- ligence in India, an attempt was made by some mutual friends of Mr. Hastings and Mr. Francis, to deliver the government, at a period of difficulty and danger, from the effects of their discordance. Both parties acknowledged the demand which the present exigency presented for a vigourous and united admi- nistration ; and both professed a desire to make any sacrifice of personal feelings, and personal interests, for the attainment of so important an object. On the part of Mr. Francis it was stipulated that Mo- hammed Beza Khan, Mr. Bristow, and Mr. Fowke, should be reinstated in conformity to the Company’s orders ; and, on the part of Mr. Hastings, that the Mahratta war, the responsibility of which Mr. Francis had disclaimed,, and thrown personally on the Gover- nor-General, should lie conducted in conformity with his conceptions and plans. It was this part of the agreement which Mr. Hastings accused his opponent of violating ; and of depriving him, by a treacherous promise of co-operation, which induced Mr. Barwell to depart for Europe, of that authority which the vote of Mr. Barwell ensured. Mr. Francis, on the other hand, solemnly declared, that he “ never was party to the engagement stated by Mr. Hastings, or had a thought of being bound by it.” His agree- ment with regard to the Mahratta war he explained as extending only to the operations then commenced on the Malabar coast, but not to fresh operations on another part of the Mahratta dominions. Mr. Hast- ings produced a paper, containing the following
62
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA
BOOK V CHAP. 3.
1780.
words: Mr. Francis will not oppose any measures which the Governor-General shall recommend for the prosecution of the war in which we are supposed to he engaged with the Mahrattas, or for the general support of the present political system of his govern- ment.” To the terms of this agreement, presented to Mr. Francis in writing, he affirmed that Mr. Francis gave his full and deliberate consent. The reply of Mr. Francis was in the following words : “ In one of our conversations in February last, Mr. Hastings desired me to read a paper of memorandums among which I presume this article wTas inserted. I returned it to him the moment I had read it, with a declaration that I did not agree to it, or hold myself hound by the contents of it, or to that effect.” Mr. Francis added some reasonings, drawn from the natural presumptions of the case. But these reasonings and presumptions had little tendency to strengthen the evidence of his personal assertion — the ground, between him and his antagonist, on which this question seems finally to rest. 1 With the utmost earnestness Mr. Hastings repeated the affir- mation of the terms on which Mr. F rancis declared his assent ; and at this point the verbal controversy between them closed. Soon after, a duel ensued between Mr. Hastings and Mr. Francis, in which
1 It is a strong corroboration of Hastings’s belief in sucli a promise having been received from Francis, that he suffered (if he could have pre- vented it) Barwell’s leaving India. That event he knew would leave him in a minority ; and nothing but the expectation that Francis would wave his opposition, in consideration of the concession made to him, could have reconciled Hastings to the loss of his friend. The decision of the question therefore turns upon the circumstances under which Barwell quitted Bengal. — W.
STATE OF AFFAIRS AT FORT ST. GEORGE.
63
the latter was wounded: and on the 9th of December book v.
7 CHAP. 3.
that gentleman quitted India, and returned to
Europe.1 178a
CHAPTER IV.
In the Carnatic , Relations between the English and Nabob — Plenipotentiary , with independent Pow- ers from the king — English courted by Ilyder Ali and the Mahrattas , and in Danger from both. — Nabob and Plenipotentiary desire Alliance with the Mahrattas. — Presidency adhere to Neu- trality.— Relations with the King of Tanjore. — After Hesitation , War is made upon him. — War upon the Marawars. — A second War upon Tan- jore.— Condemned by the Directors. — Pigot sent out to restore the Raja. — Opposition in the Ma- dras Council. — Pigot imprisoned. — Sentiments and Measures adopted in England. — Committee of Circuit. — Suspended by Governor Rumbold , who summons the Zemindars to Madras. — Transac- tions with Nizam Ali respecting Guntoor. — Cen- sured by the Supreme Council. — Governor Rum- bold , and other Members of the Government , condemned and punished by the Court of Directors.
While the principal station of the Company’s power
1 Sixth Report of the Committee of Secrecy, 1781, p. 98, and Appendix,
No. 288; also Fifth Report of the Select Committee, 1781, p. 14, 18, 30 ;
Memoirs of the late War in Asia, i. 301, &c.
64
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 4.
1780.
• in India was giving birth to so many important trans- . actions, their Presidency on the Coromandel coast was not barren of incidents entitled to a great share of our regard.
The relation, in which the Company professed to stand to the country, was different in the Carnatic, and in Bengal. By the avowed possession of the dewannee, they entered in Bengal to the direct discharge of the principal functions of internal government. In the Carnatic, during the contest with the French, they had held up Mohammed Ali ; upon the termi- nation of it, they had acknowledged him, as the undoubted sovereign of the country. He was estab- lished, therefore, in the possession of both branches of power, both that of Nazim, or the military power, and that of Dewan, or the financial power ; and the Company held the station of dependents, possessing their privileges through his sufferance, and owing obedience to his throne. They possessed a district of land surrounding Madras, which had been granted in 1750, and in 1762 was confirmed, by the Nabob of the Carnatic or Arcot, in recompense of the services rendered by the Company to him and his family. This was a sort of estate in land, under what is called a jaghire tenure, enabling the owner to draw the revenue, which would otherwise accrue to government ; and to exercise all those powers which in India were usually connected with the power of raising the taxes. This Presidency also possessed, and that independent of their Nabob, the maritime district, known under the title of the four Northern Circars, which they had obtained by grant from the Mogul in 1765, and enjoyed under an agree-
STATE OF AFFAIRS AT FORT ST. GEORGE.
65
ment of peshcush, entered into the succeeding year, with the Nizam or Subahdar.
Partly from characteristic imbecility, partly from the state of the country, not only exhausted, hut disorganised by the preceding struggle, the Nabob remained altogether unequal to the protection of the dominions, of which he was now the declared sove- reign. Instead of trusting to the insignificant rabble of an army which he would employ, the Presidency beheld the necessity of providing by a British force for the security of the province. For this reason, and also for the sake of that absolute power1 which they desired to maintain, the English were under the necessity of urging, and, if need were, constraining, the Nabob, to transfer to them the military defence of the country, and to allow out of his revenues a sum proportional to the expense. The Nabob, having transferred the military power
1 The resolution of maintaining this absolute power is thus clearly ex- pressed in the letter of the Court of Directors, to the Presidency of Madras, dated 24th December, 1765. “ The Nabob has hitherto desired,
at least acquiesced with seeming approbation, that garrisons of our troops should be placed in his forts : it is not improbable that after a time he may wish to have his protectors removed. Should such an event happen, it may require some address to avoid giving him disgust, and at the same time a degree of firmness to persist in your present plan ; but persist you must; for we establish it as a fundamental point, that the Company’s influence and real power in the province cannot be any way so effectually maintained, as by keeping the principal forts in our hands.” See First Report of the Committee of Secrecy, 1781, Appendix, No. 23. — “ By being in possession of most of his strong places, the troops being officered by the Company, and the garrisons perfectly under their orders, the Company have it in their power to give law to the Carnatic. Without the concurrence of the Presidency he can do nothing; they are arbiters of peace and war; and even if one of his own tributaries refuse the pescusli, the payment of which they had guaranteed, without them he cannot call them to an account.” Letter from Sir John Lindsay, to the President and Council of Madras, 22nd June, 1771 ; Rous’s Appendix, p. 368.
VOL. IV. F
BOOK V. CHAP. 4.
1770.
66
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.rf country, was placed in absolute dependence
. upon the Company; they being able to do what they
1770 pleased, he to do nothing but what they permitted. In a short time it was perceived, that his revenue was by no means equal to the demands which were made upon it. The country was oppressed by the severity of his exactions, and instead of being re- paired, after the tedious sufferings of war, it was scourged by all the evils of a government at once insatiable and neglectful. When his revenues failed, he had recourse to loans. Money was advanced to him, at exorbitant interest, frequently by English- men, and the servants of the Company. He gene- rally paid them by a species of assignments, called in India tuncaus, which entitled the holders of them to the revenue of some portion of the terri- tory, and to draw it immediately from the collectors. While his embarassments were by these means increased, the exactors were encouraged to greater severities.
In this situation the Nabob and the Presidency were both dissatisfied, and both uneasy. Finding his power annihilated, and his revenues absorbed, after feasting his imagination with the prospect of the unlimited indulgences of an Eastern prince, he regarded the conduct of the Presidency as the highest injustice. The gentlemen entrusted at once with the care of their own fortunes and the interests of the Company, for both of which they imagined that the revenues of the Carnatic would copiously and de- lightfully provide, were chagrined to find them in- adequate even to the exigencies of the government ; and accused the Nabob, either of concealing the
STATE OF AFFAIRS AT FORT ST. GEORGE.
67
amount of the sums which he obtained, or of impair- 4V'
ing the produce of the country by the vices of his
government. 1770'
Upon the termination of the disputes in London, toward the end of the year 1769, between the Mi- nisters of the Crown and the East India Company, respecting the supervisors, and respecting the power of the King’s naval officer to negotiate and to form arrangements with the Indian powers;1 a marine force, consisting of some frigates of war, was com- missioned, under the command of Sir John Lindsay, to proceed to the East Indies : “ to give countenance and protection to the Company’s settlements and affairs.” In conformity with the terms to which the Company had yielded, they vested Sir John Lindsay with a commission to take the command of all their vessels of war in the Indian seas : and also, on their behalf, to treat and settle matters in the Persian Gulph.”
So far, there was mutual understanding, clearness, and concert. But in addition to this, Sir John Lindsay was appointed, by commission under the great seal, his Majesty’s Minister Plenipotentiary, with powers to negotiate and conclude arrangements, with the Indian Sovereigns in general. This mea- sure was not only contrary to what the Company had claimed as their right, against which the Minister appeared to have ceased, for the time, to contend ; but it was a measure taken without their knowledge : and Sir John Lindsay appeared, in India, claiming the field for the exercise of his powers, before they
1 See the account of these disputes, supra, vol. iii. book iv. chap. ix.
F 2
68
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1770.
"• or their servants had the smallest intimation that any - such powers were in existence.
If there was a danger which must stike every considerate mind, in sending two independent au- thorities, to act and clash together in the delicate and troubled scene of Indian affairs, a danger inevitable, even if the circumstances had been arranged between the Ministers and the Company with the greatest harmony and the greatest wisdom ; all the principles of mischief were naturally multiplied, and each strengthened to the utmost, by the present stroke of ministerial politics.
The ground upon which this disputed and impru- dent exercise of power appears to have been placed, was the eleventh article of the treaty of Paris, con- cluded in 1763. With a view to maintain peace in India, and to close the disputes between the English and the French, who, according to their own pro- fessions, appeared to have nothing else in view but to determine who was the just and rightful Nabob of the Carnatic, who the just and rightful Subahdar of the Deccan ; it was there decided and agreed, that the two nations should acknowledge Mohammed Ali as the one, and Salabut Jung as the other. It occurred to the ingenuity of practical statesmen, that the King of Great Britain, having become party to an article of a treaty, had a right, without asking leave of the Company, to look after the execution of that article ; and hence to send a deputy duly qualified for that purpose. If this conferred a right of be- stowing upon Sir John Lindsay the powers of an ambassador; it also conferred the right of avoiding
SIR JOHN LINDSAY, KING’S COMMISSIONER.
69
altercation with the East India Company, by taking b°ok v. the step without their knowlege.1
The power of looking after the due execution of 177°- the eleventh article of the treaty of Paris was not a trifling power.
It included in the first place, the power of taking a part in all the disputes between the Nabob and the Company’s servants; as Mohammed Ali was in that article placed upon the footing of an ally to the King of Great Britain, and hence entitled to all that pro- tection which is due to an ally. The servants of the Company had been at some pains to keep from the knowledge of the Nabob the full import of the new relation in which he was placed to the British throne ; as calculated most imprudently to inflame that spirit of ambition and love of independence, with which it was so difficult already to deal, and with the gratifi- cation of which the existence in the Carnatic, either of his power or of that of the Company, was altoge- ther incompatible. The hand of Englishmen, and others, who surrounded the Nabob, for the purpose of preying upon him, wished of course to see all power in his hands, that they might prey the more abundantly. They filled every place with their outcries against every restraint which was placed upon him : and in particular had endeavoured, and with great success, to disseminate an opinion in England, that he was an oppressed and ill-treated
1 It was impossible to prevent the measure from becoming known to the Company, and very improbable that they would not resist it : altercation was delayed, therefore not avoided ; and it would have better become the ministers to have apprised the Company at once of their determination to send out an agent of the crown. — W.
70
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I CHAP. 4.
1770.
prince, while the servants of the Company were his plunderers and tyrants.
Nor was this all. As the grand intent of the eleventh article of the treaty of Paris was to preserve peace between the English and other powers of India, and as there is nothing in the relations of one state to another which the care of peace may not be said to embrace, the whole international policy of the British government in India was, by the new ministerial ex- pedient, deposited in the hands of the King’s Minister Plenipotentiary.
On the 26th of July, 1770, Sir John Lindsay, after having remained some months at Bombay, arrived at Madras ; and at once surprised and alarmed the servants of the Company by the declaration of his powers. In one of their first communications with Sir John, they say, “When you now inform us, you are invested with great and separate powers, and when we consider that those powers, in their opera- tion, may greatly affect the rights of the Company, we cannot but be very much alarmed.”1 To their employers, the Court of Directors, they expound themselves more fully. “ To give you a clear repre- sentation of the dangerous embarrassments through which we have been struggling, since the arrival of his Majesty’s powers in this country, is a task far beyond our abilities. They grow daily more and more oppressive to us ; and we must sink under the burthen, unless his Majesty, from a just representa- tion of their effect, will be graciously pleased to recall powers, which, in dividing the national interest, will
1 Letter to Sir John Lindsay, dated 16th August, 1770, Rous’s Ap- pendix, p. 254.
SIR JOHN LINDSAY, KING’S COMMISSIONER.
71
inevitably destroy its prosperity in India. Such is 4V
the danger ; and yet we are repeatedly told, that it
is to support that interest, by giving the sanction of 177°- his Majesty’s name to our measures, that these powers were granted, and for that alone to be exerted. It has always been our opinion, that with your autho- rity, we had that of our Sovereign, and of our nation, delegated to us. If this opinion be forfeited, your servants can neither act with spirit nor success : for under the control of a sujierior commission, they dare not, they cannot exert the powers with which they alone are entrusted. Their weakness and disgrace become conspicuous ; and they are held in derision by your enemies.1
The first of the requisitions which Sir J ohn Lind- say made upon the President and Council was to appear in his train, when he went in state to deliver to the Nabob his Majesty’s letter and presents.
They conceived, that, as the servants of the Company had heretofore been the medium through which all communications to the princes of India had been made, and they had been considered in India the immediate representatives of the British monarch, and the highest instrument of his government, they could not appear in the train of Sir J ohn Lindsay without degradation in the eyes of the natives, and a forfeiture of the dignity and influence of the Company which, as they had no instructions upon the subject, they did not think themselves at liberty to resign.
With the assignment of these reasons, they respect-
1 Letter to the Court of Directors, dated July 20th, 1771, Rous’s Ap- pendix, p. 400.
72
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAP. 4
1770.
• fully signified to Sir John Lindsay the inability under - which they found themselves to comply with his re- quest. This brought on an interchange of letters, which soon degenerated into bitterness and animosity on both sides.1
Among the reasons which the President and Coun- cil assigned for declining to appear in the train of Sir John Lindsay, they had stated, that any suspicion, disseminated in the country, of the annihilation or diminution of the Company’s power “ might, at this crisis particularly, prove fatal to the existence of the Company, and the interests of the nation in India : because they were on the brink of a wrar wfith the most formidable power in India, which it would re- quire all their efforts to avoid, while they feared that all their efforts would be insufficient.”2 * This appre- hension wTas a good deal exaggerated, to serve the present purpose ; and the exaggeration yielded an advantage to Sir John Lindsay, of which he imme- diately availed himself. He was very sorry, he said, to find them on the brink of a dreadful war, which Avas all but inevitable : He pressed upon them the consideration of the importance of peace to a com- mercial body : And as he was sent out to watch over the execution of the eleventh article, of which peace
1 Rous’s Appendix, p. 245 — 253.— In the commencement of the cor-
respondence, the tone of Sir J. Lindsay was that of affronting condescension;
it soon became that of contemptuous sarcasm. The Government of Madras
were evidently alarmed, and treated him with unnessary deference. Their more prudent course would have been to have refrained from all discussion with him, until they had received instructions from England; as they could not be expected to recognize powers utterly incompatible with those which the Court of Directors had apprised them, had been conferred upon the commander of the king’s ships in India and his Majesty’s representative in the Gulph of Persia only. — W. 4 Ibid. p. 248.
SIR JOHN LINDSAY, KING’S COMMISSIONER.
73
was the main object, he begged they would lay before bc®ok v.
him such documents and explanations, as “ would
make him acquainted with the real state of the Com- 177°- pany’s affairs.” 1 He also informed them, that he was “ commanded by his Majesty to apply to them for a full and succinct account of all their transactions with the Nabob of Arcot since the late treaty of Paris; and inquire with the utmost care into the causes of the late war with the Subah of the Deckan and Hyder Ali, and the reasons of its unfortunate conse- quences.”2 To this point the reply of the President and Council was in the following terms : Duplicates of our records, and very minute and circumstantial details of all our transactions, have already been trans- mitted to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, our constituents. We have heard, that when an inquiry at home into the state of the Corn- pony’s affairs was thought necessary, it was signified by his Majesty’s ministry to the Court of Directors, that they would he called upon by parliament to pro- duce their records ; that they were accordingly called upon by parliament, and did produce them. This, we believe, was a constitutional course ; but we have never heard that the Company’s papers and records were demanded by, or surrendered to, the ministry alone ; for that we believe would be unconstitutional.
The Company hold their rights by act of parliament, their papers and their records are their rights ; we are entrusted with them here ; we are under oath of fidelity, and under covenants not to part with them ; nevertheless all conditions are subservient to the
Rous’s Appendix, p. 250.
2 Ibid. p. 253.
74
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1770
4V ■ laws, and when we shall he called upon in a legal and — constitutional way, we shall readily and cheerfully • submit ourselves, our lives, and fortunes, to the laws of our country. To break our oath and our cove- nants would be to break those laws. But we hold them sacred and inestimable, for they secure the rights and liberties of the people.”1
Corresponding to the jealousy and dislike with which Sir John Lindsay was received by the Presi- dent and Council, were the cordiality and pleasure with which he was received by the Nabob and those who surrounded him. To the Nabob he explained, that he was come to recognize him as a fellow sovereign with the King of Great Britain, and to afford him the protection of that great King against all his enemies. The Nabob, who had a keen Oriental eye for the detection of personal feelings, was not long a stranger to the sentiments with which his Majesty’s Minister Plenipotentiary, and the Company’s President and Council, regarded each other. He described the President and Council as his greatest enemies ; for they withdrew the greater part of his revenue and power. Sir John, who was already prejudiced, and ignorant of the scene in which he was appointed to act, fell at once into all the views of the Nabob, and the crowd by whom he was beset. The Nabob laid out his complaints, and Sir John listened with a credulous ear. The Nabob described the policy which had been pursued with respect to the native powers, by the servants of the Company ; and easily made it assume an appearance
1 Rous’s Appendix, p. 257.
SIR JOHN LINDSAY MISLEADS THE NABOB.
75
which gave it to the eye of Sir John a character of B00K ,v-
° % J # CHAP. 4.
folly, or corruption, or both. He drew the line of
policy which at the present moment it would have 177°- gratified his own wishes to get the Company to pursue ; and he painted it in such engaging colours, that Sir John Lindsay believed it to be recommended equally by the sense of justice, and the dictates of wisdom. The King’s Commissioner, measuring his own consequence by that of the master whom he served, and treating the Company and their servants as not worthy of much regard, on the score either of wisdom or of virtue, widened the difference between the partnership sovereigns of the Carnatic. The royal functionary assumed the character of protector of the Nabob ; and appeared to interpose the royal authority, between an ally of the crown, and the oppression of the Company. The contempt which the Nabob saw bestowed upon the authority to which he had been accustomed to bend, and the dignity to which he appeared to be exalted as an ally of the British King, augmented his opinion of the injustice under which he appeared to himself to groan ; and the letters of the Commissioner to the ministers in England wrere filled with accounts of the oppression exercised by the insolent and rapacious servants of a counting-house, over an independent and sovereign prince. The feeble discernment which has generally scanned the proceedings of the East India Company, and which has often lavished upon them applause where their conduct has been neither virtuous nor wise, has almost uniformly arraigned them for not accomplishing impossibilities, and uniting contrary effects ; for not rendering themselves
76
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
4V- powerful and independent, without trenching upon
the power and independence of princes, who would
177°- suffer their power and independence, only in propor- tion as they were deprived of those attributes them- selves. Beside this fundamental consideration, it was not to be disputed, that, left to himself, Mohammed Ali could not maintain his possession of the province for even a few years ; and that nothing but the power of the English could prevent it from falling a prey to the neighbouring powers, or even to its own disorganization. Though it is not disputed that the rapacity of individuals, who preyed upon the Nabob, may have added to the disorder of his affairs; it is true that the poverty of the Carnatic, and the wretched administration of the Nabob, enabled it not to fulfil the golden hopes of the English, or even to provide for its own necessities.1
When the President and Council described them- selves as on the brink of a war, the circumstances to which they alluded were these. In the second article of the treaty, which was concluded with Hyder Ali, in 1769, it was agreed : “ That in case either of the contracting parties shall be attacked, they shall, from their respective countries, mutually assist each other to drive the enemy out: ” and the party in aid of whom the troops were employed, was to afford them maintenance at a rate which was mutually determined. This was a condition so highly esteemed by Hyder, that all hopes of an accommodation with him, on any other terms, were, at the time of the treaty, regarded as vain.
See Rous’s Appendix, No. 17, passim.
SITUATION OF THE ENGLISH.
77
Within a few weeks Hyder endeavoured to per- B00K v-
suade the English of the great advantage which he
and they would derive, from uniting Janojee Bonsla 177°- with them, in a triple league. He also informed them of his intention to recover from Madhoo Row, the Peshwa, certain possessions which that invader had wrested from him two years before; and requested that they would send him a certain number of troops, no matter how small, merely to show to the world the friendship which now happily subsisted between the English and him. The Presidency, pointing out in what manner this, to which the treaty did not bind them, would be an act of unmerited hostility against the Mahrattas, declined compliance with bis request.
Early in 1770, theMahrattas invaded his country; and again he solicited assistance, if it were but a few troops, for the sake of the manifestation on account of which he had requested them before. If a more substantial aid was afforded, he professed his readi- ness to pay three lacs of rupees. It was not very easy for the English now to find a pretext. They evaded, procrastinated, and withheld, rather than refused compliance with his desire.
The Mahrattas reduced Hyder to great difficulties, nay dangers ; and seemed resolved to annex his dominions to their spreading conquests. During this period of his distress, in which he was obliged to abandon the open country, and to depend upon his forts, he endeavoured to persuade the English that their own interest was deeply concerned in com- bining with him against the Mahrattas, who would touch upon their frontier, and present them a formi-
78
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
^ v. cla,ble neighbourhood, if the barrier which he inter-
posed were broken down.
mo. The Mahrattas, too, very earnestly pressed for the assistance of the English. They had, indeed, by weight of superior numbers, driven Hyder from the open country ; but the protection of his strong holds enabled him still to hold out, and they saw the time rapidly approaching, when the exhausted state of the country wmuld compel them to retire for want of the means to support their army. The skill, there- fore, which enabled the English to subdue the strongest places with a rapidity which to them appeared like magic, rather than natural means, they regarded as a most desirable acquisition. To attain this object, they endeavoured to work upon the fears of the Nabob ; and in their communication with him, threatened to invade the Carnatic, unless the English complied with their desires.
The difficulties on the part of the President and Council were uncommonly great. They state their view of them in their consultations, on the 30th of April, 1770. Their assistance would enable the Mahrattas indeed to prevail over Hyder, but of all events that was, probably, the most alarming ; the Mahrattas would in that case immediately adjoin the Carnatic, with such an accumulated power, as would enable them to conquer it whenever they pleased ; and what, when they had power to con- quer, the Mahrattas would please, nobody acquainted with India entertained any doubt : If they assisted Hyder ; that was immediate war with the Mahrattas, accompanied with all its burdens and dangers : It was not clear, that both united could prevail over
VIEWS OF THE NABOB OF THE COMMISSIONER.
79
the Mahrattas ; and if they did, the power of Hyder BC°°^4V*
would bring along with it a large share of the dangers
to which they would be exposed from the Mahrattas, 1770- if sovereigns of Mysore : If they stood neuter, and thereby offended both parties ; either Hyder or the Mahrattas, most probably the latter, would prevail ; and in that case the victor, whoever he was, would wreak his vengeance on the rulers of the Carnatic.
Amid these difficulties they conceived it their wisest policy after all to remain neuter ; to gain time ; and take up arms, only when the extremity could no longer be shunned.
The views and wishes of the Nabob were exceed- ingly different. He was bent upon forming an alliance with the Mahrattas. In the first place, he had a personal antipathy to Hyder Ali, which in a mind like his was capable of weighing down more respectable motives, and made him express extreme reluctance to join or see the English concur in any thing favourable to Hyder. In the next place, the Mahrattas were successful in working upon the short-sighted ambition of the Nabob, with the pro- mise of splendid gifts of territory, which, if they had the power of giving, they would also have the power of resuming at pleasure. But in the third place, he expected, according to the opinion of the President and Council, to place the English government, by means of the alliance with the Mahrattas, in a state of dependance upon himself ; and that was what he valued above all other things. “ Once engaged in the war,” said they, “ we are at the Nabob’s mercy, for we have no certain means of our own.
Enter, we are told, into an engagement with the
80
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. Mahrattas ; engage to assist them in the conquest of ' the Mysore country, and they will cede to the Nabob 1770. the Ghauts, and all the countries dependant on Mysore on this side the Ghauts. If we enter into such a measure, utterly repugnant to every order and every idea that has been suggested to us by our employers, we cannot see any end to the conse- quences, but utter ruin ; we must thenceforth follow the schemes of the Mahrattas and the Nabob, wheresoever they shall please to drag us, be it to place the Nabob on the musnud of the Deccan, or to subjugate the whole peninsula.”
Sir John Lindsay adopted completely the views of the Nabob, with regard to the Mahratta alliance : nor was there any reproach, or exhortation, or threat, which he spared, to entice or to drive the Presidency into that measure.
The ministry, it would appear, became in some degree alarmed at the accounts which they received of the contentions which prevailed between the King’s Minister Plenipotentiary, and the servants of the Company in India ; and they thought of an expe- dient ; which was, to change the person, and leave the authority. Sir John Lindsay was recalled, and Sir Robert Harland, with an addition to the marine force, was sent to exercise the same powers in his stead.
Sir Robert arrived at Madras on the 2nd of Sep- tember, 1771. Sir Robert took up the same ideas, and the same passions exactly, which had guided the mind of Sir J ohn Lindsay ; and the only differ- ence was, that he was rather more intemperate than his predecessor ; and of consequence created rather more animosity in his opponents.
VIEWS OF THE COMMISSIONER.
81
The progress of the Mahrattas had become still book v.
more alarming. In the month of November, they
were in the possession of the whole of Mysore, ex- 1771- cepting the principal forts. They had advanced to the borders of the Carnatic : and some straggling parties had made plundering incursions. They openly threatened invasion ; and it was expected that about the beginning of January, when the crops would be ready, they would enter the country. The Nabob was, or affected to be, in the utmost alarm ; and Sir Robert Harland urged the Presidency to accept the terms of the Mahrattas, who bid high for assistance on the one hand, and threatened fire and sword on the other. In this trying situation the Presidency vent the most bitter complaints, at being left by the Court of Directors, totally without instructions.1 Nevertheless, “although we have not yet,” say they,
“ had any answer from our constituents, to the repeated representations of the embarrassments we labour under for want of their clear and precise in- structions with respect to our conduct in the present critical situation of affairs; yet it is evident from the whole spirit of their orders for some years past, that they look upon the growing power of the Mahrattas with jealousy and apprehension.” From this ; from
1 “ It is with infinite concern the Committee observe that, notwith- standing their repeated and earnest representations to the Court of Direc- tors, of the very critical situation of affairs with respect to the Mahrattas and Hyder Ally, which were so fully and clearly explained in order to enable them to give us their sentiments and orders with respect to the conduct they would wish us to observe in so important and interesting a matter, we still find ourselves not only without orders, but without the least intimation of their opinion thereon.” Select Consultations, 29th November, 1771 ; First Report, Committee of Secrecy in 1781, Appendix, No. 21
VOL. IV.
G
82
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
/' an adoption of the same sentiments ; from a regard
to the treaty with Hyder, which rather required them
177K to assist than allowed them to join in destroying that sovereign, and from a regard to the opinion of the other Presidencies, they determined not to comply with the exhortations or commands of Sir Robert. They would have thought it advisable on the other hand to support Hyder as a barrier against the Mahrattas, had not the opposition of the Nabob, supported as he was by the minister of the King, placed it, for want of resources, out of their power. They determined, therefore, to remain neutral ; and only to collect a body of troops in some central posi- tion, where they might best protect the country in case of an attack, and distress the enemy by cutting off their supplies.
The Mahrattas, notwithstanding their threats, had not, it would appear, any serious intention of invad- ing the Carnatic; for in the month of January, 1772, the Nabob and Sir Robert, finding the Presidency inflexible against their project of alliance, found the means of prevailing upon them to promise a cessation of hostilities till the pleasure of the British King should be known.1 The Mahrattas were afraid of provoking the English to join Hyder Ali; and they began now to feel their situation abundantly uneasy. The activity and capacity of that great leader were still able to give them incessant annoyance ; and the country wTas so excessively ravaged and exhausted, that the means of subsisting an army could no longer be found. They became, therefore, desirous of an ac-
1 That they gave money and gave largely, appears plainly from a letter in Rous’s Appendix, p. 952.
VIEWS OF THE ENGLISH WITH REGARD TO TANJORE.
83
commodation; and in the beginning of July consented to a peace, for which, however, they made Hyder pay very dearly, both in territorial and pecuniary sacrifices.1
If a judgment may be formed from this instance, the chance for good government in India, if the ministers of the crown were to become, and the East India Company cease to be its organ, would undergo an unfavourable change. The course into which the ministers of the crown would have plunged the nation bears upon it every mark of ignorance and folly ; that which was pursued by the East India Company and their servants is eminently characterized by prudence and firmness.
Amid the pecuniary wants of the Nabob and the Presidency, both had often looked with a covetous eye to the supposed riches of the King of Tanjore. They considered the natural fertility of his country, and its general exemption from the ravages of the war which had desolated the rest of the province ; but they did not consider that the temporizing policy by which he had laboured to save himself, from the resentment of all parties, had often cost him consi- derable sums ; that the wars which raged around and perpetually threatened himself, had imposed upon him the maintenance of an army, as great as he could possibly support ; that the country which he governed, though fertile, was small ; that the ex- pense of a court aims to be as grand in a small, as an extensive country ; that the expense of protecting a
1 Sec First Report, ut supra, p. 28, and appendix, Nos. 20, 21, 22, 23 ; and the Papers published by the Directors in Rous’s Appendix, Nos. 17, and 28.
G 2
BOOK V
CHAP. 4.
1771.
84
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1771
jV- small country is comparatively heavy ; that hardly — any government has ever yet been so good, as not to expend as much as it could possibly drain from its subjects ; and that the government of Tanjore was a true specimen of the ignorance and rudeness of the Hindus.
Iu the war with Hyder, the Raja of Tanjore had not only contributed less, both in troops and treasure, to the maintenance of the war than was expected of him, hut was known to have held a correspondence with Hyder ; and if he did not afford, at any rate promised assistance. Without making any allowance for the current policy of the feeble princes in India, who aim at contributing as little as possible to the wars of the greater powers, from which they see not that they have any thing to gain, and by professions of friendship for both parties, to avert the dangers of their resentment, the Company and the Nabob were sufficiently disposed to have treated the Raja as a faithless ally. In the treaty, however, which they concluded with Hyder in 1769, they insisted upon including the Mahratta chieftain Morari Rao, whose territories would have formed a convenient conquest for Hyder ; and he refused to accept the condition unless the Raja of Tanjore was admitted to the same protection. That the Raja might not appear to owe his safety to the interposition of Hyder, the English pretended to regard him as their partisan, and included him in the treaty as their own ally.
In their letter to the Select Committee at Fort St. George, dated 17th March, 1769, the Court of Directors said, “ It appears most unreasonable to us
VIEWS OF THE ENGLISH WITH REGARD TO TANJORE.
85
that the Rai’a of Taniore should hold possession of B00K v
" d 7 CHAP. 4.
the most fruitful part of the country, which can alone
supply our armies with subsistence, and not contri- 1771- bute to the defence of the Carnatic. We observe the Nabob makes very earnest representations to you on this subject, wherein he takes notice that the Zemindars of the Carnatic have been supported, and their countries preserved to them by the operations of our forces employed in his cause ; and that nothing was more notorious, than that three former princes of the Carnatic had received from the Tanjore Raja seventy, eighty, nay even one hundred lacs of rupees at a time. We therefore enjoin you to give the Nabob such support in his pretensions as may be effectual; and if the Raja refuses to contribute a just proportion to the expense of the war, you are then to pursue such measures as the Nabob may think consistent with the justice and dignity of his government. Whatever sums may, in consequence of the above orders, be obtained from the Raja of Tanjore, we expect shall be applied to the discharge of the Nabob’s debt to the Company; and if more than sufficient for that purpose, to the discharge of his debts to individuals.”1
Upon this injunction of the Court of Directors, the Select Committee deliberated on the 13th of Sep- tember, 1769. “ With regard,” they say, “ to the
demand recommended to be made on the King of Tanjore, our situation at this time is such, for want of money, that, if there were no other obstacles, that alone would put it utterly out of our power to un-
1 Official Papers in Rous’s Appendix, p. 525, 526.
86
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. dertake an expedition against him. The treaty of
„ 1762 being before the Hon. Court ; considering also,
177 L on the other hand, the late conduct of the King of Tanjore, we certainly should not postpone an un- dertaking so warmly recommended, if it were in our power now to attempt it consistently with good po- licy and the safety of the Carnatic. But as the case is, were the difficulty of money out of the question, it would become a point of serious consideration, whether an attempt upon Tanjore might not again involve us in a war with Iiyder Ally, as the Raja is expressly included in the treaty lately made with Hyder Ally Khan. However unreasonable it may be, that he should enjoy the benefits derived from the government of the Carnatic, without contributing his proportion of its expense ; and however impolitic, and contrary to the natural rights of government, to suffer such a power to remain independent in the heart of the province, we must submit to necessity, and the circumstances of the times. He has indeed lately made some objections by his letters to the pay- ment of his annual peshcush, alleging in excuse the great expense of the troops sent to join our army ; although, as the Nabob informs us, it be contrary to the custom of the country for tributary princes to make any demands for the charges of troops furnished to the power to whom they are tributary, while em- ployed within the districts dependent on such power. Should he persist in requiring an abatement in the peshcush due on account of his late charges, it might furnish us with a just pretext to accuse him of a breach of his engagements, and to take our measures accordingly when our situation will admit of it. But
DISCUSSIONS WITH THE KING OF TANJORE.
87
as the case now is with us ; under difficulties to pro- book v
vide the money necessary even for our current ex-
penses; doubtful of the intentions of the Mahrattas ; 177L
suspicious of the designs of the Subah : and appre- hensive of the King of Tanjore’s calling upon Hyder for aid, and thus raising a fresh flame, the Committee are clearly of opinion, that at this juncture the un- dertaking would be impolitic and unwarrantable.”1
The Raja had urged, that, instead of having any money, the late expenses, which was the fact, had involved him deeply in debt ; and he prayed, if a remission could not be granted, at any rate for a delay in the payment of the exacted tribute ; an indulgence to which the expense incurred by him in sending troops to assist in the wars of the Nabob afforded, he thought, a reasonable claim.2
Early in the month of February, 1771, the Pre- sidency received intelligence that the Raja of Tanjore was setting out upon an expedition against one of his neighbours the Polygar of Sanputty, one of the Marawars.3 On the 14th of February, the President wrote to the Raja, that as Marawar belonged to the Nabob, as a dependency of the Carnatic, it was contrary to the treaty between the Raja and him, to make war upon that country, and that, as the English were guarantees of that treaty, it was their duty to request he would relinquish his design.4
1 Papers, ut supra, p. 631. s lb. p. 563, 564.
3 There was no such person as the Polygar of Sanputty. The author has mistaken apparently the title of the Polygar of Ramnad for the name of his province. The word occurs in the proceedings of the Madras Govern- ment Satputty, and is correctly used, as the “ The Raja of Tanjore sent a force against the Satputtys’ country.” “ Tonderawee is ready to assist the Satputty,” &c. The proper title is Setu-pati chief of the “Setu” or bridge, the rocks extending from the continent to Ramiseram. — W.
4 Papers, ut supra, p. 574.
88
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1 CHAP. 4
1771.
The Raja represented that Hanamantagoody was a district of country which did belong to the King of Tanjore, and was actually in his possession at the time of the conclusion of the treaty of 1762 ; that it had been unjustly seized by the Marawar chief, while the armies of Tanjore were engaged in the service of the Nabob; that the King of Tanjore, at the time when the Nabob was setting out upon his expedition to Madura, had represented the necessity of wresting back this territory from the Marawar, but the Nabob professed to have undertaken the expedition against Madura only upon the strength of the assistance which he expected from his dependants, and there- fore requested execution of his design might be delayed, till that expedition was accomplished ; that he had represented the necessity of recovering the territory in question to the President himself, who had offered no objections. “ F or these reasons,” said he, “ I was in hopes to this day, that the Nabob and your honour would give strict orders to Marawar to restore our country. I also wrote to my vackeel on that head. But you and the Nabob did not get the country restored to me. Besides which, when the elephants relating to my present from Nega- patnam were coming, Nalcooty,1 pretending that the vessel was driven on shore by a storm in his seaports, seized the said elephants, and detained them ; concerning which I sent him word, as well as to your honour ; but he did not return them to me. If I suffer Marawar to take possession of my country, Nalcooty to seize my elephants, and Tondi-
1 The Little Marawar
DISCUSSIONS WITH THE KING OF TANJORE.
89
man to injure my country, it will be a very great book 4V-
dishonour to me among my people, to see such com-
pulsions used by the Poly gars. You are a protector 1771- of my government : Notwithstanding, you have not settled even a single affair belonging to me : If I stay quiet, I shall greatly hurt my dignity : Where- fore, I marched myself. If you now advise me to desist, what answer can I give % In the treaty, it was not forbidden to clear the country possessed by Marawar, or to undertake any expedition against the Polygars, who may use compulsions. Since it is so, it cannot be deemed contrary to the treaty.” 1
The Presidency urged that, whatever was the truth with regard to the facts set forward by the Raja, he knew that they were disputed by the Nabob ; and for that reason was guilty, because he had taken upon himself to be judge and executioner in his own cause, when he ought to have reserved the decision to the English government. In his defence the Raja observed; “You was pleased to write, that if I desist in my present expedition, you will then settle the affairs in a reasonable manner. I continued to speak to you for this long time concern- ing this affair, but you have not settled it. Not- withstanding, if you now write that I did not acquaint you before I began it, what answer can I make to it ? I did not undertake to do any thing contrary to the hereditary custom observed.” 2
The Nabob called upon the Presidency, with unusual force and boldness of importunity, to make war upon the Raja ; as the honour of his government
Papers, ut supra, p. 608, 611
2 Ibid, p, 615, a:>d 600
90
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \ CHAP. 4,
1771.
was concerned in chastising a refractory dependant ; and the honour of the Company’s government was concerned in supporting a faithful ally. Sir John Lindsay vehemently urged the same conclusions, not without reproaches, that the Presidency were betray- ing the Nabob, and violating their duty, by even deferring the assistance which he required.1
On both hands the Presidency were assailed by the greatest difficulties. There was imminent danger that the views of Sir John Lindsay, who was the creature of the ministry, would prevail at home ; and that the Council, should they refuse to join with the Nabob, would be condemned, punished, and dis- graced. They were restrained, on the other hand, by the consideration of the want of money, of the improbability of receiving sufficient funds from the Nabob, of the danger, while the troops were engaged in a distant quarter, of an attack upon the Circars by the Nizam, and of a war with the Mahrattas, with whom the King of Tanjore was allied, and who already hung over the Carnatic with alarming menaces. They believed that, beside the Nabob’s old passion for the conquest of Tanjore, he was at present stimulated by the desire of that part of the Mysore country which lay on the Carnatic side of the passes ; and which he had been promised by the Mahrattas, as the price of the assistance which they wished to receive ; that he now despaired of being able to persuade the English to give that assistance ; but expected, if he could inveigle them into a war with the King of Tanjore, that they would then be
Papers, ut supra, p. 579. 283.
VIEWS RESPECTING TANJORE.
91
glad to form an alliance with the Mahrattas, in order B00K v-
to escape the calamity of their arms. In these cir
cumstances the Governor and Council bitterly com- 1/71- plained, that they were left by their honourable masters, with instructions and orders which might be construed all manner of ways ; and that, whatever course they took, they were sure of condemnation if they failed; could expect approbation, only as a con- sequence of success.1 2 They resolved to collect as much of the army and of military stores at Tri- chinopoly, as could be done without appearing to pre- pare for war ; and to abstain from hostilities unless unavoidably involved in them.
Inquiring into the supposed dependence of the Marawar country, the Presidency found, that both Tanjore and Trichinopoly had alternately made use of their power to set up and put down the chiefs of Marawar. But in conclusion, “ it appears,” they said, “ to us, that the only right over them is power, and that constitutionally they are independent of both ; though Trichinopoly, since it has been added to the government of the Carnatic, having been more powerful than Tanjore, hath probably received more submission from them.” Between states in India,
“ power,” they remark generally, “is the only arbi- trator of right ; established usage or titles cannot exempt one state from a dependence on another, when superior force prevails ; neither can they enforce dependence where power is wanting.” 3
1 See these considerations balanced, and this severe condemnation, passed upon their employers, Papers, ut supra, p. 662, 663, 666, 679.
2 lb. p. 682, 682*. According to this account, there is no constitution
in India but the law of the strongest The fact is important ; and has
92
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAT.
1771
These reasonings and conclusions, with regard to Tanjore, bear date in the records of the Presidency from the beginning of February to the end of March. On the 12th of June, when Trichinopoly was suf- ficiently supplied with stores for defence, and the question was to be determined whether more should be sent, the Nabob dissuaded any further prepara- tions ; alleging that the Mahrattas would never give the necessary respite for undertaking an exhibition against Tanjore, and that to him every article of expense, however small, was an object of importance. Upon this, the Presidency express themselves in the following terms : “ When we consider the earnest and repeated solicitations urged by the Nabob to engage us in an expedition against Tanjore ; when we consider the taunts and reflections cast on us by
often (I should not much err if I said always) been mistaken by the inac- curate minds, which hitherto have contemplated Indian affairs. — M. This can scarcely be called the constitution of India, although it was the political condition of the country, growing out of the anarchy conse- quent upon the Mohammedan invasion, particularly in the South of India. The operations of the Moguls in the Dekhin, although they broke to pieces the consistency of both the Mohammedan and Hindu principalities, sub- stituted no paramount authority in their place, and furnished an opportu- nity and example to adventurers of all classes to scramble for power, anni- hilating all right except that of the sword : when the fact is remembered, therefore, its history should not be forgotten : the circumstances under which it was true, show it to have been an accident, not a principle. In the present instance nothing could be weaker than the claims of the Nawab upon Tanjore, except those of Trichinopoli and Tanjore upon Marawa. During the vigour of the Pandyan kingdom of Madura, Ramnad and Marawa were subject to it, but upon its subversion the chief of Ramnad became independent. Family dissensions divided the country into separate principalities, which were occasionally terrified into the payment of tribute to the Rajas of Madura and Tanjore, but which were never really subject to either. Neither could the Raja of Tanjore be con- sidered as at any time the subject of the Nawab of the Carnatic, although occasional precedents existed for the levy of a pesheush from liis- fears. — W.
NEGOTIATION WITH THE RAJA, 93
Sir John Lindsay for refusing to comply with the book v.
Nabob’s requisition of proceeding immediately
against Tanjore at a time when we were unpre- 177 L pared ; when we consider that our apprehensions from the Mahrattas are not near so great, since most of the grain is now collected in the different forts, which would render it difficult for an army of Mahrattas to subsist; all these circumstances con- sidered, it appears strange that the Nabob should so suddenly alter his opinion, and should now decline entering on the expedition, which he so lately and so earnestly urged us to undertake.” They conjectured, that, as his grand motive for urging the expedition at first, was to force them into an alliance with the Mahrattas, so now, despairing of that event, he wished not to give the Mahrattas a pretext for overrunning his dominions.1
On the 24th of July, the Committee resolved, first, that an expedition against the Raja would, in itself, be advisable, but being contrary to the incli- nations of the Nabob ought not to be undertaken ; secondly, that negotiation should be used instead of war, and that the negotiation, in which the Nabob wished the English not to appear, should be left to be conducted by that ostensible prince.2
No sooner was conference attempted than the Raja declared, that he had already “ referred all differ- ences between him and the Nabob to the Company, and that he wished the Company would mediate between them ; that he was ready and willing to settle terms of accommodation under the guarantee
Papers, ut supra, p. 684, 685.
2 Ibid. p. 696.
94
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I CHAP. 4
1771.
' • of the English, on whose faith and promise he would - rely ; but that he would never trust the Nabob with- out the security of the English, as he well knew the Nabob’s intentions were to accommodate matters for the present, hut that he had had intentions whenever opportunity should offer in future.” 1
On the 29th of July, the demands of the Nabob were presented to the Baja’s vakeel at Madras ; hut as he required fifteen or twenty days to receive the instructions of his master, and as the distance of Madras would aid the Baja in spinning out the time till the commencement of the rains, the Nabob pro- posed to send his twmsons to Trichinopoly ; the eldest, Omdut ul Omrah, to conduct the negotiations ; and the younger, Mader ul Mulk, to manage the supply of the army ; while the negotiation, he thought, should be supported, by the show of inevitable war, if the Baja declined implicit submission.2
Now was required a decision on the question, wdiat, if the war should issue in a conquest, was to be done with Tanjore. The Presidency knew, that the grand cause of the reluctance which the Nabob had latterly shown to the war, was a fear lest the Company should conquer Tanjore for themselves; and, that there was no accommodation, how unfavourable soever, which he would not make with the Baja, rather than incur the hazard of so hateful a result. The Nabob offered to give to the Company ten lacs of pagodas, if, after conquering, they delivered Tan- jore, in full dominion, to him. The Presidency wished to reserve the question to the proper autho-
1 Papers, ut supra, p. 717.
5 Ibid. 718, 720
WAR WITH TANJORE.
95
rities in England, but the Nabob would not consent. BC°°^4V'
The Presidency imagined, that as they had now con-
vinced the Raja of the hostile designs both of them- 177L selvesand theNabob, it was highly dangerous to leave him possessed of power, which he would have an interest in lending to the French, or any other enemy ; and as they could not proceed to war, except with the consent of the Nabob, it was therefore best to comply with his terms.1
Early in September, the young Nabob, (such was the name by which the English generally spoke of Omdut ul Omrah) who had repaired to Trichinopoly, to conduct the negotiation, reported to General Smith, the commander of the English troops, that nothing but compulsion would bring the Raja to the sub- mission required. The army was ready to march on the 12th of September; but the department of supplying the army had been intrusted wholly to the Nabob’s second son ; and it was found upon inquiry that there was not rice in the camp for the consump- tion of a single day.2
The greatest exertions were made by the general to enable the army to move; and on the 16th it arrived before Vellum, a fortress of considerable strength, and one of the great bulwarks of Tanjore.
The battery, having been constructed first in a wrong place, was not ready till the morning of the 20th; and the breach could not have been made practicable till about three o’clock the next afternoon, but towards evening the garrison stole out of the fort.3
' Papers, ut supra, p. 726 — 731
2 General Smith’s Letter, ibid. 742.
’ Papers, ut supra, p. 744 — 750.
96
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \
CHAP. 4
1771.
On the 23d the army again marched, and encamped before Tanjore. They broke ground late on the evening of the 29th, and by that time began to be distressed for want of provisions. On the 1st of October, the enemy made a strong sally, which threatened to have considerable effects ; but Major Vaughan, the officer against whose post it was directed, acted with firmness and judgment, and the attack was repelled without much loss. The opera- tions proceeded but slowly. The 27th of October had arrived, when the engineers reported that the breach would be practicable the next morning. On that day the young Nabob signed a peace with the Raja, and hostilities ceased.1
The Raja engaged to pay eight lacs of rupees for arrears of peshcush ; 30,50,000 for the expense of the expedition ; to restore whatever he had taken from the Marawars ; and to aid with his troops in all the wars of the Nabob. Vellum was the principal difficulty. It was finally agreed, that it should be restored to the Raja, but demolished if the Nabob chose.
Before this event, a dispute had arisen about the plunder. Omdut ul Omrah w7as informed, that, by the usage of war, the plunder of all places, taken by storm, belonged to the captors. Omdut ul Omrah, unwilling to lose the plunder of Tanjore, offered a sum of money in lieu of it to the troops. His offer was not satisfactory ; and a disagreeable and acri- monious correspondence had taken place. By con- cluding a peace, before the reduction of the fort, any
’ Papers, ut supra, p. 755 — 790.
SEVERITY OF THE TERMS.
97
allowance to the army was a matter of gratuity, not book v. of right.1
The Presidency were struck, as they say, with 1771- “ alarm,” wrhen, expecting every hour to hear of the fall of Tanjore, they were accosted with the news of the conclusion of a peace. They expressed the greatest dissatisfaction with the terms, which ought, in their opinion, to have been nothing less than the surrender of the fort at discretion. The terms were not only inadequate, but no security, they said, was provided for the execution of them such as they were.
On this account they held it necessary to keep them- selves prepared as for immediate war. Orders were sent out to give up Vellum without further instruc- tions. The expectation was entertained, that the Raja would not be exact to a day in the delivery of the money and jewels he had agreed to resign. This happened. The want of punctuality was pronounced a breach of the treaty ; the guns had not yet been drawn out of the batteries ; and the troops were under the walls of Tanjore : the fort of Vellum, and the districts of Coiladdy and Elangad, were demanded: a renewal of hostilities was threatened as the only alternative : the helpless Raja could do nothing but comply.2
In averting from themselves the effects of this dis- approbation, the General stated, that he commu- nicated to Omdut ul Omrah the progress of the siege, and the great probability of success ; that he had no control over the negotiation, and was bound by his instructions to desist from hostilities the
1 Papers, ut supra, p. 827. VOL. IV.
H
? Ibid. p. 930, 931.
98
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. moment the Nabob desired: on the other hand,
CHAP 4.
Omdut ul Ornrah affirmed, that he took not a step
177L without consulting the General; that the troops were under the greatest apprehension on account of the rains which had begun ; that when the breach was partly made, he stated the terms to which the Raja had yielded, declaring that he would not accept them, if the fall of the place were assured ; that the General replied, he could not say he would take the place, but he would endeavour to take it ; that being asked his opinion, whether the Raja would give such terms as he now offered, if the siege were unsuccessful, the General said, “ My opinion is, that in that case he will give you nothing, but if he does he is a great fool;” that when asked if he would guarantee equivalent terms in case the enterprise miscarried, he repelled the proposal ; that when peace was then held up to his view, as what in that case appeared the most politic choice, he replied, “ It was well; it was at the Nabob’s option.”1
Before all things were settled with Tanjore, the Nabob made application for the Company’s forces to reduce the two Marawar Polygars. The Governor and Council, in their letter upon this to the Court of Directors, make the following pertinent remarks ; “It is well worthy of observation that Marawar and Nalcooty are the two Polygars whom the Raja of Tan- jore attacked in the beginning of the year, asserting their dependence on his government ; while the Nabob claimed the right of protecting them, as tri-
Papers, ut supra, p. 803, 857.
WAR UPON MARA WAR.
99
butanes to the government of Trichin opoly. It was
in this cause that the late Plenipotentiary1 took the
field of controversy ; asserted the Nabob’s pretensions 1//L to us, who did not deny them; exaggerated the out- rage of the Raja of Tanjore in taking arms against them : and extolled their obedience and submission to the Nabob’s government: and he will say,, com- pelled us to vindicate the Nabob’s dignity. What honours are due to the minister’s zeal for his friend's cause ! mark now the reasoning of that friend : the Raja humbled; Marawar and Nalcooty, from obe- dient dependants, become immediately dangerous and ungovernable delinquents; and there can be no safety to the Nabob’s government unless they are re- duced.”2
Notwithstanding the contradiction which the Pre- sidency thus remarked in the pretexts of the Nabob, they consented, without any difficulty in this case, to undertake the expedition. The season of the rains of necessity delayed their operations ; but in the mean time inquiries were made ; terms were settled with the Nabob; and the army was kept ready at Trichinopoly, the nearest of the stations to the place of attack.
The Nabob imputed no other crime to the Mara- wars, except their not sending troops to the late war upon Tanjore, and not paying the money which he exacted of them. And the Presidency acknowledged that he had no right over them whatsoever, but that right of oppression, which is claimed by the strong man over the weak. The reason for concurring with
1 Sir John Lindsay.
* Tanjore papers, ut supra, p. 1082.
H 2
100
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
4V' the Nabob in bis desire to attack them, was, that
the Nabob, by his ill-usage, had made them his
enemies. They concurred, they said, “not to gratify the Nabob’s revenge on those Polygars; but because, if they were not originally and naturally, he has made them his enemies ; and therefore it is necessary they should be reduced. It is necessary ; or it is good policy they should. We do not say it is alto- gether just, for justice and good policy are not often related.”1
The objects, however, of the Nabob and of the Company were somewhat different. The ardent pas- sion of the Nabob was to destroy every creature who bore any rule in the country, and place the whole under his own immediate authority. The intention of the Company was by no means to proceed to “the total extirpation of the Polygars ; but only to reduce them to such a state of dependence, by seizing their forts and strong-holds, as might prevent their being troublesome in future.”2
The Nabob’s application for reduction of the Mara- wars was made at the beginning of November, 1771 ; at the beginning of December, when the concurrence and views of the Presidency were understood, he recommended, if not a dereliction, at any rate a sus- pension of the design, for fear of the Mahrattas ; and at the beginning of March, 1772, he renewed his application for undertaking the expedition. On the 12th of May, a force consisting of 120 artillery-men, 400 European infantry, three battalions of sepoys, six battering cannon, a body of the Nabob’s cavalry,
1 Tanjore papers, ut supra, p. 969, combined with p. 1085, par. 54.
2 Ibid. p. 1081.
WAR UPON MARAWAR.
101
and two of his battalions of sepoys, marched from book y.
Trichinopoly, accompanied by Omdut ul Omrah,
who was deputed by his father to conduct all ope- 177'2- rations, not military, connected with the expedition.
They arrived, having met with no opposition, at Ramnadaporam, the capital of the greater Marawar, on the 28th. The batteries were opened in the morning of the 2d of April, and a practicable breach was effected before the evening. This time a bargain had been made with the Nabob, that he should not forestall the wishes of his allies, by the precipitate conclusion of a peace. Terms were, however, offered both by Omdut ul Omrah and the General, which, notwithstanding their inadequate means of resistance, the people of the Polygar refused. The fort was assaulted the same evening, and earned with the loss of only one European and two sepoys killed. The Polygar, a minor of only twelve years of age, with his mother, and the Dewan, were taken in the place ; and soon reduced to a situation which extorted the compassion of Englishmen. The Nabob bargained for the plunder by a sum of money to the troops.1
The Nabob’s troops, before the 15th of June, were put in possession of all the forts in great Marawar ; and on the 1 6th, the army began its march toward the other principality of that name. The Polygar had betaken himself to a strong-hold, named Kala- Koil, or Carracoil, surrounded by thick woods, which they approached on the morning of the 23d. An English officer, with a detachment of the army, was sent to approach by a road on the opposite side, with
Papers, ut supra, p. 1081 — 1083, and 998.
102
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \ CHAP. 4.
1772.
• a hope, either of drawing off some of the enemy’s - attention, or of finding an opportunity to enter by surprise. In the mean time submissive offers arrived from the Poly gar. To guard against any stratagem to amuse, the advance of the troops was not inter- rupted till the morning of the 25th, when Omdut ul Omrah gave the General notice that peace was con- cluded, and requested that orders might be sent to stop the detachment. The orders, it seems, were intrusted to the Polygar’s vakeels ; the Polygar’s va- keels, it is said, used not the requisite diligence ; at any rate the sending of the orders was unhappily if not criminally mismanaged ; the detachment ad- vanced ; found the Polygar reposing upon the security of the treaty, and totally off his guard ; with scarcely any resistance it entered the place, and the Polygar was killed while endeavouring to escape at one of the gates. The Nabob, here too, gave a sum of money in redemption of the plunder. And these sums became the subject of immediate animosities and disputes, among the parties by whom pretensions to a share of them were advanced.1
The settlement of the territory was rendered diffi- cult, by excess of misgovemment. The people of the country, who had facilitated the conquest by re- maining at their ploughs, and who expected equal indulgence under one despot as another, were turned out of their lands, and took arms all over the country. “ I must represent to you,” said the English officer, who was left to support Omdut ul Omrah, (these are the words of a letter addressed to the Council,)
Papers, ut supra, pp. 1083 — 1085, 1006, 1037.
THE PEOPLE OPPRESSED.
103
“ that the settling this country in the manner ex- 4V'
pected by the Nabob, requires extremities of a shock
ing nature. When we are marching, we find all over the country most villages abandoned by the men, there remaining in them only women and children, who, likely if the Nabob persists in this undertaking, must, with other poor innocents, become a sacrifice to this conquest : F or, if any of our baggage remain behind, it is usually taken ; our parties and strag- glers are attacked. This is done by the inhabitants of some village or other. Those villages being pointed out to me, I cannot pass the outrage without punishment ; and not finding the objects on which my vengeance should fall, I can only determine it by reprisals ; which will oblige me to plunder and burn those villages ; kill every man in them ; and take prisoners the women and children. Those are actions which the nature of this war will require :
For, having no enemy to encounter, it is only by severe examples of that kind, that we may expect to terminate it, so as to answer the end proposed.”1 Complaining, that they were left without any spe- cific instructions by the Court of Directors, that they were commanded generally to support the Nabob in all his pretensions, that they were blamed as not having given him a sufficient support, that they were bullied by the Plenipotentiaries to support him more than they could believe was either expedient or safe, the Governor and Council alleged that they were led on by that friend and ally from one step to another, without knowing where to stop, and without being
Papers, ut supra, p. lOM.
104
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1 CHAP. 4
J 773.
‘ able to make those reservations in favour of the Com- - pany which the interests of the Company appeared to require: In this manner had Tanjore been hum- bled and fleeced : In this manner the two Marawars had been conquered, and delivered up as a dominion to the Nabob. It must be allowed, that except fora little time when he first demanded the attack on Tanjore, the Presidency had shown themselves abun- dantly forward to second, or rather to excite the Nabob’s ardour for conquest of the minor states. The Nabob had only one scruple, the fear of then- conquering for themselves. The declarations how- ever, of the Presidency, of the Directors, and the King’s minister plenipotentiary, the interpretations of the treaty of Paris, and especially the recent ex- ample in the surrender of the Marawars, raised up a hope in his Highness that the time was at last arrived when the long-desired possession of Tanjore might be fully acquired.
In a conference with the President about the middle of June, 1773, the Nabob brought complaint, that there was now due from Tanjore about ten lacs of rupees, that the Raja had applied to the Mah- rattas and to Hyder for a body of troops, and had encouraged the Colleries to ravage part of the Car- natic territory : and intimated his intention of sub- duing him ; all which he desired the President to consider of.1
After a few days, at another conference, “ the Nabob expressed his earnest desire that the expedi- tion should be undertaken ; spoke much of his friend-
1 Papers, ut supra, p. 1107.
NEW WAR WITH TANJORE. 105
ship to the Company ; and to show his regard for 4V-
them was willing, in case of success, to give them
ten lacs of pagodas.”1 17 /3-
As the question immediately occurred, what, in case the expedition was undertaken, was to be ex- pected from, or done with, their neighbours, Hyder, and the Mahrattas ; a curious change appeared in the sentiments of the Nabob. A friendship, he said, must be established between him and Hyder; for notwithstanding all that he had done to procure for the Mahrattas the benefit of English assistance, “ yet he found they were not fair and open towards him at Poonah;1 2 and that whether he reduced Tanj ore or did not reduce it, they would still come against him when it suited their affairs ; that by God’s blessing, however, if he and Hyder were joined, they would, with the assistance of the English, keep the Mah- rattas effectually on the other side of the Kistnah.”3 On the 22d of June, the question underwent deli- beration in the Select Committee. As to the com- plaint about the moneys unpaid, the Committee pass it over as a matter of slight importance. And as to the other complaint, that the Raja was looking to the neighbouring powers for support against the Nabob, of which they had before them no satisfactory proof, they were constrained to confess, that, if it were true, he would not be to blame. “ That the Nabob,”
1 President’s Report to the Select Committee, Papers, ut supra, p. 1108.
* His not getting them the assistance from the English, he represented as the cause of their want of friendship, since they believed (of course he had told them) that “ he had got the entire control of the whole English nation, and could make them do as he pleased.” Ibid.
3 Ibid.
106
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 4.
1773.
• they say, “ has constantly had in view the design of - conquering Tanjore, will not admit of a doubt. We are firmly persuaded, that his chief motive for con- cluding peace with the Raja, at a time when our troops were upon the point of getting possession of the place, arose from his jealousy lest the Company purposed at a convenient opportunity to take the country from him. By that expedition, however, he obtained what he earnestly wished for, namely, the removal of that restraint which he thought himself under, by the Company’s guarantee of 1762.”
The Committee next record a solemn declaration, that the treaty, which was then concluded, left the Raja at the mercy of the Nabob, and bound, by a sense of self-preservation, to seek for protection against him in every quarter. “We then expressed our firm opinion, that the peace, concluded without the intervention of the Company , would not be con- sidered by the Raja as any security to him; and that he would avail himself of the first opportunity of freeing himself from his apprehensions of the Nabob. The intelligence communicated to us by the Nabob of the Raja’s application to the Mahrattas and Ilyder Ali for assistance, is, in some measure, confirmed by the advices transmitted to us by Mr. Mostyn from Poonah:1 Neither is the conduct of the Raja, in this
1 The author of the Defence of Lord Pigot (Introd. p. 63) says, that by the Nabob, people were employed to personate the Raja’s vakeels at Poonah : that letters were fabricated ; and all sorts of artifice employed to mislead the Company’s servants. The Presidency are often complain- ing that the Nabob’s letters of intelligence state always a set of facts exactly calculated to support the point, whatever it is, which the Nabob is at that moment driving.
MOTIVES OF THE ENGLISH TO RENEW THE WAR.
107
instance, to be wondered at. The apprehensions he J'
before had, have been increased by the publication of
the Nabob’s intention of reducing him ; which has 1"3- gained credit all over the country. He knows that, in our present situation, wTe cannot interfere in the disputes between him and the Nabob; that the Nabob did not even allow his vakeel to visit the late President. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising, that the Raja should endeavour to streng- then himself, by every means in his power, to enable him to withstand any attempts of the Nabob against him.”1
That the Presidency had reason to pass over in silence, or at least with neglect, the complaints of the Nabob, respecting the payment of the Raja’s debt, sufficiently appears from the statement of the facts.
Of fifty lacs, exacted as the compensation for peace, twelve lacs and a half were paid down. By mort- gaging jewels and land, to the Dutch at Negapatnam, and the Danes at Tranquebar, he had contrived to pay the remainder, together with eight lacs for the peshcush of two years, leaving a balance of only ten lacs upon the whole. 2
Notwithstanding the absence of criminality on the part of the Raja, the Presidency resolved that they ought to destroy him. “ It is evident,” they say,
“ that in the present system,3 it is dangerous to have such a power in the heart of the province : for, as
1 Papers, ut supra, p. 1117.
* See the Letter from the Dutch to the Nabob (Ibid. 1273) ; Defence of Lord Pigot, Introd. 64.
3 By present system, they mean the orders from England to support the Nabob, as absolute sovereign, in all his pretensions; which held their hands from interfering to protect the Raja.
108
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK "V CHAP. 4.
1773.
• the Honourable Court have been repeatedly advised, - unless the Company can engage the Raja to their interest, by a firm promise of support in all his just rights, we look upon it as certain, that, should any troubles arise in the Carnatic, whether from the F rench or a country enemy, and present a favourable opportunity of freeing himself from his apprehen- sions of the Nabob, he would take part against him, and at such a time might be a dangerous enemy in the south. The propriety and expediency, therefore, of embracing the present opportunity of reducing him entirely, before such an event takes place, are evident.”1
Never, I suppose, was the resolution taken to make war upon a lawful sovereign, with the view of “ reducing him entirely,” that is, stripping him of his dominions, and either putting him and his family to death, or making them prisoners for life, upon a more accommodating principle. We have done the Raja great injury: We have no intention to do him right. This constitutes a full and sufficient reason for going on to his destruction. Such is the doctrine; the practical improvement is obvious. Do you wish a good reason for effecting any body’s destruction ? First do him an injury sufficiently great, and then if you destroy him, you have, in the law of self-defence, an ample justification ! 1
In the opinion of the Presidency no danger attended the operations required for the destruction of the Raja. As to Hyder, he had too much business on his hands, and knew his own interest too
Papers, ut supra, p. 1117.
CONDITIONS REQUIRED OF THE NABOB.
109
well, to make the English iust now his enemies on B00K v.
account of the Raja. With regard to the Mahrattas,
they were sure to invade the Carnatic, whenever 1773- they could expect to do so with any success ; and that would happen neither sooner nor later on account of the reduction of Tanjore.1
The next point to consider was, the conditions upon which the Nabob should be accommodated with the destruction of the Raja, and the transfer of his dominions. The first condition was, that the Nabob should advance cash, or good hills, sufficient for the expense of the expedition. The second was, that all sorts of necessaries, excepting military stores, should be amply provided by the Nabob. The third -was, that instead of paying for 7,000 sepoys, he should henceforth pay for 10,000. The condition, which the Presidency endeavoured before the first war to obtain, but which they afterwards gave up, that of reserving the disposal of Tanjore to the Court of Directors ; and the maxim laid down by the Direc- tors, and recognised by the Presidency, in the case of the Marawars, viz. that it was for the interest of the Company to leave the minor chiefs in the Carnatic totally defenceless, as likely to aid the Nabob in those schemes of independence which he incessantly cherished ; were on this occasion totally neglected.
The Nabob, in these cases, was accustomed to press his project eagerly, as long as he found the Presidency reluctant or undetermined; as soon as he found them engaged, and warm in the project, to manifest something of indifference or aversion. So
Papers, ut supra, p. 1117.
110
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOKV.it happened, on the present occasion. The Nabob,
after several conferences, told the President, “ he
i/73. -would not be too pressing upon the expedition’s being undertaken, without it suited the Company’s affairs.’' The Presidency, however, were in a very different disposition ; they were determined, and impatient, to begin the operations immediately.1
The Nabob, without much difficulty, accepted the conditions, on which the Presidency were eager to make for him the conquest of Tanjore ; and it was agreed, that no peace should be concluded with the Raja, unless it should be found to be absolutely impossible to effect his destruction. The general was furnished with his instructions on the 5th of July. The Nabob bargained with the troops, by a sum of money, for the plunder of Tanjore, if the place should be taken by storm. And on the 3rd of August the army marched from Trichinopoly.
They encamped, after a skirmish, within a short distance of Tanjore, on the 6th of August. On the 13th the following letter was received from the Raja. “ The friendship and support offered by
1 Papers, ut supra, p. 1122, 1125. There is secret history in many of the proceedings of the Company’s servants which it is not possible to bring forward with such evidence as history admits, and which, except in a very general manner, it is not within the province of history to trace. Such articles of evidence as present themselves may be submitted for consideration. The Author of the History and Management of the East India Company, than whom no man was better acquainted with the secrets of Madras, and who, though he is a prejudiced and unfair, is not a menda- cious writer, says, (p. 219) that the crime of the Raja was his sending to borrow money of the Dutch ; and had he pursued the plan of borrowing at Madras, “with more constancy, and to a much larger extent, the Great Folks at Madras might have had an interest in overlooking, for some time longer, his designs. But Tulja-ji, though not more faithless, was less prudent than his father Pretaupa Sing, who had always an expert agent at Madras to negotiate a loan, when he wished to obtain a favour.”
EXPEDITION AGAINST TANJORE.
Ill
the English to this country is a matter of universal book v
, J , CHAP. 4.
celebration and report among all the Mahratta and
Rajapoot nations, as well as others. We have 1773- quietly submitted to the hard terms imposed on us by the Nabob ; and have given him all that, by these means, he required. Some deficiency happened in the revenues of the mortgaged lands ; for the pay- ment of the sums so deficient, as well as the last year’s peshcush (though the latter was not yet become due) I borrowed of the Soucars ; and having engaged with them also for an additional sum, to discharge what was due to the young Nabob and other lesser accounts, I took bills for the whole amount, and sent them to the Nabob ; who, having protested my bills,1
1 This transaction is explained, in the following mannner, by the Author of the “ Defence of Lord Pigot.” (Introd. p. 64.) “ It happened that
one Comera, a dubash of the virtuous Mr. Benfield, was at Tanjore, when the Nabob threatened a second visit. This Comera, servant of Mr.
Benfield, was employed in lending money on mortgages. To him the Raja addressed hisself; through him, he mortgaged to Mr. Benfield some districts, which had been formerly mortgaged to the Nabob ; and obtained from Comera bills on his master, Mr. Benfield, payable at Madras, for the twelve lacks which by the treaty of 1771 were still to be paid. But it was not the intention of the Nabob to receive this last instalment. His confi- dence in the servants of the Company was increased. And he now determined at all events to get possession of Tanjore. He therefore sent for the dubash, and by proper application, prevailed on him to deny that he gave the draughts : by proper applications he raised unexpected scruples in the breast of the delicate Mr. Benfield. Though he now avows that he has mortgages to a considerable amount in the Tanjore country ; yet then, in a more enlightened moment, he discovered that it was his duty, as a servant obedient to the orders of the Company, to reject any proposal of lending money on mortgages. He does not indeed deny that the bills were drawn on him: he allows them to have been drawn, and actually sent to the Nabob : so far he contradicts his agent. But he seems not to know who it was that drew them. His own servant, Comera, dwindles, in his account, into an undescribable creature without a name ; a black man to the southward, with whom the virtuous Mr. Benfield had indeed some mercantile concerns. In this statement, the facts of the drawing of the bills, and of their not being accepted by Mr. Benfield, are established
112
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. has set on f00t an expedition against me. Consider-
ing that no deviation of conduct can by any means
I/7.3. jje t0 my charge, and that I have fulfilled my engagements in respect of the payments I agreed to, I am confident you can never consent to this measure. Some offence should surely he proved upon me, before an expedition be undertaken against me; without any show of equity, to wage an unjust war against me, is not consistent with reason. This charitable country is the support of multitudes of people ; if you, Sir, will preserve it from destruction, you will be the most great, glorious, and honoured of mankind. I am full of confidence, that you will neither do injustice yourself, nor listen to the tale of the oppressor. I only desire a continuance of that support which this country has formerly experienced from the English, and you will reap the fame so good an action deserves.” 1
Ground was broken before Tanjore, late on the evening of the 20th of August ; and a party was advanced to a commanding spot within 500 yards of the walls. On the 23rd, the engineers had run their parallels to the destined extent, but had not time to erect a redoubt which was intended to secure their left. On the morning of the 24th the enemy sallied in a considerable party, and attacked the trenches with musketry. They retired upon the brisk
For the remaining points we have only the authority of the writer, and thn mode of gaining a delicate point at Madras ; the writer, it is to be remem- bered, a partisan ; but the mode of gaining points at Madras, notorious, habitual, and altogether concordant with the assertion.
1 Papers, ut supra, p. 1177. Thetoneofthe Raja’s letter is indisputable! his assertions with regard to matters of fact are as much, or rather as little valuable, as those of the Nabob.
TANJORE TAKEN.
113
advance of the grenadiers, but not without some loss BT°K ,v'
to the English assailants. On the 27th, in the
morning, the batteries were opened. About the 17/3- same time the Presidency received from Mr. Mostyn, at Poonah, a letter, to say, that a dispute between the Peshwa’s government, and that of Berar, afforded present occupation to the Mahrattas, and removed the danger of interruption to the expedition against Tanjore. The approaches were made, and the breaching-batteries opened, early in the morning of the 14th of September. On the 16th a passage, of twelve feet wide was completed across the wet ditch which surrounded the walls, and the breach was so considerable, that the enemy expected the assault by day-light the next morning, when 20,000 fighting- men were prepared to defend the breach. This hour being permitted to pass, they expected no further attempt till the evening ; but when the sun wras in the meridian, and intensely hot, and the garrison had mostly retired to obtain a little refreshment and repose, the English troops were drawn out, without noise, to the assault. The success of the stratagem was complete. The troops entered with scarcely any resistance, or any loss. And the Raja and his family were taken prisoners in the fort,1
The Dutch had received the seaport town of Nagore and its dependencies, in assignment for the money
1 Papers, ut supra, p. 1197. — 1218. In giving an account, the next day, of the capture of the place, the English General writes to the Presidency ; “ The situation of the Raja is truly pitiable, and likewise Monajee’s (the Generalissimo) ; I do therefore hope, as the place has fallen by the English arms, that the Honourable Board will exert their influence with his Highness, that those prisoners may be treated agreeable to the rank they once held in this country.” Ibid. p. 1218.
VOL. IV. I
114
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
b°°k 4V- which they had lent to the Raja of Tanjore, It was
the wish, neither of the English, nor of the Nabob,
1 773- that they should enjoy the advantage of retaining these possessions. The first pretence made use of was, that assistance had been lent to the Raja against the late expedition. Before the troops withdrew from Tanjore, a letter was written by the Nabob to the Presidency, recording the complaint, and demanding assistance to punish the offenders. It was also necessary to send information of the charge to the Dutch. They utterly denied the facts ; and as there appears to have been nothing to prove them, the charge was permitted to drop. Another resource remained. The Dutch had purchased Nagore. Upon this the Presidency gravely and solemnly declare : “ As the Raja of Tanjore held his lands of the Nabob in fee, he could not, agreeable to the feudal system, which prevails all over India, alienate any part of this country to any other power, without the consent of his liege lord, the ruler of the Carnatic Payen Ghaut.” 1 Upon this foundation, they felt no scruple in joining with the Nabob to make war upon the Dutch. Yet it is abundantly certain, that such an idea as that of “ land held in fee ” could hardly enter into the mind of a native Indian, even in the way of imagination and conception. Such a thing as a feudal system or a liege lord, never had a moment’s existence in India, nor was ever supposed to have, except by a few pedantic, and half-lettered
1 Consultation of the Governor and Council, 23rd Sept., 1773; Papers, ut supra, p. 1226. — M. This part of the argument seems to have been suggested by the ministerial representative Sir Robert Harland. — Papers, 1225.— W.
NAGORE TAKEN FROM THE DUTCH.
115
Englishmen, who knew little more of the feudal ' •
system than the name. If this doctrine were true,
the English had originally no just title, either to 1//3' Calcutta or Madras. When they obtained the one from the Subahdar of Bengal, he was the vassal of the Mogul ; when they obtained the other from the Nabob of the Carnatic, he was the vassal of Nizam al Mulk, the Subahdar of the Deccan. Besides, the Presidency themselves had only two years before declared that no such thing as feudality existed in India ; that the only right of one state over another was power; that the stronger uniformly exacted tribute of the weaker; but that legal dependence there was certainly none.1 The troops advanced.
The Dutch made a solemn protest against the injustice ; but they were not in a condition to make effectual resistance ; and they prudently retired.
The Nabob complained of the cold-heartedness and supineness of his English friends, because they would not support him in attacking the ancient possessions of the Dutch. At length it was arranged, that the Dutch should be re-imbursed by the Nabob the money which they had advanced to the Baja ; and that they should give up to the Nabob the lands and jewels which they had received in payment or in pledge.2
When the former war with Tanjore was projected, the Nabob, though he would not consent that the English should garrison Tanjore, if taken, yet pro- posed that he himself should place in it a garrison of Europeans. This time he would not consent to even
1 Vide supra, p. 91.
* Papers ut supra, p. 1226, 1273, 1276, 1281, 1290, 1333, 1361.
I 2
116
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 4.
1773.
so much, but insisted upon it, that Tanjore should be garrisoned with his own troops.1 The Presidency so far attended to humanity, and the suggestion of their own general, as to express their wishes to the Nabob for humane treatment of the Raja and his family. But they were satisfied with very slight evidence of the gratification of those desires. The wretched Raja and his mother addressed a letter, each of them, to the Nabob ; telling him that they were remarkably well treated. These letters were shown to the Presidency, and the Presidency tell the Directors, “We have much satisfaction to learn, by letters from the Raja and his mother to the Nabob, communicated to us, that they are treated with much attention and humanity in their confinement.”2 The Nabob could never be at a loss, upon such admirable terms as these, for a proof of any thing which he could possibly desire.
Intelligence of the dethronement of the Raja, and of the transfer of his dominions to the Nabob, was not delayed by the Company’s servants. It was re- ceived in London, with all the documents and details, on the 26th of March, 1774. Three weeks elapsed before the departure of the last ships of the season ; but the Directors made no remarks upon the revo- lution in Tanjore. Upon so great a change effected in the state of their dominions, without advice or authority, the sovereign body, as if they had no opinion to express, that is, were incapable for the moment of executing the functions of government, maintained absolute silence. In the course of the
1 Ibid. p. 1230.
2 Ibid. p. 1336.
PROCEEDINGS AT THE EAST INDIA HOUSE.
summer various despatches arrived, describing the book
subsequent measures to which the transfer of the
Tanjore kingdom had given rise. No observations 1774 were elicited from the Court of Directors.1 During the winter of 1774, and more than two months of 1775, the same silence was observed ; and, if ac- quiescence might be taken for approbation, the actors in India had reason to congratulate them- selves upon a favourable construction of their con- duct.
1 An explanation is offered of the non-interposition of the Court in the Tract published under their authority, “The Restoration of the King of Tanjore considered,” in reply to the “ Statement of Facts,” and which contains the view of the case derived from the documents repeatedly referred to. It is admitted that the situation of affairs in England lessened the attention of the Directors to political concerns in India. In 1769 occurred the necessity of the renewal of their engagements with the Government of Great Britain, in the midst of great pecuniary difficulties.
In 1771 it became necessary to reduce the rate of dividend, and the court was engaged in ascertaining the cause of the distress, and investigating the conduct of those to whom it was imputed. New regulations were the perpetual subject of discussion by General Courts and Committees of Proprietors. The succeeding winter produced other inquiries. Two Com- mittees of the House of Commons sat at the same time, and their proceed- ings gave full employment to the attention of the Court. In June 1773, the Constitution and Government of the Company, both in England and in Bengal, were greatly altered, and the considerations consequent upon the change were numerous and important, so that the instructions to the gentlemen appointed by parliament, were not delivered to them before March 1774. In that month arrived the news of the second expedition and capture of Tanjore, but the consultations required to explain the measures of the Council were not received till August, when the Court lost no time in preparing papers necessary for an attentive investigation. Silence, there- fore, was not observed through the winter of 1774, for those papers were submitted to His Majesty’s Ministers in January 1775. On the 27th of March the intended paragraphs of a letter to Madras were laid before the Secretary of State, returned with his concurrence on the 7th of April, aud signed on the 12th of the same month. Although, therefore, the efficiency of the system to conduct at the same period, great interests both in England and in India may be called in question ; yet there is no reason whatever to insinuate that the Court of Directors disregarded or acquiesced in the transactions in Tanjore. — W.
118
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. The secret history at that time of the East India
House, that is, the history of the interests of the
l77°- individuals by whom it was governed, even if it could be given upon such evidence as history confides in, which secret history seldom can be, would not, on the present occasion, be of any importance. The only point which deserves our attention is, the general re- sult ; that the East India Company is a governing body so constituted, no matter by what secret agency in the minds of individuals, as to be incapable of giving, or capable of withholding to give, for nearly twelve months, an opinion on one of the most important transactions to which their authority and power could be applied.
There was no little division, at that time, in the councils of the East India House. Early in the year 1775, the question was agitated of a successor to the Governor of Fort St. George. The Court of Direc- tors, by a small majority, declared for Mr. Rumbold. A Court of Proprietors, called soon after to deli- berate upon the subject, reversed their decision, by a small majority, and made choice of Lord Pigot.
This ancient Governor had returned to England about the end of the year 1763 ; and had been suc- cessively raised to the dignities of a baronet, and of an Irish peer.1 By the weight of his fortune, by his connexion with individuals, and the reputation of his services, he enjoyed a great influence in the Com- pany ; and, after a residence of twelve years in England, discovered an inclination, or a wish, to
’ He liad gone out a writer to Madras in 1736, and succeeded Mr. Saunders as Governor in 1754, in which appointment he continued until the end of 1763. — W.
PROCEEDINGS AT“ THE EAST INDIA HOUSE. 119
resume the burden of the Presidentship at Madras, 4V‘
and to rival the glory of Clive, by introducing the same •
reforms under the Presidency of Madras, as that 1/75 illustrious Governor had introduced in Bengal. The decision in the Court of Proprietors gave the ascen- dency to his party in the Court of Directors, and the gratification of his ambition was no longer delayed.
Respecting the revolution in Tanjore there was no indecision in the mind of Pigot ; and no sooner was the ascendency of his party determined, than it also disappeared in the East India House. The treaty of 1762, which gave the Raja security for his throne, was the act, and a favourite act, of Governor Pigot.
The subversion of it became the subject of severe condemnation in the Company’s Courts. There was in the transaction, it is not to be doubted, enough to interest the feelings of any man who looked upon it with partial, or even impartial eyes ; and to account for the zeal of Lord Pigot upon the most honourable motives. That his favourite dubash Moodoo Kistna, with whom he maintained a correspondence in England, had rented lands to a great extent from the Tanjore Raja; that he was offended with the Nabob, who, after appointing him his agent in England, had failed in those remittances which made the place of agent desirable; and that an auction between two princes for the favour of the powerful servants of the Company promised a golden harvest to the relatives and connexions of the Directors, were allegations thrown out by the enemies of the new resolutions ; 1 allegations which, if they had
Hist, and Management of the E. I. C. chap. viii.
120
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK A CHAP. 4,
1775.
' • general surmise, and even general presumptions in _ their favour, were unsupported by particular facts.1
On the 12th of April, the very day on which the Court of Proprietors met to choose new Directors, the Court of Directors proceeded at last to declare their decision on the business of Tanjore, and to pre- scribe the rules of future operation.2
Notwithstanding their ambiguous language, and still more ambiguous conduct, they declared that they had been perfectly uniform in twm things; in commanding that no addition should be made to the possessions either of themselves or the Nabob ; and in condemning the policy of placing Tanjore under the dominion of that ruler ; ft more especially,” they add, “ as they on the spot were of opinion, that, on account of oppressions exercised by the Nabob in his own dominions, and of his inveterate hatred to the King of Tanjore, the Tanjoreans would submit to any power whatever, rather than to the Nabob.” First they condemn, though after solemn thanks formerly given to the Governor who had carried it on, the war of 1771 ; declaring that though it would have been right to call the Raja to account for arrears of tribute, and to interpose between him and the Marawars, it wras wholly unjustifiable to make war upon him when he offered to submit to the arbitration of the Company ; and still more “ on
1 Why then should these allegations be recorded ? There 'vas quite enough in the nature of the occurrences to warrant their condemnation upon disinterested principles. — W.
2 As mentioned in a preceding note upon the authority of the official narrative, the despatch containing the decision of the Court had been finally prepared on the ‘27th March. The decision did not therefore come in with the new Directors. — W.
PROCEEDINGS AT THE EAST INDIA HOUSE.
121
any account or pretence, or under any circumstances, 4V’
to put the Nabob in possession of that Kingdom.” 1
They complain, upon this subject, of their servants, 1 as sending them disingenuously incomplete infor- mation, and then taking their measures without authority.2
With regard to the second expedition, that in 1773, intended for the complete destruction of the Raja, they declare that it was founded upon pretences which were totally false ; 1. as the Raja was not proved to have committed any offence ; and, 2. as the destruction of him, instead of adding to the se- curity of the Company, had only increased its dangers.
They decree, therefore, that Mr. Wynch, their Presi- dent, shall be removed from his office; that the members of their council shall he severely repri- manded ; and, “ unless their zeal for the interest of their employers shall manifest a proper sense of their lenity, that they shall certainly experience more rigorous marks of their resentment.”3
After this retrospect of the past, the Directors im- mediately pen their regulations for the guidance of the future. They regarded two subjects ; 1st, the res- toration of the Raja of Tanjore ; and 2dly, the manage- ment of the Company’s own possessions, on the coast of Coromandel ; that is, the Northern Circars, and the jaghire lands in the neighbourhood of Madras.
“We are convinced,” said the Directors, addressing the Council of Madras, “ that success must, in a great measure, depend upon the wisdom of your
1 General Letter to Fort St. George, 12th April, 1775 ; papers, ut supra,
p. 145.
3 Ibid. p. 146—149.
3 Ibid. p. 150, 151.
122
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. councils, the integrity and firmness of your conduct,
and in no small degree, upon the seasonable exertion
1/75- of those peculiar abilities for which your Right Honourable President is so justly and eminently distinguished.”
With regard to the King of Tanjore, the Presidency were first to provide security, by a proper guard, for the persons of him and his family ; and next, but under certain conditions, to restore him to his domi- nions, as they existed in 1762. The conditions were, that he should receive a garrison of the Company’s troops into the fort of Tanjore ; assign lands for their maintenance; pay to the Nabob the peshcush of 1762 ; assist him with such troops alone as the Presi- dency shall join in requiring ; form no treaty with foreign powers, except in concurrence with the English rulers; and neither directly nor indirectly furnish any assistance to their enemies.
For the better management of the Company’s pos- sessions, the Council were directed, “when affairs respecting Tanjore shall have been accommodated and finally adjusted,” to form a committee, consisting of five members of the Council, who should make the circuit of the Northern Circars, and collect informa- tion of all those circumstances in the state of the country which government is chiefly interested in knowing ; and after this information should be gained, to take the proper steps for letting the lands during a term of years, on principles similar to those on which the lands had been let in Bengal. Respect- ing the jagliire, which the Nabob hitherto had rented under the allegation, that the appearance, presented to the people of the country, of the exemption of any
PROCEEDINGS OF LORD PIGOT.
123
part of his dominions from his immediate jurisdiction, 4V-
would be injurious to his authority ; the Directors
declared their dissatisfaction with the present arrange- 1,/5- ment, their determination to take the lands under their own control, unless the Nabob should submit to their conditions ; and they directed their servants in the mean time to let them to him, only from year to year.1
Lord Pigot resumed the office of Governor of F ort St. George on the 11th of December, 1775. “ Upon my arrival,” says his Lordship, “ I found a general reform was necessary in the settlement, to preserve the Company from ruin.”2 A “ general reform” has many enemies ; and those, for the most part, very powerful ones. The injunctions of the Directors were to proceed immediately to the restoration of the Raja of Tanjore. It was, however, agreed that the communication should be made with all delicacy to the Nabob, to whom it was known that it would be unpleasing in the highest possible degree. There wms no expedient to which Oriental artifice could have recourse, which the Nabob left untried to ward off the blow. He endeavoured to make it appear that he had an undoubted right to the possession of Tanjore; he magnified the merit of his services and attachment to the Company; he enlarged upon the disaffection of the Raja ; he claimed the support which the letter of the King of England, brought by Sir John Lindsay, had promised him; he deprecated the policy adopted by the Company, of doing one thing
1 General Letter to Fort St. George, 18th April, 1775 ; papers, ut supra, p. 153—159.
5 Lord Pigot’s Narrative, &c. ; Defence of Lord Pigol, p. 83.
124
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1776
tv* by their servants in India, and the very reverse by
— their Directors in England, and declared that he was
- unable to understand them in this double capacity. He tried the tone of humility, he tried that of au- dacity. He sought to affect their sympathy by re- minding them of the many Englishmen to whom he was indebted, and whom, if stripped of Tanjore, he would be less able to pay : and of that confidence in their honour with which he had placed his residence, and that of his family, under the guns of Fort St. George. He offered to place an English garrison in the fort of Tanjore ; and only entreated, that the country might not be taken out of his hands, till the Company, who had proceeded upon partial informa tion should decide upon what he had to suggest.
The Council availed themselves of his offer to admit an English garrison into the fort of Tanjore ; because it enabled them at once to set the Raja at liberty, and guard his person. But they showed the Nabob that the commands of the Directors were pe- remptory in regard to the time of the restoration, and left them no liberty to grant the delay for which he applied. It seems to have been the expectation of the principal military officer belonging to the Pre- sidency, Sir Robert Fletcher, that he should be the person by whom the immediate business of restoring the Raja should be performed. But when the Pre- sident signified his intention of proceeding for that purpose to Tanjore in person, the Council voted unanimously, that the business should be placed in his hands ; and as the crop was on the ground, and the harvest approaching, that no time should be lost in giving possession of the country to the Raja.
THE RAJA OF TANJORE RESTORED.
125
Sir Robert Fletcher, however, though he had book v
... . . CHAP. 4.
joined in the vote for sending the President, proposed
another for sending along with him two other mem- 1,76 bers, under express and particular instructions of the Board ; declaring that without this condition he would not have assented to the vote in favour of the President ; that the Board were not justified in the delegation of undefined and unlimited powers, except in a case of extreme necessity : and that, if this mea- sure were drawn into a precedent, the effect would be, to serve the corrupt interests of individuals at the expense of the public. The proposal was rejected by a majority of the Council ; but the President took with him by choice two members of the Council, and one of them a person who had voted for the depu- tation.
Lord Pigot set out on the 30th of March, and ar- rived at Tanjore on the 8th of April. On the 11th the restoration of the Raja was proclaimed. In- stead of employing the troops of the Company to do nothing more than garrison the fort of Tanjore, the president got the Raja to request that they might be employed for the protection of the whole country.
And instead of assigning revenue barely to defray their expenses, to save the trouble and dispute which accounts are apt to produce, he offered to give a neat sum to cover all expenses ; namely, four lacs of pa- godas a year. On the 5th of May, Lord Pigot re- turned to Madras, and having laid before the Council a copious diary of his proceedings, with all the docu- ments which belonged to them, received a vote of approbation, winch, with regard to the general mea- sures, was unanimous.
126
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 4.
1776.
Mr. Paul Benfiekl was a servant of the Company in the civil department, and as yet in one of the lowest situations. He had betaken himself to more lucrative functions, than the duties of his office ; and had become not only a favourite of the Nabob, but the principal agent, in what was at that time one of the first concerns in the settlement, the lending of money.
It appears that Mr. Benfield gave to Lord Pigot a general intimation of certain interests which he held in Tanjore, before the departure of that Lord for the restoration of the Raja, and received from him a general disavowal of any intention to injure his rights. Immediately after the restoration of the Raja was proclaimed, a letter from Mr. Benfiekl was delivered to Lord Pigot at Tanjore, in which he stated, that for money lent to the Nabob he had assignments upon the revenues of Tanjore, to the amount of 405,000 pagodas, equal to 162,000/. ; and for money lent to individuals in Tanjore, assign- ments upon the present crop to the amount of 180,000 pagodas, equal to 72,000/. ; making toge- ther the immense sum of 234,000/. lent by a junior servant of the Company, with a salary of a few hundred pounds a-year, and who was conspicuous, among other things, for keeping the finest carriages and horses at Madras.
Lord Pigot replied, that, in a case like this, he could do nothing more than lay the circumstances before the Board. Mr. Benfiekl expressed dissatis- faction that the powers of government were not immediately exerted to procure him all that he desired; and he wrote to the Council, expressing
DISPUTE WITH BENFIELD.
127
his confidence that they would afford him “ assist- book v.
J . CHAP. 4.
ance to recover his property, while the Right
Honourable President, under their commission, 1776- remained in authority over those countries.” Certain Members of the Board were for proceeding imme- diately to consider the claims of Mr. Benfield. The majority, however, decided, that the consideration should be postponed till Lord Pigot’s return.
A few days after the return of Lord Pigot to the Board, the application of Mr. Benfield was appointed for the subject of deliberation. Mr. Benfield was called upon for particulars and vouchers ; hut vouchers Mr. Benfield was unable to produce. The trans- actions, he said, were registered in the boohs of the Cutcherry ; and the Nabob would acknowledge them.
As for the books of the Cutcherry, they were never produced; and as for the acknowledgment of the Nabob, there were two questions ; one whether the assignments of the Nabob, if the debts were real, gave any right to the revenues of Tanjore, now restored to the Raja ; another, whether the whole, demand and acknowledgment, taken together, were not a collusion between the Nabob and Benfield ; a studied fraud upon the Company and the Raja.
For the debts, said to be due from individuals, which, in the specification, had dwindled down to 30,000 pagodas, there was nothing to give but the word of Mr. Benfield himself. After due consider- ation a majority of the Board came to the following decision : “ That the Raja of Tanjore, being put in full possession and management of his country by the Company’s express orders, it is the opinion of the Board that it is not in their power to comply with
128
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
4V- Mr. Benfield’s request in any respect, those claims
on individuals, which hear the appearance of having
1//U- no connexion with government, not being sufficiently explained to enable the Board to form an opinion thereon, and the assignments of the Nabob not being admissible.”
This resolution was passed on the 29th of May. On the 3d of June Mr. Brooke, one of the majority who had thrown out the claims of Mr. Benfield, entered a minute, in which he stated, that supposing Mr. Benfield to have demanded the assistance of the Council, he had voted against him ; if he had then, as now, understood that he only requested their assistance, he would have voted for him ; he, there- fore, moved, that the Board should reconsider their vote on the claims of Mr. Benfield ; and gave his opinion, that the crop on the ground, at the time of the restoration of the Raja, was by the Company meant to belong the Nabob. The vote for recon- sideration was supported by the majority. On the 13th of June, the subject being resumed, a motion was made by Lord Pigot, that the vote of the 29th of May should be confirmed ; it was negatived by a majority of seven to five. On the following day Lord Pigot was proceeding to move that “ all the claims of Mr. Benfield were private and not public concerns,” when a member of the Council claimed a right to priority. The claim of the member was founded upon the notice which he had given the preceding day of his intention to put certain motions. The claim of Lord Pigot was founded upon the custom of the Presidency, corroborated by con- venience, that the President should possess the
DISPUTE IN THE COUNCIL.
129
initiation of business. The claims were put to the B00K '
vote, when the question was decided in favour of the
member; and he moved, that the crop sown during 1/76- the time of the Nabob’s possession be declared the Nabob’s property, his assignments on it, therefore, good; and that the Raja should be instructed to respect and to restore, if they had been disturbed, the pledges in corn which were held by Mr. Benfield.
When all this was voted, the question of the President, whether the claims of Mr. Benfield were private or public, was finally considered. The majority thought them, “ so far as they regard Mr. Benfield, private claims ; so far as they regard the Nabob’s assignments to Mr. Benfield, public.”
The following point was agitated next. On the 28th of June, the President opened a proposal for establishing a factory at Tanjore. A motion to this effect was rejected by the majority on the 8th of July. As he could not obtain a factory, the Pre- sident supposed that a resident would be useful. He moved that Mr. Russel, a member of the Council, and a closely connected friend of his own, should be appointed resident at Tanjore, and this was carried without much opposition.
Yelore was the principal military station in the Carnatic, as a frontier fortress, in the line of invasion both to Hyder and the Mahrattas ; it was therefore provided with the greatest number of troops, and regularly, as the post of honour, assigned to the officer second in command. Colonel Stuart, the officer second in command, thought proper to con- sider Tanjore, where a small number only of troops were required, as at this time the military station of VOL. IV. K
130
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 4.
1776.
principal importance in the province ; he therefore claimed it as his right, and that claim the majority sustained.
Though liberty had been restored to the Raja, and his rights proclaimed, much was yet to be done to put the administration of the country fully in his hands. The struggle between the President and the majority in the Council now was, whether Colonel Stuart, who would manage the business agreeably to the views of the majority, or Mr. Russel, who would manage it agreeably to the views of the President, should have the opportunity of placing the adminis- tration in the hands of the Raja.
Mr. Russel was one of the gentlemen named by the Court of Directors to form one of the Committee of Circuit to explore the Circars ; and this Committee was directed to proceed upon its mission, as soon as the final settlement of affairs in Tanjore should be effected. The majority laid hold of this circumstance ; and voted, as well for the immediate departure of the Committee to the northern Circars, as that of Colonel Stuart to his command in Tanjore. The President insisted, that neither was there any necessity for precipitating the departure of the Committee, nor was the business of Tanjore settled ; that the Raja, who believed that the interests which had dethroned him were now triumphant, and those which restored him overthrown, was in a state of apprehension bordering upon despair. He proposed that, for the termination of this unfortunate struggle, two members of the Board, who were stationed at the out-settle- ments, and were not involved in the disputes, should be summoned to attend. This proposition was
CONTEST BETWEEN THE COUNCIL AND GOVERNOR.
131
rejected. The President offered to be satisfied, if B00K y.
° * CHAP. 4.
Mr. Russel was allowed to go to Tanjore for only a
few days, to preserve the appearance of consistency in 1776- the proceedings of the Council, and to quiet the alarms of the Raja. This too was rejected.
Hitherto the proceedings of both parties, whatever name they may deserve in point of wisdom or virtue, were regular in point of form. Only one alternative now remained for Lord Pigot; the majority was either to be obeyed, or their authority was to be resisted. Lord Pigot resolved to resist, and the method which he pursued was as follows :
He assumed that the President was an integrant part of the Council ; that it was not competent to perform any acts of government without him ; and that he had a right to withhold his concurrence from any propositions which the majority might urge.
This was pretty nearly the same doctrine which had suggested itself to Mr. Hastings in Bengal ; but the practical application was somewhat different.
On the 19th of August, it was moved that a copy of instructions for Colonel Stuart, prepared by the commanding officer, should be taken into considera- tion. The President declared that he would not put the question. The obstruction presented a question of importance ; and the majority resolved to adjourn.
The following day the Council assembled, and the same motion was made. The President declared that he would not allow the question to be agitated at the Board. The majority, nevertheless, approved of the instructions, and prepared the draught of a letter to the officer at Tanjore, directing him to deliver over the command of the garrison to Colonel
k 2
132
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1776.
[ • Stuart. The President declared that he would sign - neither ; affirmed that without his signature they could have no authority, and warned his opponents to desist. The minds of the majority were yet embar- rassed, and they adjourned the Council for two days. On the 22d of August, the day on which they first assembled, the majority produced a minute, in which they deny that the concurrence of the President is necessary to constitute an act of government ; affirm that the vote of the majority constitutes an act of government; and that it tends to subvert the con- stitution, for the President to refuse either to put a question, or to carry into execution the decisions of the majority. The President proposed, that questions of so much importance should be left to the decision of their honourable masters ; and that here, till their pleasure should be known, both parties should allow the matter to rest.
This, too, was not agreeable to the wishes of the majority. They came to a resolution, that, as the . President would not sign the instructions to Colonel Stuart, and the letter to the officer at Tanjore, a letter should be written to the Secretary, directing him to sign them in the name of the Council, and transmit them as authoritative instruments of govern- ment to the parties addressed.
The letter was written, and approved by all the gentlemen of the majority. They began to sign it in order, and two of them had already written their names, when Lord Pigot took, or snatched it out of the hand of the man who held it. He then took a paper out of his pocket, and said he had a charge to present against two members of the Board, and
LORD PIGOT ARRESTED.
133
named the two who had just signed the letter which 4V
he had snatched.1 The accusation was, that by sign-
ing orders to the Secretary to give instructions to 1//6- Colonel Stuart, they had been guilty of an act, sub- versive of the authority of government, and tending to introduce anarchy. By the standing orders of the Company, any member of the Council, against whom a charge was preferred, was not allowed to deliberate or vote on any of the questions relating to the charge.
When the two accused members were excluded, the President had a majority by his own casting vote. It was therefore voted to suspend the members in question, and then the President had a permanent majority. After the vote of suspension, the Council adjourned to the following day, which was the 23d.
The gentlemen of the former majority forbore to attend ; but they sent by a public notary a protest, in which, beside denouncing the principal act of the following day, they, as the majority of the Board, declare themselves the governing body, and claim the obedience of the settlement. This protest was sent by the same agency to the commanders of his Majesty’s troops, and to all persons holding any authority at Madras. In consequence of what he deemed so great an outrage. Lord Pigot summoned the Council again to meet at four o’clock, when they passed a vote, suspending the whole of the members
1 It would appear from this account that Lord Pigot had come prepared with the charge, in anticipation of what would happen ; but a particular narrative of the transaction, written by Mr. Floyer, one of the majority, to Mr. Orme, mentions, that whilst the letter was being written the President retired from the Council to his own apartment, and after a short interval returned. It was in this interval that he prepared his charge. Orme Papers, No. 171. — W.
134
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP, t
1776.
jV‘ who had signed the protest, and ordered Sir Robert — Fletcher, the commanding officer, to be put under arrest, and tried by a court martial.
The opponents were not behind in violence. They speedily assembled, declared themselves a Council vested with all the powers of government, and resolved to arrest the person of Lord Pigot, and confer the command of the army. Sir Robert Fletcher being ill, on Colonel Stuart.1 The task of perform- ing the arrest of Lord Pigot was devolved on the Colonel, who, by acquiescence, had accepted from him the command of the army. The greater part of the next day, the 24th, the Colonel passed in com- pany, or in business, with his Lordship ; breakfasted with him as well as dined ; and having accepted an invitation to sup at his house, and made his arrange- ments to arrest him by the way, was in the carriage of Lord Pigot along with him, when it was surrounded and stopped by the troops.
As the point, for which all this confusion was created, was the extremely minute one, whether Mr. Russel should or should not go for a few days to Tanjore, it is not easy to believe, that something of importance did not remain at the bottom, which it was not the interest of the parties to disclose. One thing is certain, that the parties, and
1 In examining afterwards the conduct of the parties, a question was raised about the time of this resolution to arrest Lord Pigot. It appeared to have been taken, before the violence of Lord Pigot, in suspending the whole of the majority, and ordering the arrest of Sir Robert Fletcher. But the affidavits of the parties, who were prosecuted in England for the imprisonment of Lord Pigot, and which affidavits were not contradicted, affirmed, that the figure 8 indistinctly written and mistaken for 3, had been the source of the error; and that 8 o’clock, and not 3 p. m. was the time at which the resolution of the majority was taken.
LORD PIGOT ARRESTED.
135
they had the best means of information, cast the most book v
/ _ > CHAP. 4.
odious imputations upon one another, and charged
the most corrupt and dishonourable motives.1 They 1777- were accused of desiring to have an opportunity of enriching themselves, the one party by sharing in the revenues of the Raja, the other by sharing in those of the Nabob.2 The party who espoused the
1 The real character of the contest it is not difficult to comprehend. It lay between the Raja of Tanjore and the Nawab, the latter never relin- quishing his pretensions to the supremacy over the former, or his desire to get possession of the Revenues of Tanjore, the former maintaining his claim to independence. Compelled by the orders of the Court to abstain from the open assertion of his pretensions, the Nawab did all that he could to embarrass the proceedings of those intrusted with powers favourable to the cause of the Raja, and he found a strong party to adopt his sentiments with even more violence than himself. On the other hand Lord Pigot and his adherents were equally intemperate in their support of the Raja; and, not content with effecting his restoration, treated the Nabob with indignity, threatening to remove him to Arcot, or place a guard upon his palace, and interdicting all communication between him and his friends in the service of the Company. These feelings of partisanship were no doubt exacer- bated by interested motives : many of the Nawab’s supporters and friends were his creditors to a very large amount, to that of nearly a million and a half sterling, and they could not be expected to view with indifference the loss of the revenues of Tanjore, upon which they had calculated for a considerable proportion of their security ; that a few of them had corrupt inducements in advocating the Nawab’s cause is very possible ; and it is difficult to believe that Lord Pigot’s personal visit to Tanjore, or the struggle for the office of Resident at that Court, was free from all wish to benefit by substantial proofs of the Raja’s gratitude. In proportion as the dispute continued it included a greater number of persons, until it compre- hended most of the settlement of Madras ; and the parties principally engaged in it were urged to extremities by the passions of their adherents as well as their own. That the insubordinate members of the Council intended the death of Lord Pigot was an absurd accusation, which, although resting on the verdict of a Coroner’s inquest in Madras, was wholly untenable and unproven. The catastrophe, however, contributed, with the orders of the Court, to terrify all parties into temperance, as at an early period after the receipt of these orders the Committee report that dissension had ceased. General Letter from Madras, 5th Feb. 1777 — W.
8 Admiral Pigot declared, in the House of Commons, that his brother had been offered ten lacks of pagodas, and afterwards fifteen, a bribe, amounting to about 600, 0007. of English money, only to defer, and that
136
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. vjews 0f Nabob seem to have been afraid, after
the extremities on which they had ventured, to carry
1777- their own resolutions into effect. They had voted that the crop which was on the ground at the time of the restoration belonged to the Nabob, and ought to follow the assignments he had made ; yet the Raja was not disturbed in the possession of it ; 1 and the debts, real or fictitious, to Benfield, remained at the end of their administration still undischarged.2
They proceeded to the further violence of suspend- ing all those members of the Council, who had voted with the President ; but it does not appear that any harshness attended his confinement, or that he was not indulged with every freedom, consistent with the means necessary to prevent his resuming his place in the government.
When intelligence was brought to England of the violent act of the Council of Madras, it excited among the members of the Company, and still more in the nation at large, both surprise and indignation. In the Court of Directors, the party who defended, or at any rate attempted to apologize for the authors of the late revolution, were nearly equal to the party by whom they were condemned. But in a Court of Proprietors held on the 26th of March, 1777, a re-
for a short and specified time, the reinstatement of the Raja. See Par- liamentary History, for the 16th of April, 1779, and Dodsley’s Annual Register, xxii.
1 The claim was not abandoned, however, and in the beginning of 1777 a sort of compromise was effected with the Raja, who although he refused to acknowledge any demand upon this account, assented to deposit in the Company’s Treasury 4 lacks of Pagodas, 160,0007., to await the Court’s disposal. Only one fourth of this was realized at a date considerably subsequent to the agreement. MS. Records.— W.
s See their affidavit, Howell’s State Trials, xxi. 1236.
PROCEEDINGS IN ENGLAND.
137
solution was passed by a majority of 382 to 140, in BC°°^4V'
which it was recommended to the Court of Directors
to take the most effectual measures for restoring Lord 1777- Pigot to the full exercise of his authority, and for inquiring into the conduct of the principal actors in his imprisonment. In consequence of this proceeding it was, on the 11th of April, carried by a casting vote, in the Court of Directors, that Lord Pigot and his friends should be restored to the situations from which they had been improperly removed ; that seven members of the Council, including the Commander in Chief, who were declared to have subverted the government by a military force, should be suspended from the service, and not restored without the imme- diate act of the Directors. But a voie of censure was at the same time passed on Lord Pigot, whose conduct in several instances was pronounced worthy of blame. The means were not yet exhausted of defeating this turn of affairs. Not only were impe- diments accumulated, and placed in the way ; but a fresh set of revolutions were brought forward, im- porting the recall of both parties, as the only mode of accomplishing that fundamental investigation which the importance of the occasion required. These pro- positions, in favour of which the ministers were sup- posed to have exerted all their influence, were voted by a majority of 414 to 317, in a General Court on the 9th of May. The attention of Parliament was also attracted. Governor Johnstone, who was dis- tinguished for the part which he had taken in dis- cussions relative to Indian affairs, moved, on the 22d of the same month, a series of resolutions, highly
1 38
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA
/■ aPProving the conduct of Pigot, and the measures
which had been pursued for his restoration, while
1//7- they condemned the proceedings of his enemies, and the motion for his recall. Almost all the questions of the English policy, relating to the affairs of the Carnatic, underwent discussion in a long and ani- mated debate ; which was closed by a vote of no more, notwithstanding ministerial influence, than ninety to sixty-seven, against the resolutions.
After these proceedings, a commission was pre- pared under the Company’s seal, hearing date the 10th of June, 1777, by which Lord Pigot was re- stored to his office ; but he was at the same time directed, within one week after the despatch of the first ship, which, subsequent to the date of his res- toration, should proceed from Madras, to deliver over the government to his successor ; and either by that ship, or the first that should follow, to take his passage to England. The members of the Council who had concurred in displacing Lord Pigot were re- called; and the military officers, who had been chiefly instrumental in executing the arrest and confine- ment, were ordered to be tried by courts martial on the spot. Till inquiry should be made into the conduct of both parties in the recent scenes, when it would be seen which of the actors might deserve, and which might not deserve to be removed from the service, the Directors thought proper to form a temporary government ; in which Sir Thomas Rumbold, after the departure of Lord Pigot, was to succeed to the chair ; J ohn Whitehill to be second in council ; and Major General Hector Munro, Commander of the
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THE AUTHORS OF THE ARREST. 139
Forces, to be third, without the power of any further book^v.
advancement.1
Before these orders were received in India, Lord 1777- Pigot had passed beyond the reach of honour or disgrace. His constitution, worn out by age, and the operation of a hostile climate, sunk under the in- activity of his situation, and the painful feelings which preyed upon his mind, after a confinement of somewhat more than eight months. Mr. Whitehill reached Madras on the 31st of August, 1777, and being the senior in council, acted as President and Governor till the 8th of February following, when Sir Thomas Rumbold arrived.3
1 Nothing was ever made of the inquiry. In October, 1788, the Go- vernment of Madras informed the Court that they found insuperable difficulties iu obtaining information on which dependence could be placed. An advertisement had been published inviting persons to depose on oath what they knew of the corruption of the parties ; none had come forward. Application to the Raja and the Nawab was considered inexpedient, as they were not likely to state any thing to the discredit of their friends. Trial of the officers by Court Martial was held to be illegal, as no military offence had been committed; they had all acted under the orders of the superior authorities. The chief civil servants concerned in the affair returned to England and remained there, the others crept back again into the service. Colonel Stuart afterwards commanded the army, and the military were employed at the siege of Pondicherry. Amidst the public events that soon ensued, all minor irregularities were forgotten. — W.
2 Second Report of the Committee of Secrecy, 1781 ; and Parliamen- tary History, 1777, 1779, 1780; State of Facts relative toTanjore, printed for Cadell, 1777 ; Tanjore Papers, printed for Cadell, 1777 ; Lord Pigot’s Narrative, with Notes of Mr. Dalrymple, &c. ; Defence of Lord Pigot, drawn up by Mr. Lind ; Case of the President and Council, fairly stated, &c. Almon, 1777 ; Proceedings against George Stratton and others (in Howell’s State Trials, vol. xxi.); Hist, and Management of the East India Company; Considerations on the Conquest of Tanjore, and the Restora- tion of the Raja. The two last, both by the agents of the Nabob, were published by Cadell, in 1777. Genuine Memoirs of Asiaticus, in a series of letters to a friend, during five years’ residence in different parts of India, three of which were spent in the service of the Nabob of Arcot. By Philip Dormer Stanhope, Esq., p. 123 — 142.
140
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 4
1777.
Once more the subject was taken up by the House of Commons. On the 16th of April, 1779, Admiral Pigot, the brother of the deceased Governor, began the discussion with a history of the transac- tions which had led to the deposition of Lord Pigot, and with the heaviest charges against the actors in that scene : After which he moved a series of resolu- tions, affirming the principal facts ; affirming also that orders had been given to hold courts-martial for the trial of the principal military officers engaged in the crime, and directing an address to his Majesty for the prosecution, by the Attorney-General, of four of the members of the Council, who had returned to England. The resolutions gave rise to considerable debate ; but were finally adopted. Proceedings in the courts of law were immediately commenced ; and on the 20th of December, the four members were tried for a misdemeanour, before a special jury ; and found guilty. When brought up for judgment, a fine of 10007 was imposed upon each. To men of their fortunes, this was a punishment hardly to be felt : Such is the difference, in the minds of English judges, between the crime of deposing the head of a government abroad, and that of writing a censure upon one of the instruments of government at home.1
When the northern circars were first delivered into the hands of the Company, it was judged expedient to govern the country for a time in the manner which wTas already established. The Circars of Raja- mundry, Ellore, and Condapilly, were consigned,
1 Parliamentary History, vol. xx. ; Howell’s State Trials, vol. xxi.
COMMITTEE OF CIRCUIT SUSPENDED.
141
under a lease of three years, to a native, named B00K v-
Hussun Ali Khan, who had previously governed
them, under the Nizam, with the state and authority 1/77- of a viceroy. The remaining Circar of Cicacole was placed under a similar administration, but in the hands of a separate deputy.
A change was introduced in 1760. Adminis- tration by the agency of natives was discontinued; and the Circars were placed under the charge of Provincial Chiefs and Councils, a title and form which at that period the commercial factories were made to assume. Under the Chief and Council, formerly the Factory, of Masulipatam, were placed the districts of Condapilly, Kajamundry, and Ellore.
The Chief and Council of Vizagapatam received in charge the southern parts of Cicacole ; and at Ganjam, where the factory had been discontinued, a new establishment was made of a chief and council for those affairs of the country which could be most conveniently ruled from that as a centre. To these provincial boards, the financial, judicial, and, in short, the whole civil and political administration of the country, was consigned.
The disappointment in their expectations of pecu- niary supply from the northern circars, as from their other dominions, and the sense which they enter- tained of the defects of the existing administration, had recommended to the Court of Directors the formation of the Committee of Circuit. This Com- mittee were directed, by personal inspection, and inquiry upon the spot, to ascertain with all possible exactness, the produce, the population, and manu- factures of the country ; the extent and sources of
142
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V, CHAP. 4.
1778.
the revenue ; the mode and expense of its collection ; the state of the administration of justice ; how far the financial and judicial regulations which had been introduced in Bengal were applicable in the Circars ; what was the condition of the forts ; and the circum- stances of the Zemindars or Rajas ; what the mili- tary force of each ; the expenses both of his army and household ; and the means which he possessed of defraying them. The Directors declared it to be their intention to let the lands, after the expiration of the present leases, for a term of years, as in Bengal; not, however, to deprive the hereditary Zemindars of their income ; but leave them an option, either to take the lands which had belonged to them, under an equitable valuation, or to retire upon a pension. They avowed, at the same time, the design of taking the military power into their own hands, and of preventing the Zemindars from maintaining those bodies of troops, with which they were perpetually enabled to endanger the peace and security of the state.
Within a few days after the deposition of Lord Pigot, the new Governor and Council drew up the instructions of the Committee, and sent them to the discharge of their duties. They had made some pro- gress in their inquiries ; when Sir Thomas Rumbold took the reins of government at Madras, in February, 1778.1
In Council, on the 24th of March, the Governor represented, that on account of the diminution in the number of members, it was now inconvenient, if not
1 Fifth Report of the Committee of the House of Commons, 1810; Second Report, Committee of Secrecy, 1781. App. No. 153.
TREATMENT OF THE ZEMINDARS.
143
impossible, to spare a sufficient number from the 4V-
Council to form the Committee ; that the Committee
was attended with very great expense; that all the 1//S- ends which were proposed to be served by it might be still more effectually accomplished if the Zemin- dars were sent for, the desired information obtained from the Zemindars, and the jummabundy, or sche- dule of rent, settled with them at the seat of govern- ment; that by this expedient the Zemindars would be made to feel more distinctly their dependence upon the government, both for punishment and pro- tection ; that intrigues, and the pursuit of private, at the expense of public interests, which might be ex- pected in the Circars, would be prevented at Madras; and that an indefinite amount of time would be saved.
For these reasons he moved, that the Committee of Circuit should be suspended, and that in future the annual rent of the districts should be settled at the Presidency, to which the Zemindars should, for that purpose, be ordered to repair. The Council acquiesced in his reasons, and without further deliberation the measure was decreed.
As soon as this intelligence reached the Zemindars, they were thrown into the greatest consternation.
It was expressly urged by the provincial councils on the spot, that the Zemindars were in general poor, and hardly able to support their families with any appearance of dignity ; that many of them were altogether unable to defray the expense of a distant journey, and of a residence for any considerable time at the seat of government ; that the greater part of them were in debt, and in arrears to the Company ; that they must borrow money, to enable them to
144
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 4.
1778.
undertake the journey, and still further incapacitate themselves for fulfilling their engagements ; that their absence would greatly augment the confusions of the country, obstructing both the collection of the re- venue, and the preparation of the investment ; and that some of them laboured under the weight of so many years, and so many bodily infirmities, as to render the journey wholly impracticable.1
The President and Council persevered in their original design ; and a considerable number of the Zemindars were brought to Madras. Of the circum- stances which followed, it is necessary that a few should be pointed out. In every case the Governor alone negotiated with the Zemindars, and regulated their payments ; in no case did he lay the grounds of his treaty before the Council ; in every case the Council, without inquiry, acquiesced in his decrees. Of all the Zemindars in the Northern Circars, the most im- portant was Vizeram Raz, the Raja of Vizanagaram, whose territory had the extent of a considerable kingdom, and whose power had hitherto held the Company in awe. The character of the Raja was voluptuousness and sloth ; but along with this he was mild and equitable. Sitteram Raz, his brother, was
1 Of thirty-one Zemindars summoned to Madras, thirteen did not obey the summons, nor was their presence enforced. On those who came no great hardship was inflicted, and the accounts of the alarm and distress which the order created are no doubt much exaggerated, as the arrange- ment withdrew, in some degree, the Zemindars from the influence of the provincial authorities, and deprived them of the valuable Nuzzurs, or presents which they admitted they were in the practice of receiving. The exactions at the Presidency were probably more moderate than those in the provinces. The settlements made with them were not unreasonable nor injudicious. Minutes of Evidence in the case of Sir J. Rumbold, p. 208, et seq. — W.
VIZERAM RAZ AND GOVERNOR RUMBOLD.
145
a man who possessed in a high degree the talents and vices of a Hindu. He was subtle,, patient, full of application, intriguing, deceitful, stuck at no atrocity in the pursuit of his ends, and was stained with the infamy of numerous crimes. Sitteram Raz had so encroached upon the facility and weakness of his brother as to have transferred to himself the principal power in the province. The yoke, how- ever, which he had placed upon the neck of the Raja was galling, and sustained with great uneasiness. Jaggernaut Raz, a connexion of the family, united by marriage with the Raja, who had superintended the details of government, as Dewan, or financial minister, and was universally respected as a man of understanding and virtue, had been recently deprived of his office, through the machinations of Sitteram Raz.1 The points which required adjustment between Yizeram Raz and the Company had suggested a use, or afforded a pretext, for calling him to the Presidency before Sir Thomas Rumbokl arrived. Against this order he remonstrated, on the ground of his poverty, and of the detriment to his affairs which absence would induce. He offered to settle with the Council at Vizagapatam for any reasonable tribute or rent; and complained of his brother Sitteram Raz, whom he described as engaged in
book v.
CHAP. 4.
1778.
1 The characters given of both these persons are unwarranted by the evidence or correspondence adduced. Sitaram’s atrocity and Jagannath’s virtue are both gratuitous. They were both men of ability, and equally so of intrigue, they were both competitors for the control of Vizeram, and the management of the Zemindari, and both equally unscrupulous in taking advantage of every favourable opportunity to provide for their own interests. If any preference might be claimed for either, it seems to have been due to Sitaram. — W.
VOL. IV.
L
146
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. machinations for his ruin. Sitteram had obeyed the
CHAP. 4. # J
very first summons to repair to Madras, and had
1778- negotiated successfully for the farm of one principal division of the lands. He carried another point of still greater importance ; which was to receive from the Presidency the appointment of Dewan to the Raja. To this regulation the Raja manifested the greatest aversion. The President addressed him in the following words ; “ We are convinced that it is a measure which your own welfare and the interest of the Company render indispensably ne- cessary. But should you continue obstinately to withstand the pressing instances that have re- peatedly been made to you by the Board, con- junctively as well as separately, we shall be under the necessity of taking such resolutions as will in all probability be extremely painful to you, but which, being once passed, can never be recalled.” To this Vizeram Raz made the following answer : I “ shall consider myself henceforward as divested of all power and consequence whatever, seeing that the Board urge me to do that which is contrary to my fixed determination, and that the result of it is to be the losing of my country.” The reason which was urged by the President for this arbitrary proceeding was, the necessity of having a man of abilities to preserve the order of the country, and ensure the revenues. The Court of Directors, however, say, in then’ ge- neral letter to the Presidency of Madras, dated the 10th of January, 1781, “ Our surprise and concern were great, on observing the very injurious treatment which the ancient Raja of Yizianagaram received at the Presidency ; when, deaf to his representations
SITTERAM RAZ AND GOVERNOR RUMBOLD.
147
and entreaties, you, in the most arbitrary and un- warrantable manner, appointed his ambitious and intriguing brother, Sitteram Raz, Dewan of the Circar, and thereby put him in possession of the re- venues of his elder brother, who had just informed you that he sought his ruin : F or however necessary it might be to adopt measures for securing payment of the Company’s tribute, no circumstance, except actual and avowed resistance of the Company’s au- thority, could warrant such treatment of the Raja.”1 And in one of the resolutions which was moved in the House of Commons by Mr. Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville, on the 25th of April, 1782, it was declared, “ That the Governor and majority of the Council of Fort St. George did by menaces and harsh treatment, compel Yizeram Raz, the Raja of Visianagrum, to employ Sitteram Raz as the Dewan or Manager of his Zemindary, in the room of Jag- gemaut, a man of probity and good character ; that the compulsive menaces made use of towards the Raja, and the gross ill-treatment which he received at the Presidency, were humiliating, unjust, and cruel in themselves, and highly derogatory to the interests of the East India Company, and to the honour of the British nation.”
Nor was this the only particular in which the Presidency and Council contributed to promote the interest and gratify the ambition of Sitteram Raz. They not only prevailed upon the Raja to be recon- ciled to his brother ; they confirmed his adoption of that brother’s son ; and " agreed,” say the Secret
book v.
CHAP. 4.
1778.
1 Second Report, Committee of Secrecy, 1781 ; Appendix, No. 153.
L 2
148
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
Committee of the House of Commons, “that all
under-leases should for the future he made in the
1778' adopted Raja’s name; that his name should be used in all acts of government ; and that Sitteram Raz his father, who was in reality to enjoy the power, should be accepted of by the Board as a security for this young man.”1
In the opinion of the Directors, even this was not all. They accused the Presidency of underselling the lands by a corrupt connivance with Sitteram Raz. “ The report,” they said, “ of the Committee of Cir- cuit, and the positive evidence of Sitteram Raz, war- rant us in asserting that more than double the amount of the tribute for which you have agreed, might and ought to have been obtained for the Company. We are in possession,” they add, “ of one fact, which, so far as it extends, seems to convey an idea, that the Zemindars have been abused, and their money mis- applied at the Presidency.”2 * * 5
The Directors alluded to the following fact ; that Mr. Redhead, private secretary to Sir Thomas Rum- bold, the Governor, had actually received from Sitteram Raz a bond for one lac of rupees, on con-
1 Second Report, Committee of Secrecy, 1781 ; p. 16. — M. As Vizeram
was childless, his adoption of his nephew was in strict conformity to Hindu
law; the Council of Madras could not choose but concur in it. That the reconciliation between the brothers, however enforced, was permanent, and productive of good effects, was satisfactorily shown by its results.
It was effected in July, 1778. The Chief of Vizagapatam, Mr. Casamajor from June, 1780 to March, 1782, deposes, that during that period the brothers lived in perfect harmony, Sitaram being dewan ; that the revenues had improved and were regularly paid ; and that they could not have been collected at all if the brothers had been at variance. Whatever, therefore, the inducements may have been, this transaction did not deserve the censure cast upon it. — W.
5 See Letter of 10th of January. 1781, quoted above.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE GOVERNMENT CONDEMNED.
149
dition of his services in procuring for the donor the b^k v.
dewanship of the Zemindary, a reconciliation with
his brother, a confirmation of his son’s adoption, the 1778- Zemindary of Ancapilly, and the fort of Vizinaga- ram ; advantages, the whole of which, Sitteram Raz obtained ; and corruption, of which though made known to the President and Council by the proceed- ings of a court of justice, they afforded to the Court of Directors no information.1
Another fact was ; that to the same Mr. Redhead, as appeared by a codicil to his will, Ameer ul Omra, son of the Nabob, had an order from his father to pay a lac of rupees.
Another fact was ; that two lacs and one thousand rupees had been transmitted to Sitteram Raz, while at Madras ; of which money, though he was greatly in arrear, no part was paid to the Company.
It further appeared ; that according to one of the checks devised by the Company upon the corruption of their servants, if Sir Thomas Rumbold pos- sessed in India any money on loan, or merchandise on hand, at the time of entering upon his office, he was by his covenant bound, before he proceeded to recover the money, or dispose of the goods, to deliver to the Board a particular account of such property upon oath: that upon an accurate examination of the records of the Council during the whole of Sir Thomas Rumbold’s administration, no proceedings to that effect could be found: that Sir Thomas Rumbold, nevertheless, had remitted to Europe,
1 Third Report, Committee of Secrecy, 1781, p. 13, 14. Twelfth Re- solution of Mr. Dundas, moved in the House of Commons, 25th April, 1782.
150
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. between the 8th of February, the day of his arrival
at Madras, and the beginning of August in the same
*778- year, the sum of 45,000/., and, during the two subse- quent years, a further sum of 119,0001., the whole amounting to 164,0001. although the annual amount of his salary and emoluments did not exceed 20,0001.
Sir Thomas opposed the evidence of corruption Avhich these transactions imported, by asserting, that he had property in India at the time of his return, sufficient to account for the remittances which he afterwards made. The evidence which he produced consisted in certain papers and books of account, which exhibited upon the face of them sums to a great amount. And one of the witnesses, examined before the Secret Committee of the House of Com- mons, stated his having heard in conversation from Sir Thomas Rumbold, that he had in Bengal, at the time of his last arrival in India, about 90,0001. ; part in Company’s cash ; part in bonds, and mortgages at interest, on some of wffiich three or four years’ inte- rest was due.1
' Second Report, ut supra, p. 21, 22. — M. These particulars are loosely and inaccurately stated. It was proved by the evidence and accounts of Mr. Price, Sir T. Rumbold’s Attorney in Bengal, that at the time when Sir Thomas quitted Bengal in 1772, the property belonging to him was 9,92,201 rupees, exclusive of interest, valued at 111,000/. and bearing interest at from 8 to 10 per cent, which balance was handed over to other attorneys in the beginning of 1773, at which time the amount of interest raised the sum to 121,000/. There was also other property at the same date in Bengal. The evidence as to what became of this sum in the interval between 1773 and 1777 is defective: but it is proved that no addition to Sir Thomas Rumbold’s fortune had been made in England between that time and 1769, and there- fore it is inferred no remittances had been effected. That some property had been left in Bengal is also proved by account, but it may be observed
TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO THE GUNTOOR CIRCAR. 151
The lands or taxes in the circars were let, some for B00K v-
ten years, some for five.1 The jaghire about Madras
was re-let to the Nabob, not for one, but for three 1778- years. And in no case was any satisfactory inquiry performed.
The Directors, complaining that their orders, and the interests of the Company, had been equally dis- regarded, and that while the dignity and feelings of the Zemindars were violated, the rights of the im- mediate cultivators were left without protection ; pronounced upon the whole of these proceedings their strongest condemnation.
In the agreements formed with the Subahdar, or Nizam, respecting the five northern circars, in 1776 and 1768, it was arranged, that Guntoor, which was one of them, should be granted in jaghire to Bazalut Jung, his brother; to be enjoyed by that Prince during his life, or so long as the Subahdar should be satisfied with his conduct ;2 and upon expiration of the interest of Bazalut Jung, to revert to the Company.
About the latter end of the year 1774, the Governor and Council were informed by letters from the chief of Masulipatam, that a body of French troops, under
that in March, 1778, the balance of his acconnt current with his agents is but 1,12,000 rupees; to this is to be added about three lacks paid on account of monies lent, making a total of something more than 40,0007. It is also in evidence that he received as salary 49,0007. There still remains a considerable sum to be accounted for, to explain the large amount of his remittances to England. Minutes of Evidence, 518, et seq. — W.
1 They were let for five years. The only case in which a lease of ten years was granted was to Sitaram Raz, for the Haveli or demesne lands, and this was granted by the Madras Government some time prior to Sir Thomas Rumbold’s arrival. — W.
2 Not as long as the Subahdar should be satisfied, but until he broke friendship with the Company. See the treaty in Minutes of Evidence, p. 72.— W.
152
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 4.
1778.
• the command of M. Lally, were retained in the service . of Bazalut Jung, and received reinforcements and stores by the port of Mootapilly. The mention of a French force in the service of a native prince was sure to kindle the jealousy of the English. The Presidency of Madras held the affair of sufficient im- portance to communicate with the Supreme Council of Bengal on the propriety of using measures to pro- cure the removal of the F rencli from the territories of Bazalut Jung: and received the authority of that Board, not only to insist with Bazalut Jung upon their immediate dismissal ; but to prepare a body of troops for marching to his frontiers, and to threaten him, that “ they would take possession of his country, and negotiate with the Nizam, even by an entire renunciation of the revenues, for the cession of it to the Company.” It was deemed advisable to treat with the Nizam, as principal in the treaty of 1768, and a party to every agreement between the Company and Bazalut Jung: and they desired his co-operation for compelling his brother, either first to dismiss the Europeans from his service, and trust to the English the defence of Guntoor, which was their own ; or, secondly to let that Circar to them at a rent determined by amicable valuation. The Nizam replied in friendly terms ; declaring that he had sent a person of dis- tinction to procure the removal of the French from the service of his brother ; and that “ every article of the treaty should remain fixed to a hair’s breadth.” From the date of these transactions, which extended to the beginning of the year 1776, though several representations had been received of the continuance of the French in the territory of Bazalut Jung, no
TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO THE GUNTOOR CIRCAR.
153
ulterior measures were adopted by the Board until '
the 10th of July, 1778, when the President and
Select Committee entered a minute, expressing a con- l' /8, viction of danger from the presence, in such a situa- tion, of such a body of men. A negotiation, through the medium of the Nabob, without the intervention of the Nizam, was commenced with Bazalut Jung.
That prince was now alarmed with the prospect pre- sented by the probable designs of Hyder Ali, and well disposed to quiet his apprehensions by the benefit of English protection. On the 30th of November, the President presented to the Board a proposal, tendered, by Bazalut Jung, in which that Prince agreed to cede the Guntoor district for a certain annual payment, to dismiss the French from his service, and to accept the engagement of the English to afford him troops for the defence of his country. On the 27th of January 1779, when the treaty was concluded with Bazalut Jung, it was thought expedient to send to the court of the Nizam a resident ; who should ascertain as far as possible the views of that Prince, and his con- nexions with the Indian powers or the E rench ; ob- viate any unfavourable impressions wThich he might have received ; and transact any business to which the relations of the two states might give birth. And on the 19th of April a force, under General Harpur, was ordered to proceed to the protection of the ter- ritory of Bazalut Jung.
In the contest with the Mahrattas, in which, at the Presidencies of Bengal and Bombay, the English were engaged, the Nizam had expressed a desire to remain neutral, though he had frankly declared his hatred of llagoba, and his connexion by treaty with
154
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. Pundit Purdaun, the infant Peshwa, that is, with the
prevailing party of the Poona council ; and though
17/8- an alliance with the Berar government had been at- tempted by the Supreme Council, on the condition of recovering for that government some countries which had been wrested from it by the Subahdar of the Deccan. When Mr. Hollond, who was sent as resi- dent by the Presidency of Madras, arrived at Hyder- abad, the capital of the Nizam, on the 6th of April, he was received with every mark of respect, and with the strongest assurances of a desire to cultivate the friendship of the English. But when, at his audience, the resident proceeded to explain the transactions, which, without the participation of the Nizam, had taken place between the Company and his brother, the painful emotions of his Highness were visible; he read over the articles of the treaty of 1768; affirmed that it was violated by the conduct of the Presidency ; disavowed the right of the English to interfere in the concerns of his family ; declared that, if the treaty was to be regarded, the troops which, without his leave, were about to march into the country, possessed by Bazalut Jung, a dependant of the Subah, ought to be stopped ; if the treaty was not to be regarded, he should be constrained to oppose them. To the apology urged by Mr. Hollond, that the probability of an immediate attack by Hyder Ali left not suffi- cient time for consulting him, the Nizam replied that Hyder had no immediate intention to molest his brother, but was meditating a speedy attack upon the Carnatic, to be conducted, like the former in- vasion of that province, by plundering and burning, while he avoided a battle. The Nizam was jealous
TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO THE GUNTOOR CIRCAR.
155
of the presence of a British force with Bazalut Jung, BC°^4V‘
who, with such assistance, he doubted not, would —
soon aspire at independence. The French troops 1778‘ he had taken into his own service immediately after they were dismissed by his brother ; hut he assured the British resident that he had adopted this ex- pedient solely to prevent them from passing into the service of Hyder or the Mahrattas ; and described them as of little value, the wreck of the army of Bussy, augmented by persons of all nations. This was a contingency, which, in their eagerness to see the French discharged by Bazalut Jung, the Presi- dency had somewhat overlooked. It was no doubt true, as they alleged, that had the Nizam consulted the friendship of the English, he would have ordered the French troops to the coast, whence with other prisoners they might have been sent on their passage to Europe.
In the Select Committee, on the 5th of June, it was proposed by the Governor, and agreed, that the Peshcush or tribute, of five lacks of rupees, which the Company were bound by their treaty to pay, in compromise, for possession of the Northern Circars, the Nizam should he solicited to remit. The payment of it had already been suspended for two years, partly on the pretence that the French troops were not dismissed, partly on account of the ex- hausted state of their finances. When this proposal was announced by Mr. Hollond to the Nizam, he became highly agitated; and declared his con- viction that the English no longer meant to observe the treaty, for which reason he also must prepare for war.
156
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 4.
1779.
Mr. Hollond, who had received instructions to communicate with the Supreme Council, conveyed intelligence of these transactions to Bengal, by sending, on the 3rd of September, copies of the letters which had passed between him and the Presidency of Madras. On the 25th of October, the subject was taken into consideration at Calcutta, when the proceedings of the Madras Presidency, in forming a treaty with Bazalut Jung, without the interposition of his immediate sovereign, the Com- pany’s ally, and in withholding the payment, and proposing the abolition of the peshcush, underwent the most severe condemnation, as tending to impeach the character of the English for justice and faith, and to raise them up a formidable enemy, when they were already exposed to unusual difficulties and dangers. It was agreed, that the case demanded the interference of the Superior Board ; and a letter was wrritten on the 1st of November, 1779, to assure the Nizam that the intentions of the English govern- ment were truly pacific, notwithstanding the inter- pretation which he put upon the proceedings of the Council at Madras. Mr. Hollond was directed to suspend his negotiations till he should receive further instructions from his own Presidency. Letters were also written to that Presidency, ac- quainting them, in terms studiously inoffensive and mild, with the aberrations which it appeared to the Supreme Council that they had made from the line of propriety and prudence. The Nizam declared the highest satisfaction with the friendly assurances which the Supreme Council had expressed. But
TRANSACTIONS RELATIVE TO THE GUNTOOR CIRCAR.
157
their interference excited the highest indignation and
resentment in the Council of Madras. On the 30th
of December a minute was entered by Sir Thomas l7/9- Rumbold, the President, in which he treats the censure which had been passed on their conduct as undeserved, and its language unbecoming; denies the right of the Supreme Council thus to interfere in the transactions of another Presidency, and argues that their controlling power extended to the conclusion alone of a treaty, not to the intermediate negotiation ; he turns the attack upon the Bengal Presidency, enters into a severe investigation of the policy and conduct of the Mahratta war, which in every parti- cular he condemns : this it was which had alienated the mind of the Subahdar, not the regulation with his brother, or the proposed remission of the pesh- cush ; the retention of a peshcush offended not the conscience of the Bengal Presidency, when them- selves were the gainers, the unfortunate emperor of India the sufferer, and when it was a peshcush stipulated and secured by treaty for the most im- portant grants. In terms of nearly the same import the letter was couched in which the Presidency of Madras returned an answer to that of Bengal, and along with which they transmitted the minute of their President.
The Presidency of Madras had not only taken Guntoor on lease from Bazalut Jung, they had also transferred it, on a lease of ten years, to the Nabob of Arcot, though well aware how little the Directors were pleased with his mode of exaction, either in their jaghire, or in his own dominions.
The measure of their offences, in the eyes of the
158
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. Directors, was now sufficiently full. In their letter
of the 10th of January, 1781, after passing the
1779. severest censure upon the abolition of the Committee of Circuit, and the proceedings with the Zemindars of the four Northern Circars, on the treaty with Bazalut Jung, the transactions with the Nizam, and the lease of Guntoor to the Nabob, they dismiss from their service Sir Thomas Rumbold, President, John Hill and Peter Perring, Esquires, Members of their Council of Fort St. George; deprive of their seat in council Mr. Smith and Mr. Johnson; and express their strongest displeasure against the com- mander of their forces Sir Hector Munro.1
1 These transactions are minutely detailed in the Second and Third Reports of the Committee of Secrecy, 1781 ; in the Appendixes to which the official documents are to be found. — M. The author does not appear to have been in possession of the Minutes of the Evidence which was produced in justification of the Bill of Pains and Penalties introduced by Mr. Dundas. — W.
WAR WITH THE FRENCH.
159
CHAPTER Y.
War with the French. — Pondicherry taken. — War with HyderAli. — Presidency unprepared. — Colonel Baillie's Detachment cut off. — Supreme Council suspend the Governor of Fort St. George , and send Sir Eyre Coote to Madras. — Hyder takes Arcot, and overruns the greater part of the country. —
Lord Macartney , Governor of Fort St. George. — Negapatnam and Trincomalee taken from the Dutch. — Treaty between the Nabob of Arcot and Supreme Council. — Assignment of the Nabob's Revenues. — Tellicherry invested. — Great Arma- ments sent from both England and France. — Disaster of Colonel Brathwaites Detachment in Tanjore. — Madras reduced to a State of Famine.
— Death of Hyder Ali. — Tippoo withdraws the Mysorean Army from the Carnatic. — Operations and Fate of General Matthews on the Coast of Malabar. — Siege of Mangalore . — The General at Madras , refusing to obey the Civil Authority, is arrested and sent to Europe. — French and English suspend hostilities in consequence of Intelligence of the Peace in Europe. — Operations of Colonel Fullarton in Coimbetore. — Peace with Tippoo. — Behaviour of Supreme Council to Presidency of Madras.
BOOK V.
War with the French, instead of being, as formerly, CHAP' 5‘ the most alarming to the English of all sources of
1778.
160
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1778.
• danger in India, now held a very inferior station - among the great objects which occupied their atten- tion. In the beginning of July, 1778, intelligence was received in Bengal, which, though somewhat premature, was acted upon as certain, that war had commenced between England and France. Without waiting for a formal notification of this event, which might be only delayed till the French had made themselves strong, it was resolved by a stroke, decisive in their present defenceless situation, to take possession of the whole of the French settle- ments in India. With regard to minor places the attempt was easy ; and Chandernagore, with the factories at Masulipatam and Carical, surrendered without resistance ; Pondicherry was the object of importance, and it was resolved to lose no time in taking measures for its reduction. Instructions were sent to Madras, and reached it with unusual expedition. Major-General Sir Hector Munro, who commanded the Madras army, took post on an elevated ground, called the Red Hills, distant about a league from Pondicherry, on the 8th of August, and on the 9th summoned the place to surrender. But his preparations were still so backward, that it was the 21st of August before he took possession of the hound-hedge, within cannon-shot of the town, and ground was not broken till the 6th of September. It was broken in two places, with a view to carry on attacks upon both sides of the town at once.
The British squadron, consisting of one ship of sixty guns, one of twenty-eight, one of twenty, a sloop of war, and an East Indiaman, sailed from Madras, toward the end of July, under the command
BATTLE BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH.
161
of Sir Edward Vernon, with a view to block up BC°^5V'
Pondicherry by sea. This squadron reached the
scene of action about the time when Sir Hector 177H‘ Munro encamped on the Red Hills and summoned the fort. The French squadron, under M. Tron- jolly, consisting of one ship of sixty-four guns, one of thirty-six, one of thirty-two, and two East India- men armed for war, sailed immediately, and prepared for action. The two squadrons met and engaged on the 10th of August, The battle raged with great fury for the space of seventy-four minutes, wThen the three minor ships of the French squadron quitted the action, and in fifteen minutes after were followed by the rest. The English ships, which, as usually happened in engagements with the French, had suffered chiefly in their rigging, were unable to pursue the French, which had suffered chiefly in their hulls. The French squadron reached Pondi- cherry the same night. Sailing badly, and opposed by the winds and the current, it was the 20th before the English recovered their station. Early on the morning of the 21st the French squadron was per- ceived under easy sail, standing out of Pondicherry road. During the day the alternate failure and opposition of the wfinds prevented the squadrons from closing ; and towards night the English commander stood in for Pondicherry road, and cast anchor, expecting that the enemy, to whom it was an object of so much importance to keep open the commu- nication of Pondicherry by sea, would proceed in the same direction, and commence the action on the following morning. M. Tronjolly availed himself of the night. His squadron was out of sight before VOL. IV. m
162
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1
CHAP. 5
1778.
• the morning, and was no more heard of upon the - coast.
The garrison of Pondicherry was commanded by M. Bellecombe, a man whom this abandonment was not sufficient to dismay. Notwithstanding the total destruction which the works of Pondicherry had sustained in the former war, its fortifications had been restored with great diligence, and it was defended by a garrison who availed themselves of all its advantages. The English opened their batteries on the 18th of September, with the fire of twenty- eight cannon and twenty-seven mortars, and carried on their approaches with unremitting vigour ; but the vigilance, activity, and enterprise of the garrison, compelled them to caution, and, together with the rains, which fell in torrents, retarded their operations. Towards the middle of October, having pushed a gallery on the south side into the ditch of the fort, having made a breach in one of the bastions, destroyed the faces of the two that were adjacent, and prepared a bridge of boats for passing the ditch ; having also destroyed the face of the bastion on the opposite side of the town, and constructed a float for passing the ditch, they resolved to make the assault in three places at once, on the south side, on the north side, and towards the sea, where the enemy had run out a stockade into the water. All the marines, and 200 seamen, were landed from the ships. On the day first appointed for the assault, so much rain unexpectedly fell, as to swell the water in the ditch, blow up the gallery on the southern side, and damage the boats belonging to the bridge. The loss was diligently and speedily repaired. But
EXPEDITION AGAINST MAHE.
163
M. Bellecombe, who had accomplished all that an able governor could perform, to retard the fall of the place, resolved not to throw away the lives of the gallant men who had seconded his endeavours, and the day before the intended assault proposed a capitulation. The English, by the generosity of their terms, and the liberality of their whole pro- cedure, showed their high sense of the honour and gallantry of the enemy whom they had subdued. The garrison were allowed to march out with all the honours of war; and, at the request of M. Belle- combe, the regiment of Pondicherry was compli- mented with its colours. After a delay of some months the fortifications were destroyed.
The French now retained in India nothing but Mahe, a small fort and settlement on the coast of Malabar. On the 27th of November, the question of its reduction was agitated in the Council, when the pride of driving the French entirely out of India enhanced the apparent advantage of the conquest. The difficulties were not inconsiderable : the march of the troops over land, from one side of India to the other, was long and hazardous : the disposition of the native chiefs, through the territory of whom it would be necessary to pass, was not in all cases ascertained to be friendly : the constitution of Euro- peans would be apt to fail, under the difficulties of the march : there was not shipping sufficient to con- vey the expedition by sea ; it was at the same time apprehended that Hyder Ali would view the enter- prise with jealousy and dissatisfaction, and not re- garded as impossible that he would directly oppose it. The importance, however, of having no such
m 2
book v.
CHAP. 5.
1778.
1G4
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. talents as those of Frenchmen to cope with in India,
CHAP. 5. . A
and of not leaving to them a place to which either
l779* troops or stores could be sent, though both Hyder and the Mahrattas had very convenient places with which they would have gladly accommodated them, appeared of sufficient magnitude to induce the Presidency to brave all dangers in undertaking an expedition against Mahe. Towards the end of December, it was planned, that the European portion of the expedition should be conveyed by sea ; that the Sepoys should march over land ; that they should rendezvous at Anjengo, and Colonel Brathwaite receive the command. On the 4th of February intelligence was received at Madras, of the disaster sustained by the army of Bombay, on its march to Poona. The danger to which this event might expose the expedition, now on its wTay to Mahe, underwent deliberation in the Council ; but the confession of weakness, which wTould be implied in the recall of the troops, and the supposed importance of accomplishing the object in view, decided the question in favour of perseverance. Intelligence of the resolution of Hyder to resent the attack produced a hesitation j1 and the importance was discussed of gaining the friendship of that powerful chief by renouncing the enterprise ; but after a short suspen- sion, the design was resumed, and Colonel Brath- waite was instructed to anticipate resistance by velocity of completion. The expedition encountered
1 A formal communication was made by his Vakeel to the Madras Go- vernment that he would oppose an attack upon Mahe, or would retaliate by sending troops into the Carnatic. First Report Committee of Secrecy, p. 21.— W.
HYDER ALI.
165
far less difficulty than there was reason to expect: B00K v
J A CHAP. 5
no opposition was made to the march : the fleet and
the troops arrived safely at the place of rendezvous : 1779-
and Mahe, which was strongly situated, but totally destitute of supplies, surrendered on the 19th of March before a cannon was fired. It was occupied by the English till the 29th of November, when,
Colonel Brathwaite’s detachment being ordered to Surat to reinforce General Goddard, the fort was blown up.1
Before Colonel Brathwaite was enabled to com- ply with his orders, and embark for Surat, he received a requisition from the chief and factory at Tellicherry for the assistance of the whole de- tachment. That settlement had drawn upon itself the resentment of Hyder by protecting a Nair chief who had incurred his displeasure. By the influence of Hyder, a number of the surrounding chiefs were incited to attack the settlement, which was closely pressed, at the time of the evacuation of Mahe. Not conceiving that he could be justi- fied in leaving Tellicherry in its perilous situation,
Colonel Brathwaite moved with his detachment to its support. In consequence of the detention of those troops, the Council at Madras resolved to send another detachment to the assistance of Goddard, which were embarked in the months of January and February, 1780. 2
In 1774, the divisions among the Mahratta chiefs afforded to Hyder an opportunity, which he dexter-
1 First and Second Reports of the Committee of Secrecy; also the Annual Register for 1779 and 1782.
2 First Report, ut supra, p. 56.
166
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK r
CHAP. 5.
1780.
• ously and vigorously improved, of turning the tide - in his affairs. He recovered speedily the territory which he had lost. He diligently employed the interval of repose which succeeded, in restoring order to his country, improving his revenues, aug- menting the number and improving the discipline of his troops. His power soon appeared to be rapidly on the increase ; and afforded alarm to the English, who, by their evasion of the treaty of 1769, were conscious of the hatred they had inspired, and were now jealous of a connexion between him and the French. He continued to extend his dominions, and increase his power, with little interruption, till the latter end of the year 1777, when the Mah- rattas and Nizam Ali combined to chastise him. The Mahrattas, under Hurry Pundit and Purseram, penetrated into the Balaghat country, with an army of 50,000 men ; hut upon the approach of Hyder, who hastened to oppose them, they retreated into the district of Adoni, where they came to an engage- ment on the 5th of January, 1778, and sustained a defeat.
Though Hyder was deeply exasperated against the Presidency of Madras for their continued evasion of treaty, and refusal of assistance, he was induced by the state of affairs to make a fresh proposal in 1778. Harassed, by the hostilities of the Poonah govern- ment, he had been well pleased to support a pre- tender in the person of Ragoba : the English were now involved not only in disputes with the Poonah ministers, but actual operations for the reinstatement of that ejected chief ; and in the beginning of July, 1778, Hyder. through his resident at Madras, made
HYDER ALI.
167
a new overture towards an alliance with the English, bCh°^6v‘
offering his assistance to establish Roganaut Rao in
the office of Peshwa ; and requiring only a supply of 1/SU arms and military stores for which he would pay, and a body of troops whose expenses he would defray. The opinion of the Presidency appears to have been, that such an arrangement might be useful, more particularly to prevent the formation of a connexion between Hyder and the French : they even acknowledged them belief, that had not the treaty of 1769 been evaded, Hyder never would have sought other allies than themselves. The Supreme Council, to whom reference was made, approved in general of an alliance with Hyder ; but being at that time zealous to form a connexion with the Raja of Berar, they directed a modification of the terms in regard to Ragoba, whose cause, they said, was supported, not as an end, but a means now deemed subordinate to the successful issue of the negotiation with Moodajee.
A friendly intercourse subsisted between Hyder and the French. He had been supplied by them with arms and military stores. A number of adven- turers of that nation commanded and disciplined his troops; and they were united by a common hatred of the English power. A desire to save appearances, however, constrained Hyder to congratulate the English upon the reduction of Pondicherry ; but, anticipating the design of attacking Mahe he gave early intimation of the resentment with which he would regard any such attempt. Mahe was situated in the territory of a petty prince on the western coast, who with the other petty princes, his
168
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V ciiap. 5.
1780.
• neighbours, were rendered tributary to Hyder, and - ranked among his dependants. The merchants of various nations, it was declared by Hyder, had settlements, and performed traffic in his dominions ; and all of them, as if they were subjects of his own, he would resolutely defend. To soften his animosity and prevent a rupture, which the dread of his power, and, above all, his apprehended union with the French, clothed in considerable terrors, there was sent to his presence, in January 1779, a person, who, though empowered to declare the resolution of attacking Mahe, should assure Hyder of the desire which the Presidency felt to study his inclinations, and to cultivate his friendship. The messenger was received with hut little respect, and the invasion of the Carnatic was threatened as the retaliation for interfering with Mahe.1 At that particular moment, Hyder was engaged in the conquests of Gooti, of
1 Some confusion has here been made, probably between the written and personal communications that took place between the two governors. In January, 1779 no person was sent to Hyder. A letter was addressed to him by the President, proposing to send a Resident to his court, and announcing the intention of attacking Mahe. No Resident was sent. Something later in the year Sir Thomas Rumbold, without communicating with the Committee, engaged the celebrated Missionary, Schwartz, to go privately to Hyder, and ascertain his real sentiments, the Governor dis- trusting the representation of them from Hyder’s own Vakeel, or from the officers of the Nabob. Schwartz set off on his mission in July, 1779, arrived at Seringapatam in August, was treated by Hyder with kindness, and made the bearer of a letter from him to the government, which he delivered some time in October, as on the 23rd of that month the proceeding was first communicated to the Committee. In February, 1780, a second mission was sent to Hyder in the person of Mr. Gray, renewing offers of alliance with the English, which were disdainfully rejected. Both the missions furnished sufficient evidence of the disposition and purposes of Hyder. First Report of Select Committee, 25. Wilks’s South of India, ii. 242. Life of Schwartz, i. 341. — W.
EMBARRASSMENTS OF THE MADRAS GOVERNMENT.
169
Carnaul, and Cudapah ; the former belonging to the BC°°^5V'
Mahratta chieftain Morari Rao, the two last to their
respective Nabobs, dependants of the Subahdar, and 1/80' thence was hindered from taking effectual measures to defeat the expedition against Mahe. But the Presidency were now convinced of his decided aver- sion ; and were informed of his intention to make peace with the Mahrattas, for enabling him the more completely to carry into execution his designs against the English. Their thoughts were called to the necessity of preparation ; and they saw nothing but dangers and difficulties in their path. The Nabob, as he informed them, and as they knew wTell without his information, was destitute of money : and as destitute of troops, on whom, either for numbers or quality, any reliance could he placed.
Their own treasury was impoverished ; and if the cavalry of Hyder should enter the country, neither could the revenues be collected, nor provisions be procured. More alive than they to the sense of danger, the Nabob urged the necessity of making peace with Hyder, by stopping the expedition to Mahe ; or, on the other hand, of making terms with the Mahrattas and the Subahdar. So far from at- tempting to conciliate either Hyder or the S , hahdar, the Presidency formed with Bazalut Jung the ar- rangement which has been already described, re- specting the Guntoor Circar and military assistance, and which, in the highest degree, alarmed and exas- perated both. The detachment which under Colonel Harpur wras sent to the assistance of Bazalut Jung, attempted to proceed to Adoni, through a part of Cudapah, which Hyder had lately subdued. His
170
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK Ai CHAP. 5,
1780.
• troops barricaded the passes ; and the detachment, - afraid of being surrounded, was obliged to march back and wait for subsequent orders. Hyder not only assured Bazalut Jung, by writing, that he would not permit the English, whom he described as the most faithless and usurping of all mankind, to esta- blish themselves in a place so contiguous to his coun- try, and so important as Guntoor ; but in the month of November he sent a body of troops into the terri- tory of that Prince, took possession of the open coun- try, and joined with Nizam Ali his brother in threat- ening him with instant ruin, unless he broke off all correspondence with the English. In this emer- gency Bazalut Jung was constrained to forbid the march of the English detachment; and to request the restoration of Guntoor, as the only means of pacifying his brother and Hyder, and averting his fate. The question respecting the Circar came under deliberation of the Council on the 30th of December, when the decree was passed that it should not be restored. Though its importance was considerable, because situated as it was between the territories of the Nabob, or, more properly speaking, of the English, in the Carnatic, and the four Northern Circars, it completed the communication between their northern and southern possessions, and, by placing in their hands the port of Mootapilly, deprived Nizam Ali of all connexion with the sea, reduced him to the condition of a merely inland power, and in particular closed the channel by which F rench supplies could easily reach him ; yet the embarrassments created in the Council, by the bargain they had concluded with the Nabob, for a ten years’
SLOWNESS OF MADRAS PREPARATIONS.
171
lease of that Circar contributed not less, it would book v.
CHAP. 5.
appear, than all other inducements, to the resolution
which they formed. 178°-
Under the apprehensions which the resentment and preparations of Hyder inspired, the Presidency, at the end of October, had presented to the Supreme Council the prospect of a rupture with that chieftain, the dangerous magnitude of his powTer, and their want of resources ; had pressed upon them the neces- sity of forming a peace with the Mahrattas, as in that event Hyder would he restrained by his fears ; they had also written in similar terms to General God- dard at Bombay. Soon after, when they were in- formed of the probability that hostilities would be renewed with the Mahrattas, they reiterated the statement of their apprehensions ; and concluded that, destitute as they were of resources for all active operations, they could only collect their troops as much as possible, and wait to see what the resolutions of the Supreme Board would enable them to under- take.
Before the end of November, the Nabob, whose intelligence respecting the proceedings of the Indian powers was in general uncommonly good, informed the Governor, that a treaty had been formed, between Hyder and the Mahrattas, to which Nizam Ali had acceded, for a system of combined hostilities against the English. Though in his answer to the Nabob the Governor appeared to discredit the intelligence, it was not long before he was satisfied of its truth ; and, in the letter, which, on the 31 st of December, the Select Committee addressed to the Supreme Board, they represented the treaty between Hyder and the
172
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1780.
• Mahrattas, as an undoubted fact. Still they were - not so much impressed with a sense of imminent danger, as to be deterred from sending a body of troops to the assistance of Goddard, in lieu of those which were detained at Tellicherry ; being in daily expectation of a regiment from Europe ; conceiving themselves sufficiently strong to cover the principal garrisons ; and deeming it vain, without cavalry, to attempt to protect the open country against the in- vasion of a vast body of horse. In the month of January, 1780, the President wrote to the Court of Directors, that, notwithstanding the alarms in which they had been held by the hostile appearances of Hyder and the Nizam, and notwithstanding the pro- vocation which the support of Ragoba had given both to the Mahrattas and the Nizam, there was still a prospect of tranquillity ; and in the following month, he repeated, in still stronger terms, a similar as- surance.1 Till the month of June, no measures were
1 The President in the early part of 1780 was Sir Thomas Rumbold ; he quitted Madras on the score of ill health in April, and with anticipations, which after the information he had received, and after the strong provoca- tion to hostilities of which he had been the author, were unaccountably delusive. His farewell minute begins, “ It affords me a particular satis- faction that the whole of the Carnatic and the Company’s northern pos- sessions are at present undisturbed, and in perfect tranquillity notwith- standing the unsettled state of affairs with respect to the Mahrattas, and the connexions occcasioned by the march of the Bengal troops across the country to Surat. However well inclined Hyder Ali may be to give disturbance, neither he nor the Nizam have as yet thought proper to put any of their threats into execution ; and from the arrival of the fleet with the king’s troops, I think there is the greatest prospect that this part of India will remain quiet, especially if the Government here cautiously avoid taking any measures that may be likely to bring on troubles. Minutes of Evidence, p. 500. And this, after he had excited Hyder’s resentment by the occupation of Guntoor, the violation of his territory by the unpermitted march through it of Colonel Harpur’s detachment, and the capture of Mahe in defiance of his menaces. — W.
APPROACH OF THE DANGER.
173
pursued which had a reference to the war: and even book v.
r _ CHAP. 5.
then it was only commanded that Colonel Harpur's
detachment, which had been transferred to the com- 178°- mand of Colonel Baillie, should cross the Kistna, to be more in readiness, “rin case of any disturbance in the Carnatic.” On the 19th of June intelligence was received from the officer at Yelore, that Hyder had begun his march from Seringapatam, and that a great army was already collected at Bangalore. On the 28th of the same month, the Select Committee of Fort St. George declared, by letter to the Supreme Board, that Hyder had received from the French islands a great quantity of military stores ; that his army, which he had been rapidly increasing for two years past, was now equipped for immediate service ; that a part of it was already advanced to the borders of the Carnatic ; and that intelligence had been re- ceived of his being actually employed in clearing the road to one of the principal passes.
While the affairs of the Presidency were approach- ing to their present situation, a division had existed not only in the Council, but in the Select Committee itself. The President however and the General had combined ; and they retained a majority in both.
In contemplation of the resentment of Hyder, and the progress of his power, the party, the views of which were apt to discord with those of the leading members of the government, had strongly urged upon them, at various times, the necessity of making pre- parations against the invasion with which they were threatened by Hyder, and of which they had received intimation from various quarters. If the resources of the Nabob and the Presidency combined were un-
174
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
Bc^p 5V- equal to the maintenance of an army sufficient for
the protection of the open country, it behoved them at
1/60' least to assemble the troops ; which, scattered as they were in petty garrisons over a great extent of country, could not, in case of an emergency, be collected with- out a lapse of time; and of which the junction would become hazardous, and perhaps impracticable, if the country were pervaded by Hyder’s horse. The ma- jority, indeed, had expressed their opinion of the ne- cessity of having the troops collected in a body, and ready to act, previously to invasion. But they had not yet become persuaded that the danger was suffi- ciently imminent to render it necessary that prepara- tion should begin. 1
On the 21st of July information was brought from the commander at Amboor, that Hyder and his two sons, with the principal part of his army, had come through the pass, and that his artillery was drawn up in the road to Changama. This intelligence, though it was confirmed from several quarters, was treated with slight regard by the party in power :
1 On the 19th June two of the Select Committee, Messrs. Johnson and Smith, submitted a minute, urging the imminence of the danger, and the necessity of active preparation, and a similar minute wras presented on the 1 7 th July. On both occasions Mr. Whitehill and Sir Hector Munro, forming, by the casting vote of the former as President, the majority, moved that the apprehensions expressed in these minutes were groundless, and that there was no danger of an immediate invasion. Four days after the latter occasion Hyder was in the Carnatic. The history of British India affords no similar instance of such utter want of foresight or such imbe- cility of purpose. See Minutes of Evidence, p. 509 ; and First Report, p. 28. Even then says the Report of the Select Committee, the advice that Hyder Ali had invaded the Carnatic with a powerful army was treated by the people in power with inattention and contempt. It was not till Conjeveram, not fifty miles from the capital, was plundered by the enemy, that they could no longer close their eyes to the dangers of their situa- tion.— W.
HYDER INVADES THE CARNATIC.
175
and on the 23rd, when Lord Macleod represented to the Governor, “ That perhaps the report of Hyder’s invasion might be true, and that he thought at all events they ought to take measures to oppose him ; the Governor answered. What can we do ? We have no money. But added. We mean however, to assemble an army, and you are to command it.” 1 The next day brought undoubted intelligence, that Porto Novo, on the coast, and Conjeveram, not fifty miles from the capital had been plundered by the enemy.
The army, with which Hyder had arrived, was not less than 100,000 strong: Of his infantry, 20,000 were formed into regular battalions, and mostly com- manded by Europeans : His cavalry amounted to 30,000, of which 2,000 were Abyssinian horse, and constantly attended upon his person ; 10,000 were Carnatic cavalry, well disciplined, of which one half had belonged to the Nabob, and after having been trained by English officers, had either deserted or been disbanded for want of ability to pay them : He had 100 pieces of cannon managed by Europeans, and natives, who had been trained by the English for the Nabob : And Monsieur Lally, who had left the service of the Subahdar for that of Hyder, was pre- sent with his corps of Frenchmen or other Europeans, to the amount of about 400 men ; and had a princi- pal share in planning and conducting the operations of the army.
book v.
CHAP. 5.
1780.
1 Lord Macleod was the commanding officer of the European regi- ment which had lately arrived. See the extract of his Letter to the Secretary of State, quoted in the First Report of the Secret Committee, p. 44 and 51.
176
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. The arrival of Hycler, and the rapidity with which
his cavalry overran the country, and spread ruin
1780. and desolation in a circle of many miles round Madras, filled the Carnatic immediately with terror and dismay. The people fled from the open country to the woods, and the mountains ; their houses were set on fire ; the fields were left uncultivated, or the crops destroyed : Alarm succeeded alarm : Intel- ligence poured in from all quarters, that one place after another was assailed ; till every part of the Carnatic frontier appeared to be entered, and even the northern Circars exposed to a similar fate.
On the 24th of July, the Select Committee as- sembled in deliberation. The object of greatest urgency was, to call the troops together, and form an army in the field. The European regiment at Poonamallee, that of Velore, the battalion of Euro- peans, and the four battalions of sepoys cantoned at Pondicherry, the battalion of sepoys, and the grena- diers of the European battalion at Madras, the batta- lion at Trichinopoly, and the artillery at the mount, received orders to be in readiness to march. Absent officers w7ere summoned to join their corps ; and all things necessary for an army in the field were ordered to be immediately prepared : Letters were sent to the other Presidencies and settlements : The Governor-General and Council were importuned for money ; and informed, that, if the Presidency were assured of pecuniary means, and not embarrassed by their ignorance of the state of affairs between the Bengal government and the Mahrattas, they would produce an attack on the possessions of Hyder on the
PLANS OF THE MADRAS GOVERNMENT.
177
western coast, by assistance sent to the detachment 5V‘
at Tellicherry, and the co-operation of his Majesty’s
fleet. J78°-
Colonel Baillie, who commanded the detachment in Guntoor, consisting of about 150 Europeans, in- fantry and artillery, and upwards of 2000 sepoys, was instructed to operate a diversion, by attacking Cudapah, or some of the other possessions of Hyder.
This step was vehemently opposed in council by the antagonizing party ; as sure, they said, to fail in de- taching from his principal object any part of the attention or forces of Hyder ; and sure to enfeeble their defence at home, by the absence of so im- portant a part of their forces, which ought to be directed to march without a moment’s delay by the safest route to Madras. As an additional reason for persisting in their original orders, the Governor and his majority alleged their doubts of being able to procure provisions for a greater number of troops than the marching orders already embraced. But on the 31st of July, when a letter was received from Colonel Baillie, representing the difficulties he expe- rienced in finding subsistence for his troops, or in detaining the bullocks absolutely necessary for his march, they altered their instructions, and directed him to proceed towards the Presidency, taking such a route as might offer a chance of intercepting some of the enemy’s convoys.
By the majority, in which both the Governor and the General were comprised, it was resolved, that the troops should assemble, and the army should be formed at a place near Conjeveram ; where they would be nearer to the stores of provisions laid up
VOL. IV.
N
178
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \ CHAP. 5.
1780.
• by the Nabob in the forts, and prepared to yield a - readier support to the garrisons which the enemy might assault. To constitute the majority of the Governor, it so happened, that the voice of the General was requisite ; and if he departed to take the command of the army, that majority would be lost. On the ground that his councils at the Presi- dency were of more importance at this moment, than his presence with the army, it was moved and voted that he should not depart ; and that the command of the army should be intrusted to Lord Macleod. When the plan of operations, however, and in parti- cular that part of it which consisted in assembling the army at Conjeveram, was communicated to that officer, he represented the danger with which, now that the country was invaded, the separate detach- ments would march to a place so distant and ex- posed; preferred the security of forming a junction in the neighbourhood of Madras, and of not taking the field till an army should be assembled sufficient at least to cope with the principal bodies of the enemy’s horse ; and declared his aversion to adopt a respon- sibility in the execution of plans of which his judg- ment did not approve. These observations appear to have piqued the General, who insisted upon the advantage of assembling close to the scene of action, for the purpose of protecting the forts ; and instead of acknowledging the difficulty of uniting the forces near Conjeveram, he ventured to pledge himself to the Committee for carrying that measure into effect. Upon this, it became a matter of necessity, that he should leave his seat in the Select Committee ; but to preserve its majority to the party to which he
PLAN AGAINST HYDER’s CONVOYS. 179
belonged, a new expedient was devised. On the ' '
allegation, that his plans had no chance of support,
and that his reputation, neither as an officer nor a 1>80- man was safe, if the managing power were to pass into the hands of the opposite party, it was, previous to his departure, proposed, and what was thus pro- posed, the majority which he helped to constitute had pre-ordained to decree, that a person, whom he named, should be appointed as an acting member of the Committee till his return. It naturally fol- lowed, that such proceedings should be severely criticized by the opposite party ; and one member of the Council excited so much resentment by the asperity of his remarks, that the majority, first replied to him with greater intemperance than that which they condemned ; then suspended him from his seat at the Board ; and lastly the General wrote him a challenge.
On the 2d of August, while preparations were making, and the army was not yet assembled, a pro- ject was adopted for sending a strong detachment toward the passes, with a view to intercept the enemy’s convoys. Colonel Cosby was the officer chosen to command the expedition ; and a force was provided for him, out of the troops stationed at Trichinopoly and Tanjore, strengthened by two re- giments of the Nabob’s cavalry from Tinivelly which joined the detachment at Trichinopoly on the 27th of August. Several causes of retardation operated on the expedition ; but the grand impe- diment arose from the disaffection of the inhabitants.
The sort of partnership sovereignty, which the
N 2
180
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1 CHAP. 5
1780.
• Nabob and the Company had established in the Car- . natic, had hitherto been extremely oppressive to the people, and had completely succeeded in alienating their minds. Though Hyder was carrying devastation over the country, he was less detested as a destroyer, than hailed as a deliverer. While Colonel Cosby found himself in the greatest distress for intelligence, wThich by no exertion he was able to procure ; every motion of his own was promptly communicated to Hyder by the people of the country : 1 He wTas disappointed and betrayed even by the district officers of the Nabob : As he advanced, his march became so much infested by parties of the enemy’s horse, that all hope of any successful operation against the convoys was wholly cut off ; and the danger which surrounded the de- tachment made it necessary to think of nothing but the means of re-uniting it with the army. A total want of intelligence reduced Colonel Cosby to mere conjecture in choosing his route ; and he fell in with the army by accident, as it was retreating before Hyder, on the 12th of September near Chingliput.
Not only every day brought fresh intelligence of the conquest and devastation effected by Hyder; Madras itself, on the 10th of August, was thrown into
1 Captain Cosby, in his official letter, dated Gingee, 5th September, 1780, says, “ There is no doubt but that Hyder has, by some means, greatly attached the inhabitants to him, insomuch that my hircarrahs {spies) tell me, the news of my marching from Thiagar was communicated from village to village all the way to Trinomallee, from whence expresses were sent to Hyder ; and in my march yesterday from Tricaloor, the country being extremely woody, the line was several times fired upon by match-lock fellows collected together, I suppose, from different villages, by Ilyder’s Amuldars. Some of them, till my approach, were issuing orders six miles from this.” First Report, ut supra, Appendix, No. 3.
HYDER LAYS SIEGE TO ARCOT.
181
alarm. A party of the enemy’s horse committed •
ravages as near as St. Thomas’s Mount ; and the
inhabitants of the open town began to take flight. 1,>i0
On the 1 4th of August, the General was obliged to report, that the place of rendezvous, which he had persisted in recommending, was unfit ; the want of bullocks to carry provisions rendering the march impracticable. On his recommendation, it was therefore agreed, that the troops should meet at St. Thomas’s Mount ; and there wait till eight days’ pro- visions, and bullocks to carry it, could be procured.
Colonel Brathwaite, after sending away from Pondicherry all the French officers capable of ser- vice, and taking an oath of fidelity from the prin- cipal Frenchmen that remained, commenced his march. He arrived at Carangoly on the 12th of August ; and found it garrisoned by only a petty officer of the Nabob and twenty sepoys. They would have surrendered it, he was well assured, on the very first summons ; and had it not by a singular oversight, as it commanded the only road by which Brathwaite could proceed, been neglected by the enemy, who had a large body of horse in its neigh- bourhood, the most serious consequences might have ensued. The country through which he passed after leaving Carangoly would have rendered it so difficult for him to escape, if attacked by the enemy, that he formed a very contemptible opinion either of Hyder’s military skill or his means of offence, when he allowed so favourable an opportunity to be lost. On the 18th, after a hazardous and fatiguing march, Colonel Brath- waite arrived at Chingliput, when he received orders to join the army at the Mount.
182
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I CHAP. 5.
1780.
After various speculations and reports respecting - the plan of hostilities which Hyder would pursue, uncertainty was at last removed, by his marching towards Arcot, and taking ground before it on the 21st of August. The danger of that place excited no little interest and alarm. It was not only the capital of the province, but contained the principal portion of the very defective stores which the Nabob had provided ; and afforded to Hyder a situation, highly convenient, both for the accommodation of his troops, and for spreading his operations over the province. From every quarter alarming intelligence arrived. The troops of Hyder were expected in the circar of Guntoor, which had neither forts nor sol- diers sufficient to oppose them, and where the Zemin- dars were disaffected to the Company and in cor- respondence with the enemy. An army of Mahrattas from Berar had marched into Cuttack, and brought into imminent danger the defenceless state of the northern circars. A body of Hyder’s troops had united with the Nairs, and having driven the Com- pany’s troops from the Island of Durampatnam, threatened Tellicherry, with all the British posses- sions on the coast of Malabar. The enemy had appeared on the frontier of Madura, and the admiral of the fleet communicated to the President and Select Committee intelligence which he had received from Europe, and on which he relied, that a French naval and military force might soon be expected in India.
While pressed by dangers thus extraordinary both in number and degree, the Presidency found their treasury empty ; they had endeavoured to borrow money upon the Company’s bonds with little effect,
DIFFICULTIES OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT.
183
the loans of the Nabob bearing a better interest ; 5V •
they made urgent applications to the Nabob for
pecuniary and other supplies, and received from him 1/8°- a deplorable picture of his own poverty and neces- sities, of the wretched and unproductive condition of the whole country, and the oppressive load of his debts, principally, he said, produced, by the money which he had expended and lost in the conquest of Tanjore: To a similar application made to the Raja of Tanjore, the Raja replied, with a truth not liable to dispute, that from the total exhaustion of his country by the recent conquest, and by the oppres- sive administration of the Nabob for several years, he was wholly incapable of furnishing any consider- able supplies. By desertion for want of pay, or disbanding for want of ability to pay, the Nabob’s army was greatly reduced. Even that reduced army was mutinous from the length of its arrears, and a source of apprehension rather than of hope.
On the 25th of August, the General left the Presi- dency, and joined the army which was encamped at St. Thomas’s Mount. Of cavalry, there was one regiment, belonging to the Nabob, but commanded by English officers, and it refused to march unless it received its arrears. The men were deprived of their ammunition and arms ; and about fifty-six of them only consented to serve. The rest of the army consisted of the King’s 73rd regiment, one battalion of the Company’s European troops, with the grena- diers of another, five battalions of sepoys, a com- pany of marksmen, two troops of cavalry, and a large train of artillery, amounting, officers included, to
184
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. 5209. 1 With the utmost difficulty as much rice had
been provided as would serve the troops for eight
178°- days ; the sepoys were obliged to be loaded with four days’ supply ; and the utmost efforts barely sufficed to procure bullocks to carry the remainder. The General, notwithstanding, insisted upon loading his march with a number of heavy cannon ; of which, as he had no fortifications to attack, the use did not appear to be very remarkable. On the 26th, the army left the Mount, and, after a march of four days, reached the camp near Conjeveram. During the two last days, the rain had fallen with great violence, had broken the roads, and rendered the march, especially with heavy artillery, slow and fatiguing. The enemy’s cavalry had pressed upon them in great numbers, and wounded and taken some of the men. The agent of the Nabob, who accompanied the army, and on whom the General depended to procure both provisions and intelligence, informed him, that he had no power for procuring either the one or the other ; and his only remaining resource was in the paddy in the fields about Conjeveram.
It had been concerted, that the detachment of Colonel Baillie should reach Conjeveram on the day after the arrival of General Munro and the army.2 But on the 31 st, a letter from Baillie gave informa- tion that he had been stopped about five miles north from Trepassore by a small river which the rains had
1 1481 European infantry, 294 artilery, 3434 sepoys, thirty-two field, pieces, four heavy cannon, and five mortars.
2 The junction might have been effected at Madras without difficulty or danger on the 25th or 2Gth ; and it is clear that the main army should not have advanced until the junction had been effected. Wilks, ii. 267. — W
baillie’s detachment.
185
swelled. On the same day, it was reported by some deserters that Hyder had left Arcot, was crossing the river Palar, and marching with his whole army toward Conjeveram. On the 3rd of September, the same day on which Baillie crossed the river by which he had been impeded, the enemy encamped at five miles’ distance in front of the army near Conjeveram. The continuance of the rains, and the necessity of collecting the rice in the fields, and heating it for themselves out of the husk, greatly incommoded and harassed the troops. On the 6th, the enemy moved his camp to the north-east ; upon which the English advanced to a high ground about two miles upon the road towards Bailee and Trepassore, having the enemy at a distance of about two miles upon their left. While this movement was performing, Hyder had sent forward his son Tippoo Saib with a large body of the flower of his army to cut off the English detachment with Colonel Baillie, who had now advanced to Perambaucum, distant from the main army about fifteen miles. Baillie made a disposition to resist a prodigious superiority of force ; sustained a severe conflict of several hours ; and at last repelled the assailants. By a letter on the 8th, he informed Munro, that upon a review after the battle he found the movement, requisite for joining him, beyond the powers of his detachment ; and intimated the neces- sity, that the General should push forward with the main body of the army. The General now found himself pressed by dangers, to whatever quarter he turned. All his provisions consisted in a small quantity of paddy which he had been able to collect in a pagoda. If he moved, the enemy would occupy
book v.
CHAP. 5.
1780.
186
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V chap. 5.
1780.
• his ground, and cut him off from the means of sub- - sistence. With the concurrence of his principal officers, he adopted an expedient, of which the dan- ger was scarcely, perhaps, less formidable ; that of still further dividing his little army, by sending a strong detachment, which, joining Baillie, might enable him to proceed. About nine o’clock in the evening of the 8th, Colonel Fletcher marched with the flank companies of the 73rd regiment, two com- panies of European grenadiers, one company of sepoy marksmen, and ten companies of sepoy grena- diers. The field-pieces, which the General proposed to send with the detachment. Colonel Fletcher de- clined, as calculated to impede his march. The men left even their knapsacks, and marched with only two days’ provisions. Being joined by this detachment, Baillie was instructed to move in the evening of the 9th, and march the whole of the night. On that night the tents of the main army were struck, and the men lay on their arms. About 12 o’clock some cannon and musketry were heard ; but they pre- sently ceased, and all was still. A little before day- break, a heavy firing of cannon and musketry was heard at a distance. It was soon perceived that the enemy’s army had moved : The General gave orders to march by the right in the direction of the firing. After proceeding about four miles, he ordered guns to be fired, as a signal of his approach ; and after a mile and a half, he repeated the signal. A great smoke was suddenly perceived, and the firing ceased. Supposing that Baillie had repulsed the enemy, the General led the army back into the road, in hopes to meet him. After marching about two miles, he
PROCEEDINGS OF GENERAL MUNRO. 187
met a wounded sepoy, who had escaped from the book v.
fight, and told him that Colonel Baillie was entirely
defeated. The General concluded that the safety of 178°- the army depended upon its returning to Conjeveram ; where it arrived about six in the evening, and where the arrival of more wounded sepoys confirmed the report of the disaster.
While the English general was placed in so com- plete an ignorance of the proceedings of the enemy,
Hyder had intelligence of every transaction of the English camp : he was correctly informed of the route of Colonel Fletcher, the number and quality of his troops, the time of their march, and even the cir- cumstance of leaving their cannon behind. He sent a strong detachment to intercept them. But the sagacity of Fletcher suggesting suspicion of his guides, he altered his route, and, by cover of night, evaded the danger. The junction of the two detach- ments, after the defeat by Baillie, of so large a portion of the enemy a few days before, struck alarm into the Mysorean camp. Even the European officers in the service of Hyder regarded the junction as a masterly stroke of generalship, intended for the immediate attack of his army both in front and rear.
Lally himself repaired to Hyder, and entreated him to save his army from destruction by a timely retreat.
The resolution of Hyder was shaken, till two of his spies arriving, assured him, not only that the English army at Conjeveram was not in motion, but that it was making no preparation to that effect. To his European officers this intelligence appeared so per- fectly incredible, that they concluded the spies to be sold, and entreated Hyder not to incur his ruin by
188
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. confiding in their report. Hyder immediately formed
his plan. A difficult part of the road was enfiladed
178°- with concealed cannon ; and large bodies of the best part of his infantry were placed in ambush on either side ; a cloud of irregular cavalry were employed to engage the attention of the English main army in the direction of Conjeveram, while Hyder, with the main body of his army, lay to watch the attack.
Colonel Fletcher joined with his detachment at half-an-hour after six in the morning of the 9th. They reposed during the day; and after the parade in the evening, Colonel Baillie gave orders to be in readiness to march. Between eight and nine o’clock, the men moved off toward the left, by way of Sub- deverim. The enemy began immediately to discharge their rockets ; but, from the vigilance of the flanking parties, did little execution. A little after ten o’clock several guns opened on the rear. The detachment countermarched, and formed in line with the front toward Perambaucum. The enemy keeping up an incessant, though not very destructive fire, and discovering no inclination to advance, Colonel Baillie ordered his men to face to the right, and march into an avenue, which they had passed a few minutes before. The enemy’s cannon began to do great execution ; when Baillie detached a captain, with five companies of Sepoys, to storm their guns. Though a water-course, which happened at that time to be unfordable, prevented this detachment from performing the service on which they were commanded, the intelligence of their march, which was immediately communicated to the enemy, threw their camp into alarm ; their guns were heard drawing
OPERATIONS OF HYDER.
189
off towards the English front, and their noise and book v.
. . ° CHAP. 5.
irregular firing resembled those of an army under a
sudden and dangerous attack. A strong conviction 178°- of the necessity of preserving every portion of the little army, with which the mighty host of the enemy was to be withstood, suggested, in all probability, both to Colonel Baillie and to the General, a caution which otherwise they would not have observed.
For what other reason Colonel Baillie forbore to try the effect of an attack during the apparent con- fusion of the enemy ; or, for what reason, unless a hope of being supported by the General with an attack on the opposite side, he did not, when the firing ceased, endeavour to proceed, hut remained in his position till morning, it is not easy to divine.
During the night, Tippoo, who had commanded only a detachment of the army in the preceding attack, had an opportunity of drawing his cannon to a strong post on the road, by which the English were obliged to pass ; and of sending to his father advice, on which he immediately acted, of the advantage of supporting the attack with the whole of his army.
At five o’clock in the morning Colonel Baillie’s detachment began to advance. A few minutes after six, two guns opened on their rear; and large bodies of horse appeared on their flanks. Four guns, which began to do considerable execution on their flanks, were successfully stormed; and the Pagoda of Conjeveram, the object of their hopes, and the termination of their perils and labour, began to appear ; when they were informed that the whole host of Hyder was approaching. ‘f Very well,” said Baillie, “ we shall be prepared to receive them.”
190
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. And presently after, upwards of sixty pieces of
cannon, with an immense quantity of rockets, began
178°- to play upon this little army. Great confusion was produced among the numerous followers of the camp, who were driven in upon the line ; and Hyder’s numerous cavalry, supported by his regular infantry, and his European corps, bore upon every point of attack. Nothing ever exceeded the steadiness and determination with which this handful of men sustained the fury of their enemies. No effort could break their order; while Sepoys, as well as Euro- peans, repeatedly presented and recovered anus, with as much coolness and regularity, as if they had been exhibiting on a parade. Every attack of the enemy was repulsed with vast slaughter. Their courage began to abate ; and even Hyder himself was per- plexed. A movement executed by Colonel Baillie to the right, apparently with a view to attack the enemy’s guns, increased the terrors of Hyder ; and he consulted Lally on the propriety of a retreat; Lally replied, that as the main army of the English wms probably advancing upon his rear, no expedient remained hut to break through the detachment. When the heroic bravery of this little band presented so fair a prospect of baffling the host of their assail- ants, two of their tumbrils blew up ; which not only made a large opening in both lines, but at once deprived them of ammunition, and overturned and disabled their guns. Their fire was now in a great measure silenced, and their lines were no longer entire ; yet so great was the awe which they inspired, that the enemy durst not immediately close. From half after seven, when the tumbrils blew up, they
BRAVERY OF THE DETACHMENT. 191
remained exposed to the fire of the cannon and 5V *
rockets, losing great numbers of officers and men,
till nine o’clock, when Hyder, with his whole army, 1/80- came round the right flank. The cavalry charged in separate columns, while bodies of infantry, inter- spersed between them, poured in volleys of musketry with dreadful effect. After the sepoys were almost all destroyed, Colonel Baillie, though severely wounded, rallied the Europeans who survived. Forming a square, and gaining a little eminence, without ammunition, and almost all wounded, the officers fighting with their swords, and the men with their bayonets, they resisted and repelled thirteen attacks, many of the men when desperately wounded disdaining to receive quarter, and raising themselves from the ground to receive the enemy on their bayonets. Though not more than 400 men, they still desired to he led on, and to cut their way through the enemy. But Baillie, despairing now of being relieved by Munro, and wishing, no doubt, to spare the lives of the brave men who surrounded him, deemed it better to hold up a flag of truce.
The enemy at first treated this with contempt.
After a few minutes, the men were ordered to lay down their arms ; with intimation that quarter would be given. Yet they had no sooner surrendered, than the savages rushed upon them with unbridled fury ; and had it not been for the great exertions of Lally, Pimorin, and other French officers, who implored for mercy, not a man of them probably would have been spared. The gallant Fletcher was among those who lay on the field of battle. About 200 Europeans were taken prisoners, reserved to the horrors of a
192
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 5.
1780.
captivity more terrible than death. The inhuman treatment which they received was deplored and mitigated by the French officers in the service of Hyder, with a generosity which did honour to European education. “ No pen,” says an eye- witness, and a participator of their kindness,1 “ can do justice to the humanity of those gentlemen, without whose assistance, many of our officers must have perished: hut their merit will live for ever embalmed in the hearts of all who felt or witnessed their beneficence.”
Hyder withdrew to Damul, a place about six
1 See “A Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of the Officers, Soldiers, and Sepoys, who fell into the Hands of Hyder Ali, after the Battle of Conjeveram, September 10, 1780; by an officer of Colonel Baillie’s Detachment.” It forms the second volume of the work entitled, “ Memoirs of the late War in Asia,” published by Murray, in 1788. N. B. Before reading the proof of this sheet, I have had the advantage of perusing the account of the same action in the second volume (not yet published) of “ Historical Sketches, &c. by Colonel Wilks.” The account in the text is taken from the journal of one eye-witness. Colonel Wilks gives an account from that of another, much less favourable to the de- tachment and its commander. According to the authority of Colonel Wilks a series of military blunders, and not much of mental collectedness, marked the conduct of the leader; and no little confusion and panic appeared among the men. Which account are we to believe ? Why this ; that when proof is balanced, it is always more probable that men have acted like ordinary men, than that they have acted like heroes. — M. The accounts are less incompatible than the author thinks them. Colonel Wilks speaks of no panic amongst the men, nor of confusion, till after the explosion of the tumbrils : his description is equally favourable to their courage and conduct as that of the text. Both accounts agree as to one principal cause of the catastrophe, the unnecessary halts made by Baillie, his neglecting to advance after the first repulse of the enemy, and remaining in position until day-break. Had the time thus wasted been employed in pursuing the march, he must, by the morning, have been so close to the main body that their co-operation could no longer have been prevented, and Hyder would have either suffered a defeat, or been compelled preci- pitately to retire. There was no want of courage, but a sad deficiency of military judgment and decision. — W.
THE ENGLISH GENERAL RETREATS.
193
miles from the scene of action, and the next day returned to his camp, where he had left the tents standing, and baggage unmoved, when he marched to the attack of the unfortunate Baillie. He had acted, during the whole of these operations, under the greatest apprehension of the march of Munro upon his rear. And had not that General been deterred, through his total want of intelligence, and his deficiency in the means of subsistence, from marching to the support of Baillie; had he fallen upon the rear of the enemy while the detachment was maintaining its heroic resistance in front, it is probable that the army of Hyder would have sustained a total defeat. On returning to Conje- veram, after intelligence of the fate of the detach- ment, the General found that the provisions, which he had been so unwilling to expose, amounted to barely one day’s rice for the troops. Concluding that he should be immediately surrounded by Hyder’s cavalry, and cut off from all means of providing any further supply, he began at three o’clock the next morning to retreat to Chingliput, after throwing into a tank the heavy guns and stores which he could not remove. Hyder, informed of all the motions of the English army, sent a body of not less than 6000 horse, who harassed continually their flanks and rear, wounded some of the men, and cut off several vehicles of baggage. Through several difficulties, they reached, about eleven at night, a river, within a mile and a half of Chingliput, so deep, that the rear of the army passed only at nine o’clock on the following morning. At this place the General expected to find a stock of provisions ; but, VOL. iv. o
BOOK V. CHAP. 5.
1780.
194
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1780.
• with all his endeavours, could hardly procure paddy - for a day. Fortunately for Colonel Coshy, as he was about to make a forced inarch to Conjeveram, he met with one of the fugitive sepoys from Colonel Baillie’s camp, upon whose intelligence he proceeded to Chingliput, and though considerably harassed by the enemy on his march, joined the army in safety on the morning of the 12th. Leaving the sick, and part of the baggage, at Chingliput, the whole army, at six o’clock on the morning of the 13th, began their march for the Mount, at which they arrived in the afternoon of the following day. Nothing could exceed the consternation and alarm of the Presidency, which now trembled even for Madras ; and destitute as it was not only of provisions, but supplies of every kind, if Hyder had followed the English with his usual impetuosity, and with his whole army assailed the place, it is hard to tell how nearly, if not com- pletely, he might have involved the Carnatic interests of the nation in ruin.1
On the 4th of September the Supreme Council in Bengal had deliberated upon the situation of the Pre- sidency of Madras, and the propriety of adding to their pecuniary resources ; but as the Supreme Coun- cil were still uncertain as to the reality of Hyder’s invasion, or the success of the Presidency in raising money, it was agreed, that proceedings should be delayed till further intelligence.
1 For the original documents relative to this irruption, see First Re- port, ut supra, with its Appendix. In “ Memoirs of the late War in Asia,” i. 134 — 168, besides the concomitant transactions, is a narrative of the transactions of Baillie’s detachment, from the information of an officer who belonged to it. The Annual Register for 1782 contains a tolerable account, chiefly drawn from the Parliamentary Reports.
DELIBERATIONS IN THE BENGAL COUNCIL.
195
The Supreme Council were highly dissatisfied with 5V'
the Governor and Council of Fort St. George, who
had not only passed the severest strictures on their 1780- policy, but, in the business with Nizam Ali, the Subahdar, had acted contrary to their declared incli- nations, and even commands. The Madras Presi- dency, offended with the interference of the Supreme Council in their negotiation with the Subahdar, and with their own envoy, Mr. Hollond, as an instru- ment in that interference, resolved that he should be recalled. The Supreme Council, being made ac- quainted with that resolution by Mr. Hollond, and apprehending a greater estrangement of the mind of the Nizam by so abrupt a conclusion of the corre- spondence with the Company, came to an opinion, on the 14th of February, 1780, that advantage would arise from appointing a person to represent them- selves at the Nizam’s court; and to obviate the appearance of disunion between the Presidencies, they made application to the Governor and Council of Madras, whose servant Mr. Hollond more im- mediately was, for their permission to vest that gentleman with the office ; and in the mean time directed him to remain with the Nizam till the answer of the Presidency was obtained. The of- fended minds of the Presidency, not satisfied with the recall of Mr. Hollond, which had not produced an immediate effect, suspended him from their ser- vice. The Supreme Council, now freed from their delicacy in employing the servant of another Pre- sidency, appointed Mr. Hollond immediately to represent them at the court of the Subahdar. They transmitted also their commands to the Governor
o 2
4
196
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1780.
• and Council of Madras, under date the 12th of June, - 1780, to make restitution of the Circar of Guntoor. N o step however had as yet been taken in the exe- cution of that measure hy the government of Madras: and this the Governor-General represented, as a conduct which demanded the most serious considera- tion, and the decided interposition of the Sovereign Board.1
On the 25th, however, of the same month of Sep- tember, when intelligence had arrived not only of the actual invasion of Hyder, but of the' discomfiture of Baillie, and the retreat of the army to the vicinity of Madras, with the poverty and helplessness of the Presidency, and the general havoc of the province by a barbarous foe, the Governor-General, regarding only the means of recovering the blow, and meeting the exigency with a clear judgment and a resolute mind, proposed, that all the faculties of their govern- ment should he exerted, to re-establish the power of the Company on the coast. He moved that the sum of fifteen lacs of rupees, and a large detachment of European infantry and artillery, should immediately be sent to the relief of Madras : he also moved that Sir Eyre Coote should be requested to take upon himself, as alone sufficient, the task of recovering the honour and authority of the British arms : and recommended that an offer of peace should be made without delay to the Mahratta state. Upon the joint consideration, first, of the indigence and dangers of the Bengal government ; secondly, of the proba- bility of mismanagement on the part of the govem-
1 Second Report of the Committee of Secrecy.
RELIEF SENT TO MADRAS FROM BENGAL.
197
ment of Madras; and, lastly, of the resources which BC°°^5V'
that government still possessed, Mr. Francis objected
to the magnitude of the supply, and would have sent 1/8a only one-half of the money and none of the troops, while peace, he said, should he concluded with the Mahrattas on any terms which they would accept.
It was agreed that Sir Eyre Coote, and not the government of Madras, in whom confidence could not he wisely reposed, should have the sole power over the money which was supplied ; it was resolved, that the strong measure should be taken of suspend- ing the Governor of Fort St. George, for his neglect of their commands in not restoring the Circar of Guntoor; and on the 13th of October, Sir Eyre Coote sailed from Calcutta, with a battalion of Euro- pean infantry consisting of 330 men ; two companies of artillery consisting of 200 men, wTith their comple- ment of 630 Lascars, and between forty and fifty gen- tlemen volunteers. The prejudices of the Sepoys rendered it hazardous to attempt to send them by sea ; and till the waters abated, which in the rainy season covered the low lands on the coast, it was not practicable for them to proceed by land. The intention, indeed, was entertained of sending by land four or five battalions in the course of the next or the ensuing month, but to that proceeding another diffi- culty was opposed. Moodajee Bonslah, the regent of Berar, after showing a great readiness to meet the proposal of an alliance with the English, had afterwards temporized ; and, though he afforded Colo- nel Goddard a safe passage through his dominions, declined all co-operation by means of his troops, and even evaded a renewal of the negotiation. When the disaffection of Nizam Ali towards the English was
198
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
5V' increased, that chieftain united his councils with the
Poonah rulers, and with Ilyder Ali, for the means
1/b0' of gratifying his resentments; and they joined in threatening the Regent of Berar, if he afforded assist- ance to the English. The Regent distrusted his means of resistance, and dared not to form the inter- dicted conjunction ; The Nizam and the Poonah chiefs even insisted that he should send an army to invade and ravage Bengal, and he was afraid to resist the command : as he had no intention however to bring upon himself the resentment of the English, he communicated to the Governor-General intelligence of the constraint under which he acted ; and, though he sent into Cuttack an army of 30,000 horse, under his son Chimnajee Bonsla, he promised to contrive, by means of delay, that it should not reach the bor- ders of Bengal, till the season of action was over, and the rains begun. When it did arrive, which was early in June, 1780, it was in such distress for want of provisions, as to find a necessity of applying to the Bengal government for aid. The policy of preserving, if possible, the relations of amity with the state of Berar, as well as the motive of making a suitable return for the accommodations afforded to Colonel Goddard on his march, disposed the govern- ment to comply with its request. The army of Chimnajee Bonslah was in want of money no less than provisions ; and on the 21st of September, an urgent request was tendered for a pecuniary accom- modation, which the Governor-General privately, and without communication with his Council, in part supplied ; at the same time intimating, that it de- pended upon the recall of that army from Cuttack,
GENERAL COOTE ARRIVES.
or its junction with the troops of the Company, to enable him to propose a public gratuity better pro- portioned to its wants. It might in these circum- stances be presumed, that Chimnajee Bonslah would not hinder an English detachment to pass through Cuttack for Madras ; but evil intentions on his part were still possible ; on that of Nizam Ali something more than possible ; the hazard of a march by the countries which they occupied was therefore propor- tionally great.1
Sir Eyre Coote, with a passage fortunately ex- peditious, landed at Madras on the -5th November, and 'took his seat in Council on the 7th. He had been appointed bearer of the decree by which the Supreme Council suspended the Governor of Fort St. George, and this document he now produced. The Governor not only denied the competence of the Supreme Board to exercise the authority which they now assumed; but declared their decision precipitate and unjust, no contumacy appearing in his conduct to merit the punishment, which they arrogated to themselves unwarrantably the power to inflict. The majority of the Council however recognised the sus- pension; and the senior member of the Council suc- ceeded to the chair.
During the interval between the retreat of Sir Hector Munro to the Mount, and the arrival of the Commander-in-Chief with the Bengal supplies, the Presidency at Madras had in vain importuned the Nabob for means which he had not to bestow. They appointed Colonel Brathwaite to the command in
1 First Report, ut supra, and Appendix, No. 17; Sixth Report, ditto, p. 99, and Appendix, No. 294 to 305.
200
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1780.
^•Tanjore; and recommending that a body of cavalry — should be raised in that country, demanded the as- sistance of the Raja for that purpose, as well as for provisions to the troops. They made restitution at last of the Guntoor Circar ; and at the same time sent a letter to the Nizam, in which they advertised him of the compliance they had yielded to his desires ; made apology for delay in paying the peslicush, and promised regularity, when the removal of the present troubles should place it more in their power. Partly the poverty and weakness of this Prince, partly his jealousy of Hyder, and partly the assurances which he had received from the Superior Government in Bengal had as yet retained him inactive during the war which he had been eager to excite. The situa- tion of the Northern Circars was calculated to tempt his ambition. The troops, with the exception of garrisons for the three principal places, were all recalled; but the Sepoys in the Guntoor Circar re- fused to proceed by sea, and were obliged to be left at Ongole, while a mutiny was the effect of an attempt to embark those at Masulipatam and Vizagapatam. At the first of these places, order was restored by the address of the commanding officer. At Yizaga- patam, however, they killed several of their officers, plundered the place, and went off, accompanied by five companies of the first Circar battalion. Ap- prehensions were entertained, that the Sepoys in the neighbouring Circar would follow their example ; and that the Zemindars would deem the opportunity favourable to draw their necks out of the yoke. Sit- taram Raz, who had been vested with so great a power by the favour of Governor Rumbold, stood
HYDER TAKES ARGOT. 201
aloof in a manner which had the appearance °fBc„^5v*
design. But Yizeram Raz, his brother, who had
just grounds of complaint, zealously exerted himself 1/80- to suppress and intercept the mutineers, who at last laid down their arms, with part of their plunder, and dispersed.
Immediately after the battle of Conjeveram, Hyder marched to renew the siege of Arcot, defended by about 150 Europeans, and a garrison of the Nabob’s troops. In the service of the Nabob, there was hardly found a man that was faithful to his trust.
Discord prevailed between the officers of the Nabob, and those of the Company, during the whole of the siege. The approaches of Hyder were carried on with a skill resembling that of the best engineers, and his artillery was so well served as to dismount repeat- edly the English guns upon the batteries. After a siege of six weeks, the town which surrounded the fort was taken on the 31st of October, by assault; but the fort was strong, and still might have defended itself for a considerable time. The favour with which Hyder found his cause regarded by the people, he took care to improve, by the protection which he afforded to the inhabitants of Arcot, and the treat- ment of his prisoners : the applause of his generosity easily passed from the people without the fort to the people within : with the Nabob’s officers he probably corresponded : the native troops almost all deserted ; and the fort capitulated on the 3d of November.
The officer who commanded the fort, on the part of the Nabob, he took immediately into his service and confidence. Many other of the Nabob’s garri-
*
202
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA
BOOK
CHAP.
1780
V- sons had surrendered, with little or no resistance, — generally upon the summons of Hyder’s horse ; and • though an excuse was furnished, hy the condition in which they found themselves with respect to the means of defence, nothing less than general treachery and disaffection seemed sufficient to account for the facility with which every place was given up. Hyder immediately supplied the forts with garri- sons, repaired the works, and laid in provisions and stores. He proceeded with great expedition to put Arcot into the best possible state of defence. Every avenue which led to it from Madras, and from Madras to the forts which the Nabob or English still re- tained, were occupied by large detachments of his horse, and when need was, even by infantry, and for- tified posts. By this means, the channel of commu- nication, not only for supply, but even for intelligence, was almost wholly cut off.
Not deficient, either in the virtues which inspire affection, or in those which command respect, Sir Eyre Coote, as he wTas somewhat disposed to enlarge in praise of himself, so was somewhat apt to indulge in complaint of others. In the letters, which after his arrival in the Carnatic he addressed to the Direc- tors and the ministers of the King, he drew a picture in the darkest colours, not only of the weak and disastrous condition into which the country was brought, but of the negligence and incapacity, if not the corruption and guilt, of those servants of the Company, under whose management such misfortunes had arrived. It was, however, much more easy to point out what it was desirable should have been
WANT OF RESOURCES.
203
performed, than, with the defective revenue of the 5V'
Presidency, to have performed it.1 That Presidency
had repeatedly represented both to the supreme 178°- Council, and to the Directors, their utter incapacity, through want of money, to make any military exer- tion : and by both had been left to struggle with their necessities. It was the poverty of the Carnatic, and the unwillingness of all parties to act as if they believed in that poverty, much more, it is probable, that the negligence or corruption of the government, which produced the danger by which all were now alarmed.2
According to the statement of the General, the whole army with which he had to take the field against the numerous host of Hyder, did not exceed 7000 men, of wdiom 1700 alone were Europeans.3
1 See the Fourth Report of the Committee of Secrecy, p. 6, where it appears to have been distinctly announced, by the Governor and Council, on the 19th January, 1779, that their resources were unequal, even to their peace-establishment, much more to make any preparations for war.
2 If the poverty of the Madras Presidency was the consequence of misma- nagement and corruption, it only aggravated their culpability. The resources of the Carnatic were sufficient, if protected against the prodigality of the Nabob, the rapacity of his European adherents, and the ignorance or venality of the Company’s servants, to have maintained the Presidency in a posture respectable, if not formidable to its neighbours. At any rate the knowledge of such inadequate resources evinced in the complaints alluded to, should have deterred the government from provoking hostilities, from a breach of their engagements with Hyder Ali, from disregarding his dis- pleasure, and violating his territory, and from injuring and offending the Nizam. The timely interposition of the Bengal Government alone pre- vented the active enmity of this latter power, whose co-operation with Hyder once before experienced, would have been decisive of the fate of Madras. In no part of the administration of Warren Hastings does he appear to more advantage than in the wisdom and vigour with which he rescued the Presidency of Fort St. George from the disastrous conse- quences of its misgovernment. — -W.
3 His force, therefore, did not exceed that of Munro and Baillie, had their junction been effected. According to Sir T. Munro, who was then a
204
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
bc°h®^ ,v- Having put down in writing the view which he took
of the situation of affairs, and the plan of hostilities
178°- which it appeared to him most advisable to pursue, he called a Council of War, consisting of the three general officers at the Presidency, Sir Hector Munro, Lord Macleod, and Brigadier-General Stuart ; laid the paper before them, and desired that, after the most mature consideration, they would give their opinions upon it separately in writing. As four of the principal strong-holds of the Carnatic, Velore, Wandewash, Permacoil, and Chingliput, represented by the Nabob as containing considerable stores, were invested by the enemy, the General proposed to begin writh the operations necessary for their relief.1 Not contented with the sanction of the general officers, he deemed it meet, with a condescension to which the pride of military knowledge can seldom submit, to communicate the proceedings of the Council of War to the Select Committee, and to desire their opinion. All agreed in approving the plans of the General, and reposing unbounded confidence in his direction. As Wandewash was the place in most imminent danger, the first effort was directed in its favour. The probability that Hyder would not per-
subaltern with the array, it was not so strong; consisting of but 1400 Europeans, with 5000 sepoys, and 800 native cavalry. Life of Munro, i. 32.— W.
1 In his representation, the General stated it as a known fact, that they had not only Hyder, but the whole Carnatic, for enemies ; and, therefore, not assistance, but obstruction, to expect in every part of the inarch : one of the Nabob’s rentershaving endeavoured to betray Vellore to the enemy, he had ordered him, he said, into irons ; hoping, “ that he might be in- strumental to the discovery of those dark designs, which he had long suspected to exist in the court of a native power, living under the very walls of our garrison at Fort St. George.”
ARRIVAL OF A FRENCH FLEET.
205
mit them, unopposed, to pass the river Palar, it was gallantly and generously observed by Munro, was a motive rather to stimulate than repel, as the troops under their present leader he was confident would prevail, and nothing was, therefore, more desirable than to bring Hyder to a general action. On the 17th of January, 1781, the army, under the command of General Coote, marched from the encampment at the Mount. Hyder was struck with awe by the arrival of the new commander and the reinforce- ments from Bengal. So far from opposing the passage of the Palar, he abandoned Wandewash with precipitation, as soon as the army approached.1 But this success was counterbalanced by the fall of the important fortress of Amboor, which commanded one of the passes into the Carnatic. From Wande- wash the army was on its march toward Permacoil, wThen intelligence was received by express, that a French fleet had arrived. This wTas an event by which attention was roused. The direction of the march was immediately changed ; and the army, after a few days, encamped on the red hills of Pondicherry, with its front toward Arcot.
After the reduction of Pondicherry, the inhabitants
book v.
CHAP. 5 .
1781.
1 Wandewash was not besieged by Hyder at this time in person. The commander of the enemy was one of his generals, Mir Saheb ; the fort was defended by Lieut. Flint, and a garrison of 300 Sepoys only. The extraordinary courage, presence of mind, and military talents of Lieut. Flint, are described with the most interesting minuteness, and with enthu- siastic, but deserved commendation, by Col. Wilks, ii. 291. See also Life of Munro, i. 33. Hyder at this period was engaged in the siege of Vellore, which was defended with successful gallantry by Col. Lang; and the failure of an attempt to cany it by storm on the 10th of January, as well as the movements of the English General, induced Hyder to raise the siege. Ibid. 35. — W.
206
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
C HAP.
1781
,v* had been treated with uncommon forbearance and
D.
— generosity. The fortifications alone were destroyed. The people were allowed to trade under the protec- tion of the English ; and the officers to remain on their parole. Even upon the invasion of Hyder, when it was entirely evacuated by the English troops, the officers alone were sent to Madras. The flattering prospect of being speedily reinforced by their countrymen, of seeing themselves change places with the English, and of contributing something to the recovery in India of the glory and power of their country, tempted the Frenchmen of Pondicherry to forget the favours which they had received. They applied coercion to the English resident; enlisted sepoys ; and laid in provisions at Carangoly. Sir Eyre Coote made haste to disarm the inhabitants, to remove the provisions from Carangoly, and to destroy the boats. The French fleet, consisting of seven large ships, and four frigates, lay at anchor off Pon- dicherry. The English army was closely followed by large bodies of the enemy’s horse; and on the 8th of February Hyder passed at the head of his army, within cannon-shot of the English camp: marching, as was supposed, directly to Cuddalore. The English drums beat to arms ; and while the enemy proceeded on one of the two roads which lead towards Cuddalore, the English marched parallel with them on the other, and encamped on the 9th with their right towards the ruins of Fort St. David, and their left towards Cuddalore. So feeble were the resources of the English General, that he was already reduced to a few days’ provi- sions ; and eager for a battle, as the most probable
HYDER AVOIDS A BATTLE.
207
means of obtaining relief. He moved the army on book v.
the 10th from the cover of the guns of Cuddalore,
leaving the tents standing, and placed himself in 178L order of battle. He informed the men, as he rode along the line, that the very day he wished for was arrived ; and that they would be able in a few hours to reap the fruit of their labours. The English re- mained for three successive days offering battle to the enemy, which he was too cunning to accept; and on the fourth returned to their camp, with a great increase of their sick, their provisions almost exhausted, the cattle on which their movements de- pended dying for want of forage, Hyder in possession of the surrounding country, and an enemy’s fleet upon the coast. The deepness of the gloom was a little dispelled by the sudden departure of that fleet, which, being greatly in want of water and other ne- cessaries, and afraid of the English squadron which was shortly expected back from the opposite coast, set sail on the 15th of February, and proceeded to the Isle of France.
The inability, in the English army, to move, for want of provisions and equipments, and the policy of Hyder to avoid the hazards of a battle, prevented all operations of importance during several months. In the mean time Hyder reduced the fortress of Thiagar ; his cavalry overran and plundered the open country of Tanjore ; and Tippoo Saib, with a large division of his army, laid siege to Wan- dewash.
On the 14th of June the fleet returned with a reinforcement of troops from Bombay. While absent on the western coast, Sir Edward Hughes had
208
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
J78i.
' • attacked the ships of Hyder, in his own ports of — Calicut and Mangalore ; and destroyed the rudi- ments of that maritime power which it was one of the favourite objects of his ambition to erect.
The want of bullocks, which were the draught cattle of the army, rendered the movement even of the English artillery heavy and slow. In hopes of being now supplied with provisions by sea wThile they remained upon the coast, the English proceeded to Porto Novo on the 19th of June, not only to put a stop to the ravages of the enemy in Tanjore and the neighbouring districts, hut to yield protection to Trichinopoly, against which, it was evident, that Hyder was preparing to march. On the 18th, General Coote in person conducted a large detach- ment to the assault of the fortified Pagoda of Chil- lambram ; where he was repulsed with very con- siderable loss. This event, w’hich the English regarded as a heavy misfortune, produced the most favourable results. At a time when they could by no means venture to carry their operations from the vicinity of the sea ; when their imbecility was becoming dangerously visible ; and when they might have been soon cooped up within the walls of Madras, this disaster sufficiently elevated Hyder, w hose army had increased with the progress of his arms, to hazard a battle for the sake of preventing the advance of the English towards Trichinopoly ; which, as holding in check the southern countries, wTas regarded by him as an object of great import- ance ; and against which he was proportionally desirous that his operations should not be disturbed. He was dissuaded, it is said, but in vain, from this
HYDER RISKS A BATTLE. 209
rash design, by the prudence of his eldest son; and Bc°^5v‘
advancing on the only road by which the English
could proceed to Cuddalore, he took up an advan- 1/S1- tageous position, which he fortified wTith redoubts, while the English were obtaining a few days’ pro- visions landed laboriously through the surf. Early in the morning of the 1st of July, the English army broke up the camp at Porto Novo, and commenced their march with the sea at a little distance on their right. To the other difficulties under which the English General laboured, was added a want of intelligence, partly from deficient arrangements, but chiefly, it is probable, from the disaffection of the people of the country, and the diffusion of Hyder’s horse, who seldom allowed a spy to return. After a march of about an hour, the opening of an extensive prospect discovered a large body of cavalry drawn up on the plain. It wTas necessary to detach from the English army, small as it was, a considerable body of troops for the protection, from the enemy’s irregular horse, of the baggage and the multitudinous followers of an Indian camp. The General formed the army in two lines, and advanced in order of battle. A heavy cannonade was opened on the cavalry which occupied the road before them. This dispersed the cavalry, and exposed to view a line of redoubts, commanding the road, and the enemy behind that line, extending on the right and left to a greater distance on the plain than the eye could command. The troops were ordered to halt ; and the principal officers were summoned to council.
The difficulties were almost insurmountable : the sea enclosed them on the right : impracticable
VOL. iv.
p
210
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
} • sand-banks on the left : to advance directly upon the — fire of so many batteries exposed the army to a dreadful slaughter, if not extermination: and four days’ provisions, which the men carried upon their backs, constituted the whole of their means of sub- sistence. While the Council deliberated, an officer, walking to a little distance, discovered a road cut through the sand-hills. It was afterwards found to have been made by Hyder the preceding night, with a view to enable him, when the English should be storming the batteries in front, to throw them into confusion by falling on their flank ; when his horse would rush from behind the batteries and complete their destruction. The army filed off into the newly- discovered road, the sepoys unharnessing the wretched oxen, and drawing the artillery more quickly them- selves. Hyder perceived the failure of his stratagem, evacuated his works, and moved exactly parallel with the English army : which, after passing the sand- banks, turned and faced the enemy. A pause ensued, during which the General seemed irresolute, and some officers counselled a retreat.1 Several of the men fell under the fire of the enemy’s guns, which had been removed with great expedition from the batteries, and placed in the line. The second
1 Both Wilks and Munro ascribe this pause to no irresolution in the General, but to the necessity of waiting until his second line was in posi- tion. Munro’s account is particularly valuable, as he was present. “ The General rode along the front (of the first line) encouraging every one to patience, and to reserve their fire till they were ordered to part with it ; he only waited for accounts from the second line. An aid-de-camp from General Stuart told him that he had taken possession of the sand-hills ; he immediately gave orders to advance, and to open all the guns. The fire was so heavy that nothing could stand before it.” Life of Munro, 43. See also a detailed account of the action, in Wilks, ii. 309. — W.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE VICTORY.
211
line of the English army was commanded to occupy book v.
some heights in the rear. Hyder, soon aware of the
importance of this position, sent a division of his 1781. army to dislodge them. The first line of the English, led by Sir Hector Munro, now went forward to the attack ; and at the same time another division of the enemy endeavoured to penetrate between the two lines, and attack the General in the rear. For six hours, during which the contest lasted, every part of the English army was engaged to the utmost limit of exertion. The second line upon the heights, skilfully and bravely commanded by General Stuart, not only repelled the several attacks which were made to force them from their advantageous ground, but successfully resisted the attempt which was made to penetrate between the lines, and rendered it im- possible for the enemy to aim a stroke at the baggage towards the sea. The first line was thus left with undivided attention to maintain their arduous conflict with the main body of Hyder’s army ; where their admirable perseverance at last prevailed, and driving before them promiscuously, infantry, cavalry, artillery, they finally precipitated the enemy into a disorderly retreat. Had the English possessed cavalry, and other means of active pursuit, they might have deprived Hyder of his artillery and stores ; and pos- sibly reduced him to the necessity of evacuating the province. Their loss did not exceed 400 men ; and not one officer of rank was either killed or wounded. The enemy’s principal loss was sustained in the first attack upon the line on the heights, the strength of which they mistook, and advanced with too much confidence of success. In the rest of the .
p 2
212
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP. 5
1781.
• battle, they fought chiefly at a distance, and with _ their artillery, which was skilfully served. The consequences of this victory were highly important. Hyder abandoned his designs upon the southern provinces. Tippoo raised the siege of Wandewash ; and both retired with the whole of their army to the neighbourhood of Arcot.
The body of native troops, which it had been re- solved by the government of Bengal to send by land to the assistance of Madras, was long detained by the negotiations, carried on, as well with the Berar government, as with Chimnajee, the Commander of the army in Cuttack. The distress of that Com- mander for money to pay his troops, and the pro- posal of a gratuity of thirteen, with a loan of ten, lacs of rupees ; though distrust of the English power, now violently shaken, made his father shy ; induced Chimnajee to engage for a safe passage to the troops. The detachment was placed under the command of Colonel Pearce ; and about the end of March arrived at Ganjam, where it was long detained by the violence of an infectious disease. This, together with a great desertion among the sepoys, materially weakened the battalions ; and their junc- tion was not effected with Coote, who had returned to Madras, before the beginning of August.
The object which more immediately engrossed the desires of the English was the recovery of Arcot. As the want of provisions was the grand impediment to that enterprise, and as the enemy were reported to have laid in great stores at Tripassore, the siege of that place was undertaken, in hopes to supply the army for the siege of Arcot. But Tripassore, though
THE ENGLISH NOT SUCCESSFUL.
213
it surrendered after a few days’ resistance, was found B00K'
to contain a small supply of provisions ; and the ad-
vanced parties of Hyder’s army, who was in full 1/yL march to its relief, appeared in sight, before the English troops had taken full possession of the works.
Hyder fell back a few miles to what he reckoned a lucky spot, a strong position on the very ground where he had defeated Baillie. And the English General, eager for another battle, which might relieve him from his difficulties, came in sight of the enemy about eight o’clock on the morning of the 27 th.
The position of Hyder gave him great advantages, while his guns bore upon the approaching army, and the advance was rendered peculiarly difficult by a number of water-courses cutting the ground. The second line of the English army, consisting of two brigades, were directed to occupy a situation of some strength on the left, while the first line, consisting of three brigades, formed in face of six or eight cannon, which they were commanded to storm. No sooner had they pushed through some intervening under- wood, than they found the guns removed from the front, and beginning to fire upon both their flanks; while at the same instant a tremendous cannonade opened on the second line. Sir Hector Munro, who commanded the first line, was ordered to join the second, which could hardly maintain its ground.
The two lines having closed, and presenting the same front, were commanded to advance on the enemy’s artillery. The intervening ground was not only difficult but impracticable ; where the army stood, some protection was derived from a long avenue of trees. This was observed by the whole line ; and
214
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. gjr Sector Munro pointed it out to the General.
“ You talk to me, Sir, when you should be doing
1/8L your duty.” The army accordingly advanced ; the men began to drop very fast; and grew impatient. A tumbril blew up, the second in the course of the day. At an impassable difficulty, the army came to a stand, and impatiently waited for orders. None arrived. Sir Hector Munro, seated sullenly by the only tree that was in the plain, refused to issue a single com- mand. The battalions, opening for the purpose of giving way to the enemy’s shot, had fallen into clus- ters, and become noisy. The second line broke into great confusion. Two hours did the army remain in this perilous situation, in which, had they been vigorously charged by the enemy’s cavalry, they could scarcely have avoided a total defeat. It is probable that Hyder’s experience had rendered it difficult for him to conceive that the English were in a state of confusion. Night advancing, he ordered his guns to be drawn off ; and the English returned to the strong ground which the second line originally occupied. A conference was held among the prin- cipal officers, when the impossibility of remaining, and the danger of advancing, being apparent to all, one gentleman, in expressing his sentiments, made use of the word retreat. The General immediately swore, he had never retreated in his life. He added, that he would permit the army Xo fall back. Spies came in with intelligence that Hyder was preparing to attack the English army between midnight and break of day. The troops in consequence were or- dered to pass the night under arms in front of the camp. The report was false, artfully given out by
PERILOUS SITUATION OF THE ENGLISH.
215
Hyder, to cover his intention of removing in the 5V
night, to a place more secure from surprise. The
next day the English buried their dead, and collected 1/8L the wounded ; when, being masters of the field of battle, they fired the guns in token of victory. They now marched back to Tripassore ; when Hyder, call- ing the march a retreat , proclaimed a victory, with all the pomp of war, to the nations of India. 1
The English suffered considerably more in this than in the previous action ; and the enemy less. Of the privates not less than 600 were lost to the ser- vice.2 * 4 Several officers of distinction were wounded, and some were killed.
Affairs were now in great extremity. The mo- ment seemed approaching when the army would be
1 The description of this action in the text, is taken evidently from authorities unfavourable to Sir Eyre Coote, and is at least unprecise. The account given by Colonel Wilks is much more distinct, and for the military details more worthy of credit. Munro’s description is brief, but authentic. “ The position of Hyder was such, that a stronger could not have been imagined. Besides three villages which the enemy had occupied, the ground along their front, and on their flanks, was intersected in every direction by deep ditches and water-courses ; their artillery fired from em- brasures cut in mounds of earth, which had been formed from the hollowing of the ditches, and the main body of their army lay behind them. The cannonade became general about 10 o’clock, and continued with little intermission till sunset, for we found it almost impossible to advance upon the enemy, as the cannon could not be brought without much time and labour over the broken ground in front. The enemy retired as we ad- vanced, and always found cover in the ditches and behind the banks. They were forced from them all before sunset, and after standing a short time a cannonade on open ground, they fled in great hurry and confusion towards Conjeveram.” Life, i. 45. That his army was saved from a total rout by the difficulty of getting at it, was politicly converted by Hyder into the
credit of having fought a drawn battle. Such, according to Wilks, it is termed in the Mysorean accounts, not a victory, as in our text. Wilks,
ii. 326.— VV.
4 The English army lost no more than 421 killed, wounded, and missing, officers included. Wilks. Our loss was above 500. Munro. — W.
216
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. constrained to quit the field for want of provisions :
- Madras itself was threatened with famine : The fort
i78i. 0f Yelore was so exhausted of provisions, that it could not hold out beyond a short time longer ; and the fate of the Carnatic in a great measure depended on the fort of Yelore. The greatest exertions were made to enable the army to march to its relief: Madras was for that purpose actually exhausted of the means of subsistence. The enemy were encamped at the pass of Sholingur on the road to Velore ; to which the English came up on the 27th of September. A strong body was detached, in order to occupy a rising ground to the left of the enemy’s encampment, while the main army advanced in a single line upon their front. Hyder, from his former experience, had con- cluded that Sir Eyre Coote would keep the whole of his troops together ; and had only provided against a direct movement on his line. His good sense made him resolve not to change the disposition of his rude and unwieldy mass in the face of an enemy ; and his only effort was to draw it out of the field. He en- deavoured to alarm the detached portion of the Eng- lish army with a feint ; while, after a short firing, his guns were hurried off. His horse during these ope- rations stood the fire of the English cannon, and suffered severely. Before he could extricate himself, and before night came to his aid, he had sustained a considerable loss, with the power of inflicting only a trifling injury in return.1
1 The accounts of Wilks and Munro arc much more particular and clear than that of the text. Hyder was taken unprepared, and had not struck his tents when the head of the British line appeared before his encamp- ment ; and his only object in the action that followed was to effect his
MINOR OPERATIONS.
217
The English were in no condition to press upon 5
the foe. In the minor operations which succeeded,
as in the whole course of the war, one of the most 1/8L remarkable circumstances was, the extraordinary promptitude and correctness of Hyder’s intelligence, who had notice of almost every attempt, even to surprise the smallest convoy, and in this important respect, the no less remarkable deficiency of the English. On the 26th of October, the General removed his camp to the neighbourhood of Palipett, where he obtained a quantity of rice. With this he afforded Velore a temporary supply ; and was even encouraged to undertake the siege of Chittore.
That place, not being provided for defence, capi- tulated in two days ; while Hyder, obliged to humour his army, was unable to obstruct these operations. The month of November -was now arrived, and every thing announced the falling of the monsoon floods, when the rising of the rivers, and the softening of the roads, would make the return of the English army extremely difficult ; so far, too, from being supplied with subsistence, the army con- tinued in a state of want ; yet the General lingered
escape without the loss of his guns. To accomplish this he sacrificed his cavalry. “ He divided his best horse into three bodies, and sent them under three chosen leaders to attack as many parts of our army at the same time. They came down at full gallop till they arrived within reach of grape, when being thrown into confusion, the greater part either halted or fled, and those that persevered in advancing, were dispersed by a dis- charge of musquetry, except a few who thought it safer to push through the intervals between the battalions and their grms, than to ride back through the cross fire of the artillery ; but most of these were killed by parties in the rear. This attack enabled Hyder to save his guns. Except the escort with the artillery, every man in the Mysorean army shifted for himself. The loss of the enemy was estimated at 5000, that of the English fell short of a hundred.” — W.
218
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CIIAP.
1781
5V- where he was, apparently absorbed in his own — chagrin. He was summoned from his reveries about the middle of the month, by intelligence of an attack upon Palipett and Tripasore.1 The rains fell upon him during his march: in the space of a few days the roads became so deep, that one elephant, three camels, a great number of bullocks, carriages, and horses, were left inextricably entangled in the mud : and the Polar was just fordable when he passed it on the 21st. On his approach, however, the enemy abandoned both Palipett and Tripasore : and after encamping a few days on the Coccalore plain, above Tripasore, he placed the troops in can- tonments ; having lost one-third of the force with which, after his junction with Colonel Pearce, he marched in August from the Mount.2
1 There was no great delay in the movements of the British force. Chit- toor was taken only on the 11th November, and on the 16th the army marched to raise the siege of Tripassore. — W.
2 For the materials of this war with Hyder, up to the present date, the most important sources are the First, Second, Third, and Sixth Reports of the Committee of Secrecy, in 1781. Of the military transactions, narra- tives of considerable value are to be found in the Annual Register; Rob- son’s Life of Hyder Ali ; and the publication entitled, Memoirs of the late war in Asia. For part of this campaign, see also Barrow’s Life of Lord Macartney. To the pages of Colonel Wilks, I can now only refer, not having had the opportunity of availing myself of his lights, till what I had written could not be conveniently altered. Where my facts stand upon the authority of public records, I conceive, in the few instances in which we differ, that I approximate to the truth more nearly than he. To my other authorities I should have preferred him ; though it is a grievous defect, that he so rarely tells us the source from which he derives his in- formation ; and though I repose no great confidence in the vague censures, and still more vague eulogies, in which he has indulged. — M.
Colonel Wilks explains in his preface the authorities he employs, and the reasons why more precise reference is not given. He writes from native documents, and from the official records of the Madras government. To these a particular reference would have been of no use, as they are not generally accessible. Of the care and fidelity with which they are cited,
DEBATES IN THE EAST INDIA HOUSE.
219
At the Presidency, changes of more than ordinary
importance had taken place during this campaign.
The state of affairs in the Carnatic having greatly 1781 ’
alarmed the Company in England, misfortune pointed resentment against the men under whose superin- tendence it had arrived ; and, according to the usual process of shallow thought, a change of rulers, it was concluded, would produce a change of results.
So much of misconduct having been imputed to the servants of the Company, a party appeared to be forming itself, even among the Directors and Pro- prietors, who called for an extension of the field of choice : and represented it as rather an advantage, that the chief governors in India should not be selected from the servants of the Company. It necessarily followed that a party arose who con- tended with equal zeal that by the Company’s servants the stations of greatest power and trust in India ought exclusively to be filled. At a Court of Proprietors, held on the 30th of November, 1780,
Mr. Lushington moved, “ That it he recommended to the Court of Directors to appoint forthwith a Governor of Madras, and that it he earnestly recom- mended to them to appoint one of their own servants to fill that vacancy.” It was on the other hand contended, that the fittest man, not a man of any particular class or order, ought always to he sought for the places on which the interests of the commu- nity principally depended; and that integrity, un-
we have every reason to entertain a favourable belief, and the censures and eulogies which offend our author, are apparently in all cases judiciously, although they may be warmly, bestowed. As a military history of a very important period of our transactions in India, Col. Wilks’s South of India is a work of the highest possible authority. — W.
220
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 5.
1781.
shaken by the example of plunder and corruption, a character to lose, and consequently one to save, by shunning the offences of former governors : were to be considered as the fittest qualifications in their new Governor of Madras. The Court adjourned without proceeding to a ballot ; hut on the 23rd of the same month the question was renewed. Lord Macartney, who had recently gained reputation by negotiating a commercial treaty with Russia, was pointed out to the choice of the Company ; the advantages of a liberal education, of political experience, acknowledged talents and honour, were placed in the strongest point of view by the one party ; the benefits of local knowledge, and of the motives to zeal, to industry, fidelity, and the acquisition of knowledge afforded to the whole line of the Company’s servants, by the high prizes of the principal stations in the govern- ment of India, were amply displayed by the opposite party : and, on a division, it was decided by a majority of seventy -nine to sixty, that new men should be eligible to the office of Governors in India. The Court of Directors were guided by similar views ; and on the 14th of December Lord Macartney was nominated Governor and President of Fort St. George. After a passage of four months, he landed at Madras on the 22nd of June, 1781, and then first obtained intelligence that the country was invaded.
He came to his office, when it, undoubtedly, was filled with difficulties of an extraordinary kind. The presence of a new Governor, and of a Governor of a new description, as change itself, under pain, is counted a good, raised in some degree the spirits of
OVERTURE FOR PEACE.
the people. By advantage of the hopes which were thus inspired, he was enabled to borrow considerable sums of money. Having carried out intelligence of the war with the Dutch, and particular instructions to make acquisition of such of their settlements as were placed within his reach, he was eager to signalize his arrival by the performance of conquests, which acquired an air of importance, from the use, as sea-ports, of which they might prove to Hyder, or the French. Within a week of his arrival, Sadras was summoned and yielded wuthout resistance. Pulicat was a place of greater strength, with a corps in its neighbourhood of Hyder’s army. The garrison of F ort St. George was so extremely reduced, as to be ill prepared to afford a detachment. But Lord Macartney placed himself at the head of the militia ; and Pulicat, on condition of security to private pro- perty, was induced to surrender.
Of the annunciation, which was usually made to the Princes of India, of the arrival of a new Governor, Lord Macartney conceived that advantage might be taken, aided by the recent battle of Porto Novo, and the expectation of troops from Europe, to obtain the attention of Hyder to an offer of peace. With the concurrence of the General and Admiral, an overture was transmitted, to which the following answer was returned, characteristic at once of the country and the man : “ The Governors and Sirdars who enter into treaties, after one or two years return to Europe, and their acts and deeds become of no effect; and fresh Governors and Sirdars introduce new conversations. Prior to your coming, when the Governor and Council of Madras had departed from their treaty of alliance
221
BOOK V. CHAP. 5.
1781.
222
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 5.
1781.
and friendship, I sent my vakeel to confer with them, and to ask the reason for such a breach of faith ; the answer given was, that they who made these con- ditions were gone to Europe. You write that you have come with the sanction of the King and Com- pany to settle all matters ; which gives me great happiness. You, Sir, are a man of wisdom, and comprehend all things. Whatever you may judge proper and best, that you will do. You mention that troops have arrived and are daily arriving from Europe ; of this I have not a doubt : I depend upon the favour of God for my succours.” Nor was it with Hyder alone, that the new Governor interposed his good offices for the attainment of peace. A letter signed by him, by Sir Edward Hughes, and Sir Eyre Coote, the commanders of the sea and land forces, and by Mr. Macpherson, a Member of the Supreme Council, was addressed to the Mahrattas, in which they offered themselves as guarantees of any treaty of peace which might be contracted between them and the Governor-General and Council of Bengal ; and declared their willingness to accede to the restoration of Guzerat, Salsette, and Bassem.
The principal settlement of the Dutch on the Coromandel coast wTas Negapatam, near the southern boundary of Tanjore. This, Lord Macartney was desirous of adding to the rest of the conquests from the Dutch immediately after his arrival, but was over-ruled by the opinion of the Commander-in - Chief, who represented the importance of recovering Arcot, in the first instance, and of marching after- wards to the attack of Negapatam. The President
NEGAPATNAM AND TRINCOMALEE.
223
was eager to avail himself of the assistance of the B00K v-
° . CHAP. 5.
fleet and marines, in his design against Negapatam;
assistance without which the object could hardly be 178L accomplished, and which could only be obtained while the season permitted shipping to remain upon the coast. Though the General had been disap- pointed in his hopes of being able to attempt the recovery of Arcot, he continued in the north-western part of the province, apparently disposed neither to march to the attack of Negapatam, nor to spare for that enterprise any portion of his troops. To Lord Macartney the attainment of the object did not appear to be hopeless without him. The intimation, however, of a design to make the attempt, brought back from the General an eager renunciation of all responsibility in the exploit, a pretty confident pre- diction of disappointment, and from disappointment, of consequences deplorable and ruinous. The Pre- sident declared that, convinced as he was of the pro- priety, and hence obligation of the enterprise, he would not shrink from the responsibility. To avoid interference with the General not a man was taken from his army. Colonel Brathwaite, who com- manded in Tanjore, and in whom the President com- plained that he found not all the alacrity which could have been desired, was directed with his troops to aid in the attack. The choice of a leader, too, was involved in difficulties. After the affront received by Sir Hector Munro, in the battle of the 27th of August, he retired as soon as possible from the army commanded by General Coote, under whom he served not again, and remained at the Presidency recruiting his health. It was to him that, in etiquette, the
224
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
Bciiap^V command expedition belonged; but Mr.
Sadlier, with whom he had the violent dispute, was
1782- now a member of the Select Committee ; and he refused to serve under orders or directions in which that gentleman should have any concern. The scruples of the General met a contrast in the liberality of the Committee ; who readily consented, that he should receive his instructions from the President alone; and the President, with the Admiral of the Fleet, was empowered to form whatever arrange- ments the enterprise should require. On the 21st of October the seamen and marines were landed from the ships; on the 30th the lines and redoubts were attacked and carried ; on the 3rd of November ground was opened against the north face of the fort, and the approaches were pushed on with great rapidity ; the Governor was summoned on the 6th, after a battery of ten eighteen-pounders was ready to open within three hundred paces of the walls ; he refused to surrender; but on the 12th, after making two desperate sallies, and after one of the bastions had suffered from a formidable breaching-battery, he offered to accept, and received, terms of honourable capitulation. The amount of troops who surrendered was 6551, considerably greater than that of the besieging army. A large quantity of warlike stores, together with a double investment of goods, no ships having arrived from Holland for the investment of that or the preceding year, was found in the place. With Negapatam the whole of the Dutch settlements on that coast fell into the hands of the English ; and the troops of Hyder began immediately to evacuate the forts which they had occupied in the kingdom of
DUTCH SETTLEMENTS ATTACKED.
225
Taniore. A body of 500 men were put on board book v.
. ' L CHAP. 5.
the fleet, which sailed from Negapatam on the 2nd of
January, and proceeded to the attack of Trincomalee, 1782‘ a celebrated Dutch settlement on the island of Ceylon. It arrived before the place on the 4th, and on the 1 1 th the best of the two forts which defended Trincomalee was taken by storm.1
The deplorable indigence of the Presidency ; the feebleness of military operations unsupported by funds ; the power of the enemy, and the diminished prospect of supplies from Bengal, presented to the eyes of Lord Macartney a scene of difficulties, from which it was hardly possible to discover any source of relief. Participating in the general aversion to believe that the Nabob was no less exhausted than the Company, and representing to that chief how great the interest which he, no less than the Com- pany, had, in the expulsion of so dangerous a common foe, the President, at an early period of his administration, renewed the importunities of the government on the subject of a pecuniary supply.
The Bengal government, by their letters, had already given a sanction to strong measures of coercion ; declaring that, while every part of the Nabob’s dominions, except the part retained by the English troops, was in the hands of a foreign power, and could only be wrested from it by their exertions, the Nabob could no longer be looked upon as the proprietor of
1 Some Account of the Public Life of the Earl of Macartney, by John Barrow, F. R. S. i. 67 — 109 ; Annual Register for 1782. — M. Some in- teresting particulars of the capture of Fort Ostenburg, are given in the Memoirs of a Field Officer (Colonel Price) on the Retired List of the East India Service, who was present as a subaltern. — W.
VOL. IV.
Q
226
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. the country : and that such a combination of cir-
cumstances not only justified, hut required, the
]782- immediate assignment of all his revenues, to defray the expenses of the war.1 The President, express- ing his desire to avoid this extremity, offered to accept a few lacs of pagodas as a temporary supply. This pressure upon the inability of the Nabob drew from him language of asperity and recrimination ; and when importunately urged, he at last declared, that his future contributions were defined, by a treaty, wdiich he had just concluded with the government of Bengal. The declaration, though it justly surprised the President and Council of Madras, was not at variance with the fact. The Nabob, who had tried the effect of an agency in Eng- land, both on the legislative and executive branches of the government, was advised to make trial of the same expedient on the controlling Board in India ; and in March, 1781, he sent, on a commission to Calcutta, his dewan or treasurer, together, with Mr. Joseph Sullivan, a servant of the Company, whom, without the consent of the Presidency, he had ap- pointed his agent. The object of the Nabob wras to obtain a clear recognition of his being the hereditary sovereign of the Carnatic, not subject to any interfe- rence on the part of the Company in the affairs of his government ; a promise of exemption from all pecuniary demands, beyond the expense of ten bat- talions of troops, to be employed in his service ; an admission of his right to name his successor, in pursuance of his wish to disinherit his eldest, in
1 Letter of Gov. -Gen. and Council, Feb. 26, 1781.
TREATY WITH THE NABOB OF ARCOT.
227
favour of his second son ; a promise to add, by conquest, certain districts possessed by Hyder to his dominions, and to restore to him the kingdom of Tanjore; and, finally, the assistance of the Com- pany, in forming a settlement with his European creditors.
To this embassy the rulers of Bengal afforded a cordial reception. For the independence of the government of the Carnatic Prince, they undertook, in general terms : His requisition, respecting the
ten battalions and the limit of his pecuniary contri- butions, was approved: His right to appoint his
successor they recognised as already admitted : The conquest of certain districts possessed by Hyder, they declared to be as desirable on account of the Com- pany’s as the Nabob’s interest : The restoration of
Tanjore they informed him was not placed within the limits of their authority : With regard to his
European creditors, they proposed, that after the addition to the principal sum of all interest due to the 21st of November, 1781, and after a deduction of one-fourth from all the debts which might have been transferred from the original creditors by pur- chase or otherwise, Company’s bonds with the usual interest should be granted, and paid, according to a proportion which might be fixed, out of the assigned revenues : And upon these conditions it was pro-
posed, but not without his own consent, that the Nabob should make over all the revenues of his country, during the war, to the Company ; that his agents, in conjunction with persons appointed by the Presidency of Fort St. George, should perform the collections ; and that as much only should be retained
book v.
CHAP. 5.
1782.
»
Q 2
228
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. by the Nabob as was necessary for the disburse-
CHAP. 5. J J
ments of his family and government. Not only was
1782- this agreement transmitted to Madras, with instruc- tions to consider it as possessing the validity of a treaty ; but Mr. Sullivan returned with credentials, as minister from the Governor-General and Council of Bengal at the Court of the Nabob.
Nothing is more pregnant with mischief than ill- worded and indefinite laws; and the best legislatures have as yet displayed but little of the art of render- ing the language of their enactments unambiguous and certain. We have already contemplated the disputes with the Presidency of Bombay, occasioned by the loose and imperfect phraseology of the law which conferred the power of control upon the Pre- sidency of Bengal. In that instance, the Supreme Council were even rebuked by their masters for carrying their pretensions beyond the intent of the Company, and that of the law ; but on the present occasion they pushed their interference into the most immediate and important concerns of the Madras government ; inveigled from their service and obedi- ence the servants of that Presidency; and set up an agency of their own at Madras, which implied the suppression of the chief powers of the Governor and Council. Though the character of Lord Macartney was tinged with vanity as wTell as ambition, he pos- sessed great temper and urbanity ; and the Governor and Council of Madras, instead of treating this new assumption of power on the part of the Bengal government as an injury, expressed only their appre- hensions that they were not free to divest themselves of powers, with which their employers had intrusted
CONDUCT OF THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY.
229
1782.
them, and for the exercise of which they would hold B00K v-
them responsible. They remarked, that they were .
therefore at liberty to consider the scheme of arrange- ments, which had been transmitted to them by the Supreme Board, as only materials to aid, not as com- mands to supersede their judgment. The words, they observed, in which the Supreme Council had appeared to sanction the independence of the Nabob, an independence which they had received the ex- press and repeated commands of their employers to prevent, were so adroitly ambiguous, as in fact to evade the question, and were inconvenient only in so far as they tended to inflame the pretensions of that troublesome associate ; but as, in the government of the country, there were certain departments in which it was assumed as necessary that the Company’s government should take a share, and yet those departments and that share remained totally unde- fined, the vagueness and ambiguity of the words of the Supreme Board left the Madras Presidency, if bound to obey, without any rule to guide their pro- ceedings. The article which regarded the ten bat- talions of troops appeared, they said, to them, to convey a power over their marches and operations, which the Court of Directors had ever been most anxious to withhold. The Nabob had requested the power of employing these troops in settling his country. The answer of the Presidency is worthy of record: “ We wash to know what is meant by this article, before we form any judgment of its propriety :
We know not how troops can be properly said to contribute to the settlement of a country : If it be
meant that he should have the Company’s forces to
230
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
5V- enable him to punish or extirpate any of his tribu-
taries, and if it be proper to lend our forces for such
1,82‘ a purpose, should we not plainly say so, without reserve or ambiguity4?” If the Nabob was to have the troops, in all cases, upon his simple requisition, “ he might soon,” they add, “ require, what he has hitherto in vain solicited from the Court of Directors, the means of attacking, contrary to their express commands, the principal tributary Rajas who claim and depend upon the protection both of the Crown and the Company.” If he was only to be assisted in those cases which the President and Council should approve, the clause, though void of meaning, was not exempt from mischief, as it tended to raise “ a claim, which, being undefined, would be measured only by the wishes of the claimant.” The right of the Nabob to nominate his successor, or to infringe the rule of primogeniture, they declined to discuss ; but affirmed their total ignorance of any such admission of that right as the Governor-General and Council appeared to assume. That the mode which was proposed for collecting the revenues, by the agents of the Nabob and of the Company in conjunction, was calculated to produce altercations between the different parties, and to afford the agents of the Nabob a pretence for defalcations, alleging obstructions from the Com- pany’s servants, experience, they said, most fully evinced. Whether the defect proceeded from the want of intention on the part of the Nabob, or from his inability to ensure the obedience of his collectors, it had, through them, been found impossible to obtain the revenues. With regard to the arrangements in behalf of the creditors of the Nabob, they were un-
DIFFICULTIES OF THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY.
231
willing to wear the appearance of opposing either b°ok ^
the will of the superior Board, or the interest of the
creditors; hut they professed themselves ignorant, l782- whether the creditors would regard the arrangement as advantageous, or the Directors would be pleased to find the Company pledged for bonds to so great an amount.
On the point, however, of the assignment, the situation of affairs, and the sanction of the Bengal government, appeared to the President and Council sufficient authority for urging the Nabob forcibly to concur with their views. With much negotiation it was at last arranged ; that the revenues of all the dominions of the Nabob should be transferred to the Company for a period of five years at least ; that of the proceeds one-sixth part should be reserved for the private expenses of himself and his family, the remainder being placed to his account ; that the col- lectors should all be appointed by the President : and that the Nabob should not interfere. By this deed, which bore date the 2nd of December, 1781, the inconveniences of a double government, which by its very nature engendered discordance, negligence, rapacity, and profusion, were so far got rid of; though yet the misery and weakness to which they had con- tributed could not immediately be removed.1
1 This is evidently the main object of the agreement projected, not exe- cuted, with the Nabob, by the government of Bengal. In the reply of Hastings to the objections of the government of Madras, he first apologizes for the interference by the character of Lord Macartney’s predecessors.
“ Your Lordship,” he says, “ will not ask why we thought our intervention on this occasion necessary, and why we did not rather refer the accom- modation to the Presidency of Fort St. George, which was the regular instrument of the Company’s participation in the government of the Carnatic, but I will suppose the question. I might properly answer it by
232
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \ CHAP. 5.
1782.
It was not one spring alone of dissension which distracted the government of Madras. The species of independent authority which had been conferred upon the General produced many of the evils of a double government in the Presidency itself. The General had a susceptibility of temper, which, heightened by the infirmities of old age, by flattery, by the difficulties of his situation, and his want of success, made him take offence with the levity and hastiness of a child. The civil authority, deprived, in a period of war, of all share in the military arrangements, found the business of government withdrawn from their hands, and themselves degraded into a capacity little superior to that of agents for supplying the wants of the army. The visible loss of authority, by weakening their influence, dimi- nished their resources; and persons were even dis- couraged from relieving them by loans. A situation like this wras ill calculated to please a man of Lord Macartney’s rank and pretensions. Aware of the uneasiness which it was probable he would feel, it was natural for the General to view him with suspicion from the moment when he arrived. The mutual desire to save appearances preserved an
another. Why did the Company withdraw their confidence from the same ministry, to bestow it on your Lordship?” He also declares, that had he known of Lord Macartney’s nomination, he should have referred the Nabob to his government. He urges the enforcement of the agreement as being the act of the government of Bengal, and having been done by them ; but he lays stress only on the 8th, 10th, Uth, and 12th articles ; the two first insisting upon the assignment of the revenues ol the Carnatic and Tanjore, and their application to the purposes of the war; and the two last proposing the consolidation of the Nabob’s debts, and arrangement with the creditors. The whole matter was, however, left finally to the decision of the Madras Presidency.— W.
THE ARMY CONVEYS SUPPLIES TO VELORE.
233
uninterrupted intercourse of civilities, till Lord BO0K v-
r . 1 CHAP. 5.
Macartney discovered his design of attempting the
conquest of Negapatam against the advice and with- 1/82- out the co-operation of the General. From that moment the General gave way to his spirit of dissatis- faction and complaint ; refused to attend the consul- tations of the Select Committee ; quarrelled with every measure that was proposed; and even wrote to the Governor-General and Council that he suffered from interference with his authority, and, unless he were vested with power totally independent, that he would resign the command. Beside the loss of their authority, and the diminution of their power over even the sources of supply, the civil authorities lamented, that they possessed no control over the expenditure of the army, and that, from the total disregard of economy, in which, notwithstanding the ruinous poverty of the government, the General indulged, that expenditure was enormously great.
It nevertheless appears, that Lord Macartney, aware of the importance not only of united efforts, but of the name and influence of Coote, entertained not an idea of withdrawing from him any portion of that authority with which he had been intrusted; and strove to preserve his good humour by studied for- bearance and courtesy.1
1 In a letter to a private friend, at the time, his Lordship says ; “I never retort any sharp expression which may occur in his letters. In fact, I court him like a mistress, and humour him like a child ; but with all this I have a most sincere regard for him, and honour him highly. But I am truly grieved at heart to see a man of his military reputation, at his time of life, made miserable by those who ought to make him happy, and from a great public character worked into the little instrument of private malig- nity and disappointed avarice. All, however, has been, and shall be, good-
234
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
bc00^5v. The army had not been many days in canton-
ments, where they expected to repose during the
1782- remainder of the monsoon, when the fall of Chitore was announced at Madras, and intelligence was received, that for want of provisions Velore would not be able to hold out beyond the 11th of January. No exertion was to be spared for the preservation of this important place. The treasury was drained to the last pagoda, to afford some pay to the army, which was deeply in arrear. But the exorbitant demands for equipment and conveyance were the principal source of difficulty and alarm. To carry the necessaries of thirty-five days for twelve or fourteen thousand fighting-men, the estimate of the Quarter-Master was 35,000 bullocks. Not to speak of the money wanted for the purchase, so great a number could not be procured ; nor was it easy to conceive how protection could be afforded from Hyder’s horse to a line of so many miles as the march of 35,000 bullocks would of necessity form. The number of bullocks now in store was 8000. With these and 3000 coolies, or porters, whom he could press, it appeared to the President that the army might convey what was absolutely necessary ; and the urgency of the case made the General dis- posed to wave his usual objections. Though with broken health, he joined the army on the 2nd of January; but on the 5th he suffered a violent apoplectic attack, and the army halted at Tripasore. On the following day, he was so far revived as to insist upon accompanying the army, which he ordered
humour, and good-breeding, on my part.” Extract of a Letter to Mr. Macpherson, dated Fort St. George.
OPERATIONS OF THE GARRISON.
235
to march. They were within sight of Yelore on the bCh^5v*
10th, and dragging their guns through a morass, —
which Hyder had suddenly formed by letting out the 1782‘ waters of a tank, when his army was seen advancing on the rear. Before the enemy arrived, the English had crossed the morass; when Hyder contented him- self with a distant cannonade, and next day the supply was conducted safely to Velore. As the army was returning, Hyder, on the 13th, again pre- sented himself on the opposite side of the morass, but withdrew after a distant cannonade. On the evening of the 15th, the enemy’s camp was seen at a distance ; and a variety of movements took place on both sides on the following day : after mutual challenges however, and a discharge of artillery, the contenders separated, and the English pursued their march to the Mount. The General expressed a desire of making a voyage to Bengal for the benefit of his health, but allowed himself to be persuaded to alter his design.1
After the capture of Mahe, the Madras detach- ment remained at Tellicherry, besieged by Hyder’s tributary Nairs. Early in May, 1781, being urgently demanded for the defence of the Carnatic, the detach- ment wras relieved by Major Abingdon, who arrived with a force from Bombay. One of Hyder’s prin- cipal generals, with a detachment from his army which greatly outnumbered the garrison, now carried on a vigorous attack. The utmost efforts of the besieged were incessantly demanded to counteract the operations of the enemy ; and the commander was
1 Barrow’s Life of Lord Macartney, i. 109 — 117 ; Wilks’s Historical Sketches, cli. xxiii; Memoirs of the late War in Asia, i. 231—234.
236
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I, chap. 5.
1782.
• under the necessity of applying to Bombay both for - provisions and troops. The answer declared the inability of the Presidency to make any further pro- vision for the defence of Tellicherry, and the reso- lution to which they had been reluctantly brought of giving it up. His military notions of disgrace, and the still more important considerations of the cruel sacrifice which would thus be made of the lives and fortunes of the people in the place, as well as the doubtful possibility of withdrawing the troops, in- duced Major Abingdon to conceal the contents of the letter, and to remit a strong remonstrance against the orders which he had received. It produced the desired effect, and a packet was immediately des- patched from Bombay to assure him of speedy support. The arrival of his reinforcements deter- mined this enterprising officer no longer to confine himself to operations of defence. Every thing being prepared for a sally, upon the signal of the clock striking twelve, the troops got under arms, on the night of the 7th of January, and at one, in profound silence, began to march. After passing a deep morass, and escaping the notice of the enemy’s picquets, they stormed an advanced battery at break of day, and forming the line moved rapidly towards the camp, when the enemy fled in the utmost con- fusion, and their leader was wounded and taken. Master now of the surrounding country. Major Abingdon turned his thoughts to the re-establish- ment, in their respective districts, of the various chiefs whom Hyder had either rendered tributary or compelled to fly. Having, after this, demolished the enemy’s works, and improved the defences of the
FRENCH AND ENGLISH FLEETS.
237
settlement, he marched towards Calicut. On the book v.
12th of February he took post within two hundred .
yards of the wTalls, and the next day, a shell having 1782. fortunately blown up a part of the grand magazine, the garrison, exposed to an assault, immediately surrendered.
The hostilities of the F rench and English Govern- ments, not contented with Europe and America as a field, at last invaded the two remaining quarters of the globe. A squadron of five ships of the line and some frigates, under the conduct of M. de Suffrein, together with a body of land forces, was prepared at Brest in the beginning of 1781 ; and sailed in com- pany with the grand fleet bound to the West Indies under Count de Grasse at the latter end of March.
About the same period a secret expedition, with which for some time rumour had been busy, was prepared in England. The state of the Spanish colonies in South America, and the rich prizes which they appeared to contain, had pointed them out as the destined object to the public eye. But the war with Holland, and the importance of the conflict now raging in India, communicated a different direction to the views of ministers : and the acquisition of the Cape of Good Hope, with the effectual support of the war in India, became the ends, for the accom- plishment of which the enterprise was planned. One ship of seventy-four guns, one of sixty-four, three of fifty, several frigates, a bomb-vessel, a fire-ship and some sloops of war composed the squadron ; of which Commodore Johnstone, with a reputation for decision and boldness, received the command, A land force, consisting of three new regiments of 1000 men each
238
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. was placed under the conduct of General Meadows,
C HAP. 5.
who had purchased fame in the action at St. Lucia
1782- with d’Estaing. On the 13th of March, in company with the grand fleet destined for the relief of Gibraltar, the armament sailed from St. Helen’s, and, including several outward-hound East Indiamen, with store- vessels and transports, amounted to upwards of forty sail. The secret however of this expedition had not been so vigilantly guarded as to escape the sagacity of the Dutch and the French. The armament under Suffrein was ultimately destined to reinforce the squadron now at the Isle of France; and to oppose the English fleet in the Indian seas. But the par- ticular instructions of that officer were, in the first instance, to follow, and counteract the expedition of J ohnstone, and above all, his design upon the G’ape of Good Hope. For the sake of water and fresh provi- sions, the English squadron put into Praya Bay in St. Jago, one of the Cape de Yerd Islands ; and having no expectation of an enemy, cast their anchors as chance or convenience directed. A considerable pro- portion both of men and of officers, partly for busi- ness, partly for pleasure, were permitted to go on shore ; and the decks were speedily crowded with water-casks, live stock, and other incumbrances. On the 16th of April, after nine o’clock in the morning, a strange fleet, suspected to be French, was seen coming round the eastern point of the harbour ; and Suffrein, separating from the convoy with his five sail of the line, soon penetrated to the centre of the English fleet. The utmost despatch was employed in getting the men and officers on board, and pre- paring the ships for action. The French ship, the
ACTION IN PRAYA BAY.
239
Hannibal, of seventy-four guns, led the van, and Bc°°^5v-
coming as close to the English ships as she was able,
dropped her anchors with a resolution which excited 1782- a burst of applause from the British tars. She was followed by the ship of Suffrein, of equal force.
Another of sixty-four guns anchored at her stern.
And the two other ships, of sixty-four guns each, ranged through the fleet, firing on either side, as they proceeded along.1 The ships being extremely near, and the guns being played with unusual fury, much destruction was effected in a little time. After the abatement of the first surprise, several of the Indiamen brought their guns to bear upon the enemy with good effect. Within an hour, the French ships at anchor had suffered so terribly, that the last of the three having lost her captain, cut her cables and began to withdraw. Thus deserted a-stern, and despairing of success, Suffrein followed her example, and gave the signal to retreat; the Hannibal alone remained, a mark to every ship the guns of which could be made to bear upon her ; and displayed a resolution, which may be compared with the noblest examples of naval heroism. She had lost her fore- mast and bowsprit ; her cable was either cut or shot away ; in the effort of hoisting more sail to get out of the fire, her main and mizen masts went over- board, and she remained as it were a hulk upon the water. Sustaining the weight of a dreadful fire, to which, enfeebled as she was, her returns were slow and ineffectual, she yet joined the rest of the ships
1 That Port Pray a, belonging to the Portuguese, was a neutral harbour, but little affected the delicacy of the French, though the English observed the punctilio of reserving their fire till attacked.
240
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1782.
,v- at the mouth of the hay ; and, being towed off, — erected jury-masts, and proceeded with the fleet. An attempt on the part of the English to pursue was totally ineffectual. They sustained not any consi- derable loss, notwithstanding the closeness of the action, and the crowded situation of the ships. Their own steady and determined bravery counter- acted the effects of surprise, and baffled the well- concerted scheme of the enemy. They remained to refit and provide till the 2nd of May, and on ap- proaching the Cape ascertained that Suffrein had arrived before them. Though previous to the arrival of Suffrein that settlement, then supposed of great importance, was not in a condition to have offered any considerable resistance to the land and naval force under Meadows and Johnstone, it was now accounted vain to make on it any attempt. While the French fleet lay at anchor in False Bay, it ap- peared not to the Commodore impossible to make prize of a fleet of Dutch East Indiamen, in Saldanha Bay. Success depended on being able, by surprise and celerity, to prevent them from being run ashore and burnt. The end was pretty completely attained; as, out of five ships, four were secured. The Com- modore in his own ship, with the prizes and most of the frigates, returned to Europe ; the rest, together with the troops, proceeded to India. Suffrein, leaving a sufficient garrison for the protection of the Cape, sailed for the island of Mauritius ; where he augmented the French fleet to ten sail of the line, one fifty gun ship, and several frigates. The Eng- lish on the 2nd of September stopped at the island of Joanna, to land and recover the sick, who now
REINFORCEMENTS FROM EUROPE.
241
amounted to a third part both of the seamen and book v.
A # CHAP. 5
soldiers. They left the island on the 24th of the
same month; were becalmed from the 11th of 1782- October to the 5th of November; at 260 leagues distant from Bombay, they were carried, by the shifting of the monsoon, to the coast of Arabia Felix; on the 26th of November anchored in Morabat Bay; on the 6th of December, the prin- cipal ships of war, having on board General Meadows and Colonel Fullarton with the chief part of the troops, proceeded in quest of Admiral Hughes ; the remaining ships, and transports with part of two regiments, under the command of Colonel Humberston Mackenzie, left Morabat on the 9th ; and arrived at Bombay on the 22nd of January,
1782.
The Colonel remained only six days at Bombay, when he re-embarked the men, and set sail for Madras. On the 9th of February, at Anjengo, in the dominions of the King of Travancore, alarming intelligence reached him from the Coromandel coast ; that Hyder Ali had overrun the whole of the Car- natic with an immense army ; that he threatened Tanjore, Marawar, Madura, and Tinivelly with de- struction ; that he circumvented and cut off two Biitish armies ; that dissension, improvidence, and pusillanimity reigned at Madras ; and that Fort St.
George itself was insulted and endangered. To these statements was added intelligence that the French fleet were at this time to assemble off Point de Galle ; and that magazines for them had for some time been forming at Columbo and other ports in Ceylon. He called a Council of War ; when he came to the deter-
VOL. IV. R
242
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. mination, in consequence chiefly of the intelligence
respecting the French fleet, rather to attempt a diver-
1782. sion on the Malabar side of Hyder’s dominions, than to incur the chances of delay and danger attached to the voyage round to Madras. He landed his troops, amounting to scarcely a thousand men, at Calicut, on the 18th of February, where he joined Major Abingdon, and as senior oflicer assumed the command. He immediately took the field ; proceeded into Hyder’s territories ; drove before him the army which was left for the protection of those parts ; and took several forts; when, the monsoon approaching, he returned to Calicut, and placed his little army in can- tonments in the month of May.
The French fleet, with a body of land forces, form- ing part of the armament which under Bussy was destined to restore the influence of the French in India, left the islands a considerable time after the English sailed for Joanna; and, the Admiral dying on his passage, the command devolved upon M. Suffrein, a man of great resource, of unwearied enter- prise, and, in every respect, one of the best naval commanders whom France had ever produced. The English fleet, delayed and dispersed by the weather, incurred considerable danger of a very unseasonable rencounter ; and the Hannibal, a fifty-gun ship, being separated from the rest in a haze, unexpectedly found herself surrounded by the enemy, where, after a fruit- less though gallant resistance, she was taken. The F rench fleet arrived on the Coromandel coast in the month of January, and intercepted several vessels bound to Madras with grain. Sir Edward Hughes, after taking Trincomalee, was obliged on the last
UNDECISIVE ACTION BETWEEEN THE FLEETS.
243
day of January to set sail for Madras, being in great want of stores and provisions, his ships much decayed, and his crew diminished and sick. On his arrival at Madras, on the 11th of February, he learned that he had fortunately escaped the French fleet already upon the coast ; but still found himself exposed to their attack in an open road with only six ships of the line, out of condition from long service, and almost destitute of supplies. By another fortunate chance (for had either squadron fallen in with the French, the most fatal consequences might have ensued), the ships which carried General Meadows and his army, consisting of one seventy-four, one sixty-four, and one fifty-gun ship, arrived the next day in the road ; and within twenty-four hours, Suffrein, with ten ships of the line, two ships, includ- ing the captured Hannibal, of fifty guns, six frigates, eight transports, and six prizes, hove in sight, recon- noitred Madras, and anchored a few miles to wind- ward of the English fleet, which, with the utmost diligence, was making the necessary preparations for action. Deceived in his probable expectation of finding Sir Edward Hughes with only six sail of the line, not re-inforced, and of signalizing his arrival by so decisive a blow as the destruction of the English fleet, he, on the 14th, passed Madras inline of battle to the southward. The English weighed anchor, and followed. On the 15th, in the evening, the fleets passed each other, so near, as to exchange some shots. On the 16th, the English Admiral found an opportunity of making a push at the French convoy separated from the fleet, when he retook five of the vessels which had been captured on the coast,
r 2
book v
CHAP. 5.
1782.
244
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1782.
■ and a large transport laden with provisions, ammuni- - tion, and troops. On the 17th, after a variety of movements, in which Suffrein still kept the weather- gage, the two fleets came to action late in the day ; and separated after a short conflict, on the approach of night, when the French steered to windward, and the English to Trincomalee.
The French Admiral proceeded to Porto Novo, and landed 2000 men.1 They were soon joined by a large detachment of Hyder’s army, under the com- mand of Tippoo his son, who had just been employed in inflicting upon the English one of the deepest wounds which they had sustained during the war. Colonel Brathwaite, with 100 Europeans, 1500 native troops, and 300 cavalry, stationed for the purpose of protecting Tanjore, lay encamped on the banks of the Coleroon, at a distance of forty miles from the capital of that name, exposed indeed on an open plain, hut apparently secured by the intervention of several large and deep rivers, and the distance of the enemy. His position gave encouragement to Hyder. Tippoo, with 10,000 horse, an equal number of infantry, twenty pieces of cannon, and M. Lally, with his European troops 400 strong, surrounded Colonel Brathwaite before he had received even a suspicion of their march. His first endeavour was to reach Tanjore, or some other place of safety ; but the superior force of the enemy rendered this impracti- cable. The next resolution was to make a brave defence ; and seldom can the annals of war exhibit a parallel to the firmness and perseverance which he
t 1 The author of Histoire de la Derniere Guerre (p. 297) says about 3000 ; but, that was, including a regiment of Caffres.
brathwaite’s detachment defeated.
245
and his little army displayed. From the 16th to the 18th of February, surrounded on all sides by an enemy, who outnumbered them, twenty to one, did they withstand incessant attacks. They formed themselves into a hollow square, with the artillery interspersed in the faces, and the cavalry in the centre. Tippoo laboured, by the fire of his cannon, to produce a breach in some of the lines, and as often as he fancied that he had made an impression, urged on his cavalry, by his presence, by promises, by threats, by stripes, and the slaughter of fugitives with his own hand. Repeatedly they advanced to the charge ; as often were they repelled by showers of grape-shot and musketry; when the English cavalry, issuing from the centre, at intervals suddenly made by dis- ciplined troops, pursued their retreat with great execution. After twenty-six hours of incessant con- flict, when great numbers of the English army had fallen, and the rest were worn out with wounds and fatigue, Lally, at the head of his 400 Europeans, supported by a large body of infantry, covered on his flanks by cavalry, advanced with fixed bayonets to the attack. At this tremendous appearance, the resolution of the sepoys failed, and they were thrown into confusion. The rage of barbarians was with difficulty restrained by the utmost efforts of a civilized commander. Lally is reported to have dyed his sword in the blood of several of the murderers, before he could draw them off from the carnage. It is remarkable, notwithstanding the dreadful circumstances of this engagement, that out of twenty officers, only one was killed, and eleven wounded. And it is but justice to add, that Tippoo
BOOK V. CHAP. 5.
1782.
246
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOKV.t^d his prisoners, especially the officers and wounded men, with real attention and humanity.
1782- The arrival of so important an aid as that of 2000 Frenchmen, augmented to an alarming degree the army of Tippoo. Cuddalore yielded to their united force on the 3rd of April, and afforded a convenient station both naval and military for the French. In the mean time Sir Edward Hughes left Trincomalee, having effected the most necessary repairs, and arrived at Madras on the 12th of March. Towards the end of that month, the French Admiral slipped from Porto Novo, hearing that a fleet of English Indiamen had arrived upon the coast. As soon as his departure was known at Madras, Sir Edward Hughes got under weigh ; hut had not lost sight of the flag-staff of the fort, when he fell in with the fleet, of which the French were in quest, consisting of seven Indiamen and two line-of-battle-ships, having a king’s regiment on board. He ordered the men of war to join him, and proceeded to land a reinforce- ment and stores for the garrison at Trincomalee. His policy was to avoid an engagement till this service was performed. Suffrein, on the other hand whose crews were sickly, and his provisions wearing low, was eager to fight. The two fleets came in sight on the 8th of April ; but the English Admiral held on his course, and the French followed, during that and the three succeeding days, when, having made the coast of Ceylon, about fifteen leagues to windward of Trincomalee, the English bore away for it during the night. This appears to have been the opportunity for which Suffrein was in wait ; for having gained the wind of the English squadron, he
OPERATIONS OF HYDER AND THE ENGLISH.
247
was seen on the morning of the 1 2th crowding all
the sail which he could carry in pursuit, while the
English were so alarmingly close upon a lee-shore 1782- that one of the ships actually touched the ground.
A severe conflict ensued, in which the intrepid reso- lution of the English again counterbalanced the dis- advantages of their situation ; and the fleets, after suffering in nearly an equal degree, were parted by the night. So much were both disabled, that they lay for seven days within random-shot, only to prepare themselves to sail ; and retired, the English to Trincomalee, the French to the Dutch harbour of Battacalo, without on either side attempting to renew the engagement.
The English army, who had now been some months in cantonments, took the field on the 17th of April. The object first in contemplation was to re- lieve Parmacoil ; but on arriving at Carangoly, the General found it already surrendered. On the 24th the army encamped near Wandewash, on the very spot on which Sir Eyre Coote defeated the French General Lally in 1760. The general orders boasted of the victory, and a double batta was issued to the troops ; but on the next day, on account of water, the position was shifted to the other side of the fort. Hyder and his F rench auxiliaries lay encamped on a strong post, on the red hills near Parmacoil, from which, on the approach of the English, they removed to another in the neighbourhood of Kellinoor. As the magazines of Hyder were deposited in the strong fort of Amee, Sir Eyre concluded that a march upon that place would draw the enemy to its assistance, and afford the opportunity of a battle. He encamped
v.
5.
248
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 5.
1782.
on the 1st of June within three miles of the place ; and Hyder, passing over a space of forty-three miles in two days, took up his head-quarters at Chittapet, on the evening of the same day. Before the dawn of the following morning, the English army were in motion toward Arnee ; but with the first of the light, a heavy cannonade was opened on their rear. The troops came twice to the right about, and the baggage was brought twice through the files, before it was possible to discover whence the firing proceeded. A Council, which was called, and deliberated in great uncertainty, agreed in opinion, that an attack was to be expected on the rear, and the army was imme- diately drawn up to receive it. The enemy’s horse, in the mean time, occupied the circumjacent grounds, more elevated than the low spot which was occupied by the English, and considerably galled them ; while Hyder, dexterously detaching a division of his army under Tippoo, carried off the treasure from Arnee, gave instructions to the commandant, and reinforced the garrison. Having accomplished his object, he retired as the English advanced ; and one of his guns, and a tumbril which stuck in the bed of the river, were the only trophies of the day. Deeming it vain to attempt the reduction of Arnee, the English on the 7th were considerably advanced on their march back to Madras, when a regiment of European ca- valry, which Sir Eyre Coote called his grand guard, were drawn into an ambuscade, and either killed or taken prisoners. After attempting without success to lead the enemy into a similar snare near Wande- vvash, on the 9th, the General proceeded on his march, and on the 20th arrived at Madras.
SIR EYRE COOTE.
249
On the 29th of that month, by a letter from the 5V'
Governor-General to Lord Macartney, the conclusion
of peace with the Mahrattas was announced at Ma- 1/82 dras. Sir Eyre Coote, as solely invested with the power of war and peace, of his own authority, and without consulting the Governor and Council of Madras, proposed to Hyder, or rather summoned him, to accede to the treaty concluded between the Eng- lish and the Mahrattas, to restore all the forts which he had taken, and within six months to evacuate the Carnatic ; otherwise, the arms of the Mahrattas would he joined to those of the English, in order to chastise him. Lord Macartney, alarmed at so daring an assumption of the whole power of the Presidency, is accused of having diverted the mind of Hyder from peace, by teaching him to doubt the validity of any agreement with the General, in which the Go- vernor and Council had not a part. 1 But Hyder too well knew the politics of India to receive great addi- tion to his apprehensions from the threats of the General ; and was too well acquainted with the intrigues of Madras to receive new lights from the communication, even if it had been made, which was thus imputed to Lord Macartney. To retain the negotiation more completely independent of the civil authority, the General moved from Madras, on the 1st of July, and lessened his distance from Hyder.
Sir Eyre was a most unequal match for the Mysorean in the arts of diplomacy, and allowed himself to be duped. Hyder amused him in the neighbourhood of Wandewash, till the army had wholly consumed not
1 Memoirs of the late War in Asia, i. 403, which, being an undistin- guishing panegyric upon Hastings, takes part against Macartney.
250
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. on]y t}ieir own rjce^ a|so that of the garrison ;
and till he had completely arranged with the French
1/82, Admiral a plan of combined operations for the reduc- tion of Negapatam. He then demanded a little time for deliberation, and, suddenly withdrawing his vakeel, left the General in total darkness with re- gard to his designs.1
Sir Eyre Coote was obliged to return to Madras ; and good fortune alone defeated the train which was laid for the reduction of Negapatam. Suffrein, in sailing to Negapatam, was descried by the English fleet, and in spite of every attempt to gain the road without fighting, was by the skilful movements of the Admiral constrained to venture a battle. After refitting at Ceylon, both fleets had returned to the coast about the end of June ; the French to the port of Cuddalore, the English to that of Negapatam. Weighing anchor about three in the afternoon on the 3rd of July, the English Admiral steered in a south- erly direction in order to gain the wind of the ememy, and about 1 1 o’clock on the following day the action commenced. It was close, warm, and general. After an hour and a half, during which the fire had been equally well maintained on both sides, the French
1 Colonel Wilks’s account of this negotiation, is somewhat different. According to him, it originated with Hyder. Some advances to nego- tiation being made by him through Colonel Brathwaite, a prisoner in Hyder’s camp ; these advances were followed by the mission of an envoy to the English camp, charged with no definite proposals, and instructed merely to feel the dispositions and the probable demands of the English in the event of a peace being made. Sir Eyre Coote declined to satisfy the official inquiries of Lord Macartney with regard to the nature of these communications, conduct certainly uncordial and indecorous, but less glaringly so, than if the General had taken upon himself to propose terms of peace without the knowledge of the government. — W.
OPERATIONS OF SUFFREIN.
251
line appeared to be getting into disorder ; and the Eng- book _v-
lish began to cheer themselves with the hopes of a
speedy and glorious victory, when a sudden altera- 1782-
tion of the wind disturbed their order of battle, afforded an opportunity to Suffrein, of which he dexterously availed himself, to form a line with those ships which had suffered the least, for covering the disabled part of his fleet, and induced the English Admiral to collect the scattered ships. At the approach of evening he cast anchor between Nega- patam and Nagore.1 The French, having passed the night about three leagues to leeward, proceeded the next morning to Cuddalore ; and the English fleet, though it saw them, was too much disabled to pursue. The English Admiral, after remaining a fortnight at Negapatam, arrived at Madras on the 20th, in order to refit. In the mean time Suffrein had proceeded with characteristic activity, a quality in which he was never surpassed, in preparing his fleet, for sea at Cuddalore. He was a man, that, when the exigency required, would work for days, like a ship’s carpenter, in his shirt. He visited the houses and buildings at Cuddalore, and, for want of other timber, had the beams which suited his purpose taken out. To some of his officers, who represented to him the shattered condition of his ships, the alarming deficiency of his stores, the impossibility of supplying his wants in a desolated part of India, and the necessity of repairing to the islands to refit ; the whole value, he replied, of the ships was trivial, in
1 It is said that two of the French line-of-battle-sliips struck during the action, but that Suffrein fired into them, till they hoisted colours again j and in consequence were saved.
252
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. comparison with the object which he was comrnis-
CHAP. 5. . . "
sioned to attain ; and the ocean should be his har-
1782- hour, till he found a place in India to repair them. On the 5th of August, the Governor of F ort St. George was informed, that the French fleet was already not only prepared for sea, but had actually sailed to the southward on the 1st of the month; that the first division of the French reinforcements expected from Europe was actually arrived at Point de Galle ; and that the second, with Bussy himself, was daily ex- pected. Greatly alarmed for the fate of Trincomalee, and even of Negapatam, the President and Com- mittee deemed it requisite to quicken the preparations of the Admiral, whose activity equalled not his courage and seamanship, by a letter, in which they drew his attention to this intelligence, and to the danger w7hich every day was incurred, while an enemy’s fleet kept the sea, without a British to oppose it. The jealousy of the Admiral was acute; of the time for sailing, he replied, that he was the judge ; that he was not responsible for his conduct to the government of Madras ; and that he should proceed to sea with his Majesty’s squadron under his command, as soon as it was fit for service.1 He did not proceed to sea before the 20th of August ; when he sailed to Trincomalee, and found it already in the hands of the enemy. Suffrein, after proceeding to Point de Galle, where he was joined by the rein- forcements from Europe and two ships of the line, anchored in Trincomalee Bay on the 25th ; landed the troops before day the next morning ; opened the
Barrow’s Life of Lord Macartney, i. 122.
NAVAL ACTION.
253
batteries on the 29th ; silenced those of the garrison before night ; and summoned the place before morn- ing. Eager to anticipate the arrival of the English fleet, Suffrein offered the most honourable terms. The forts were surrendered on the last of the month, and Hughes arrived on the 2nd of September.
Early on the following morning the French fleet proceeded to sea; when the English were eager to redeem by a victory the loss of Trincomalee. The French had twelve, the English eleven sail of the line; the French had four ships of fifty guns, the English only one. The battle began between two and three in the afternoon, and soon became general. After raging for three hours with great fury in every part of the line ; the darkness of the night at last terminated one of the best-fought actions then re- corded in the annals of naval warfare. The exertions of Suffrein himself were remarkable, for he was ill seconded by his captains, of whom he broke no fewer than six, immediately after the engagement. For- tunately for the French fleet, they had the island of Trincomalee at hand, to receive them ; but in crowd- ing into it in the dark, one ship struck upon the rocks, and was lost; and two others were so much disabled, that ten days elapsed before they were able to enter the harbour. Suffrein then described them as presents which he had received from the British Admiral; who, regarding the proximity of Trinco- malee as a bar to all attempts, and finding his am- munition short, immediately after the battle pro- ceeded to Madras.
Hyder, upon the disappointment of his plan against Negapatam by the rencounter between the French
book v.
chap. 5.
] 782.
254
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 5.
1782.
and English fleets, returned upon his steps ; and pro- ceeded toward his magazine at Amee. Upon the return of the English army to Madras, a plan had been concerted for the recovery of Cuddalore. The return, indeed, of Hyder, by alarming the General for the safety of Wandewash, made him wish to lessen rather than increase his distance from that fort ; but after a day’s march, having learned that Hyder had passed the river Arnee, he proceeded in the direction of Cuddalore, and on the 6th of Sep- tember encamped on the red hills of Pondicherry. Intelligence, here received, of the fall of Trincomalee, of another action between the fleets, and of the in- tention of the British Admiral to return to Madras, induced the General, who had sustained a second paralytic attack, to return to the same place with the army.
The Presidency were thrown into the utmost agi- tation and alarm by an unexpected event ; the re- fusal of the Admiral to co-operate in the enterprise against Cuddalore ; and the declaration of his in- tention to proceed to Bombay, and leave the coast during the ensuing monsoon. If the coast were left unprotected by a British fleet, while the harbour of Trincomalee enabled the enemy to remain, and while Hyder was nearly undisputed master of the Carnatic, nothing less was threatened than the extirpation of the English from that quarter of India. Beside these important considerations, the Council pressed upon the mind of the Admiral the situation of the Presi- dency in regard to food ; that their entire depend- ence rested upon the supplies which might arrive by sea ; that the stock in the warehouses did not ex-
DESERTION BY THE ADMIRAL.
255
ceed 30,000 bags ; that the quantity afloat in the book 5V-
roads amounted but to as much more, which the .
number of boats demanded for the daily service of 1782- his squadron had deprived them of the means of landing : that the monthly consumption was 50,000 bags at the least; and that, if the vessels on which they depended for their supply were intercepted,
(such would be the certain consequence of a French fleet without an English upon the coast,) nothing less than famine was placed before their eyes. The Admiral was reminded that he had remained in safety upon the coast during the easterly monsoon of the former year, and might still undoubtedly find some harbour to afford him shelter. A letter too was received express from Bengal, stating that Mr.
Ritchie, the marine surveyor, would undertake to conduct his Majesty’s ships to a safe anchorage in the mouth of the Bengal river. And it was known that Sir Richard Bickerton, with a reinforcement of five sail of the line from England, had already touched at Bombay, and was on his way round for Madras.
The Admiral remained deaf to all expostulations.
In the mean time intelligence was received that the enemy was preparing to attack Negapatam. The President had already prevailed upon Sir Eyre Coote to send a detachment of 300 men under Colonel Fullarton, into the southern provinces, which, since the defeat of Colonel Brathwaite, had lain exposed to the ravages of Hyder, and were now visited with scarcity, and the prospect of famine. Within two days of the former intelligence, accounts were re- ceived that seventeen sail of the enemy’s fleet had
256
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1 CHAP. 5
1 782.
J- arrived at Negapatam, and that the place was already - attacked. The most earnest expostulations were still addressed to the Admiral in vain ; and the morn- ing of the 15th of October exhibiting the appear- ance of a storm, the fleet set sail and disappeared. The following morning presented a tremendous spec- tacle to the wretched inhabitants of Madras ; several large vessels driven ashore ; others foundered at their anchors ; all the small craft, amounting to nearly 100 in number, either sunk or stranded; and the whole of the 30,000 bags of rice irretrievably gone. The ravages of Hyder had driven crowds of the inha- bitants from all parts of the country to seek refuge at Madras, where multitudes were daily perishing of want. Famine now raged in all his horrors ; and the multitude of the dead and the dying threatened to superadd the evils of pestilence. The bodies of those who expired in the streets or the houses with- out any one to inter them, were daily collected, and piled in carts, to be buried in large trenches made for the purpose out of the town, to the number, for several weeks, of not less, it is said, than twelve or fifteen hundred a-week. What was done to remove the suffering inhabitants to the less exhausted parts of the country, and to prevent unnecessary consump- tion, the Governor sending away his horses, and even his servants, could only mitigate, and that to a small degree, the evils which were endured.1 On
1 The violence of the tendency there was to calumniate Lord Macart- ney is witnessed by the absurd allegations which even found their way into publications in England ; that he kept the grain on board the ships to make his profit out of its engrossment. See Memoirs of the late War in Asia, i. 413. — M. This is not asserted, nor insinuated, by the author of the work cited : he merely states that such suspicions were entertained,
ALARMING STATE OF MADRAS.
257
the fourth day after the departure of Sir Edward B00K v-
. . . . CHAP. 5
Hughes and his fleet, Sir Richard Bickerton arrived,
with three regiments of 1000 each, Sir John Bur- 1782- goyne’s regiment of light horse, amounting to 340, and about 1000 recruits raised by the Company, chiefly in Ireland ; but as soon as Sir Richard was apprized of the motions of Sir E. Hughes, he imme- diately put to sea, and proceeded after him to Bom- bay. Sir Eyre Coote also, no longer equal to the toils of command, set sail for Bengal; and General Stuart remained at the head of the army, now en- camped at Madras, with provisions for not many days, and its pay six months in arrear.
The exclusive power over the military operations, which had been intrusted to Coote, and which, though it greatly impeded the exertions of the Presi- dent, motives of delicacy and prudence forbade him to withdraw, belonged, under no pretext, to General Stuart ; and the Governor and Council proceeded to carry their own plans into execution, for checking the profuse expenditure of the army, and making the most advantageous disposition of the troops. A re- inforcement of 400 Europeans was despatched to co-operate with the Bombay army in effecting a diversion on the western side of Hyder’s dominions ;
300 of the same troops were sent to the northern Circars against an apprehended invasion of the French; and 500 to strengthen the garrison at Ne- gapatam. Fortunately for the English, the French
according to the manner of the people, originating in some restrictions laid upon the disposal of the cargoes, thought advisable by the government of Madras, on public principles, such as were common in those days, before political economy was understood. — W.
VOL. IV. S
258
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1782.
• had no information or conception of the unprotected . and starving condition in which Madras had been left. It remained unvisited, even by a few frigates to intercept the corn-ships : and from Bengal and the Circars considerable supplies were received. An event also arrived, of such magnitude, as to affect the views of almost every state in India, and sud- denly to cheer the gloom which darkened the pros- pects of the English. Their great enemy Hyder Ali, who began his career in one of the lowest situations of life ; who, totally destitute of the bene- fits of education, raised himself to be the sovereign of a great empire, and displayed a talent for govern- ment and for war, of which they had met with no example in India, died at Chittore in the beginning of December, at an age not exactly ascertained, but certainly exceeding eighty ; when his destined suc- cessor Tippoo was at a great distance ; having been detached to the western coast, to oppose Colonel Humberstone’s invasion.
That officer, after remaining at Calicut from the end of May till the beginning of September, pro- ceeded to Palacotah, a strong fort, situated about a mile from Palacatcherry, and commanding the great southern pass between the coasts, with an army con- sisting of more than 900 British troops, and 2000 Bombay sepoys ; beside 1200 sepoys with European officers and serjeants, furnished by the King of Tan- jore; and a proportional train of artillery, of which however they were obliged, for want of draught bullocks, to leave the whole of the heavy part, and one half of the remainder by the way. They re- mained before Ramgurree from the 20th of Septem-
OPERATIONS OF COLONEL HUMBERSTONE.
259
ber to the 6th of October. Being; deserted in the book v
° CHAP. O.
night, it was garrisoned with convalescents, and
made the centre of a chain of communications. 1782- After taking another fort on the 14th, they ap- proached Palacatcherry ; and on the 18th, without much difficulty, dispersed the enemy, who met them at about three miles’ distance from the fort. To take Palacatcherry, without heavy artillery, was, after three days’ inspection, considered impossible; and the army were ordered to march at four o’clock on the morning of the 22nd, in order to occupy a camp at several miles’ distance, till the battering cannon should arrive. Unfortunately, the officer who con- ducted the retreat, instead of putting the line to the right about, ordered them to countermarch, which threw the baggage and stores to the rear. Apprized of all their motions, the enemy dexterously watched them in a narrow defile, till all except the rear guard and the baggage had passed, when the enemy sud- denly made an attack, and the whole of the provi- sions, and almost all the ammunition, fell into their hands. It now only remained for the English to make their retreat to the coast with the greatest ex- pedition. They were attacked from every thicket ; exceedingly harassed both on flanks and rear : during the two first days they hardly tasted food ; and on the 18th of November, when they reached Ramgurree, the fortifications of which, as well as those of Mangaracotah, they blew up, they received intelligence that Tippoo Saheb, with 20,000 men, whom the weakness of the English in the Carnatic had enabled Hyder to detach for the protection of his western provinces, was advancing upon them with
S 2
260
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \ CHAP. 5.
J7S2.
• rapid marches, and already at hand. They had - marched hut a few miles on the following morning, when Tippoo’s advanced parties opened a cannonade on their rear. Fighting every step of the march, they arrived towards dark at the river Paniani, which appeared impassable. After a painful search of two hours a ford was found, which though it reached up to the chin of an ordinary man, they resolved to at- tempt, and happily passed with the loss of but two black women, among the followers of the camp. The enemy, expecting to find them an easy prey in the morning, had totally neglected to watch them during the night. Next day they reached the town of Pa- niani, against which the operations of Tippoo were immediately commenced.1 Before dawn on the 28th of November, the enemy, divided into four columns, including a portion of Lally’s corps, with that officer himself at their head, made a strong assault upon the English lines, as yet incomplete. They had dis- lodged a body of sepoys, and were in possession of the guns, before the English troops got under arms ; when the forty-second regiment, advancing with fixed bayonets, threw them into confusion. They made various attempts to rally, but with considerable slaughter were compelled to retreat.2 Tippoo con- tinued the blockade, and was understood to be me- ditating another attack, when he received the news of his father’s decease. He departed immediately
1 The command had been assumed by Colonel Macleod, sent by Sir Eyre Coote for the purpose, and -who arrived at Paniani on the 19th. — W.
! According to Wilks, the assault took place on the 29th; on the 30th Sir E. Hughes with his squadron touched at Paniani, and reinforced the detachment with 450 Europeans. — W.
GENERAL STUART’S OPPOSITION.
261
with a few horse, leaving orders for the army to follow.
No sooner was intelligence received of the death of Hyder, than Lord Macartney, aware of the feeble cement of an Indian army, and justly estimating the chances of its dispersion, if, at the moment of con- sternation, it were vigorously attacked, expressed his eagerness for action. General Stuart, instead of se- conding this ardour, either by having the troops in readiness, or putting them in motion, was employing his time and his talents in squabbles with the civil authority. Slight symptoms of military impatience, under the command of the Company’s servants, had, at different times, already appeared. But it was under Coote, that it first assumed a formidable as- pect. The independent authority which was yielded to that commander corrupted the views of the mili- tary officers ; and General Stuart was well calcu- lated to uphold a controversy on the subject of his own pretensions. From the moment of his elevation to the command of the troops, and to a voice in the deliberations which regulated their actions, he is ac- cused of having diligently objected to almost every proposal ; and of having filled the records of the Company with teasing discussions on his own dig- nity, privileges, and emoluments. The King’s offi- cers, indeed, from an early period of their services in India, assumed an air, proportionate, as they imagined to the dignity of the master whom they served ; and they now, under General Stuart, distinctly asserted the doctrine of being at liberty to obey, or not to obey the Company, as they themselves held fit. A doctrine which implied the extinction of the civil au-
book v.
CHAP. 5.
1782.
262
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1783.
• thority, and went to subvert the government of the . Company, appeared to Lord Macartney to demand an explicit and decisive resistance. The Committee agreed with him in recording a declaration ; That when the King lent his troops for the service of the Company, and when they passed from the pay of the King into the pay of the Company, their obedience to the Company, till the period of their recall, was a condition necessary and understood : that the King reserved to himself the regulation of their interior economy ; but with regard to their operations, gave them not so much as instructions ; which were left exclusively to the Authority, for the service of which they were employed. The General, having thought fit to deliver to the Committee what he called an an- swer to this declaration, and therein to assert a right of judging when he should obey, and when not, re- ceived by the unanimous resolution of the Com- mittee, a positive order to send no commands or instructions, except on business of discipline or detail, to any of the King’s or Company’s officers without the approbation of the Committee. To these deci- sive measures General Stuart abstained from any direct or declared resistance; and rather chose to thw7art the views of the President and Council by placing obstacles in their way. Upon their earnest application, when the news arrived of the death of Hyder, that the army should march, the General affected to disbelieve the intelligence ; and, if it was true, replied, that the army would be ready for action in the proper time. When the fact was ascertained, and the remonstrances were re- doubled; when letters were daily received, describing
TIPPOO ASCENDS HIS FATHER’S THRONE.
263
the importance of the moment for striking a decisive 5V
blow ; when the commanding officer at Tripasore .
sent express intelligence, that the whole of the 1783- enemy’s camp was in consternation, that numbers had deserted, and that, in the opinion of the de- serters, the whole army, if attacked before the arrival of Tippoo, would immediately disband and fly into their own country, the General declared the army deficient in equipments for marching at that season of the year ; though for upwards of a month he had been receiving the strongest representations on the necessity of keeping it in readiness for action, with offers of the utmost exertions of the government to provide for that purpose whatever was required.
Tippoo, in the mean time, had admitted no delay.
Having reached Colar, where, he performed the ac- customed ceremonies at the tomb of his father, he pursued his course to the main army, which he joined between Arnee and Yelore, about the end of Decem- ber. The address and fidelity of the leading officers,1 who concealed the fatal event, had been able to preserve some order and obedience among the troops till he arrived; when the immediate payment of their arrears, and a few popular regulations, firmly established Tippoo on his father’s throne. Shortly after his arrival he was joined by a French force from Cuddalore, consisting of 900 Europeans, 250 Caffrees and Topasses, 2000 sepoys, and twenty-two pieces of artillery ; while at this time the whole of the British force in the Carnatic, capable of taking the field,
1 The two principal ministers of Hyder were Hindus, both Brahmans.
Poornea and Kishen Rao. Wilks, ii. 413. — W.
264
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. amounted to no more than 2945 Europeans, and
CHAP. 5. # 1 *
11,545 natives.
I/83. On the 4th of January the army at last took the field. On the 5th of February they marched. On the eighth they arrived at Wandewash, where the enemy appeared. On the 13th the General advanced and offered battle ; when the enemy retired in haste and disorder towards the river. He withdrew the garrisons from Wandewash and Carangoly, which it was held impracticable to maintain ; and blew up the fortifications of both.1 He then marched towards Velore, and at that place received intelligence that Tippoo Saib was retreating from the Carnatic, that he had ordered Arcot to be evacuated, and two sides of the fort to be destroyed.
Tippoo was recalled, not only by the care of esta- blishing his government, but of meeting a formidable invasion on the western coast, which had already approached the vitals of his kingdom. The English army, which had been left unobstructed on his de- parture from Paniani, about the beginning of De- cember, proceeded about the end of that month, the sepoys by land to Tellicherry, the European part, by sea, to Merjee, about three hundred miles north of Paniani. In January, General Mathews, with an army under his command, from Bombay, arrived at Merjee, and summoned to his standard the rest of the troops on that part of the coast. He took by storm the fort of Onore, and reduced some other
1 This was done in compliance, and in concurrence with the views of
the Madras government, but General Stuart afterwards expressed his
regret at having precipitately adopted a measure of which the army soon felt the inconvenience. It also received the condemnation of the Supreme Government. Wilks, ii, 424, 426. — W.
TIPPOO WITHDRAWN FROM CARNATIC.
265
places of smaller consequence; and about the middle BC°°^5V'
of the month, with a force consisting of about 1200
Europeans, eight battalions of Sepoys, and a propor- l783, tionate quantity of artillery and Lascars, moved toward the great pass which is known by the appel- lation of the Hussain Gurry Ghaut.1 The ascent consisted of a winding road of about five miles in length, defended by batteries or redoubts at every turning. The army entered the pass on the morning of the 25th, and chiefly with the bayonet carried every thing before them, till they reached a strong redoubt at the top of the Ghaut ; this appeared im- pregnable ; but a party clambering up the rocks came round upon it behind, and the whole of the pass was placed in their power. The next day they advanced to Hyder-nagur, or Bednore, the rich capital of one of the most important of all the depen- dencies of Mysore. They were on their march with no more than six rounds of ammunition for each man, when an English prisoner arrived, with terms from the Governor, and a proposal to surrender not only the city of Bednore, but the country and all its dependencies. With the capital, most of the minor forts made a ready submisson ; but Ananpore, Man- galore, and some others, held out. Ananpore, after violating two flags of truce, stood the storm, and was carried on the 14th of February. In Mangalore, a breach being effected, the commander, unable to prevail upon his people to maintain the defence, was obliged to surrender. In these transactions, particu-
1 This movement, intended to advance upon Bednore, was in consequence of positive orders from the Bombay Government, and in opposition to the opinion of General Matthews. Wilks, ii. 448.
266
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAP. 5
1783.
• larly in the reduction of Onore and Ananpore, the . English army have been accused of a barbarity unusual at the hands of a civilized foe. It appears not, however, that quarter, when asked, was refused; but orders were given to shed the blood of every man who was taken under arms, and some of the officers were reprimanded for not seeing those orders rigidly executed.1 After the acquisition of Mangalore the General, with a portion of the army, returned to Bednore, where the flames of discord were kindled by pretensions to the spoil. A vast treasure amount- ing to eighty-one lacs of pagodas, 801, 000£. besides a quantity of jewels, was understood to have been found in Bednore. Of this, though the army was in the greatest distress for want of money, having re- ceived no pay for twelve months, some of the troops for a longer time, the General positively refused to divide any part. The most vehement complaints and remonstrances ensued. Refractory proceedings were severely, if not abitrarily punished ; and three of the leading officers, Colonel Macleod, Colonel Humber- stone, and Major Shaw, left the army, and, proceeding to Bombay, laid their representations before the Go- vernor and Council. So flagrant to the Governor and Council did the conduct of the General appear, that they superseded him ; and appointed Colonel Mac-
1 See Annual Register for 1783; and “A Vindication of the English Forces employed in the late War, under the command of Brigadier- General Matthews, against the Nabob Tippoo Sultaun,” by sundry Officers of the Bombay Establishment. Parliamentary Papers, ordered to be printed, 11th March, 1791. — M. Wilks states that the garrison of Anantpore was put to the sword in retaliation for what the English consi- dered an act of treachery, their firing upon a party advancing under a pro- mise of the peaceable surrender of the fort ; which promise had, without any communication with the assailants, been revoked by a different authority, v. ii, 453.— W.
THE ENGLISH IN REDNORE.
leod, the next in rank, to take the command in his B00K
chap.
stead. Suspicions of his rapacity blazed with violence;
but it ought to be remembered, that he lived not to 1783- vindicate his own reputution ; and that in circum- stances such as those in which he was placed, sus- picions of rapacity are easily raised. 1
Colonel Macleod, now Brigadier-General, and Commander-in-Chief, returning to the army with the two other officers, in the Ranger snow, fell in with a Mahratta fleet of five vessels off Geriah, on the 7th of April. This fleet was not, it appears, apprized of the peace ; and Macleod full of impatience, temerity.
1 As far as they originated with the disappointment of the army, they were unfounded. No such amount of treasure could have been collected in Bednore. The circumstances of the surrender of that place to the English, which General Matthews thought little less than providential, considering the defective state of his equipments, have been fully explained by Colonel Wilks, from original documents. Bednore was yielded with- out resistance, from the treason of the governor, Ayaz (Hyat) Khan, one of Hyder’smilitary pupils or slaves, who had always been in disfavour with Tippoo, who apprehended disgrace or death upon that prince’s accession ; and who had intercepted orders for his destruction. He therefore at once ceded the province and capital to the English, and upon its investment by Tippoo, made his escape to Bombay. He probably stipulated for the pre- servation of what treasure there was in the fort, and he claimed compen- sation for what was lost, when the place was re-captured. His claim was but 1,40,000 pagodas, and the accounts of the Finance minister of Mysore state the embezzlement to have been upwards cf one lack, not eighty-one, as particularized in the text. As usual, therefore, the English were deceived by their own unreasonable expectations, and as the negotiation between Ayaz and the General, w'as kept a profound secret; — indeed Col. Wilks supposes it possible that General Matthews himself was not aware of the motives of the Governor, which is by no means probable ; — they were at a loss to understand why they were deprived of even so much of their booty as was to be divided. The conduct of the General after the occu- pation of Bednore, when the withdrawal of the positive orders of the Bom- bay Government left him free to fall back upon the coast, exhibits as great a want of military judgment, as his disputes with his officers manifested irritability of temper. Col. Wilks has given a very copious and interest- ing account of the whole of this calamitous transaction, vol. ii. 448, et seq. — W.
268
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. and presumption, instead of attempting an explana- _ tion, or submitting to be detained at Geriah for a few 1783. days, gave orders to resist. The Ranger was taken, after almost every man in the ship was either killed or wounded. Major Shaw was killed, and Macleod and Humberstone wounded ; the latter mortally. He died in a few days at Geriah, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, and was lamented as an officer of the most exalted promise ; a man, who nourished his spirit with the contemplation of ancient heroes, and devoted his hours to the study of the most abstruse sciences connected with his profession.
During this interval, the forty-second regiment was sent from Bednore to seize some forts below the Ghauts ; the army was dispersed in detachments, to occupy almost every town and mud-fort in the coun- try ; nothing, it is said, was dreamt of but riches ; intelligence, fortifications, and subsistence, were all equally neglected. In this state of supine insensi- bility, Tippoo suddenly appeared on the 9th of April, drove in a detachment stationed four miles distant at Fattiput, seized the town of Bednore, with a consi- derable quantity of ammunition neglectfully remain- ing without the magazine ; laid siege to the fort ; and sent detachments to occupy the Ghauts, and surrounding country. The English in Bednore were then cut off from retreat ; the fortifications ruinous, their ammunition expended, their provisions low, and their numbers diminishing by disease and fatigue as well as the sword. Honourable terms being pro- mised, they surrendered by capitulation on the 30th of April ; but instead of being sent according to agreement to the coast, they were put in irons and
THE ENGLISH IN BEDNORE MADE PRISONERS.
269
marched like felons to a dreadful imprisonment in B00K v-
L m CHAP. 5.
the strong fortresses of Mysore. To apologize for
this outrage upon the law of even barbarous nations, 1783- Tippoo charged the English with a violation of the articles of capitulation in robbing the public treasure ; and the suspicions which were attached to the cha- racter of the General have given currency to a story that he ordered the bamboo of his palanquin to be pierced and filled with pagodas.1
After this important success, Tippoo proceeded to Mangalore, in which the remains of the English army collected themselves, with such provisions as the suddenness of the emergency allowed them to procure. On the possession of Mangalore, the chief fortress and the best harbour of Canara, Tippoo, as well as his father, set an extraordinary value. On the 16th of May, a reconnoitring party of his horse appeared on a height near the town. On the 20th the picquets, on the 23rd the outposts of the gar- rison were driven in, and the investment of the place was rendered complete.
1 That the public treasure was divided amongst the English, is uniformly admitted. Annual Register, 1783. Wilks, ii. 462. Colonel Price who was then serving with a detachment of General Matthews’s army nearer the coast, observes, “ The account of the captured treasure was at the time enormously exaggerated, but the imprudent and unwarrant- able manner in which at the last extremity it was distributed, and that after it had been determined to capitulate, furnished too plausible an apology for that breach of the capitulation of which the Sultan became immediately guilty.” The same officer gives an account of an operation, the success of which might have had some effect upon a more favourable result. A sortie from the citadel took the French detachment so com- pletely by surprise, that it might easily have been destroyed. One of the French officers, however, adroitly stepped forward, and requested a parley, as if preparatory to a surrender. The commandant of the detachment unwisely halted to receive his overtures, and during the pause the enemy armed and repulsed their assailants. Memoirs of a Field Officer, 101.
270
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 5.
1783.
During the march of Tippoo from the Carnatic to the western side of his kingdom, and the operations which preceded his arrival at Mangalore, the follow- ing occurrences took place at Madras. As soon as the General ascertained the departure of the enemy, he returned with the army, and on the 20th of February encamped near the Mount. The policy of supporting the English army in Bednore against the army of Tippoo, by strong incursions on the southern and eastern parts of his dominions, pre- sented itself, in the strongest point of view, to the Governor and Council. The army stationed in Tan- jore and the southern provinces received orders to march towards the west ; and to General Stuart it was recommended, to march upon Tippoo’s frontier in the direction of Vellore. Any such movement he declared to he impossible ; and while the army remained inactive, Suffrein, whom the British fleet had not yet returned to oppose, found no difficulty in landing Bussy, with a reinforcement of French troops, at Cuddalore. It was an object of great im- portance to recover possession of that place, before the works should be strengthened, and the army of Tippoo, with the French troops which were with him, should he able to return. To all the expos- tulations of the Governor and Council, the General is accused of having replied, only by the statement of wants and difficulties, operating as grounds of delay. About fourteen days after the time fixed upon by himself, that is, on the 21st of April, in consequence of peremptory commands, he marched with the army towards Cuddalore. Contrary to his pledge, that he would not recall to his assistance the
OPERATIONS OF THE ARMY AT MADRAS
271
southern army, without the strongest necessity, of book 5V-
which he engaged to apprize the Committee, he .
secretly wrote to the Commanding Officer three days 1783- before his departure, to join him with the greatest part of the force under his command. By this abuse of their confidence, the Committee were induced to withdraw the discretiouary power over the southern army, which they had granted at his request. The march from Madras to Cuddalore, about 100 miles, is usually performed in twelve days. General Stuart had no obstruction either to meet or to fear ; he wyas, to a degree unusually perfect, supplied with all the requisites for his march ; yet he spent forty days upon the road, that is, marched at the rate of less than three miles a-day, though the chance of success mainly depended upon despatch, and the Admiral, who was to co-operate with the expedition, declared that he could not, for want of water and provisions, remain before Cuddalore till the end of June. The fleet had returned to Madras on the 12th of April, augmented to seventeen sail of the line, four frigates, and some smaller vessels ; and soon after, a fleet of ten Indiamen, and three store-ships, with 1000 re- cruits to the army, arrived under convoy of the Bristol man-of-war, after a narrow escape from the squadron of Suffrein.
The army arrived at Cuddalore on the 7th of June, where the enemy had already thrown up, and almost completed, considerable works. An attack was to be made on these works on the 13th, in three several places at once ; and it was planned to give the signal by firing three guns from a hill. Amid the noise of firing, a signal of this description could not be heard ;
272
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. ancj attacks were made at three several times.
CHAP. 5.
. The English were repulsed ; but the enemy quitting,
l783- in the pursuit, a part of their works, which were dex- terously occupied by a division of the English army, were thrown into consternation, and withdrew. This attack had nearly incurred the ruin of the English army, and left sixty-two officers, and 920 men, almost all Europeans, either dead or mortally wounded on the field. The English lay upon their arms dur- ing the night in expectation of an attack, which the troops, fatigued and unprotected, would have found it difficult to sustain. But the spirit of Bussy was chilled by age and infirmities ; and he restrained the impetuosity of his officers, who confidently predicted the destruction of the British army.1
On the following day Sir Edward Hughes, and Suffrein, who had followed him from Trincomalee, arrived with their respective fleets. The English remained at anchor till the 16th; on the 17th, and two succeeding days, the fleets performed a variety of movements for the purpose of gaining or keeping the wind ; and about four o’clock on the 20th they engaged. The English consisted of eighteen sail, the French only of sixteen, and so leaky, that most
1 No such cause of confusion as that indicated by the text, is noticed by Wilks, nor does it appear that three simultaneous movements were intended ; the object was to gain possession of what was considered the key of the enemy’s position. The first operation, which was merely preli- minary, succeeded. The second failed, and rendered a third necessary, which succeeded but partially. Thirteen guns, and the key of the con- tested position remained in possession of the English army. The retire- ment of the French on the same night, within the walls of Cuddalore, evinced their sense of the operations of the day, but their being permitted during the night to draw off without molestation all their heavy guns, fur- nished equal evidence of the impression made upon the English by a vic- tory so dearly purchased. — W.
OPERATIONS OF THE FRENCH.
273
of them it was necessary to pump during the battle : book rv
yet Suffrein, by dexterous management, contrived
in several instances to place two of his vessels upon 1783- one of the English, of which five were but little engaged. The combatants were parted by night, and the next day the French were out of sight, but ap- peared at anchor in the road of Porto Novo on the morning of the 22nd. The British Admiral, deeming it inexpedient to attack them, only offered battle, and then made sail for Madras.1 It has been both asserted and denied that Suffrein weighed, and stood after him ; but it is certain that he arrived at Cuddalore on the following day. He immediately proceeded to land as many men as he could spare from the fleet : and measures were concerted between him and Bussy for the most vigorous operations.
They made a sally on the 25th, which was repulsed ;2 but a grand effort was preparing for the 4th of July; and so much were the English reduced by the sword, by sickness, and fatigue, that the most fatal conse- quences were probable and feared. Sir Edward Hughes at Madras, and the British army exposed to
1 The English fleet was much crippled by the sickly state of the crews.
Eleven hundred sick of the scurvy had been landed at Madras ; and in the short space of a fortnight, seventeen hundred more had from the same cause become unfit for duty. On the other hand Suffrein had been rein- forced by Bussy on the night of the 17th, with 1200 men, giving him the advantage at the lowest estimate of 3000 hands more than the strength of Sir Edward Hughes. After the action, not only were the men re-landed, but 2400 men wrere furnished from the fleet. Asiat. Reg. 1783. Wilks, ii. 440.— W.
* In this affair, Marshal Bernadotte afterwards Crown Prince of Sweden, served as a Serjeant in the French army, and was wounded and taken prisoner, as he acknowledged at a subsequent period to General Langen- heim, who at Cuddalore w'as Commandant of the Hanoverian troops in the British service, and who had treated him with particular kindness.
See the Anecdote in Wilks, ii. 442. — W.
VOL. IV.
T
274
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. Suffrein and Bussy at Cuddalore, presented a dismal
CHAP. 5. ... 1
prospect to the imaginations of the Governor and
1783. Council; when intelligence was received of the signature in Europe of a treaty of peace between the English and French. It was immediately resolved, though official intelligence had not yet arrived, to send a flag of truce to Bussy, recommending an im- mediate cessation of arms. To this proposal the French commander acceded, with less difficulty than might have been expected. Bussy even consented to invite Tippoo to a participation in the peace, and to send positive orders to the French troops to retire immediately from his service.
Upon the evacuation of the Carnatic by Tippoo, the occasion w’as not omitted of making to him an overture of peace by means of a Brahmen, in the confidence of the King of Tanjore. A favourable answer was remitted ; but a point of etiquette, for which the Governor was a great stickler, leading to another on the part of Tippoo, broke off the negotiation. To the application from Bussy, how- ever, an answer was returned in little more than a month, offering peace upon certain conditions, and expressing a desire to send two ambassadors to Madras. Upon the arrival of the vakeels it appeared that a peace, upon the basis of a mutual restitution of conquests, might easily be made ; and for the acceleration of so desirable an event, especially on account of the prisoners, to whose feelings, and even lives, a few weeks were of importance, it was deemed expedient to send three commissioners along with Tippoo’s vakeels, to expedite on the spot the business of negotiation.
GENERAL STUART ARRESTED FOR DISOBEDIENCE.
275
Measures, in the mean time, were pursued for B00K v-
creating a diversion in favour of the detachment
besieged in Mangalore. The two divisions of the 1783- army which were stationed for the protection, the one of the northern, the other of the southern pro- vinces, were reinforced ; and instructed to threaten or attack the enemy in that part of his dominions to which they approached. The division in the south was, in the opinion of Colonel Fullarton, by whom it was commanded, augmented sufficiently to penetrate into the very heart of Mysore, and possibly to attack the capital itself.
Amid these proceedings, the contentions which prevailed between the heads of the civil and military departments were hastening to a decision. Along with, the flag of truce which was forwarded to the French, it was resolved in the Committee to send orders for the recall of General Stuart to the Presi- dency, as well because they could not depend upon his obedience, as because they deemed it necessary to hear the account which he might render of his conduct. After a temporary neglect of the com- mands of the Committee, the General thought proper to leave the army and proceed to Madras ; where, superseding mutual explanations, the cus- tomary disputes were renewed and inflamed. The Governor at last submitted to the Committee a motion, that General Stuart should be dismissed from the Company’s service. In the minute by which this motion was introduced, the misconduct of the General in the expedition to Cuddalore, and the acts of dis- obedience, which were sufficient in number and magnitude to imply the transfer of all power into his
t 2
276
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAP. 5
1783.
hands, were stated as the principal grounds of the . proposed proceeding ; to which the votes of the Com- mittee immediately imparted their unanimous sanction. Stuart, however, announced his determination to retain the command of the King’s troops ; and Sir John Burgoyne, on whom, as second in rank, the command would devolve, intimated his intention to obey the orders of General Stuart. Decisive acts were now inevitable. The Town Adjutant, accom- panied by the Governor’s Private Secretary, and a party of sepoys, proceeded to the villa of the General, and brought him quietly a prisoner to the fort; where he remained a few days, and was then embarked for England.
The original plan, to the execution of which the army in the south was destined, was, that it should penetrate on the one side, and the army under Colonel Humberstone at Paniani on the other, into the coun- try of Coimbetore, forming a line of communication from the one coast to the other, through the middle of Tippoo’s dominions. In this scheme, which was framed and suggested by Mr. Sullivan, the gentleman at the head of the civil department in the Trichi- nopoly district, was included a negotiation for raising disturbance against Tippoo in his own dominions, by setting up the pretensions of the deposed Raja of Mysore. In the months of April and May, 1783, the forts of Caroor, Aravarcouchy, and Dindigul, were reduced ; but the exhausted state of the coun- try, not more from the ravages of the enemy, than the disorganization of the government, cramped the operations of the army by scarcity of supplies. The first object of Colonel Fullarton, who took the com-
OPERATIONS OF COLONEL FULLARTON.
277
mancl of the southern army, was to augment the field
force by battalions from Tanjore, Trichinopoly, and
Tinivelly ; and, vigorously aided as he was by the 1783- chief civil servants of the Company, not only to pro- cure supplies, but soothe the minds, and conciliate the favour, of the different classes of the people. It was not before the 25th of May, 1783, that he began to march from Dindigul towards Daraporam. The reduction of this place, which fell on the 2nd of June, afforded one incident, which, being a characteristic circumstance, deserves to be stated. It was impossi- ble to approach so near the fort as to determine with precision the most advantageous point of attack. One spy explained the circumstances of the place to the Commanding Officer, and another to the Adjutant- General. Each of these officers drew a plan from the description which he himself had received ; and they coincided so exactly both with one another, and with the facts, that a body of troops marched in a dark night, crossed a river, and occupied a strong position within 400 yards of the fort, where the bat- teries were constructed which effected the breach.
The accuracy with which the Indian spies convey the idea of a fort, even by verbal communication, and still more by models made of clay, is represented as not surprising only, but almost incredible. The orders which General Stuart, unknown to the Com- mittee, dispatched to the southern army, stopped them at this point in their career of conquest ; and they were within three miles of the enemy’s camp when they received intelligence that hostilities with the French had ceased, and that an armistice was con-
278
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAP. 5
1783.
eluded with Tippoo.1 * In the interval Colonel Ful- - larton had proceeded with great activity in restoring obedience and order in Madura and Tinivelly, in which, during the distress of the Madras govern- ment, almost all the Poly gars had revolted. Accord- ing to Fullarton, the management of the province by the Company’s and the Nabob’s servants had been corrupt and oppressive, and hence pregnant with disorder, in the extreme. One single exception he produces, Mahomed Issoof Khan. “ While he ruled these provinces, his whole administration denoted vigour and effect : his justice was unquestioned, his wrord unalterable, his measures were happily com- bined and firmly executed, the guilty had no refuge from punishment. On comparing,” says the Eng- lish commander, “ the state of that country with his conduct and remarks, I found that wisdom, vigour, and integrity, were never more conspicuous in any person of whatever climate or complexion.”3 In the month of August, when the reinforcements had joined him from the army at Cuddalore, and the Polygars were sufficiently reduced and humbled to be disposed to a general submission, this Commander moved towards the frontier of Mysore, under instruc- tions to remain inactive, while the result was uncer- tain of the negotiation with Tippoo. In the interval thus afforded, among other arrangements, Colonel
1 Colonel Fullarton received, at the same time, orders from the General to advance ; from the government to return to the South ; of the relative judiciousness of these orders, he demonstrated his opinion by disobeying the latter. The strengthening of General Stuart’s army was of much more importance than an ineffective attempt at diverting Tippoo from the siege
of Bednore. Fullarton’s View, p. 115. — W.
* Fullarton’s View of the English Interests in India, p. 139.
CONTRADICTORY ORDERS RECEIVED BY FULLARTON.
279
Fullarton established a system of intelligence, under
a defect of which the English had laboured during
the whole of the war: and established it in such 1783- perfection, even into the heart of the enemy’s coun- try, that, r‘ during many months,” to use his own expressions, “ of continued marching, through a country almost unexplored, he never once failed in his supplies, nor did any material incident escape his knowledge.” On the 18th of October, when the supplies of the army were almost exhausted, intelligence arrived, that Tippoo had recommenced hostilities against Mangalore. Colonel Fullarton had long meditated an enterprise against Seringa- patam, but none of the forts, directly in the route, were sufficiently strong to be confided in as an inter- mediate magazine, or, in the event of failure, as a place of retreat. It was therefore determined to march upon Palacatcherry, which was one of the strongest places in India, commanded the pass be- tween the coasts, and secured a communication with a great extent of fertile country. After a march of great difficulty, much impeded by woods and inces- sant rain, the army reached Palacatcherry on the 4th of November. They immediately commenced and carried on their operations with great vigour; but the strength of the place, and the active resist- ance of the garrison, threatened them with a tedious siege. On the 13th, two batteries were opened, and before sun-set the defences of the enemy were so much impaired, that their fire was considerably abated. At night Captain Maitland took advantage of a heavy rain to drive the enemy from the covert way, and to pursue them within the first gateway,
280
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK ’ CHAP. 5
1783.
‘ to the second : here he was stopped, hut gallantly - defended himself, till additional troops arrived ; when the enemy, alarmed by the idea of a general assault, called for quarter, and put the English in possession of the fort. The army then marched to Coimbetore, which they reached on the 26th of November, and which surrendered before they effected a breach. They had now the conquest of Seringapatam, and the entire subversion of the power of Tippoo, full in their view. The brave garrison of Mangalore had long baffled his wdiole army, which had suffered severely by a perseverance in the siege during the wdiole of the rains. A chain of connected operations could now be carried on by the army of Colonel Macleod on the western coast, and that of Fullarton in the south. The army of the north was acting in Cudapah, in which and the neighbouring provinces the power of Tippoo was ill established. All the petty princes on the western coast were supposed ready to shake off their dependance. The co-opera- tion was confidently expected of the Hindu inhabi- tants of Mysore, of whom the Brahmens were in correspondence with the English. Fullarton had provided his army with ten days’ grain, repaired the carriages, and made every arrangement for pushing forward to Seringapatam, with nothing but victory sparkling in his eye ; when he received, on the 28th of November, commands from the Commissioners, appointed to treat with Tippoo, to restore immedi- ately all posts, forts, and countries, lately reduced, and to retire within the limits occupied on the 26th of July. He had made some progress in the execu- tion of these commands, when he received on the
OPERATIONS OF TIPPOO.
281
26th of January, directions to re-assemble the army, BC°°^5V'
and prepare for a renewal of the war.
The negotiators, whom the President and Council 1,S3’ had dispatched to the presence of Tippoo, for the purpose of accelerating the conclusion of peace, had not attained their object without many difficulties and considerable delay. Scarcely had they entered the territory of the enemy, when they were required, and almost commanded, to surrender Mangalore, which they regarded as the chief security for the lives and restoration of the English prisoners in the hands of Tippoo. On their approach to Seringapatam they were made acquainted with the intention to conduct them to Mangalore. No communication was allowed between them and their unfortunate countrymen, when they passed Bangalore, and other places in which they were confined. Their letters, both to and fro, were intercepted. Upon complain- ing they were informed, that Colonel Fullarton not- withstanding the commencement of their mission for peace, had taken and plundered the forts of Pala- catcherry and Coimbetore. Not aware that the pro- ceedings of Fullarton were justified by the intelli- gence which he had received of Tippoo’s breach of faith to the garrison at Mangalore, they sent their commands to that officer to restore the places, which, since the date of their commission, had fallen into his hands. After a tedious and harrassing journey, through a country almost impassable, in which some of their attendants and cattle actually perished, they joined Tippoo at Mangalore, where he had wasted almost a year, and a considerable portion of his army.
282
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1783.
The force with which, in the month of May, in the preceeding year, he invested Mangalore, is stated at 60,000 horse, 30,000 disciplined sepoys, 600 French infantry, under the command of Colonel Cossigny, Lally’s corps of Europeans and natives, a French troop of dismounted cavalry, commanded by an officer of the King of France, irregular troops to the amount of many thousands, and nearly one hun- dreds pieces of artillery. The British garrison con- sisted of 696 Europeans, including officers, and 2850 black troops, besides pioneers, and camp followers. The operations of the enemy proceeded with so much activity, that on the 27th of May they had completed eleven embrasures, which the English made an effort to destroy, but were repulsed. On the 29th, large stones, some of them weighing 150 pounds, began to be thrown by mortars into the town. As often as they lighted upon soft earth, they buried themselves without mischief: When they fell upon houses, they laid them open, where no materials could be had to repair them, to all the inclemency of the monsoon: When they fell upon a substance harder than them- selves they were dashed into a thousand pieces ; and even the wounds and lacerations which were pro- duced by the splinters proved peculiarly destructive, hardly any person surviving wrho received them.
From batteries erected on the north, the east, and the south, a heavy fire was constantly maintained ; the feeble fortifications on the northern side were entirely dismantled on the 4th of June; on the 7th a practicable breach was effected in the wall ; and the English, especially as a flag of truce had been re- jected, looked for an immediate assault. In the
OPERATIONS OF TIPPOO AGAINST MANGALORE.
283
mean time they repulsed with the bayonet repeated Bc(^^ 5V'
attacks on the batteries which they had erected with
out the fortress ; repeatedly silenced the batteries of 1783' the enemy, and spiked their guns, which were as often expeditiously repaired. Masked batteries were opened and the approaches of the enemy brought so near, that they threw fascines on the covered way, and edge of the glacis. On the 4th of July, the assault was undertaken. A body of troops, armed with knives, of the shape of pruning hooks, two feet long, and with spears mounted on light bamboos of a prodigious length, rushed into a tower on the left of the eastern gate, wThile the line marched forward to support them. The enterprise did not succeed.
The assaulting party were so warmly received, that they were soon disposed to retreat. On the 6th a general attack was made on the northern covered way, which, though very fierce and obstinate, was also repulsed. The garrison were now obliged to defend themselves from almost daily attempts to penetrate into the fort, while they severely suffered both from scarcity and disease. At last intelligence arrived of the peace between France and England, with the orders of Bussy to the French to co-operate no longer in the hostilities of Tippoo. The French envoy made some efforts to effect a pacification ; but even during the suspensions of hostilities, which were frequently terminated, and frequently renewed,
Tippoo continued his operations. A trait of Indian humanity ought not to be forgotten. During the progress of hostilities, and especially after the pros- pect of peace, the enemy’s centinels in many instances beckoned to the men to get under cover, and avoid
284
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
bl°h°J A their fire : a generosity which the English were
well disposed to return. At last, after a long and
1/83‘ intricate correspondence, a cessation of hostilities, including the garrisons of Onore1 and Carwar, was concluded on the 2d of August. Of this agreement one important condition was, that the English garri- son should three times a week be furnished with a plentiful market of provisions, at the rates ofTippoo’s camp. This was evaded, and prices were daily, in such a manner, increased, that a fowl was sold at eight, and even twelve rupees ; and other things in a like proportion. At last the market was wholly cut off; and horse flesh, frogs, snakes, ravenous birds, kites, rats, and mice, wTere greedily consumed. Even jackals, devouring the bodies of the dead, were eagerly shot at for food. The garrison had suffered these evils with uncommon perseverance, when a squadron appeared on the 22d of N ovember, with a considerable army under General Macleod. Instead of landing, the General, by means of his secretary, carried on a tedious negotiation with Tippoo ; and having stipulated that provisions for one month should be admitted into the fortress, set sail with the reinforcement on the 1 st of December.2 Even this
1 For a very interesting detail of the defence of Onore, which was maintained with consummate ability and heroism, by Captain Torriano, till the conclusion of the treaty, see Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs, iv. Ill to 175.
2 The excuse was, that it would have been a violation of the armistice, which did not expire till the 2nd December, and the ships could not wait another day for want of water. The armistice had been repeatedly broken by Tippoo. Colonel Wilks states the reasons assigned for this neglect of the garrison, but they are anything but satisfactory, ii. ■176.— W.
COMMISSIONERS OF NEGOTIATION.
285
supply was drawn from damaged stores bought of a navy agent, and of the beef and pork, not one in twenty pieces could be eaten, even by the dogs. Another visit, with a similar result, was made by General Macleod, on the 31st of December. The desertion of the sepoys, and the mutiny of the Europeans, were now daily apprehended ; two-thirds of the garrison were sick, and the rest had scarcely strength to sus- tain their arms : the deaths amounted to twelve or fifteen every day ; and at last, having endured these calamities till the 23d of January, the gallant Camp- bell, by whom the garrison had been so nobly com- manded, offered, on honourable terms, to withdraw the troops. The Sultan wms too eager to put an end to a siege which by desertion and death had cost him nearly half his army, to brave the constancy of so firm a foe ; and they marched to Tellicherry, with arms, accoutrements, and the honours of war.
The negotiating commissioners, whose journey had been purposely retarded, were now allowed to approach. The injuries which the English had sus- tained, since Tippoo had joined in the business of negotiation, were such, as in a prouder state of the English mind, would have appeared to call for signal retribution. But the debility and dejection to which their countrymen were now reduced, and their despair of resources to continue the war, impressed the nego- tiators with a very unusual admiration of the advan- tages of peace ; and meeting the crafty and deceitful practices of Tippoo with temper and perseverance, they succeeded, on the 11th of March, 1784, in gain- ing his signature to a treaty, by which, on the general
book v.
CHAP. 5.
1784.
286
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 5.
1784.
condition of a mutual restitution of conquests, peace was obtained.1
It is only necessary, further, to relate the manner in which the treaty was ratified by the Governor- General and Council; and to explain the mode in which, during these momentous transactions, the relations between the Supreme and Subordinate Pre- sidency were maintained. Lord Macartney wTas not only of superior rank to the highest of the Company’s servants in India, but in him was set one of the first examples of elevating a servant of the king to a high station in that country ; and of intercepting the great prizes which animated the ambition of the individuals rising though the several stages of the Company’s service. To these causes of jealousy were added, recommendations and injunctions, which had been pressed upon so many governors, and which had not failed to involve in odium and difficulties as many as had attempted to obey them ; recommendations and injunctions, of peculiar urgency, to correct abuses and effect retrenchments. Though the accomplishments and talents of Lord Macartney, which were not of an ordinary kind, and a considerable propensity to vain
1 For the narrative of the preceding events, have been explored, and confronted, Papers presented to the House of Commons, pursuant to their orders of the 9th of February, 1803, regarding the affairs of the Carnatic, vol. ii. ; Barrow’s Macartney, i. 109 — 232; Memoirs of the late War in Asia, i. 231 — 236, 252 — 286, and 403 — 512 ; A View of the English In- terests in India, by William Fullarton, M. P., p. 68 — 195 ; Annual Register for 1782 and 1783 ; the Collection of Treaties and Engagements with the native princes of India ; and the Sixth Report of the Committee of Secrecy of 1782. The recent narrative of Colonel Wilks, drawn up under the advantages of peculiar knowledge, affords me the satisfaction of perceiving, that there is no material fact which my former authorities had not enabled me to state and to comprehend.
DEPORTMENT OF HASTINGS AND LORD MACARTNEY.
287
glory might have added to the flames of discord, the calmness of his temper, his moderation, and urbanity, were well calculated to allay them. He was aware of the sentiments to which, among the members of the superior government, his appearance in India was likely to give origin ; and lost no time in endeavour- ing to avert the jealousy which might naturally arise. He not only assured the Governor-General of the sentiments of esteem, and even of admiration, with which all that he knew of his administration inspired him, but openly disclaimed all designs upon the government of Bengal ; and declared that the objects were not Indian to which his ambition was directed. Mr. Hastings met his professions with similar pro- testations, both of personal regard, and of desire for co-operation. He also expressed his regret that the suddenness of the arrival of Lord Macartney had not allowed him the opportunity to furnish to that noble- man the explanation of certain acts, by which the Supreme Government might appear to him to have passed beyond the limits of its own province, and to have taken upon itself an authority which belonged to the Presidency of which he was now at the head.
Of the acts to which Mr. Hastings made allusion, one was, the treaty, into which, in the beginning of the year 1781, he had entered with the Dutch. The object of that measure was to obtain, through the Governors of Colombo and Cochin, a military force to assist in the expulsion of Hyder from the Carnatic; but as these Governors acted under the authority of the government of Batavia, for whose sanction there was no leisure to wait, a tempting advantage was represented as necessary to prevail upon them to
book v.
CHAP. 5.
1784.
268
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1784.
• incur so unusual a responsibility. The negotiation - was carried on through the medium of the Director of the Dutch settlements in Bengal ; and it was stipu- lated that for 1000 European infantry, 200 European artillery, and 1000 Malays, who should be paid and maintained by the Company, during the period of their service, the province of Tinivelly should be ceded to the Dutch, together with the liberty of making conquests in the neighbourhood of Cochin, and the exclusive right to the pearl fishery on the whole of the coast south from Ramiscram. In name and ostent, the sovereignty of the Nabob Mahomed Ali was not to be infringed ; and the treaty, framed and concluded for him, was not to be ratified by his signature. The small value of the cession, and the extreme danger of the Carnatic, were urged as the motives to induce compliance on the part both of the Nabob, and of the Presidency of Madras. The ideas, howmver, of the Nabob, and of the Presidency of Madras, differed very widely from those of the Governor-General, respecting the value both of what was to be given and what was to be received. They not only set a high estimate on Tinivelly, but treated the offer of a body of troops, when they were much less in wTant of troops than of money to pay and maintain those which they had, as a matter of doubt- ful utility. In consequence, they declined to for- ward the treaty, transmitting their reasons to the Court of Directors. And the accession of the Dutch to the enemies of England, of which Macartney carried out the intelligence, superseded, on that ground, all further proceedings.1
* Supplement to the First Report of the Committee of Secrecy, 1782, p. 8, 9 ; and the Sixth ditto, p. 118.
DEPORTMENT OF HASTINGS AND LORD MACARTNEY. 289
Of the transactions, which Mr. Hastings might book v.
expect to impress unfavourably the mind of the noble
President, another was, that of which the history has 1784- already occurred ; the engagement into which he and his Council had entered, for setting aside the inter- vention of the Government of Madras, and transact- ing directly with the Nabob of Arcot. Under the same predicament was placed the negotiation into which the Governor-General and Council of Bengal had entered with Nizam Ali, the Subahdar of the Deccan, for obtaining from that Prince the aid of a body of his horse, and for ceding to him in return the Northern Circars. Though a treaty to this effect had been fully arranged, yet as the orders for carry- ing it into execution had not been despatched when Lord Macartney arrived, Mr. Hastings paid him the compliment of submitting it for his opinion. On this occasion also, the Governor-General represented, as of vast importance, the aid which the Company was thus to receive ; and ascribed but little value to the territory which they were about to surrender, both as it yielded a trifling revenue, and, being a narrow strip along the coast, was, by its extent of frontier, difficult to defend. Here again the opinions of the Governor-General found themselves widely at vari- ance with those of the Governor of Fort St. George.
Lord Macartney stated the net revenue for that year of the four Northern Circars, not including Guntoor, at 612,000 pagodas ; he affirmed that to the English the defence of territory was easy, not in proportion to its remoteness from the sea, but the contrary, as a communication with their ships enabled the troops to move in every direction ; that as manufacturing dis-
VOL. IV.
u
290
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
Bcii^ 5 ‘ Uriels, the Circars were of great importance to the
Company’s investment ; that they would he impor-
1784. tant in a still higher point of view, as forming a line of communication between Bengal and the Carnatic, and giving to the English the whole of the eastern coast, when they should be augmented by Guntoor and Cuttack; and that the friendship of Nizam Ali was of no value, both as no dependence could he placed on his faith, and as the expense of his undis- ciplined and ungovernable horse would far outgo the utility of their service. On all these accounts Lord Macartney declared, that, without the special com- mand of his employers, he could not reconcile it to his sense of duty to consent to the treaty which was pro- posed. Mr. Hastings gave way ; but a diffidence so marked of his judgment, or his virtue, did not lessen the alienation towards the government of Madras, with temptations to which the situation of the Governor-General so largely supplied him.
The first occasion on which his measures gave un- easiness to the government of Madras, was furnished by the complaints of Coote, whom that government found it impossible to satisfy with power. Instead of interposing with their authority to allay the un- reasonable dissatisfactions of the querulous General, and to strengthen the hands, at so perilous a moment, of the government of Madras, the supreme Council encouraged his discontent, and laid their exhortations upon the Presidency of Madras, to place themselves in hardly any other capacity than that of Commis- saries to supply his army, and while they continued responsible for the acts of the government, to retain with them hardly any other connexion, in no degree to
DEPORTMENT OF HASTINGS AND LORD MACARTNEY.
291
possess over them any substantial control. As the B00K v-
coolness on the part of the Governor-General seemed
to Macartney to increase, and to threaten unfavourable 1/ Sl consequences, which it was of the utmost importance to avert, he sent to Bengal, in the beginning of the year 1782, his confidential secretary Mr. Staunton, in whose judgment and fidelity he placed the greatest reliance, to effect a complete mutual expla- nation, and, if possible, to secure harmony and co- operation. With this proceeding Mr. Hastings ex- pressed the highest satisfaction, and declared his “ anxious desire to co-operate with Lord Macartney firmly and liberally for the security of the Carnatic, for the support of his authority, and for the honour of his administration.” But, even at the time when he was making these cordial professions, and enter- taining Mr. Staunton with the highest civilities in his house, he signed, as President of the Supreme Council, whose voice was his own, a letter to the President and Council of Madras, in which, with an intimation of a right to command, they say they “ do most earnestly recommend, that Sir Eyre Coote’s wishes in regard to power may be gratified to their fullest possible extent; and that he may be allowed an unparticipated command over all the forces acting under British authority in the Carnatic.” Though Macartney announced his determination to act under this recommendation, as if it were a legal command, he yet displayed, first in a private letter to the Governor-General, to which no answer was ever returned, and also in a public communication, in the name of the Select Committee of the Council of Madras, his opinion, that the measure, as it regarded
u 2
292
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. either the antecedent conduct of the governor and
CHAP. 5. # °
. Council of Madras, or the nature of the case, was
1784- destitute of all reasonable ground ; calculated to involve the Madras government in difficulties; and liable to produce the most dangerous consequences. Of the rooted enmity of the Governor-General he regarded this proceeding as a decisive proof. And from this time but little between the Presidencies was preserved even of the appearance of concert.1
Of the inconvenience to themselves of the transfer which the Supreme Council had ordered of the powers of the Presidency, one instance speedily oc- curred. Upon a requisition to send a detachment from Madras to Bombay, the President and Council were obliged to return for answer, that compliance no longer remained in their power, since all autho- rity over the troops resided in the General. It is remarkable enough that this incident, which, with others of the like description, might have been so easily foreseen, determined the Supreme Council to revoke the orders which they had formerly given, and by explaining away the meaning of their former
1 The importance of the services of Coote, and the advantage of leaving to his experience and skill the control of all military operations, was fully evinced by the events that followed his retirement and death. Mismanaged as the war had been by General Stuart and the Government of Madras, it seems probable that but for the opportune occurrence of peace with France, the South of India would have been lost to the English. The annihi- lation of the army at Cuddalore would have been followed by the siege of Madras, and there was little chance of defending it successfully against Tippoo and the French. Without denying that there was much to reprehend in the conduct of the military authorities, yet it is evident that there w^as a constant disposition in the civil authorities of Madras to appropriate the direction of military affairs, and to interfere beyond the strict necessity of interference, which exposed them, not without reason, to the disappro- bation of the Bengal Government. — W.
MISCONDUCT OF HASTINGS.
293
words, to substitute a new regulation for the degree of power with which the General was to be supplied. - A great diminution, following close in succession upon a great enlargement of power, was not likely to produce a healing effect upon such a temper as that of Coote. He now insisted upon relinquishing the command of the army ; and on the 28th of Sep- tember, 1782, sailed for Bengal. Measures for giving him satisfaction were there concerted between him and the Supreme Council; and he departed from Bengal in the following spring to resume the com- mand. It has been historically stated, and without contradiction, that nothing but an accident prevented the two Presidents, even at that trying moment, from plunging their countrymen in India into something of the nature of a civil war : That Coote was despatched with powers to resume the military com- mand, exempt from dependence upon the Madras government : And that to this illegal subversion of the authority of the subordinate Presidency Lord Macartney was determined not to submit. 1 The death of the General happily prevented the chance of a struggle. The ship, in which he was proceeding from the Ganges to the coast, was chased several days by some of the French cruisers, and at times in imminent danger ; the extreme anxiety of this situation operating upon the irritable and enfeebled frame of the General, accelerated a third fit of apo- plexy, and terminated his life on the 26th of April,
book v.
chap. 5.
1784.
1 Memoirs of the late War in Asia, i. 429. — M. This can scarcely be cited as history. An anonymous author quoting no proofs, can scarcely be considered as evidence of intentions not reduced to actions. It is unjust to Lord Macartney, to impute to him the purpose of engaging in something like civil war. — W.
294
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK A chap. 5.
1784.
■ only three days after landing at Madras. To such - an extreme the distrust of the supreme government was now carried, that a sum of ten lacs of rupees from Bengal, which arrived a few days after, could not he received, because the person who brought it had orders to deliver it not to the civil government, but into the hands of Sir Eyre Coote. From this time the Governor-General and Council withheld from Macartney, not only the powers which were necessary for effecting by negotiation a division among the enemies of the English, but all instruction with respect to their views of peace or war ; and, instead of those supplies which they had hitherto afforded in considerable quantity, they forbade the Carnatic Presidency to draw on the government of Bengal for a single rupee. Repeated applications were sent, before any answer was received, for in- structions in regard to the treaty which Tippoo had declared his willingness to form. It was not till after the commissioners had departed that any were received ; and when they came, they were so equivo- cally worded, that whatever course the Carnatic Pre- sidency might pursue, their conduct would equally stand open to blame.1
The treaty of peace with Tippoo was transmitted for ratification to Bengal. In the absence of Mr. Hastings, who was then at Lucknow, it was acknow- ledged and signed by the Supreme Council, who were vested with all the powers of government. It was returned in due form. It was then, with the requi-
1 Papers presented to the House of Commons, ut supra ; Barrow’s Life of the Earl of Macartney, i. 180 and 233.
MISCONDUCT OF THE NABOB.
295
site solemnity, transmitted to Tippoo. The receipt 5V
of it was acknowledged. And this great transaction
was closed. 1/84
After a number of months had elapsed, a fresh copy of the treaty was received from Bengal, having the signature as before of the Members of the Council at Calcutta, and the additional signature of the Go- vernor-General at Lucknow. To this instrument was annexed a declaration, that the Nabob Wala Jah had a right to be included in the treaty ; and a command to the President and Council of Madras, “ at their peril,” to transmit the ratification of the treaty in its second form to Tippoo.
For understanding this transaction, it is necessary to recollect, that the Nabob, and along with him, his mischievous agents, expressed their uneasiness at the unhappy state of his affairs, by imputing blame to the Governor, and obstructing the Government. The Supreme Council had taken part with the complaints, not only of the General, but also of the Nabob. To all practicable arrangements for peace, that depen- dent, ambitious, and insatiate, chief, had shown aver- sion, and in particular a poignant abhorrence of Hyder Ali and his son. Important as the blessings of peace had now become to the exhausted resources of him and the Company, he treated with unreserved disapprobation the terms of any treaty which, to the Presidency, it seemed practicable to obtain; and neither gave his consent, nor appeared to desire to become a party, to the arrangement which they en- deavoured to effect. The treaty of 1769, in which the Nabob was not included as a party, nor his name mentioned, appeared to furnish a precedent to justify
296
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 5.
1784.
' a treaty in which, though his participation was not - expressed, his interests were secured. And as it was absolutely necessary, on behalf of the Company, that the Nabob should not have the power of breaking a treaty, essential to their interests, though by him violently condemned, it was held a great advantage to place it on a foundation independent of his will. Besides, previously to the negotiation, the Supreme Council wTere so far from holding up the Nabob, as a necessary and a principal party, that they did not even direct the communication to him of their in- structions, or hint the propriety of taking his advice. The complaint, however, which on this account the Nabob had been instigated to raise, the Supreme Council treated now as a matter of infinite import- ance ; and to Lord Macartney they appeared to be actuated by a wish to multiply the embarrassments of his administration. Considering the jealous tem- per of Tippoo, his distrust of the English, and his perpetual apprehension of treachery and deceit, Lord Macartney was convinced, that to present to him a second ratification of a treaty, after the first had been received as final and complete, could only serve to persuade him that either on the first or second of these occasions imposition was practised ; and that hostility should anticipate the effect of hostile de- signs. The danger of such a result determined the President to brave the resentment of the superior government, and exonerating his council from re- sponsibility, he declared his readiness to submit to suspension as the consequence of his refusal to obey the orders of the governing Board. The situation of Mr. Hastings himself became about this time too
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.
297
alarming, however, to leave him inclination for a B00Kr Y
° . . . CHAP. 5.
stretch of his authority ; and the disobedience of ,
Lord Macartney was followed by no unpleasant 1784- result.1
CHAPTER VI.
Financial Difficulties — Campaign of General God- dard on the Bombay side of the Mahratta Country. — Attack on the Bengal side. — Peace with Sindia. — Supreme Court of Judicature. — Efforts of the Supreme Court to extend its Ju- risdiction.— Their Effects upon Individuals. — Upon the Collection of the Revenue. — Upon the Administration of Justice. — Interference of Parliament claimed. — Granted. — The Chief Jus- tice placed at the Head of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut. — Chief Justice recalled. — Judicial arid Police Regulations. — Provincial Councils abolish- ed, and a new Board of Revenue set up.
We return to the events which, during these great transactions in the south, had taken place in Bengal, and other parts of the British dominions in India.
Before the commencement of the war with Hyder, the finances of the Company in every part of India
1 Barrow’s Life of Macartney, i. 232 — 238 ; Papers presented to the House of Commons, ut supra.
298
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. had become a source of distress. The scanty re-
CHAP. 6. # J
sources of Bombay, which seldom equalled the
178°- expenditure of a peace-establishment, had not, even with the supplies which had been sent from Ben- gal, sufficed to save that Presidency from the necessity of draining the channels of loan, and from sinking in arrear so deeply, even with the pay of the army, that the General, in the month of August, 1780, declared it was no longer fit to be depended upon.1 Even Bengal itself, though it had enjoyed entire tranquillity, and had only contributed to the maintenance of Goddard’s army, and to other feeble operations against the Mahrattas, wTas so completely exhausted, that, in August, 1780, the Supreme Council were again reduced to the expedient of contracting debt ; and before the end of the year, when exertions in favour of the Carnatic were re- quired, they were obliged to announce to the Direc- tors the probability of a total suspension of the investment.2
1 See Goddard’s Letter to the Select Committee of Bombay, dated 24tli August, 1780, Sixth Report of the Committee of Secrecy, ut supra, p. Ill and 112. See also p. 89 and 90, with the Appendix, No. 256, for details, of the extreme poverty and necessities of the Presidency, “ necessities,” they say, “ now pressing to a degree never before expe- rienced.”
i Sixth Report, ut supra, p. 101, 102, 103. In a letter to General Goddard, under date 20th April, 1780, the Supreme Council wrote, “ Our resources are no longer equal to the payment of your army.” In another, dated 15th May, they warned the Bombay Presidency against any reliance on continued supply from Bengal, “ as neither their resources, nor the currency of the provinces, would endure a continuance of the vast drains,” &c. In a minute of the Governor-General on the 28th of August, he said, “ Our expenses have been increasing; our means declining. And it is now a painful duty imposed upon me, to propose, that we should again have recourse to the means of supplying our growing wants, by taking up money at interest. The sum I do not propose, because I think it should not be limited.”
REDUCTION OF BASSEIN.
299
In the important consultations of the 25th of Sep- tember, 1780, upon the intelligence of the fatal irrup- tion of Hyder, it was resolved, that terms of peace should be offered to the Mahrattas, through the mediation of the Raja of Berar; and on the 2nd of October a draught of a treaty was prepared, according to which all conquests made by the English were to he surrendered, with the exception of the fort of Gualior, destined for the Rana of Gohud, and of that part of Guzerat which had been ceded to Futty Sing Guicowar : Should the fort of Bassein, however, be taken by the English forces, before the final agree- ment, it was proposed to cede, in its stead, all the territory and revenue which they had acquired by the treaty of Poorunder. Of this draught, a copy with power of mediation, was sent to the Raja of Berar ; and at the same time letters were written to Nizam Ali, to the Peshwa, to Sindia, and to the Poonah ministers, apprizing them of the terms on which the English government was ready and de- sirous to conclude a treaty of peace.
On the 16th of October, General Goddard, rein- forced by a body of Europeans from Madras, and re- lieved from apprehension of Holkar and Sindia by intelligence that an attack would be made upon their dominions from the upper provinces of Bengal, put the army in motion from Surat. The roads were still so deep, and the rivers so full, that they were unable to reach their ground before Bassein till the 13th of November. From the strength of the place and the number of the garrison, the General deemed it necessary to carry on his operations with regularity and caution. A battery of six guns and six mortars.
book v.
chap. 6.
1780.
300
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1780.
bv • within nine hundred yards of the fort, was completed — on the morning of the 28th, Under cover of its fire, approaches were carried on to a spot within 500 yards of the wall, where a battery of nine heavy guns was opened on the morning of the 9th of December, while a battery of twenty mortars began to play upon one of the parapets. On the morning of the 10th, when a practicable breach was nearly effected, the fort made an offer of surrender, but in consequence of some demur the fire was renewed, and next morn- ing the enemy yielded at discretion.1
After the reduction of Bassein, the General re- paired to Bombay for the purpose of settling with the Committee the further operations of the army, and there received intelligence of the irruption of Hyder into the Carnatic, and the destruction of Colonel Baillie’s detachment. An attack, which might operate as a diversion, on the western side of Hyder’s dominions, was pressed upon the Presidency of Bombay by that of Madras ; and at the same time arrived from the Supreme Council intelligence of their designs respecting peace with the Malirattas, and a copy of the treaty which it was intended to offer. Though directed immediately to obey a re-
1 No notice is taken in the text of the important and brilliant operations of a division of the Bombay army, under Colonel Hartley, in the Concan, the objects of which were to secure the revenues of the country for the British authority, and then to cover the siege of Bassein. The first object was partially, the latter completely, effected. Colonel Hartley defeated, in . the beginning of October, a considerable Maliratta force at Mullunghur, and then driving the enemy’s parties out of the Concan, took up a position not far from the Bhore Ghaut. From hence he fell back to Doogaur, nine miles East of Bassein, upon the advance of an overpowering force intended to raise the siege; and there, on the 10th and 11th December, repulsed every attack of the Mahratta army, 20,000 strong, with the loss of their general. Duff, ii. 2G1.— W.
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE MAHRATTAS.
301
quisition in writing from the Peshwa to suspend book ^v,
hostilities, General Goddard and the Committee of
Bombay were exhorted to prosecute the war with 178L vigour, till such time as that application should arrive. After several fluctuations of opinion, it was determined not to evacuate Tellicherry ; as a place which, though burdensome to defend, might ulti- mately be of importance for commencing an attack upon the dominions of Hyder : And, notwithstanding the desire of the Committee to secure the Concan, or the country below the Ghauts, it was resolved, upon the recommendation of the General, to occupy the passes of the mountains, and to threaten the enemy’s capital, advancing into the country as far as might appear consistent with the safe return of the army.
The terror which might thus be inspired was expect- ed to operate as the most effectual inducement to peace ; and that terror would be the more powerful, as the two leading chiefs, Sindia and Holkar, were understood to be occupied in the defence of their own dominions against the attack carried on from Bengal.
The army marched from Bassein about the middle of January. The Mahratta force in the Concan was computed at 20,000 horse and foot, with about fifteen guns. It was commanded by Hurry Punt Furkea, and posted on the road to the Bhore Ghaut,1 by which, as the easiest of the passes, and that leading most directly to the Mahratta capital, it was expected that the English would endeavour to ascend. Notwithstanding the numerical superiority of the
1 It was the same army which had been repulsed by Colonel Hartley, and had been obliged to fall back into an attitude of defence. — W.
302
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1
CHAP. 6
1781.
• enemy, they offered little resistance in the level - country, and with only a few slight skirmishes, the English reached the foot of the pass on the 8th of Fe- bruary. The enemy had ascended ; and from intel- ligence it appeared that they had assembled in great force to dispute the passage. Holkar, whom the attack from Bengal had been too feeble to retain on the opposite side of the Mahratta country, and who had left Sindia as sufficient to cope with the force by which he was assailed, had lately joined the Poonah army, of which the whole was encamped near the top of the Ghaut. The General, who saw the ad- vantage of audacity and despatch, resolved to storm the pass the very night of his arrival. The storming party, which consisted of the grenadiers, headed by Captain Parker, entered about midnight, and with con- summate gallantry, forcing the enemy from every battery and post which they occupied, reached the summit at five o’clock in the morning.
At the top of the Ghaut, the English army were not distant more than forty-five miles from the Mah- ratta capital. On the 12th, a person arrived, com- missioned, as he said, by Nana Fumavese, the Poonah minister. His object was, to declare the earnest desire of the minister to obtain the friendship of the English ; but he brought with him no creden- tials to authenticate his mission. For this, he apolo- gized, by the doubts which Nana felt of the disposi- tion towards him entertained by the English. Goddard was not willing that a mere adherence to forms should obstruct the acquisition of peace. He instructed him to assure the minister of the readiness with which the English would second his views for a termination of the existing contests, and the forma-
INEFFECTUAL ATTEMPT FOR PEACE.
303
tion of an alliance against their respective enemies. Among other circumstances, the Mahratta agent affirmed, that the copy of the treaty which had been sent for transmission to the Regent of Berar, the Regent, who had not approved of it, had declined to forward. The General, therefore, transmitted to the minister a copy, together with information of his being vested with full powers to treat ; and agreed to wait eight days for an answer. The answer arrived within the time prescribed, containing a simple and explicit rejection of the terms. Fully acquainted with the progress of Hyder in the Car- natic, and regarding the eagerness of the English for peace, as a declaration of inability for war, the Mah- rattas, at this juncture, expected greater advantages from continuing, than terminating hostilities. 1 To the application of the Supreme Council to Moodajee, that he would employ his mediation between them and the Poonah government, an answer wTas not re- ceived till the 9th of January, 1781 ; and when it did arrive, it contained so many objections to the treaty, and even advanced so many pretensions on the part of Moodajee himself, that it not only con- vinced them of the little prospect of peace, hut brought into doubt the sincerity of the former pro- fessions of that person himself.
Notwithstanding this disappointment in the hopes of peace, and the approach of the English army to the capital of the enemy, Goddard, convinced that possession of the capital, which the enemy had deter-
1 Negotiations were also on foot for an alliance between all the Mahratta states, except the Gaekwar, with Hyder and the Nizam against the English. — W.
BOOK V
CHAP. 6.
1781.
304
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
Gv- mined to burn, would by no means ensure the at- — tainment of his object, declined any further progress into the interior of the country ; and recommended a system of defensive warfare,1 permitting the return of the Madras troops to the coast of Coromandel, both for assistance against Hyder, and to lessen the pres- sure upon the Bombay finances.
After maintaining their post with little disturbance at the head of the Ghauts till the 1 7th of April, the English descended secretly during the night.2 The difficulty of supplying the troops with provisions, while the enemy, it was found, could descend by other passes, and intercept their convoys ; together with the expense of fortifying the post at the top of the Ghauts, appeared to surpass the advantage of maintaining it. The enemy descended in pursuit the following day. The route from the bottom of the hills to the coast was about twenty-four miles, through a country full of bushes, thickets, and narrow de- files. This was highly favourable to the irregular and unexpected assaults of the Mahrattas, who greatly harrassed the English during the three days of the march : but though several lives were lost, and among the rest that of Colonel Parker, the second in com- mand, no material impression was made, nor any loss sustained of the baggage and stores. The Mah-
1 The recommendation came from the Bombay Government, and now only obtained Colonel Goddard’s acquiescence upon his finding the im- possibility of maintaining an advanced position in the Mahratta country, against such powerful forces as they could bring against him. Duff, ii. 439.— W.
* Although not attacked in their post, the English had suffered much from well-concertcd operations upon their communications ; the country below the Ghaut being overrun by Purseram Bhow, with 1200 horse. Duff, ii. 437.— W.
FORTUNATE SURPRISE OF SINDIA S CAMP.
305
1781.
ratta army re-ascencled the Ghauts ; and the English, Gv' left in possession of the Concan, prepared, with the - Madras detachment, which the reduced state of the battalions now rendered it desirable to retain, to remain at Callian through the approaching monsoon.1
On the Bengal side of the Mahratta country, it was determined, notwithstanding the eminent services of Major Popham, to supersede that officer in the command, and relieve his corps by that of Colonel Camac,2 who having, already advanced into the terri- tory of the Rana of Gohud, was, about the beginning of the year 1781, commanded to penetrate, at the head of five battalions of sepoys, towards Oogein, the capital of Sindia. The force employed in this service, as it was too small to prevent Holkar from returning to assist in turning the balance against Goddard, so it was too feeble to intimidate even Sindia alone, and seems to have been saved from destruction, or at any Tate from flight, by nothing but a fortunate exploit. Having reached Seronge, in the month of February, it was surrounded by a powerful enemy ; its supplies were cut off ; it was harassed on all sides ; the princes, expected to join it, stood aloof ; it was reduced to distress for want of provisions : and the commanding officer was obliged to apply by letter for the troops stationed at Futty- ghur, under Colonel Muir, to enable him to retreat into the country of the Rana. Colonel Muir arrived at Gohud on the 29th of March. But before this
1 Sixth Report of the Committee of Secrecy, 1782, p. 100 — 113, with the official documents, in its voluminous Appendix.
* A typographical error pervades all the previous editions, and instead of Camac, this officer is termed Carnac, a very different person. — W.
VOL. IV. X
306
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
ROOK
CHAP.
1781.
• time Colonel Camac was reduced to such extremity, - that on the 23rd of the same month he had summoned a council of war, in which Captain Bruce, the officer who commanded the storming party at the taking of Gualior, recommended, as the only possible means of preserving the army, to make that very night an attack upon the camp of Sindia. After some debate and hesitation, the resolution was adopted. At sun- set on the 24th, the army moved from their ground, and after a march of thirteen hours arrived at the camp.1 The surprise was, happily, complete ; and all the terror and confusion ensued which usually result from a nocturnal assault unexpectedly falling upon a barbarian army. The enemy dispersed, and fled in disorder, leaving several guns and elephants, with a quantity of ammunition, in prize to the victor.
Colonel Muir was so retarded, by want of cattle for the conveyance of provisions, and by other diffi- culties,2 * * 5 that he arrived not at Antry till the 4th of April ; and, as senior officer, upon joining Camac, he assumed the command. In order to overcome the backwardness of the Rana of Gohud, whom the apparent feebleness of the English led to temporize, and even to intrigue with Sindia, directions were given to place him in possession of the fort of
1 It is very unlikely that a march of ' thirteen hours ’ should have pre-
luded a surprise, especially a nocturnal surprise, as the interval must have brought daylight on the assailants. Duff states that it was Sindia’s custom
to encamp every night at the distance of five or six miles, ii. 647 ; and Colonel Camac, in his official report, says, “ the enemy encamped within three coss,” a distance of five or six miles. Sixth Report, Append.
1072.— W.
5 “ Difficulties beyond conception,” they arc called by Mr. Hastings. Sec his “ Answer to the Fourteenth Charge.”
PEACE CONCLUDED WITH SINDIA.
307
Gualior, which had been professedly taken only for BC®^6V’
him. Though the English were now enabled to
remain within the territory of Sindia, they were too 1<&1, feeble to undertake any active operations ; and spent several months in vain endeavours to induce the Rana of Gohud, and the neighbouring chieftains, to yield them any efficient support. In the mean time the army of Sindia lay close to that of the English, which remained at Sissai, a place within the Mah- ratta dominions, several days’ march beyond the frontiers of Gohud. The Mahratta horse daily harassed the camp, and cut off the supplies. And the troops were reduced to great distress, both by sickness and want of provisions.1 Happily the resources of Sindia, too, were not difficult to exhaust ; and he began seriously to desire an end of the con- test. About the beginning of August, an overture was made, through the Rana of Gohud, which the English commander encouraged ; and on the 16th of that month, an envoy from Sindia, with powers to treat, arrived in the English camp. Similar powers were transmitted to Colonel Muir. Negotiation commenced; and on the 13th of October a treaty was concluded. All the territory which the English had conquered on the further side of the J umna was to be restored to Sindia : on the other part, Sindia was not to molest the chiefs who had assisted the English, or to claim any portion of the territory which the English had annexed to the dominions of the Rana of Gohud : it was also agreed, that Sindia should use his endeavours to effect a peace between
1 Mr. Hastings’ Answer, before the House of Commons, on the Four tcenth Charge.
X 2
308
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA,
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
gv- the English and their enemies, Hyder Ali, and the _ Peshwa.1
During these proceedings the Governor-General and Council were involved in other affairs of no ordinary importance.
When the wisdom of parliament embraced the subject of the government of India, and by its grand legislative effort, in 1773, undertook to provide, as far as it was competent to provide, a remedy both for the evils which existed, and for those which might be foreseen, a Court of Judicature was created, to which the title of Supreme was annexed, and of which the powers, as well as the nomination of the judges, did not emanate from the Company, but immediately from the King. It was framed of a Chief Justice and three puisne Judges; and was empowered to administer in India all the departments of English law. It was a court of common law, and a court of equity ; a court of oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery ; an ecclesiastical court, and a court of admiralty. In civil cases, its jurisdiction extended to all claims against the Company, and against Bri- tish subjects, and to all such claims of British sub- jects against the natives, as the party in the contract under dispute had agreed, in case of dispute, to sub- mit to its decision. In affairs of penal law, its powers extended to British subjects, and to another class of
1 Hastings’ Answer, ut supra ; A retrospective View, and Consideration of Indian Affairs ; particularly of the Transactions of the Mahratta War, from its commencement to the month of October, 1782, p. 72. The author of this short narrative has evidently enjoyed the advantage of access to the records of the Bombay government. Some particulars have been gleaned in the “ Memoirs of the late War in Asia.” See also the copy of the Treaty with Sindia, in the Collection of Treaties with the Princes of Asia, printed by the E. I. C. in 1812, p. 97. — M. To these authorities, the superior one of Duff’s Mahratta History may be added. — W.
ERRORS IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SUPREME COURT.
309
persons, who were described, as all persons directly 6V'
or indirectly in the service of the Company, or of —
any British subject, at the time of the offence.
In the establishment of this tribunal, the British legislature performed one important act of legislative wisdom. They recognised, and by adopting, they sanctioned, the principle, that to leave any part of the emoluments of judges, as so great a portion of them in England is left, to be made out of fees ex- tracted from the suitors in their own courts, is an abuse ; an infallible cause of the perversion of judi- cature. They enacted that a sufficient salary should be fixed for the judges ; that no additional emolu- ment, in the shape of fees, or in any other, should accrue from their judicial functions. A sure temp- tation to exert, for the multiplication of suits and of their expenses, the great powers of judges, was so far, accordingly, taken away ; and that oppression which is inflicted upon the public by the unnecessary delay, vexation and expense of judicial proceedings, was in part deprived of its fundamental and most operative cause.1
On the principal ground, however, the parliament, as usual, trode nearly blindfold. They saw not, that they were establishing two independent and rival powers in India, that of the Supreme Council, and that of the Supreme Court; they drew no line to mark the boundary between them : and they foresaw not the consequences which followed, a series of en- croachments and disputes which unnerved the powers of government and threatened their destruction. 2
1 They created fee-fed offices, and had the patronage of them ; this class of impure motives was not therefore destroyed.
* Mr. George Rous, Counsel to the East India Company, in the report
310
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. The judges had not been long in the exercise of
their functions, when the effects of their pretensions
178L began to appear. The writs of the Supreme Court were issued at the suit of individuals against the Zemindars of the country, in ordinary actions of debt ; the Zemindars were ordered to Calcutta to make appearance, taken into custody for contempt if they neglected the writ, or hurried from any distance to Calcutta, and, if unable to find bail, were buried in a loathsome dungeon.1 In a minute of General Claver- ing, Colonel Monson, and Mr. Francis, dated the 11th of April, 1775, they declare that process of this description had been issued into every part of the provinces. “ Zemindars,” they add, “ farmers, and other proprietors of the lands, have been seized upon their estates, and forcibly brought up to the Presi- dency, at the suit or complaint of other natives, and detained there, or obliged to give bail, according to the nature of the case.” By these proceedings, the minds of the natives were thrown into the utmost consternation and alarm. They saw themselves surrounded with dangers of a terrible nature, from a
which he made to the Directors upon the documents relative to this busi- ness submitted to him in 1780, says: “ It is remarkable, that the judges on the one hand, and the Council on the other, were perfectly unanimous, in every measure taken throughout this unhappy contention. This fact will lead a candid mind to look for the source of this contention, not in the temper of individuals, but in the peculiarity of their situation. In no country of which I have read, did two powers, like these, ever subsist dis- tinct and independent of each other.” See Report of the Committee of the House of Commons in 1781, on the petitions relative to the administration of justice in India, of Touchet and others, of Hastings, and the other mem- bers of the Supreme Council, and of the East India Company, General Appendix, No. 39.
1 See the description of the horrid gaol of Calcutta, in the First Report of the Select Committee in 1782 : see also vol. iii. p. 166.
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
311
new and mysterious source, the operations of which '
they were altogether unable to comprehend. The
principles of English law were not only different in 178L many important respects, from those to which they had hitherto been indebted for the protection of every thing which they held dear ; hut opposite and shock- ing to some of their strongest opinions and feelings.
The language of that law ; its studied intricacies and obscurities, which render it unintelligible to all En- glishmen, who have not devoted a great part of their lives to the study of it; rendered it to the eye of the affrighted Indian, a black and portentous cloud, from which every terrific and destructive form might at each moment be expected to descend upon him. Whoever is qualified to estimate the facility and vio- lence with which alarms are excited among a simple and ignorant people, and the utter confusion with which life to them appears to be overspread, when the series of customs and rules by which it was governed is threatened with subversion, may form an estimate of the terrors which agitated the natives of India, Avhen the process of the Supreme Court began to operate extensively among them.
The evils, not of apprehension merely, but of actual suffering to which it exposed them, were deplorable. They were dragged from their families and affairs, with the frequent certainty of leaving them to disorder and ruin, any distance, even as great as 500 miles, either to give bail at Calcutta, a thing which, if they were strangers, and the sum more than trifling, it was next to impossible they should have in their power ; or to be consigned to prison for all the many months which the delays of English judi-
312
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. cature might interpose, between this calamitous stage,
and the final termination of the suit. Upon the
1781 • affidavit, into the truth of which no inquiry whatso- ever was made ; upon the unquestioned affidavit of any person whatsoever; a person of credibility, or directly the reverse, no difference, that the individual prosecuted, was within the jurisdiction of the court, the natives were seized, carried to Calcutta, and consigned to prison, where, even if it was afterwards determined that they were not within the jurisdiction of the court, and of course that they had been unjustly prosecuted, they were liable to lie for several months, and whence they were dismissed totally without compensation. Instances occurred, in which de- fendants were brought from a distance to the Presi- dency, and when they declared their intention of pleading, that is, objecting, to the jurisdiction of the court, the prosecution was dropped ; in which the prosecution was again renewed, the defendant again brought down to Calcutta, and again, upon his offering to plead, the prosecution was dropped. The very act of being seized was, in India, a cir- cumstance of the deepest disgrace, and so de- graded a man of any rank, that, under the Moham- medan government, it was never attempted, except in cases of the greatest delinquency.1
Not only the alarm which these proceedings dif- fused throughout the country, but the effects with which they threatened to strike the collection of the revenue, strongly excited the attention of the Com- pany’s servants and the members of their govern- ment. To draw from the ryots the duties or contri-
1 See the evidence of Mr. Ewan Law, Report of the Committee on Touchet’s Petition, &c., p. 19.
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
313
butions which they owe, is well known to be a B00K- v-
. CHAP. 6.
business of great detail and difficulty, requiring the _ .
strictest vigilance, and most minute and persevering 1781 • applications. Any thing which strikes at the credit of the Zemindar, farmer, or other functionary, by whom this duty is performed, immediately increases the difficulty, by encouraging the ryot in the hope of defeating the demand by evasion, cunning, obstinacy or delay. The total absence of the functionary, called away to attend the proceedings of the Su- preme Court, his forcible removal ; or the ignomi- nious seizure of his person, went far to suspend the collections within his district, and to cut off the source of those payments for which he was engaged to the Company.
It had been the immemorial practice in India, for that great branch of the government intrusted with the collection of the revenue, to exercise the depart- ment of jurisdiction wThich regarded the revenue, to decide in that field all matters of dispute, and to apply the coercive process which wTas usual for en- forcing demands. These powers were now exercised by the Provincial Councils, and the courts esta- blished, by the name of Dewannee Adaulut, under their authority. The mode of decision was sum- mary, that is, expeditious, and unexpensive ; and the mode of coercion was simple, and adapted to the habits and feelings of the people. One or more peons, a species of undisciplined soldiery, employed in the collections, was set over the defaulter, that is, repaired to the house, and there watched and re- strained him, till the sum in demand was discharged.
In a short time the Supreme Court began to inter-
314
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \
CHAP. 6.
1781.
• fere with these proceedings. The defaulters were . made to understand by the attorneys, who had spread themselves pretty generally through the country, that if they would throw themselves upon the Supreme Court, they would obtain redress and protection. They were taught, as often as any coercive process was employed by the judges of re- venue, to sue out a writ of Habeas Corpus in the Supreme Court ; where it was held competent, and was in practice customary, for the judges to set them at liberty upon bail. This excited still more vio- lently the apprehensions of the members of govern- ment, in regard to the collection of the revenue. As the disposition to withhold the payment is universal and unremitting in India, and never fails to lay hold of every occasion which affords any chance either of delay, or evasion ; they apprehended that such a re- source, held up to the people, would breed a general tendency ; and they concluded, with justice, that if, in the innumerable cases in which compulsion was necessary, it could only be exercised through the tedious, laborious, and expensive forms of English law, the realizing of a revenue in India was a thing altogether impossible.
While the Company exercised the office of Dewan, in other words, that department of government which regarded the collection of the revenue, and in civil cases the administration of justice, they had been careful to keep up the appearance of the Nizamut, or remaining branch of the ancient government, in the person of the Nabob ; and to him, the penal depart- ment of judicature, under the superintendence of the Naib Dewan, or deputy Nabob, appointed by the
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
315
Company, had in particular been intrusted. To 6V'
this government of the Nabob; which, though.
totally dependent upon the servants of the Company, 1/81- and subservient to their will, was yet the instrument of a great portion of all that security for order and protection which existed in the country ; the Supreme Court declared, that they would pay no regard. In their representation, under date of the 15th of January, 1776, the Governor and Council complain to the Court of Directors, that Mr. Justice Hyde had declared publicly on the bench, “ The act of parliament does not consider Mubaruck al Dowla as a sovereign prince : The jurisdiction of this court extends over all his dominions:” That Mr. Justice Le Maistre had said, “ With regard to this phantom, this man of straw, Mubaruck al Dowla, it is an insult on the understanding of the Court, to have made the question of his sovereignty : but it comes from the Governor-General and Council: I have too much respect for that body to treat it ludicrously, and I confess I cannot consider it seriously :” and that the Chief Justice had treated the Nabob, “as a mere empty name, without any real right, or the exercise of any power whatsoever.”
By these pretensions, the whole of that half of the powers of government which were exercised in the name of the Nabob, was taken away and abolished.
By another set of pretensions, the same abolition was effected of the other half, which, in the cha- racter of Dewan, were exercised in the name of the Company.
In the same address, the Governor-General and Council add the following statement : “ Mr. Le
316
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 6.
1781.
Maistre, in his late charge to the grand jury, declares that a very erroneous opinion has been formed by the Governor-General and Council, distinguishing the situation of the East India Company, as Dewan, from the common condition of a trading company ; he makes no scruple of avowing a decided opinion, that no true distinction, in reason, in law, or justice, can or ought to be made, between the East India Company as a trading Company, and the East India Company as Dewan of these provinces. With re- spect to the management of the territorial revenue, he is pleased to declare, that the only true inter- pretation of the act of parliament is, that our manage- ment and government is not exclusive, but subject to the jurisdiction of the King’s Court ; and that it will be equally penal for the Company, or for those acting under them, to disobey the orders and man- datory process of the King’s Court, in matters which merely concern the revenues, as in any other matter or thing whatsoever.” The Governor and Council then declare; “By the several acts and declarations of the judges, it is plain, that the Company’s office of Dewan is annihilated ; that the country government is subverted ; and that any attempt on our part to exercise or support the powers of either, may involve us and our officers in the guilt and penalty of high treason ; which Mr. Justice Le Maistre, in his charge, expressly holds out, in terrorem , to all the Company’s servants and others, acting under our authority.”
It would be difficult, in any age or country, to discover a parallel to the conduct, which this set of judges exhibited, on the present occasion. Their own powTers, as it was impossible for them not dis-
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
317
tinctly to see, were totally inadequate to the govern- bv
ment of the country ; yet they proceeded, contrary to
the declared, though badly expressed, intention of 1781- the legislature, to avail themselves of the hooks and handles,1 which the ensnaring system of law, admi- nistered by them, afforded in such abundance, to draw within their pale the whole transactions of the country ; not those of individuals only, but those also of the government. That this was to transfer the government into their hands is too obvious to require illustration. When a government is transferred from one to another set of hands, by a simple act of des- potism, every branch of authority is directly sup- plied ; the machine of government remains entire ; and the mischief may be small, or the advantage great. But when the wheels of government were threatened to be stopped by the technical forms of a court of English law ; and when nothing but those forms and a set of men who could ostensibly perform nothing but through the medium of those forms and the pretence of administering justice, was provided to supply the place of the government which was de- stroyed, a total dissolution of the social order was the impending consequence. The system of English
1 The following is an amusing instance. The Provincial Council of Dacca, the grand administrative and judicative organ of government, for a great province, is thus treated : “ Who are the Provincial Chief and Council
of Dacca ? . . . . They are no Corporation in the eye of the law The
Chief and Provincial Council of Dacca is an ideal body .... A man might as well say that he was commanded by the King of the Fairies, as by the Provincial Council of Dacca; because the law knows no such body.” Argument and Judgment of Mr. Justice Le Maistre, on the return to Seroopchund’s Habeas Corpus. Report, ut supra, General Appendix, No. 9. See for another specimen, equally beautiful, a few pages onwards, the maxim Delegatus non potest delegare.
318
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAT. G.
1781.
■ law was so incompatible with the habits, sentiments,
- and circumstances, of the people, that, if attempted to he forced even upon that part of the field of government which belonged to the administration of law, it would have sufficed to throw the country into the utmost disorder, would have subverted almost every existing right, would have filled the nation with terror and misery, and being, in such a situa- tion, incapable of answering the purposes of law, would have left the country in a state hardly different from that, in which it would have been, under a total absence of lawT : but when the judges proceeded to apply these forms to the acts of government, the powers of administration were suspended ; and nothing was provided to supply their place. Either with a blind ignorance of these consequences, which is almost incredible, unless from our experience of the narrowness which the mind contracts by habi- tual application to the practice of English law, and by habitual indulgence of the fancy that it is the perfection of reason ; or, with a disregard of these consequences, for which nothing but a love of power too profligate to be stayed by any considerations of human happiness or misery is sufficient to account, the judges proceeded, with the apparent resolution of extending the jurisdiction of their court, and leaving as little as possible of the business of the country exempt from the exercise of their power.
To palliate the invasions which they made upon the field of government, they made use of this as an argument ; that the great end of their institution was to protect the natives against the injustice and oppression of the Company’s servants, and that
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
319
without the powers which they assumed, it was im- book v.
possible for them to render to humanity this eminent
service. But to force upon the natives the miseries 1781 • of English law, and to dissolve the hands of govern- ment, was to inflict upon the people far greater evils, than those from which they pretended to relieve them. If the end proposed by the legislature was really to protect the natives from the injustice of Englishmen, they made a very unskilful choice of the means.
The representations, upon this subject, which the Governor-General and Council transmitted to Eng- land, induced the Court of Directors, in the month of November, 1777, to lay a statement of the case before the Ministers of the Crown. The supposed dignity of a King's Court , as it inflated the preten- sions of the Judges, who delighted in styling them- selves King’s Judges ; contrasting the source of their own power with the inferior source from which the power of the Governor-General and Council wras de- rived ; so it imposed awTe and irresolution upon the Court of Directors. They ventured not to originate any measure, for staying the unwarranted pro- ceedings of the Supreme Court; and could think of no better expedient, than that of praying the ministry to perform this important service in their behalf.
The Directors represented to the ministry, that the Zemindars, farmers, and other occupiers of land, against whom writs, at the suit of natives, had been issued into all parts of the provinces, it was not the intention of the legislature to submit to the jurisdic- tion of the Supreme Court; that the proceedings, by
320
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
Gv- which they were hurried to a great distance from — their homes, their persons arrested, and a long con- finement in the common gaol inflicted upon them, appeared to he replete with irregularity and injus- tice; that the parties are “ sure to suffer every distress and oppression with which the attorneys of the court can easily contrive to harass and intimidate them,” before the question whether they are subject or not to the jurisdiction of the court can be so much as broached; that after pleading to the jurisdiction, they are sure of an adverse decision, “ unless they are able to prove a negative ; that is, unless a native of Bengal is able, from an act of parliament which the Governor-General and Council have declared liable to different constructions, to prove himself not subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court ; ” that the consequences were in the highest degree alarming, as almost all the Zemindars in the country, standing in the same predicament, felt themselves exposed to the same dangers ; as the disgust and hatred of the natives were excited by the violation of their customs and laws ; and the col- lection of the revenue was impeded, and even threat- ened with suspension.
They represented also, That the Supreme Court, beside extending its jurisdiction to such persons , had extended it also to such things , as it was clearly the intention of the legislature to exempt from it : That these were “the ordering, management, and govern- ment of the territorial revenues,” including the powers which that ordering and government required : That over this department the whole Bench of Judges had declared their resolution to exercise a power, superior
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
321
to that of the Company : That, accordingly, the pro- cess of the ordinary Revenue Courts was opposed ; persons whom they had confined being released by the Supreme Court ; suits which were cognizable in none but the Revenue Courts being instituted and entertained in the Supreme Court ; prosecutions being carried on by the Supreme Court against the Judges of the Revenue Courts, for acts done in the regular performance of the business of the Court; farmers of the revenue, who had fallen into arrear, refusing to obey the process of the Revenue Courts, and threatening the Judges with prosecution in the Supreme Court, if any coercive proceedings were em- ployed : That in consequence of these acts, in some instances, the operation of the Dewannee Courts was suspended ; in others, the very existence of them destroyed: And that the Governor-General and Council, in their capacity of a Court of Appeal or Sudder Dewannee Adaulut, were discouraged from the exercise of this important jurisdiction, under the ap- prehension that their powers might be disputed, and their decrees annulled.1
Under the third head of complaint, the Directors
1 See vol. iii. p. 529, for the rank which was assigned to this, in the Catalogue of Provisions for giving to the people of India the benefits of law. From the first arrival of the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Court of Sudder Dewannee Adawlut never acted ; and for all that number of years, which intervened till a new regulation, nothing was provided to supply its place. A correspondence on the subject between the Council and the Supreme Court took place in the year 1775. The Court said that the Council had a right to receive appeals in all cases in which the Provincial Councils had a legal jurisdiction. This the Council treated as a denial of any right at all : as the Court, by not telling what they meant by “ legal,” and reserving to themselves a right of deciding, without rule, on each case which occurred, had the power of deciding just as they pleased.
VOL. IV. Y
BOOK V.
CHAP. 6
1781.
i
322
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book cv- represented, that the Supreme Court had, on the
pretext of requiring evidence, demanded the produc-
1781 • tion in Court of papers liable to contain the most secret transactions of the government ; that the Se- cretary of the Council was served with the writ called a sub poena duces tecum, and attending the Court without the papers, was informed that he had brought upon himself all the damages of the suit ; that upon his representing the impossibility of his producing in Court the records of the Council which the Council had forbidden to be so produced, he was ordered to declare which of the Members of the Coun- cil voted for the refusal of the papers, and which (if any) for the production ; that upon his demurring to such a question a positive answer was demanded, and every Member of the Council who had concurred in the refusal was declared to be liable to an action ; that the Council agreed to send such extracts as had a reference to the matter in dispute, but persisted in the refusal to exhibit their records ; that of this species of demand various instances occurred ; and that it was manifestly impossible for the Board to deliberate and act as a Council of State, and as the administrative organ of government, if publication of their minutes might at any time be called for, and if every Member was answerable, in an action of da- mages, for any measure in which he concurred, to as many persons as might think themselves aggrieved by it.
In the fourth place, the Directors represented, That the penal law of England was utterly repug- nant to those laws and customs by which the people of India had been hitherto governed ; that, neverthe-
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT. 323
less, Maha Raia Nuncomar, a native of high rank B00K J-
in Bengal, was indicted, tried, convicted, and ex-
ecuted, for an offence, which was not capital by the 1781 • laws of the country where the offence was committed ; that if the Court was unable to mitigate the punish- ment, it might have deemed it prudent to use its power of respiting the prisoner until the pleasure of the King was known ; that this the Directors “ con- ceived to be a matter of the most serious importance, and big with consequences the most alarming to the natives of India ; that the Judges seemed to have laid it down as a general principle, in their proceedings against Nuncomar, that all the criminal law of Eng- land is in force, and binding, upon all the inhabitants within the circle of their jurisdiction in Bengal.”
The Directors, therefore, adjure the Minister to con- sider what will be the consequences, if this principle, and the example grounded upon it, were followed up with consistency. “ Can it be just,” they say, “ or prudent, to introduce all the different species of felony created by what is called the Black Act P or to involve, as what is called the Coventry Act involves, offences of different degrees in one common punish- ment % — or to introduce the endless and almost inex- plicable distinctions by which certain acts are or are not burglary ?” They ask whether Indian offenders, of a certain description, were to be transported to his Majesty’s colonies in America, or sent to work upon the river Thames And whether every man convicted for the first time of bigamy, “ which is allowed, protected, nay almost commanded by their law, should be burnt in the hand if he can read, and hanged if he cannot read % ” “ These,” they add,
Y 2
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HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 6.
1781.
“ are only some of the consequences which we con- ceive must follow, if the criminal law of England be suffered to remain in force upon the natives of Bengal. If it were legal to try, to convict, and execute Nun- comar for forgery , on the Statute of George II., it must, as we conceive, be equally legal, to try, convict and to punish the Subahdar of Bengal, and all his court, for bigamy , upon the statute of James I.”
On the 2nd of January, 1777, a suit was instituted before the Provincial Council at Patna, which afford- ed occasion to the Supreme Court of carrying the exertion of their powers to a height more extraor- dinary than they had before atttempted. A person of some distinction and property, a native Mohammedan, died, leaving a widow, and a nephew, who for some time had lived with him, in the apparent capacity of his heir, and adopted son. The widow claimed the whole of the property, on the strength of a will, which she affirmed the husband had made in her favour. The nephew, who disputed the will, both on the suspicion of forgery, and on the fact of the mental imbecility of his uncle for some time previous to his death, claimed in like manner the whole of the estate as adopted son and heir of the deceased.
For investigation of the causes the decision of which depended upon the principles of the Mussul- man law, the Provincial Councils were assisted by native lawyers, by whose opinion in matters of law it was their duty to be guided. In the present in- stance, the Council of Patna deputed a Cauzee and two Muftees, by a precept, or perwannah, in the Persian language, directing them to take an account of the estate and effects of the deceased, and secure
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
325
them against embezzlement; to inquire into the B00K y-
claims of the parties ; to follow strictly the rules of
Mohammedan law ; and report to the Council their 1781- proceedings. In all this, nothing appeared which was not reasonable ; and which was not according to the approved and established mode of procedure.
On the 20th of January, the Cauzee and Muftees, having finished the inquiry, delivered their report; in which, after a statement of the evidence adduced, they declare their opinion, that neither the widow, nor the nephew, had established their claims, and that the inheritance should be divided according to the principles provided by the Mohammedan law for those cases in which a man dies without children and without a will ; in other words, that it should he divided into four shares ; of which one should be given to the widow, and three to the brother of the deceased, who was next of kin, and father of the nephew who claimed as adopted son. Upon a review of the proceedings of the native Judges, and a hearing of the parties, the Provincial Council confirmed the decree, and ordered the division of the inheritance to be carried into effect. They did more : as it appeared from the evidence that part of the effects of the deceased had been secreted by the widow before they could be secured by the Judges, and that both the will and another deed which she produced, were forged, they put her five principal agents under con- finement, till they should account for the goods ; and directed that they should be afterwards delivered to the Phousdary, to take their trial for forgery.
It is to be observed, that the widow had opposed all these proceedings from the beginning, not by
326
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK A
CHAP. 6.
1781.
• course of law, but such irregular and violent acts, as - suggested themselves to an angry and ignorant mind. When called upon by the Cauzee to appoint, in the usual manner, a vakeel, or representative, to act in her behalf, she positively refused ; and when the Cauzee recommended to her a relative, who had lived in the house, was much in her confidence, and acted as her principal agent, she persisted in her refusal, but sent her seal, with a message that the Judges might appoint him if they pleased. Upon the arrival of the Cauzee and Muftees to carry the decree of the Council into execution, the widow resisted. The Cauzee and Muftees proceeded to enforce the orders under which they acted. The widow, contrary to their request and remonstrances, left the house, and betook herself to an asylum of Fakeers, which was in the neighbourhood, carrying along with her certain title-deeds, and the female slaves. The Cauzee and Muftees divided the remaining effects, upon the valuation of appraisers mutually chosen by the parties, into four shares, of which the vakeel of the widow chose one for her, and the rest were set apart for the brother of the deceased. The widow refused to submit to the decision, or to accept of her share. She also refused to give up the title-deeds, which she had earned away, or the female slaves. In consequence of this proceeding, a petition was presented to the Council, by the nephew, representing that she had not complied with the decree, but by absconding reflected, according to the Mohammedan ideas, disgrace upon the family, and praying that she might be compelled to deliver up the papers and slaves, and to return to the house, under his pro-
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT. 327
tection as representative of the heir. An order was book v.
A # CHAP. b.
directed by the Council to comply with this request.
After some time another petition was presented by 1781 the nephew, complaining that the Cauzee and Muf- tees had not yet complied with the injunctions of the Board. Upon this the Council agreed, that the Cauzee should be reprimanded for his delay, and directed to proceed immediately in the execution of his orders. The Cauzee represented by memorial, that he had not only made frequent demands upon the widow, but had placed hircarrahs to watch her, and that in his opinion, that species of constraint, which was authorized by the Mussulman law, and customary in the country, namely restriction from all intercourse by a guard of soldiers, was necessary to be applied. The guard was ordered, and continued for a space of six weeks. The widow still refused compliance and at that time the guard was withdrawn.
The widow was advised to bring an action in the Supreme Court, against the nephew, the Cauzee, and Muftees, on the ground of their proceedings in the cause, and laid her damages at 600,000 sicca rupees, about 66,000/. The objection taken, on the part of the nephew, to the jurisdiction of the court, the judges overruled, on the pretence that every renter was a servant of the Company.1 The justification set up for the Cauzee and Muftees was, that they had acted regularly, in their judicialcapacity, in obedience
1 This decision greatly increased the alarm among the farmers and other landholders. In the province of Bahar they joined in a petition to the Governor and Council, praying for protection against the process of the Supreme Court, or if that could not be granted, for leave to relinquish their farms, that they might retire into another country. Report, ut supra, p. 8, Patna Appendix, No. 14.
328
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \
CHAP. 6.
1781.
• to the lawful orders of their legal superiors ; that _ the Provincial Councils were vested with a power of determining suits between the natives, with the advice and assistance of the native lawyers ; that the established mode in which the Provincial Councils availed themselves of that advice and assistance was, by directing them to hear the parties, to collect the evidence, and to deliver in a report of the whole, comprehending their opinion of the decision which ought to be pronounced ; which decision the Council, upon a review of the whole, or with the addition of such other inquiries as they might think the case required, affirmed, or altered, subject only to an appeal to the Governor and Council; and that a judge acting in his judicial capacity could not be responsible in damages to those who might suffer by the execution of his decrees.
This defence, which to the eye of reason appears appropriate and irrefragable, the Court treated with the utmost contempt ; and upon a ground which rouses surprise and indignation. A form of words, among the numerous loose expressions, which fall from the lips and pens of English lawyers, without any binding authority, or any defined and consistent application, occurred to the judges. This was the phrase. Delegatus non potest delegare, “ he who is delegated cannot delegate.” And upon this, and no other reason, so much as alleged, they decreed, that the Cauzee and Muftees, for acting regularly, acting as they were obliged to act, and had in fact been accustomed to act ever since the jurisdiction of the country had passed under English control, were liable to actions of damages at the suit of every person
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
329
whom their proceedings displeased, that is, one at book ^
least of the parties in almost every cause. It would
he absurd to attempt, by illustration, to render more 178L apparent the deformities of this proceeding. To quote a maxim of English law, though ever so high in authority, and invariable in its force, as a ground for committing in India a flagrant violation of natural equity amongst persons who knew not the English law, nor owned its authority, was an act of chicane, which the history of judicial encroachments, rich as it is in examples of injustice, cannot frequently sur- pass. It is, however, a maxim, of which, even where admissible, the authority is so little determined, that, like many more, with which the appetite of judges for power is in England so quietly gratified, it has just as little weight or as much, as, in each particular instance, the judge may happen to please. And in a variety of remarkable cases, the established course of English law goes directly against it.1
Deciding, upon the strength of this assemblage of words, that the provincial council could not delegate any authority to the native magistrates, even as their agents; and hence that every thing which these assistant magistrates had performed was without authority, [the Supreme Court thought proper to enter minutely and laboriously into the whole of the case, and, after voluminous proceedings, gave judg- ment against the defendants, damages 300,000
1 In Chancery for example ; when cases are referred by the Chancellor to the Master; when commissions are issued to examine witnesses, &c. in the common law courts, when cases are sent to arbitration, &c.
330
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. rupees, and costs 9208, amounting to the sum of CHAP~1 * * * * 6' about 35,000^
1781. At the commencement of the suit a capias was granted with a bailable clause. A bailiff proceeded from Calcutta, and arrested at Patna the nephew, and also the Cauzee, as he was returning from his duty in one of the courts of justice. The bail demanded was 400,000 rupees, or about 44,000/. The Council of Patna, struck with consternation, at the probable effects of so extraordinary a procedure, upon the minds of the people, upon the authority of government, upon the collection of the revenue, and upon the administration of justice, which it threatened to stop, by deterring the native lawyers and judges from yielding their services, resolved, as the best expedient which the nature of the case afforded, to offer bail for the prisoners, who, after a confinement of some time, in boats upon the river, were enlarged. The Governor-General and Council, as soon as they were informed of these proceedings, resolved, “ That as the defendants are prosecuted for a regular and legal act of government in the execution of a judicial
1 In the judicial investigation, all the chicanery which two of its fruitful
sources, the formalities about notice, and the rules of evidence, could sup-
ply, was played off, with decisive effect, upon the defendants. Mr. Rous, in his Report quoted above, says, “ When they attempted to mitigate the
damages, by showing the circumstances, they were embarrassed by the defects of their notice ; afterwards by the rules of evidence. Particularly they were not able to prove the personal delegation of an authority to act for her, by a woman of rank, who could not appear without disgrace ; the public acts of her nearest relations in the house being rejected as no legal evidence of her consent. With this defect fell the whole of the exculpation. Lesser difficulties arose from some papers not being trans- lated : others being fair copies, when the foul draughts were the originals.”
Patna App. No. 39. The Patna Appendix is a rich mine of information
respecting the beauties of English law.
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT. 331
decree (except one of them,1 * * * the plaintiff in the suit bc°°k 6V-
before the Dewannee Adaulut at Patna, whose arrest
is not for any apparent cause) they be supported and 178L indemnified by government from all consequences from which they can be legally indemnified.”2 Judgment being given, the defendants were put under a guard of Sepoys, that they might be conveyed to Calcutta, to be surrendered. The Cauzee, an old man, who had been chief Cauzee of the province for many years, was unable to endure the vexation and fatigue ; and he expired by the way. The rest were carried to Calcutta, and lodged in the common gaol, where they remained till relieved by the interference of the British parliament in 1781. By that autho- rity a pecuniary compensation was awarded to them for their losses and hardships, and the Muftees were ordered to be not only reinstated in their former situation and condition, but to be elevated to the office of Mohammedan counsellors to the court and council of Patna.
The Supreme Court and the widow were not satis- fied with these proceedings against the native magis- trates : an action was also brought against Mr. Law, and two other members of the provincial council at Patna. As this prosecution was instituted for official acts performed in the Company’s service, the Gover- nor-General and Council thought it fit that the Company should bear the burden of their defence.
1 i. e. the nephew.
* The Governor-General, though, in his opinion, the examination of witnesses was a part of the procedure which the Council should not have
delegated, not only affirmed the power of delegation, but his conviction of
the justice of the decision to which, in this case, the Council had come.
See his letter to Mr. Law, Patna App. No. 7.
332
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
6V- Here too the Court decided in favour of the party — who brought it jurisdiction ; and awarded damages • to the amount of 15,000 rupees, which money was paid from the Company’s treasury.
It was in this manner that a thirst for jurisdiction incited the English judges to interfere with the administration of justice in the native civil courts. The following is the manner in which it induced them to interfere with the jurisdiction of the native criminal courts. From a former statement it will be recollected, that the system of criminal judicature among the natives had been left by the Company nearly upon the footing, on which they found it, and on which it had long been established in the country. It was a branch of authority which was reserved to the Nabob in his character of Nazim. The judges of the courts (they were known by the name of Phoujdary Courts) were appointed by the Naib Subah, or Nabob’s deputy, by whom their proceed- ings were reviewed and controlled. They were entirely independent of all other authority; and it does appear that, considered as Indian, justice was administered in them without any peculiar strain of abuse. About the middle of the year 1777, an attorney of the Supreme Court took up his residence at Dacca. In the month of September of that year, this attorney proceeded to execute a process of arrest, issued by one of the judges of the Supreme Court, against the Dewan, or principal public officer of the Phoujdary Court at Dacca. The process was issued at the suit of a man of the low rank of a pyke, or messenger, who had been prosecuted in the Phoujdary Court for a misdemeanour, convicted, and
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
333
confined till he made restitution. The action was B00K v-
CH AP. 6.
brought against the principal officer of the court, for
trespass and false imprisonment, in the execution of 178L this decree. A native, employed by the attorney as a bailiff, who proceeded to the house of the Phoujdar, or chief criminal judge, entered the hall of audience, in which the Phoujdar was sitting with several of his friends, and the principal officers of his court ; and attempted, in a violent and disrespectful manner, to seize the person of his Dewan, or principal agent.
It is to be observed, that, in India, a man considers an indignity offered to his servants, as in reality offered to himself. No writ or warrant, it was affirmed, was produced by the bailiff ; and he was not allowed to perform the arrest. Upon this the attorney proceeded to the house of the Phoujdar, in person, accompanied by a crowd of attendants ; and entered it in a forcible manner, by breaking down the gate. To see violated the sanctuary of his house, the mysterious repository of his wives, is a disgrace to a Mussulman more dreadful than death. The reserve of Eastern manners, and the respect bestowed upon the very walls which contain the sacred deposit of the master, render the forcible entrance of a house an event which occurs only in the exercise of the most violent hostility. It is one of the last outrages which may be expected at the hands of an implacable foe. When the Phoujdar of Dacca, therefore, beheld his gate broken down, and an irregular crowd of men bursting into his house, the greatest calamity which could befall him rushed naturally upon his apprehension ; and he proceeded to repel a danger, which every honourable Mussulman would resist at
334
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK A
CHAP. 6,
1781.
• the expense of his life. An affray arose in the - court of the house. The father of the Phoujdar received a wound in the head, from a sword, by an attendant of the attorney; and the brother-in-law of the Phoujdar was dangerously wounded in the body, with a pistol-shot, by the attorney himself.
Mr. Justice Hyde, one of the judges of the Supreme Court, wrote, after hearing of these facts, to the military officer upon the spot, instructing him to afford assistance to the attorney ; and adds, “ I beg the favour of you, for fear my letters to him should not be suffered to come safe, to tell him, that I highly approve his conduct, and doubt not that he will receive proper support from the court whose officer he is.”1
It is unnecessary in this case any further to pursue the proceedings of the attorney or his court. The Provincial Council gave bail for the Dewan ; trans- mitted to the Governor-General and Council an account of the facts ; and they concluded their letter in the following words: “ It is fitting we should point out to your notice, that all criminal justice is at a stand, and seems not likely to be resumed, until the decisive consequences of the present disputes shall be publicly declared and known. It touches the very existence of government throughout the province, that the jurisdiction of the Phoujdar, and his superior, theNaib Subah, be admitted; free from all doubt or ambiguity. How, otherwise, can it be supposed, a Phoujdar will perform any function of his office ? How presume to execute a criminal con-
Report, ut supra, p. 24.
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
335
victed, and sentenced to death by the established laws 6V
of the government and his religion, if he is liable
himself to stand to actions of damages, or to answer 1/8L to a criminal accusation, according to the laws of England, for any punishment he may inflict % Paint to yourselves, gentlemen, the anarchy and distraction which may arise, if the present uncertainties are not effectually removed ! ”
In England, one of the notions which judges, and other lawyers, are in a most particular manner eager to stamp upon the public mind is, That the adminis- tration of justice is to a most astonishing degree sensitive and delicate. That the acts and character of judges should be treated with exquisite, indeed a religious, respect. That they can hardly hear to he exposed to criticism, or blame in the slightest degree.
And that, if the criticism is to any considerable degree searching and severe, it ought to be repressed and punished, however just, with terrifying penalties.
This doctrine, which is so very palatable to the judges in England, and so very favourable to all the abuses of their power, we see in what respect they themselves retain, when their power may be enlarged, by trampling upon it in the dust, by annihilating the power and the dignity of the whole order of judges by whom law was administered to a great people.
These are specimens of the manner in which the Supreme Court in India attempted to carry their pretensions into effect. And specimens are all which here it is possible to adduce. A summary of the principal instances in one department, I am happy to be able to present in the words of Mr. Rous, the great law-officer of the Company themselves. “ Per-
336
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. sons confined by the courts of Dewannee Adaulut are
collusively arrested by process from Calcutta, or re-
178L moved by Habeas Corpus , where the language is as unknown as the power of the court. The process is abused to terrify the people ; frequent arrests made for the same cause ; and there is an instance of the purchaser of a Zemindary near Dacca, w7ho was ruined by suits commenced by paupers, suits derived from claims prior to his purchase, and who was at last condemned in considerable damages for an ordi- nary act of authority in his station. Hence the natives of all ranks become fearful to act in the col- lection of the revenues. The renters, and even hereditary Zemindars, are drawn away, or arrested at the time of the collections, and the crops embez- zled. If a farm is sold, on default of payment, the new farmer is sued, ruined, and disgraced. Eject- ments are brought, for land decreed in the Dewannee Adaulut. A Talookdar is ruined by the expense of pleading to the jurisdiction, though he prevails. And, in an action, where 400 rupees were recovered, the costs exceeded 1600 rupees. When to these abuses, incident to the institution of the court itself, and derived from distance, and the invincible ignorance of the natives respecting the laws and practice of the court, we add the disgrace brought on the higher orders, it will not, perhaps, be rash to affirm, that confusion in the provinces, and a prodigious loss of revenue, must be the inevitable consequences of up- holding this jurisdiction. The Zemindar of Duck- ensavagepore, upon pretence that he had been arrest- ed, and afterwards rescued, has his house broke open, and even the apartments of his women rudely
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
337
violated. Another Zemindar surrenders himself to 6V‘ prison, to avoid the like disgrace to his family.”
“We have seen with astonishment,” say the Go- 1781‘ vemor-General and Council, “process of contempt ordered in one instance, and civil process issue in another, against the Naib Nazim of these provinces residing at Moorshedabad, a party not owing alle- giance to the King, nor obedience to his laws ; deriv- ing no benefit or security whatever, in life or member, in fame, liberty, or fortune, from the administration of justice under the authority of these laws ; a party, it is worth attention, who is the chief magis- trate of criminal jurisdiction throughout the provinces, and in whose jurisdiction in matters of criminal cognizance the judges have not only at all times acquiesced, but in a particular instance have actually resorted to it, in aid and exoneration of them- selves.”1
At length a case arose, in which the disputes between the executive and judicial powers reached a crisis. Upon the 13th of August, 1779, a suit was commenced in the Supreme Court, against the Raja of Cossijurah, by Cossinaut Baboo, his agent at Cal- cutta. Upon the affidavit of Cossinaut, a capias was ordered to issue, in which bail to the amount of 35,000?. was allowed to be taken. The Raja ab- sconded, to avoid the execution of the writ, and was unable to fulfil his duty, as Zemindar, in the govern- ment of the country, and the collection of its revenues.
The writ of capias having been returned as unex-
1 See a very important Letter from the Governor-General and Council to the Court of Directors, dated Fort William, 25th January, 1780, Report, ut supra, General Appendix, No. 13.
VOL. IV.
Z
338
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA
book v. ecuted, on account of the concealment of the Zemindar,
another writ was issued to sequester his land and
178L effects. For the execution of this writ, the Sheriff despatched to Cossijurah an armed force, consisting of sixty men, headed by a serjeant of the court. It was represented by the Raja, that they entered the house, and endeavoured to pass into the Zenana, or women’s apartment; that of the servants of the Raja, who attempted to prevent the dishonour of their master, several were beaten and wounded ; that the party then broke open and forcibly entered his Zenana, and plundered his effects ; that they com- mitted outrages upon his place of religious worship, and stript it of its ornaments ; and that a stop was put to the collections, and the farmers prohibited from paying him their rents.
Upon the first intimation of this procedure, the Governor-General and Council, by the advice of the Advocate-General, had come to the resolution of instructing the Raja not to recognise the authority of the court, or to pay obedience to its process ; and orders were sent to the officer commanding the troops at Midnapore, to intercept the party of the Sheriff, and detain them in his custody till further orders. The orders arrived too late to prevent the outrage committed upon the house of the Raja ; but after- wards the whole of the party were seized.1
Affairs having come to this extremity, the Go- vernor-General and Council issued a notification, to all Zemindars, Choudries, and Talookdars, in the
1 The substance of this is not denied by the Chief Justice. He only dwells upon the resistance which was offered. See his Letter to Lord Weymouth, Cossijurah Appendix, No. 26.
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT. 339
three provinces, that, except in the two cases of book v.
being British servants, or bound by their own agree-
ment, they were not to consider themselves as subject 1781- to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, or to obey its process ; and the provincial chiefs were forbidden to lend a military force to aid the Court in carrying its mandates into effect.
A rule was granted by the Supreme Court to show cause why an attachment should not issue against the Company’s attorney, and the officers who were immediately instrumental in seizing the Sheriff’s officers and their attendants at Cossijurah. The officers were instructed, by the Governor-General and Council, to resist the execution of any writ, which had a reference to acts done in obedience to their orders in seizing the persons in question. But the attorney was committed to the common gaol of Cal- cutta for contempt, and a criminal prosecution carried on against him. Upon this, even Mr. Rous remarks,1 “ I am sorry to observe, that the judges, at this period, seemed to have lost all temper, particularly in the severe and unexampled manner of confining Mr. Nayler, attorney to the Company, who merely procured information from the office of the number of men employed by the Sheriff, and once gave directions to the vakeel of the Zemindar to withhold his warrant of attorney ; — both, acts done in obe- dience to the Governor-General and Council.”
The Governor-General and Council themselves were at last individually served with a summons from the Supreme Court of Judicature, to answer to Cossinaut Baboo, in a plea of tresspass ; but finding
Report of Mr. Rous, ut supra. Z 2
340
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
Gv- that the suit was brought against them for acts done — in their collective capacity, as the governing organ of the country, they delivered, by the Company’s counsel, a declaration that they would submit to no proceeding of the Court, in any prosecution against them as individuals, for acts done by them as Governor-General and Council ; acts to which the jurisdiction of the Court did not extend.
These proceedings were not brought to this stage, before the middle of March, 1780 ; and in the mean time a petition to parliament had been prepared and signed, by the principal British inhabitants in Bengal, against the exercise which the Supreme Court of Judicature made of their power; and this, together with a petition from the Governor-General, and members of the Supreme Council, and also a petition from the Company itself, was presented in 1780, and referred to the Select Committee, which afterwards reported at such length on Indian affairs. In defence of the Supreme Court, the only matter which appears, with the exception of the speeches of the Judges in Court, which refer only to the grounds of their pro- ceedings in special cases, is contained in three letters of the Chief Justice, addressed to Lord Viscount Weymouth, Secretary of State; one dated the 25th of March, 1779, and the other two dated the 2nd and 12th of March, 1780. In vindication of the attempt to force the jurisdiction of the Court upon the Zemin- dars, it is affirmed that although, as Zemindars, they are not subject to that jurisdiction, yet, as renters and collectors of the revenue, they are included in the description of servants of the Company. And it cannot be denied that the vague and inaccurate
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
341
phraseology of the act, a species of phraseology which v.
forms so remarkable a characteristic of the language
of the English law, and is the source of so many evils, 1/81 • did leave open a door to the dispute, and to all the mischief which it produced, and which it threatened to produce ; though it is clear as day, from the general import of the act, that no such jurisdiction was intended to be given. To the allegation of the mischievous consequences w’hich would ensue, and which wTere proved to he so extensive and alarming, the Chief Justice offers no reply. If there is a verbal, or technical reason, to justify the exercise of his power, the consequences, in regard to the happiness or misery of others, are what, from his habits, must to an English Judge appear, in general, as in the present case, very much a matter of indifference. To the accusation of interfering with the administration of criminal justice in the native courts, over which the Supreme Court had undeniably no control, the only defence which is offered by the Chief Justice is, that in those tribunals justice was administered very ill.
It is, however, abundantly certain, that totally to destroy those tribunals by prosecuting the Judges in the Supreme Court, when, having destroyed them, it was impossible for that Court to substitute any thing in their room, was not the way to improve the administration of justice. If those native Courts were susceptible of reform, as most assuredly they were, though, considering the state of society and the former experience of the people, there was at this particular period some ground for praise as well as for blame, it would have been a fit and noble exercise for the mind of the Chief Justice and his brethren,
342
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \
CHAP. 6.
1781.
• to have formed an excellent plan for the administra- - tion of justice among the natives, and to have recom- mended it with all the weight of their authority to parliament and the Company.
The motive in this case, which guided to so des- perate a line of conduct, cannot he mistaken, and ought not with hypocrisy to be disguised. It was not any conception of good ; it was not ignorance of the evil; for itwTas too obvious to be misunderstood. It was the appetite for power, and the appetite for profit : The power sufficiently visible and extraordi- nary; the profit more concealed:1 Nor can the pleasure of exercising unbounded sway, through the forms of administering law, be justly regarded as a feeble in- ducement. We see what, in this instance, it was capable of producing : And a faithful history of the law of England would exhibit no less wonderful proofs, in the misery which it has brought, and still obstinately binds, upon the people of England. Of this important inlet of evil, with which the British legislature ought to have been well acquainted, they
1 Although these motives may have unconsciously influenced the con- duct of the judges, yet it were more charitable to refer their unreasonable pretensions to the novelty of their position, and their consequent ignorance of their relative and absolute duties. They were English lawyers, had been sent out to administer English law ; they had been educated in a belief of its comprehensiveness and perfection. They knew nothing of India, had never heard of Hindu or Mohammedan law, and would have despised it if they had : they had been accustomed to know that gross abuses of law and justice prevailed in India, and they imagined it to be their first of duties to show that they would resolutely exert the powers which they thought that they possessed, for the extension of the principles of the only law which they conceived to be capable of protecting the interests of society. That they entertained a mistaken opinion of their own dignity, and an equally unfounded contempt for the Company’s func- tionaries, originated in the same cause, and to ignorance may be referred the origin of their indiscretion and intemperance. — W.
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
343
appear, in framing the act for the administration of 6V' justice in India, to have had no remembrance or
• 1 7ftl
regard. And even when they set that important example of cutting off the direct profit of the Judges in the plunder of the suitors, by depriving them of all direct share in the fees ; they did not cut off an indirect profit of no trifling importance, by allowing them to create offices, with emoluments derived from fees; offices of which they enjoyed the patronage, itself a valuable power, and of which they could not fail to discover various ways of disposing for their own advantage. They still, therefore, retained an interest, and a very distinct and operative interest, in the amount of the fees which might be gathered in the Court ; and the candour is amusing with which the Chief Justice bewails the decline of those profits, as one of the principal evils, if not the only evil, for he scarcely specifies another, which sprang from the measures taken to circumscribe the jurisdiction of the Court. “ But one term,” he says, “ has inter- vened, and the business of the Court, as I estimate, has fallen off near one-third, and in a term or two, when the causes already commenced are got rid of, I expect it will be reduced to the trial of a few causes arising in Calcutta. The advocates, attorneys, and officers of the Court, who have not already succeeded, will be reduced to a most deplorable condition. The attorneys have petitioned us, that on account of the difficulty of their procuring subsistence in the present state of things, their numbers may not be increased by new admisions : Though persons may come from England so qualified and recommended, that we may not be able to comply with this requisition, yet I
344
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
^ gV‘ really apprehend we shall do them little service by
admitting them ; for, it seems to me, it will be only
l781' to give them the privilege of starving in company with the present attorneys.” 1 That there might be great abundance of advocates and attorneys, and that they, and the officers, in regard to whom the Court possessed the patronage, might be richly rewarded, appeared to the Chief Justice a sufficient reason why his court should retain a jurisdiction ruinous to the country. One of the surest effects of an excellent administration of justice, the diminution of the number of law-suits, that is, the diminution of the business of the Courts; an effect which, if produced by the proper cause, is so highly to be desired, is here set down by the judge as one of the greatest of evils. It is no wonder. It was an effect, directly contrary to his profit and power. And it may with assurance be expected, that judges who enjoy the profits of a defective and vicious system of law, will regard as an evil whatever has any tendency to lessen those profits ; that is, any tendency to purify the law of its profit- able defects.3
1 Report, ut supra, Letter from Sir Elijah Impey to Lord Weymouth, 2nd March, 1780.
* Some opinion may be formed of the sort of faith with which the defence of the Judge was drawn up, by the misrepresentation which he made of facts. He thus describes the circumstances of the Patna case. “ A widow of an Omrah of the empire, to whom her husband had, by deeds executed in his life-time, given personal effects to the value of some lacs of rupees, and a considerable landed property, was, under pretence that the deeds had been forged, though proof was made to the contrary, plundered and stript of the whole estate, turned out without bed or cover- ing into the public streets, compelled to take refuge in a monument inhabited by fakeers, and to depend upon their charity for subsistence,
&c This action was likewise brought against Black Agents, whom
the Council at Patna had, contrary to their original institution, empowered to hear afid determine a petition,” &c. Ibid. Letter from Sir E. Impey
ABUSES ARISING FROM THE SUPREME COURT.
345
At this stage of the discussions, respecting the administration of justice, a considerable alteration in the constitution of the tribunals, in the civil depart- ment of the native law, was brought forward by the Governor- General, and adopted by the Council. Ac- cording to the regulations of 1773, this department was wholly administered by the Provincial Councils, sitting as Dewannee Adaulut, or Court of Civil Judi- cature. It was now, on the 11th of April, 1780, arranged, that the business of these Courts should be divided into two parts ; that which peculiarly concerned the revenue, and that which peculiarly concerned individuals. A separate court, styled Dewannee Adaulut, was established for the cog- nizance of such disputes as arose between individuals : all such disputes as respected the revenue continued subject exclusively to the jurisdiction of the Pro- vincial Councils. The new tribunals were severally composed of one covenanted servant of the Company, who was not a member of the Provincial Council, nor dependent upon it ; and denominated superin- tendent of the Dewannee Adaulut. The reason adduced for this alteration was, to exonerate the Provincial Councils from part of their burden, and afford them more time for attending to the im- portant business of the revenue.
About the same time, an expedient, of which the foregoing alteration was probably contrived as a sub- sidiary portion, suggested itself to the mind of the
to Lord Weymouth, 26th March, 1779. “ Black Agents” — this is the
appropriate name he bestows on the Magistrates and Judges of the highest respectability in the country. “ Hear and determine ; ” — this is what he affirms, though he knew that they only collected evidence and reported.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 6.
1781.
346
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \
CHAP. 6.
1781.
’ Governor-General, for neutralizing the animosities - which prevailed between the Sovereign Council and the Supreme Court ; and thereby for terminating their disputes. He devised the plan of creating a Court for the Chief- Justice, with a large allowance both of power and emolument, dependent on the pleasure of the executive power. The scheme was conducted in the following manner. Along with the establishment of the Provincial Dewannee Adauluts in 1773, had been appointed a Sudder Dewannee Adaulut at the Presidency, the object of which was to receive appeals from the Provincial Adauluts. The Sudder Dewannee Adaulut was to consist of the Governor-General and Council in person ; but up to this time they had not so much as entered upon the discharge of the functions of this Court ; although the Governor-General declared, and the declaration ought not to pass without remark that, if one-half of the time of the Council were devoted to this Court, its important duties could not be adequately dis- charged.1 If a judicial function of the highest im- portance, for which there was so extensive a demand, was left for seven years totally undischarged, what an opinion is it proper we should form of the situation of justice during all that time? And what opinion are we to form of a Governor-General and Council, who let justice remain in that situation? If they had time for the duties of the office (and few of the duties of government could be more important), they were inexcusable for not applying it ; if they had not time,
1 Governor-General’s Minute in consultation, 29th September, 1780; See First Report of the Select Committee, 1782, Appendix, No. 3.
HASTINGS AND THE CHIEF-JUSTICE ARRANGE.
347
they were inexcusable for not devising and executing Gv'
another plan.
In consultation on the 22nd of September, 1780, 1/8L
the Governor-General introduced a minute, in which he stated, that the arrangement, established a few months before, respecting the Courts of civil law, had produced not the most desirable effects, but a great deal of inconvenience. “ The institution,” he said,
“ of the new Courts of Dewannee Adaulut, has already given occasion to very troublesome and alarming competition between them and the Provin- cial Councils, and too much waste of time at this Board.” He represented it as the business of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut, not only to receive ap- peals from these Courts, but to superintend their conduct, revise their proceedings, remedy their defects ; and, generally, to form such new regulations and checks, as experience shall prove to be neces- sary to the purpose of their institution.” He affirmed, that it was impossible for the Council of Govern- ment to spare time from its other functions for this important duty ; and thus made two declarations : one, that respecting the disorders of the Dewannee Adauluts ; another, this respecting the Court of Appeal : and both expressive of the miserable fore- sight, which attended his own attempts at legislation.
He therefore proposed, That the constitution of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut should be totally changed:
That it should not consist of the Governor-General and Council : but that the Chief- Justice of the Su- preme Court of Judicature should be vested with all its powers. A large salary was intended to be annexed to the office ; but that, for politic reasons,
348
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 6.
1781.
• was not as yet proposed. And it was expressly -regulated, that the Chief- Justice should enjoy the office and the salary, during the pleasure of the Governor-General and Council. The happy effects which the Governor-General represented as about to flow from this arrangement, were these ; that when the Chief-Justice possessed the superintendence of the Dewannee Adauluts, that is, obtained the choice portion of their power, the Supreme Court would no longer interfere in their jurisdiction ; that when the Chief- Justice obtained this addition of power, with the large salary which would attend it, and held them both at the pleasure of the Council, it “would prove an instrument of conciliation between the Council and the Court,” and prevent “ those dangerous con- sequences to the peace and resources of the govern- ment, which every member of the Board,” he said, “ foreboded from the contest in which they had been unfortunately engaged with the Court.” The im- putation which was essentially involved in this pro- position, and which the Governor-General cast upon the Chief- Justice, wTas the most dishonourable, that ever was thrown upon the character of the most infamous of men. The Chief- Justice, in extending so vehemently the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, had affirmed, That it was an imperious sense of duty wffiich thus constrained him to act; That by the King, whose servant he was, and the act of parliament which constituted the Court over which he was placed, the boundaries of his jurisdiction, that is, of his sacred duties, were assigned and marked out ; That from these duties it was not optional for him to recede; That the Judges of the Supreme Court of
CONDUCT OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE.
349
Judicature were strictly bound to occupy every BC°°^6V‘
portion of the field allotted to them ; And could not
abandon any part of it, either from respect for the 1/S1- Governor-General and Council, or on account of any contingent effects which the discharge of their im- perative duties might be supposed to produce. Yet, what did the proposition of the Governor-General to the Council infer? That if they gave to the Chief- Justice a sufficient quantity of power, and of money, dependent upon their will, the Chief- Justice would confine the pretensions of the Supreme Court within any limits which they might wish to impose. It might naturally have been objected ; that to such a proposition the Chief- Justice would never consent.
But Mr. Hastings, it would appear, was better acquainted with the circumstances of the case : F or the Chief- Justice immediately discovered, that infinite advantages would arise from the plan. The propo- sition was, indeed, opposed, with strong arguments, by Mr. F rancis and Mr. Wheler. They insisted, that if the Dewannee Adauluts were defective institutions, this was not the proper course for their amendment ; that, if the authority of the Governor-General and Council, under which they acted, was doubtful, rest- ing, as Mr. Hastings, to recommend his measure, had asserted, on the disputed construction of an act of parliament, the authority of the Council to make the Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court Judge of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut could not be less than equally doubtful, and the Chief- Justice, by accepting the office, would acknowledge their authority, and disclaim the construction which hitherto he had put upon the act ; that to accept a new office, with new
350
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 6.
1781.
emoluments, and those dependent upon the pleasure of the Company, seemed inconsistent with the act which had expressly assigned him a large salary, in lieu of all other emoluments ; that the duties of the one office were inconsistent with those of the other ; especially if the doctrine of the Chief- Justice himself were sound, that the Judges of the Adauluts might be sued for damages ; because he might thus have to answer, in his own Court, for the acts which he had performed as Judge of Sudder Adaulut; that if the jurisdiction of the Sudder Adaulut would occupy one- half of the time of the Council, so it would that of the Chief- Justice, whose time was already so much en- grossed, that he could not join with his colleagues in performing the important office of a Justice of the Peace for the city and district of Calcutta; that the present exhausted state of the Company’s finances did not justify them in creating a new office to which large appointments were annexed; that the power which would thus be wielded by the Chief- Justice would “ too much hide the government from the eyes of the natives ;” and that, if the attorneys and forms of the Supreme Court were in any degree introduced into the business of the Dewannee, “ a new and a wide door of litigation would be opened.” When these two opponents of the measure advanced as objections, that the new powers allotted to the Chief- Justice would endanger the rights of the Council or of the Company as dewan, and still might not terminate the endeavours of the Chief- Justice to encroach on their department, they estimated far less correctly, than Mr. Hastings, the powers of the instrument which he proposed to employ. They did not consider, that, by rendering
HASTINGS AND IMPEY ARRANGE.
351
the Chief- Justice dependent upon themselves foraBOOK,,v-
large portion of money and power, they lost no part
of that power which they lent to him, but gained the 178L command even of that which he derived from another source.
It was on the 24th of October resolved, by a ma- jority of the Council, that the Chief-Justice should be requested to accept of the office of judge of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut ; and at the same time proposed, that 60,000 sicca rupees per annum, nearly seven thousand pounds, should be annexed to the office, under the title of salary, and 7200 sicca rupees, upwards of eight hundred pounds, under the deno- mination of rent for an office. The assent of the Chief- Justice, and his appointment to the office, im- mediately ensued.
When intelligence of the reconciliation between the governing Council and the Supreme Court, effected by the appointment of Sir Elijah Impey, with a large salary, to the station of Judge of Appeal from the Dewannee Adauluts, was brought to the Court of Directors, the case appeared to them of so much importance, as to require the highest legal advice; and it was laid before the Attorney and Solicitor General, Mr. Dunning, and their own coun- sel, Mr. Rous. It is a fact, more full of meaning perhaps, when applied to the character of the pro- fession, than of the individuals, that an opinion, in the following words — “ The appointment of the Chief- Justice to the office of Judge of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut, and giving him a salary for the latter office, besides what he is entitled to as Chief- J ustice, does not appear to us to be illegal, either as
352
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
-ok v. being contrary to the 13 Geo. Ill, or incompatible
with his duty as Chief-Justice ; nor do we see any
178L thing in the late act, 21 Geo. III., which affects the question” — was signed by the names, J. Dunning, Jas. Wallace, J. Mansfield. The opinion of Mr. Hous, the Counsel of the Company, was different, as had been that of their Advocate-General in India ; and Mansfield, a few days afterwards, stated, in a short note to the Directors, that doubts had arisen in his mind, whether the acceptance of a salary, to be held at the pleasure of the Company or their servants, was not forbidden by the spirit of the act, or at any rate the reason of the case. He concluded in these words, “ I have not been able to get the better of these doubts, although I have been very desirous of doing it, from the great respect I have for the opinions of those gentlemen with whom I lately concurred, and whose judgment ought to have much more weight and authority than mine.”
The question was taken under consideration of the Select Committee of the House of Commons ; who treated it, under the guidance of other feelings and other ideas. In their report, the power conferred upon Sir Elijah Impey in his new capacity was re- presented as exorbitant and dangerous ; and so much the more so, that no regular definition of it was any where to be found ; no distinct rule of law was any where pointed out ; but he was to be guided by his own will ; he was to be moderated by no check ; he was to be restrained by no appeal ; and he was to decide upon the fortunes of all the natives of Bengal. He was provided not only with judicial but legis- lative powers, being authorized to make rules and
HASTINGS AND IMPEY CONDEMNED IN PARLIAMENT.
353
regulations, that is, to lay down laws, for governing BC®®^GV*
the civil jurisdiction of the country. And all this
power was conferred upon a man, wrho, in the l78L opinion of Mr. Hastings at least, had been distin- guished by no disposition to make a moderate use of his power. The grounds of expediency and policy, on which, ostensibly, the measure was put, were treated as having been already proved to be frivolous and weak, by the arguments of Mr. Francis and Mr.
Wheler, to which no answer had ever been made.
“ The idea,” it was affirmed, “ of establishing peace upon the ground of adverse claims still unrelaxed, and which nothing even appears to reconcile but the lucrative office given to the Chief Justice, can be maintained but upon suppositions highly dishonour- able to the public justice, and to the executive administration of Bengal.” One of the most im- portant features of the case was then held up to view : Mr. Hastings, it was remarked, assumed, and he wTas well acquainted with the circumstances of the case, in the whole course of his reasoning, that in substance and effect the Chief Justice was the whole of the Supreme Court : by selling his inde- pendence to the Governor-General and Council, the Chief Justice, therefore, sold the administration of justice, over every class of the inhabitants of Bengal.
“ By the dependence of one tribunal,” says the report, “ both are rendered dependent ; both are vitiated, so far as a place of great power, influence, and patronage, with near eight thousand pounds a-year of emoluments, held at the pleasure of the giver, can be supposed to operate on gratitude, interest, and fear. The power of the Governor-
VOL. IV. 2 A
354
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. General over the whole royal and municipal justice
in Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, is as absolute and
1781- uncontrollable, as both those branches of justice are over the whole kingdom of Bengal.”
An observation of the Committee is subjoined, to which the highest degree of importance belongs. It is founded upon the grand fundamental truth. That nothing is more favourable to the augmentation and corruption of the executive power, than the faculty of doing, through the medium of the courts of law, things which would awaken suspicion or hatred, if done by the executive itself.
In the situation in which the dependence of the Chief Justice has placed Mr. Hastings, “he is en- abled,” say the Committee, “to do things, under the name and appearance of a legal court, which he would not presume to do in his own person. The refractory to his will may appear as victims to the law ; and favoured delinquency may not appear, as protected by the hand of power, but cleared by the decision of a competent judge.” When a nation is habituated, even as much as our own is habituated, to pay a blind and undistinguishing respect to the character and acts of judges ; the subservience of the courts of law is an instrument of power, of por- tentous magnitude.
The consequence of the discussion wThich these transactions underwent, and of the sensations which they produced in the nation, was an act of parliament to regulate anew the Supreme Court of Judicature, and deprive it of the powers which had been found destructive : and, upon a change of ministry, an address to the King was voted by the House of
CHANGES IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM.
355
Commons, on the 3rd of May, 1782, for the recall of B00K } •
Sir Elijah Impey, to answer to the charge of having .
“ accepted an ofh.ce not agreeable to the true intent 1781 ■ and meaning of the act 13 Geo. III.” 1 2
Soon after his appointment to the office of Judge of Sudder Dewannee Adaulut, thirteen articles of regulation for the practice of that Court and of the subordinate tribunals were recommended by the Judge, approved by the government, and adopted.
With these were incorporated various additions and amendments, which were afterwards published in a revised code, comprising ninety-hve articles. The number of provincial Dewannee Adauluts was, in April, 1781, increased from six to eighteen, in con- sequence of the inconvenience experienced from the extent of their jurisdiction.
As the establishment of the police-magistrates, called foujdars and tannadars, introduced in 1774, followed the example of so many of the contrivances adopted in the government of India ; that is, did not answer the end for which it was designed, the judges of Dewannee Adaulut were vested with power of ap- prehending depredators and delinquents, within the bounds of their jurisdiction, but not of trying or
1 For these important proceedings, the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons, to which the petitions respecting the administration of justice in Bengal were referred ; and the First Report of the Select Committee of 1781, with the ample documents contained in their volumin- ous appendixes, have been laboriously consulted. See also The Speech of Sir Elijah Impey delivered at the bar of the House of Commons on the 4th day of February, 1788, with the documents printed in the Appendix ; though this defence refers almost solely to the conduct of the Chief Justice in the trial and execution of Nuncomar. See also Colebrooke’s Supple- ment, p. 14, 23, 128; and the Fifth Report from the Select Committee on India affairs, in 1810, p. 8 and 9.
2 a 2
356
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAr. 6.
1781.
punishing them ; a power which was still reserved to -the Nizamut Adauluts, acting in the name of the Nabob. The Governor-General and Council also reserved a power of authorizing, in cases in which they might deem it expedient, the Zemindars to ex- ercise such part of the police-jurisdiction as they had formerly exercised under the Mogul adminis- tration. And in order to afford the government some oversight and control over the penal juris- diction of the country, a new office was established at the Presidency, under the immediate super- intendence of the Governor-General. To this office, reports of proceedings, with lists of commitments and convictions, were to he transmitted every month ; and an officer, under the Governor-General, with the title of Remembrancer of the Criminal Courts , was appointed for the transaction of its affairs. In November, 1782, in consequence of commands from the Court of Directors, the jurisdiction of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut was resumed by the Governor-General and Council. 1
Upon these changes, in the judicial, followed close another change in the revenue system. In 1773 the plan had been adopted of performing the collection of the revenues by means of provincial Councils ; hut under the declared intention of its being only tempo- rary, and preparatory to another plan ; namely, that of a Board of Revenue at the Presidency, by whom, with local officers, the whole business of realizing the revenue might he performed. Afterwards, when disputes with Mr. Francis, and other opposing
1 Fifth Report of the Select Committee in 1810; Second Report of the Select Committee in 1781.
CHANGES IN THE REVENUE SYSTEM.
357
members of the Council, arose, Mr. Hastings had B00K„ v
. . . ° CHAP. 6.
maintained, that the expedient of provincial Councils
was the most excellent which it was possible for him 178L to devise. On the 20th of February, 1781, however, a very short time after the departure of Mr. Francis, he recurred to the plan which was projected in 1773; and decreed as follows; that a Committee of Revenue should be established at the Presidency, consisting of four covenanted servants of the Com- pany ; that the provincial Councils should be abolished, and all the powers with which they were vested transferred to the Committee ; that the Com- mittee should transact, with full authority, all the current business of revenue, and lay a monthly report of their proceedings before the Council ; that the majority of votes, in the Committee, should de- termine all those points on which there should be a difference of opinion; that the record, however, of each dissentient opinion was not expected; that, even upon a reference to the Council, the execution of what the majority had determined should not be stayed, unless to the majority themselves the suspen- sion appeared to be requisite ; and that a commission of two per cent, on all sums paid monthly into the treasury at Calcutta, and one per cent, on all sums paid monthly into the treasuries which remained under charge of the collectors, should be granted as the remuneration, according to certain proportions, of the members and their principal assistants.
Against this arrangement it was afterwards urged, that it was an addition to those incessant changes, which were attended with great trouble, uncertainty, and vexation to the people : ' that it was a wanton
358
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
k • innovation, if the praises bestowed by Mr. Hastings on _ the provincial Councils were deserved : that it divested the Supreme Council of that power over the business of revenue, with which they solely were intrusted by the legislature, to lodge it in the hands of Mr. Hastings : as the members of the Com- mittee were under his appointment, and the Council wTere deprived of the means of forming an accurate judgment on all disputed points ; hearing the reasons of the majority alone, while those of the minority were suppressed. To these objections Mr. Hastings replied, that the inconveniences of change were no argument against any measure, provided the advan- tages of the measure surpassed them ; that he was not bound by his declarations respecting the fitness of the provincial Councils, when the factious disputes which divided them, and the decline of the revenues, proved that they were ill adapted to their purpose ; that the business of the revenue was necessarily tranferred from the Supreme Council, because the time of the Council was inadequate to its demands : that the Committee of Revenue were not vested with the powers of the Council, in any other sense than the provincial Councils, or any other dele- gates ; but, on the contrary, acted under its imme- diate control.
It was intrusted to the Committee to form a plan for the future assessment and collection of the reve- nues. And the following are the expedients of which they made choice : to form an estimate of the abilities of the several districts, from antecedent accounts, without recurring to local inspection and research : to lease the revenues, without interme-
JOURNEY OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL.
359
diate agents, to the Zemindars, where the Zemindary j ■
was of considerable extent : and, that they might
save government the trouble of detail, in those 178L places where the revenues were in the hands of a number of petty renters, to let them altogether, upon annual contracts.1
CHAPTER VII.
Journey of the Governor- General to the Upper Provinces. — History of the Company's Connexions with the Raja of Benares. — Requisitions upon the Raja. — Resolution to relieve the Company's Ne- cessities by forcible Exaction on the Raja. — The Governor-General arrives at Benares. — The Raja put under Arrest. — A Tumultuous Assemblage of the People. — An Affray between them and the Soldiers. — The Raja Escapes. — War made upon him , and the Country Subdued. — Condemnation of Mr. Hastings by the Directors. — Double Negotia- tion with the Mahrattas of Poonah. — Treaty of Peace.
It was immediately subsequent to these great changes in the financial and judicial departments of the government, that the celebrated journey of the
1 The official documents are found in the Appendix, Sixth Report of the Select Committee, 1782 : and in the papers printed for the House of Com- mons, on the question of the impeachment. Sec too the Fifteenth article of Charge against Hastings, and the answer.
360
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \ CHAP. 7.
1781.
Governor-General to the Upper Provinces took . place. Important as was the business, which at that time pressed upon the attention of the govern- ment, when war raged in the Carnatic, when the contest with the Mahrattas was carried on in two places at once, and when the Supreme Council was so greatly reduced in numbers, that upon the depar- ture of the Governor-General, one member alone, Mr. Wheler, was left to conduct the machine of government, it was to be concluded, that matters of great concernment had withdrawn the Governor- General from the principal scene of intelligence, of deliberation, and of action. The transactions which he had in view were chiefly those proceedings which he meditated with regard to the Raja of Renares, and the Nabob of Oude. The government was distressed for money, and the intention was avowed of making those tributary Princes subser- vient to its supply. The Governor-General departed from Calcutta on the 7th July, of 1781, and arrived at Renares on the 14th of August. To understand the events which ensued, it is necessary to trace from its origin, the connexion which subsisted between the English and the Raja.
After the shock which the empire of the Great Mogul sustained by the invasion of Nadir Shah, when the subahdars and other governors, freed from the restraint of a powerful master, added to the ter- ritory placed under their commaud, as much as they were able of the adjacent country, the city and dis- trict of Renares were reduced under subjection to the Nabob of Oude. This city, which was the principal seat of Erahmenical religion and learning, and to the
RAJAH OF BENARES.
3G1
native inhabitants an object of prodigious veneration 7V-
and resort, appears, during the previous period of
Mohammedan sway, to have remained under the im- 178L mediate government of a Hindu. Whether, till the time at which it became an appanage to the Subah of Oude, it had ever been governed through the medium of any of the neighbouring viceroys, or had always paid its revenue immediately to the imperial treasury, does not certainly appear. With the ex- ception of coining money in his own name ; a pre- rogative of majesty, which, as long as the throne retained its vigour, was not enfeebled by communica- tion; and that of the administration of criminal justice, which the Nabob had withdrawn, the Raja of Benares had always, it is probable, enjoyed and exercised all the powers of government, within his own dominions.1 In 1764, when the war broke out
1 This is an adoption of one of those errors upon which the charge against Mr. Hastings, in regard to his relations with Cheit Sing, was founded, and which commences with the Second Report of the Select Com- mittee, who talk of “ the expulsion of a Raja of the highest rank from his dominions.” In point of fact, however, no Raja had enjoyed and exercised the powers of government in the province of Benares, since the middle of the eleventh century, at the latest. At the period of the Mohammedan conquest, it was part of the kingdom of Kanoj. It was annexed to Delhi by the arms of Kutteb, early in the 13th century, and in the 14th was included in the Mohammedan kingdom of Jonpur. In the reign of Akbar, it was comprised in the Subah of Allahabad, and in that of Aurungzeb it was comprehended in that of Oude. In all this time no mention is made of a Raja of Benares. The title originated in the begin- ning of the eighteenth century, or a. d. 1730, when Mansa Ram. Zemindar of Gangapoor, having, in the distracted state of affairs, added largely to his authority, obtained a Sunnud of Raja, from Mohammed Shah of Delhi — -a mere honorary title, conferred then, as it is now by the British Govern- ment, without any suspicion of its implying princely power or territorial dominion. Mansa Ram procured the title for his son, Bulwunt Sing, who succeeded him in 1740; so that even the title was only forty years old at the time of Cheit Sing’s removal. It had never conferred independence, for the Raja had still remained a Zemindar, holding under the Subahdar of
362
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
} • between the English and the Subahdar of Oude, — Bulwant Sing was Raja of Benares, and, excepting the payment of an annual tribute, was almost inde- pendent of that grasping chief, who meditated the reduction of Benares to the same species of dominion which he exercised over the province of Oude. The Raja would gladly have seen the authority of the English substituted in Oude to that of the Vizir,
Oude. It is true, that the minutes of Council of various dates speak of the Raja as a sort of king ; tributary, but reigning in his own right, and by the position of his supposed kingdom, calculated to be a valuable feudatory or ally of the British Government. Some of this was merely vagueness of ex- pression, some of it ignorance. The word Raja seems to have imposed even upon Hastings; certainly it did upon Clavering and his party; and language was used in allusion to Cheit Sing, which exposed Hastings to the charge of contradiction and inconsistency. There is no vagueness or inconsistency, however, in the document upon which Cheit Sing’s whole power and right depended. The Sunnud of 1776, granted to the Raja by the Governor and Council, and which, it is to be observed, “ causes all former Sunnuds to become null and void ;” confers no royalties, acknow- ledges no hereditary rights, fixes no perpetual limit to the demands of the Supreme Government ; but appoints him Zemindar, Aumeen, and Foujdar of Benares, and other districts. All these terms imply delegated and sub- ordinate offices, and recognise in him nothing more than receiver of t^e rents, and civil and commercial Judge. In the Kabooleat, or assent to this Sunnud, Cheit Sing acknowledges the sovereignty of the Company, and promises to pay them a certain sum, the estimated net revenue, and to pre- serve peace and order. Whatever, therefore, may be the fluctuating and con- tradictory language of the minutes of Council, there is not the slightest pre- text for treating the Zemindar of Benares as a sovereign, however sub- ordinate or tributary, to be drawn from the official paper acknowledged by himself to be the tenure by which he held whatever power he enjoyed. It is true, that the genuineness of this document was disputed by the pro- secutors ; and they affirmed that the Sunnud was altered in compliance with the representation of Cheit Sing, who objected to the insertion of the term, “ Muchulka,” and the clause annulling all former Sunnuds. They could not prove, however, that any other Sunnud was ever executed; and what- ever might at one time have been the disposition of the Council to accede to the Raja’s wishes, it does not appear that any actual measure ensued. Even, however, if the omissions had been made, of which there is no proof, it is not pretended that any clause, exempting the Raja for ever from all further demands, was inserted ; and this was the only material point at issue. Minutes of Evidence, p. 60. — W.
THE ENGLISH AND THE RAJA OF BENARES AGREE.
363
whom he had so much occasion to dread. He offered
to assist them with his forces ; and,, to anticipate all
jealousy, from the idea of his aiming at independence, 1/81' expressed his willingness to hold the country, subject to the same obligations under them, as it had sus- tained in the case of the Nabob ; and so highly im- portant was the service which he rendered to the Company, that the Directors expressed their sense of it in the strongest terms.1 When peace was concluded, the Raja was secured from the effects of the Nabob’s resentment and revenge, by an express article in the treaty, upon which the English insisted, and the guarantee of which they solemnly undertook. Upon the death ofBulwant Sing in the year 1770, the dis- position of the Vizir to dispossess the family, and take the province into his own hands, was strongly dis- played, but the English again interfered, and com- pelled the Vizir to confirm the succession to Cheyte Sing, the son of the late Raja, and his posterity for ever, on the same terms, excepting a small rise in the annual payment, as those on which the country had been held by his father.3 In the year 1773, when Mr. Hastings paid his first visit to the Nabob of Oude, the preceding agreement was renewed and confirmed. “ The Nabob,” said Mr. Hastings,
“ pressed me, in very earnest terms, for my consent, that he should dispossess the Raja of the forts of Leteefgur and Bidgegur, and take from him ten lacs of rupees over and above the stipulated rents : and he seemed greatly dissatisfied at my refusal.”3 Mr.
1 In tlieir Bengal Letter, 26th May, 1768.
2 This stipulation ceased to be in force under the subsequent Sunnud of 1776. — W.
3 The Vizir had urged no more than he had a right to do, and the
364
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
Bchv^ 71 Hastings, however, insisted that all the advantages which had been secured to Bulwant Sing, and con-
1781 °
firmed by the Nabob’s own deed to Cheyte Sing, should be preserved ; and he expressed, in the same letter, his opinion both of the faith of the Vizir, and the independence of the Raja, in the following terms :
“ I am well convinced that the Raja’s inheritance, and perhaps his life, are no longer safe than while he enjoys the Company’s protection; which is his due, by the ties of justice, and the obligations of public faith; and which policy enjoins us to afford him ever most effectually : his country is a strong barrier to ours, without subjecting us to any expense; and we may depend upon him as a sure ally, whenever we may stand in need of his services.” It was established accordingly, that “ no increase of revenue should ever thereafter be demanded.”1
When the Company’s new government, established in 1774, resolved upon forming a new arrangement with the son and successor of the Vizir, lately deceased ; the interest, whatever it was, which was possessed by the Vizir in the territory of the Raja Cheyte Sing, was transferred from that chief to the Company. Upon this occasion it was resolved, not only that no infringement should take place of the
opposition of the Governor-General established a claim to the gratitude of the Benares family. — W.
1 Secret Consultations, Fort William, 4th Oct. 1773; Extract of the Governor-General’s Report; Second Report of the Select Committee, 1782, p. 12. — M. Here is no acknowledgement of independence, unless the word “ ally” be so construed ; but in the voluminous correspondence of the Indian Governments, it is impossible that words should not be used sometimes in their general sense, without intending a rigid interpreta- tion.—W.
TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT.
365
previous rights and privileges of the Raja, but that
other advantages should be annexed. Mr. Hastings
took the lead in this determination; and earnestly 1/SL maintained the policy of rendering the Raja totally independent in his government of Benares, under no condition but the payment of a fixed and invariable tribute. To this, with only a nominal modification, the Council agreed. It was a primary object, pro- fessed by all, that the Raja should he completely secured from all future encroachments, either upon his revenue, or his power ; and an unanimous resolu- tion was passed, that so long as he discharged his engagements, “ no more demands should be made upon him, by the Honourable Company, of any kind ; nor, on any pretence whatsoever, should any person be allowed to interfere with his authority.” To pre- clude all ground for such interference, the right of coining money, and of administering penal justice, was transferred to him. Mr. Hastings proposed that the Raja should pay his tribute, not at his own capital of Benares, but at Patna, which was the nearest station for the business of government, within the territory of the Company. And the reason which he suggested is worthy of record : “ If a resident was appointed to receive the money, as it became due, at Benares ; such a resident would unavoidably acquire an influence over the Raja, and over his country ; which would, in effect, render him master of both.
This consequence might not, perhaps, be brought completely to pass, without a struggle ; and many appeals to the Council, which, in a government con- stituted like this, cannot fail to terminate against the Raja: And, by the construction, to which his
366
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 7.
1781.
• opposition to the agent would be liable, might even- - tually draw on him severe restrictions ; and end in reducing him to the mean and depraved state of a mere Zemindar.”1 The chain of acknowledgments is instructive and memorable: 1st, That a resident of the Company, at the court of a native Prince, though for ever so confined and simple a purpose, no more than that of receiving periodical payment of a definite sum of money, would engross the power of the Prince, and become, in effect, the master of the country : 2ndly, That in any disputes which might arise with the agent, in the resistance offered by the Prince to these encroachments, the Prince is sure of injustice from the Company’s government, sure that all appeals to it will terminate against him, and that even his attempts to oppose the encroachments of the agent will be liable to such constructions, as may induce the Company’s servants to plunge him into the lowest state of oppression and degradation : and, 3rdly, That this state of “meanness and depravity ” is the ordinary state of a Zemindar.2
1 Minute in Council of the Governor General on the 12th of June, 1775.
2 Mr. Barwell even went so far, as to record it in his minute as his opinion and desire, that the Raja should be exempt even from tribute, and rendered in all respects an independent Sovereign. His words are these : “ The independence of Gauzeepore (the Raja’s country) on Oude, is a great political object, and ought to be insisted on ; and whatever may be resolved respecting the revenue paid by the Raja of that country, the English government ought not to stand in the same relation to it as the late Vizir, because the country of Benares and Gauzeepore is a natural barrier to these provinces; and the Raja should have the strongest tie of interest to support our government, in case of any future rupture with the Subah of Oude. — To make this his interest, he must not be tributary to the English government ; for, from the instant he becomes its tributary, from that moment we may expect him to side against us, and by taking advantage of the troubles and commotions that may arise, attempt to dis- burden himself of his pecuniary obligations.” Bengal Consultation, 13th
UNFORTUNATE CONDITION OF THE RAJA.
367
It was in the end arranged, that the payment
the tribute should he made at Calcutta, a commission
being allowed for the additional expense : and Mr. 178L Francis was anxious that the independence of the Raja should be modified no further than by an acknowledgment of the supremacy of the English ; a condition not practically affecting his government, and conducive no less to his security than to the dignity of those to whom the compliment was paid.1
Upon these terms the settlement wms concluded ; and the Raja continued to pay his tribute with an
Feb. 1775. As a specimen of the changes to which the sentiments of these rulers were liable, compare the words of the Minute of the same Mr. Barwell, not three years and five months afterwards, viz. in his Minutes in Council, 9th of July, 1779; “ I have long regarded the military establish- ment of Benares, under the Raja’s native officers, as a defect; I therefore most heartily agree to the present proposal for three disciplined battalions to be kept up and paid by the Raja, and sincerely hope the Company will direct that the whole force of Benares and Gauzeepore, under the Zemindar, be placed upon the same footing as the regular military force of the Pre- sidency.” It is to be observed, that the three battalions were a mere pre- tence. The Raja was only required to give money; and the battalions were never raised.
1 The third paragraph of his Minute in Council, on the 13th of February, 1775, was in these words ; “ The present Raja of Benares to be confirmed in the Zemindary, which may be perpetuated in the family under a fixed annual tribute, and a fixed fine at each future investiture; the Raja’s authority in his own country to be left full and uncontrolled.” And this he further explained in a Minute, dated the 4th of March, in the following words ; “ In agreeing to the proposed independence of the Raja of Benares, my meaning was, to adhere strictly to the third paragraph of my Minute of the 13th of February, that the Zemindary may be perpetuated in his family on fixed and unalterable conditions. It is highly for his own advantage, to be considered as a vassal of the Sovereign of these kingdoms, holding a great hereditary fief by a fixed tenure, and acknowledging the Sovereign of Bengal and Bahar to be his lord paramount. Speaking my sentiments without reserve, I must declare, that in settling this article, I look forward to the assertion or acceptance of the sovereignty of these pro- vinces. pleno jure, on the part of his most Gracious Majesty, the King of Great Britain.”
368
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 7.
1781.
• exactness rarely exemplified in the history of the . tributary princes of Hindustan. Unhappily for him, he was not an indifferent spectator of the disputes which agitated the Supreme Council. “ It is a fact,” says the Governor-General, “ that when the unhappy divisions of our government had proceeded to an extremity bordering on civil violence, by the attempt to wrest from me my authority, in the month of June, 1777, 1 he had deputed a man named Sumboo- naut, with an express commission to my opponent ; and the man had proceeded as far as Moorshedahad, when, hearing of the change of affairs, he stopped, and the Raja recalled him.” 2 It is somewhat won- derful that a circumstance, no greater than this, should have made so deep an impression upon the mind of the Governor-General, as to he enumerated, after the lapse of years, in a laboured apology, among the causes wdiich justified the prosecution of the Raja to his ruin.3
In the year 1778, the Governor-General proposed, that a requisition should he made upon the Raja Cheyte Sing, for the maintenance of three battalions
1 What he calls the attempt to wrest from him his authority, was his own refusal to obey the appointment of the Company, when Sir John Clavering was nominated to the place of Governor-General, upon the resignation which Mr. Hastings disowned. — M. Having disowned it, he had not resigned, and the conditional appointment, therefore, fell to the ground. The attempt to enforce it without the condition, was an attempt at usurpa- tion.— W.
5 The Governor-General’s Narrative of the Transactions at Benares, App. No. 1 ; Second Report of the Select Committee, 1781.
3 The manner in which this circumstance is described is uncandid. There is no reason to infer from the notice taken of the conduct of Cheil Sing, that Hastings alludes to it from any cherished feeling of resentment. He alludes to the Raja’s alacrity in fomenting the divisions of the Council, as one proof among others of his being on the watch for opportunities to throw off subjection to the English government, and establish his own indepen- dence.— W.
DEMANDS UPON THE RAJAH OF BERNARES. 369
of sepoys, estimated at five lacs of rupees per annum, 7V-
during the continuance of the war. In settling the
terms of the connexion of the Raja with the Com- 1781- pany, in 1775, it had been proposed, for consideration , by the Governor-General, whether the Raja should not engage to keep a body of 2000 cavalry constantly on foot, which should be consigned to the service of the Company, receiving an additional pay or gratuity, as often as the public interest should require. But this proposition was rejected by the rest of the Council, even by Mr. Barwell, on the score of its being a mere enhancement of the tribute of the Raja, under a different name. And the Governor-General then declared, that “ it was far from his intention to propose this, or any other article, to be imposed on the Raja by compulsion; he only proposed it as an article of speculation.” Mr. Francis and Mr.
Wheler, in 1778, consented that an aid, to the amount which the Governor-General proposed, should be requested of the Raja, but demurred as to the right of enforcing any demand beyond that of the stipulated tribute ; and Mr. Hastings agreed to reserve the question of right to their superiors.1 2 Professing a strong desire to show his friendship to the Company, the Raja, as was to be expected, endeavoured to obtain an abatement of the sum; and when he gave his consent to the w hole, expressly declared that it was only for a single year. In resentment of these endeavours to limit the amount
1 The expressions in his Minute in Council (9th July, 1778), are these . . wishing to avoid the question of right”. . . I wish to leave the decision of future right to our superiors.”
2 B
VOL. IV.
370
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. 0f the contribution, the Governor-General proposed,
that no time should be allowed for the convenience
178L of payment ; but the whole should be exacted immediately. “ I acquiesce,” were the words of Mr. Francis’s Minute; “ though, in my own opinion, it would answer as well to us, and be less distressing to the Raja, if the subsidy were added in equal proportions to the monthly receipts of the tribute.” The Raja pleaded poverty ; and, praying for in- dulgence in point of time, engaged to make good the total payment in six or seven months. The Governor- General treated the very request as a high offence, and added the following very explanatory words, “ I will not conceal from the Board, that I have expected this evasive conduct in the Raja, having been some time past well informed, that he had been advised in this manner to procrastinate the payment of the five lacs, to afford time for the arrival of dispatches from England, which were to bring orders for a total change in this government ; and this he was given to expect would produce a repeal of the demand made upon him by the present govern- ment.” A delay, founded upon the hope that the Governor-General would be stript of power, might sting the mind of the Governor-General, if it was a mind of a particular description ; but a delay, founded upon the hope of remission (even if it had been ascertained to be the fact) would not by any body, unless he were in the situation of the Governor- General, be regarded as much of a crime. Mr. Francis and Mr. Wheler were over-ruled, and the resident at Benares was commanded immediately to repair to the Raja, to demand, that in five days the
DEMANDS CONTINUED UPON THE RAJA.
371
whole of the money should be paid, to denounce to book 7V-
him that a failure in this respect would be treated as
equivalent to an absolute refusal, and to abstain from ^st- all intercourse with him till further instructions, if the requisition was not obeyed.
In the following year, the demand was renewed.
The Raja now more earnestly represented the nar- rowness of his circumstances ; the hardship wdiich was imposed upon him, by so heavy an exaction ; his exemption, by the terms of his treaty, 1 from all demands, beyond the amount of his tribute, which was most regularly paid ; and his express stipulation, an- nexed to his former payment, that it was not to be for more than a year. The Governor-general replied in terms more imperious and harsh than before ; threatening him with military execution, unless he paid immediate and unconditional obedience to the command. The Raja repeated his remonstrance, in the most earnest, but the most submissive, and even suppliant terms. The troops were ordered to march. He was compelled to pay not only the ori- ginal demand, but 2000/. as a fine for delay, under the title of ex pence of the troops employed to coerce him.2
In the third year, that is, in 1780, the exaction was renewed ; but several new circumstances were, in this year, annexed to the transaction. The Raja
1 There was no treaty — a Sunud is not a treaty, but a grant or patent from a superior to an inferior ; no exemption was specified, and although a specific sum was named, there was no pledge that it should never be altered. — W.
2 The questions at issue, were the ability and disposition of Cheit Sing to render effective assistance to the state in a period of real emergency. Had the latter been evinced, had not a contrary disposition been cherished, more leniency would have been deserved, and would no doubt have been manifested, in enforcing the demands of the government. — W.
2 B 2
372
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. sent his confidential minister to Calcutta, to mollify
C HAP. 7 . *
the Governor-General, by the most submissive ex-
1 78i ■ pressions of regret for having incurred his displea- sure, even by confessions of error and of fault, and by the strongest protestations of a desire to make every possible exertion for the recovery of his favour. This however included not the payment of the five lacks, of which the agent was instructed to use his utmost endeavours to obtain a remission. For the better accomplishment of this object, he was fur- nished with a secret compliment to the Governor- General, of the amount of two lacs of rupees. At first, as we are told by Mr. Hastings, he absolutely refused the present, and assured the agent of the Raja that the contribution must be paid. Afterwards, however, he accepted the present; with a view, as he himself informs us, to apply the money to a peculiar exigency of the public service. Be it so. The money of the Raja however was tendered, for a purpose which it was impossible to mistake : And that money, with all the obligation which the receipt of it imported, was in fact received.1 The contribution, nevertheless,
1 For the circumstances of this present, see Hastings’s Answer to Burke’s Eighth Charge ; the Eleventh Report of the Select Committee, 1781 ; and the Minutes of the Evidence taken at the Trial of Warren Hastings. These circumstances are remarkable, and characteristic. At first, perfect concealment of the transaction ; such measures, however, taken, as may, if afterwards necessary, appear to imply a design of future disclosure ; when concealment becomes difficult and hazardous, then dis- closure made. The Governor-General, on the 29th of June, offered to apply 23,0007., which, as he described it, appeared to be, though not asserted to be, money of his own, to the support of the detachment under Colonel Camac, destined to act in the country of Scindia. Whether the accommodation was meant to be a loan or a gift did not appear. Of the receipt of this money as a present no intimation was made to the Court of Directors before the 29th of November following; when he only alludes to
DEMANDS CONTINUED UPON THE RAJA.
373
was exacted. The remonstrances of the Raja, and 7V'
his renewed endeavours to gain a little time, were
treated as renewed delinquency ; and for these en- 178L deavours the Governor-General imposed upon him a mulct or fine of 10,0007 and the troops were or- dered to march into the Raja’s country, on the same errand, and on the same terms, as in the preceeding year.
The Raja again submitted, and the money was again discharged. But these submissions and payments were no longer regarded as enough. An additional burthen was now to be imposed. A re-
it, but expressly withholds explanation. Stating the reason of mentioning the matter at all to be a desire of “ obviating the false conclusions or pur- posed misrepresentations ” which might be made of his offer to defray the expense of Camac’s detachment, as if that offer were “ either an artifice of ostentation, or the effect of corrupt influence,” he tells them, “ that the money, by whatever means it came into his possession, was not his own ; that he had himself no right to it, nor would or could have received it, but for the occasion which prompted him to avail himself of the accidental means which were at that instant afforded him, of accepting and converting it to the property and use of the Company.” Even here, he represents his converting it to the use of the Company, as a voluntary favour he con- ferred upon the Company, when the money was in reality the money of the Company, and when every thing received in presents was theirs. He had given no further explanation up to the end of 1783; and the first knowledge obtained in England of the source whence the money was derived, was drawn from Major Scott by the interrogatories of the Select Committee. See Eleventh Report, p. 7. — M. The transaction, however exceptionable in many respects, is not open to one very important part of the charges here preferred. There was not “ perfect concealment.” It appeared in evidence that Hastings communicated all the circumstances relating to this present, to the Accountant-General, who received the money, and transferred it to the Company’s Treasury, from whence it was issued in payments on public account. It is undeniable, therefore, that Hastings never intended to appropriate this money to his own use. Min. of Evid., 1155, 2747.— W.
1 The payment of this mulct is stated as doubtful, in Burke’s Charges ; but as it is passed without mention in the Answer, the silence must, in this, as in other cases, be taken for confession.
374
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
17*1.
7V- solution was passed in the Supreme Council, that — the Raja, besides his tribute, and the annual contri- bution of five lacs of rupees, should be required to furnish to the Bengal Government such part of the cavalry entertained in his service, as he could spare: And the resident was instructed by the Governor- General to make a peremptory demand of 2000. The Raja represented that he had only 1300 cavalry in his service, and that they were all employed in guarding the country, or in collecting the revenues. The Governor-General reduced his demand, first to 1500, and at last to 1000. The Raja collected 500 horse, as he himself, and without contradiction, af- firmed, and 500 matchlock men as a substitute for the remainder : 1 He sent word to the Governor-Ge- neral that this force was ready to receive his com- mands ; but never obtained any answer.
The Governor-General had other views. He wanted money, and he was resolved that the plunder of the unhappy Raja, whom he disliked, should be the source from which it was to flow. “ I was re- solved,” says the Governor-General, “ to draw from his guilt the means of relief to the Company’s dis- tresses. In a word, I had determined to make him pay largely for his pardon, or to exact a severe ven- geance for his past delinquency.” 2 3 The confession has the merit of frankness, be the other virtues belonging to it such as they may. The guilt as it is called, consisted, exclusively, in a reluctance to
1 A return given by one of his principal officers, stated his established
forces to be above 7000 horse and foot. After his flight from Benares, he readily assembled above 20,000. Narrative, 43. — W.
3 Governor-General’s Narrative, K., supra.
DEMANDS CONTINUED UPON THE RAJA.
375
submit to the imposition of a very heavy burthen, BC°®^7V'
from which the Raja considered that he ought to be
free.1 1781-
The Rajah was informed of the hostile designs which were entertained against him, and in order to mitigate the fury of the storm, sent an offer to the Governor-General of twenty lacs of rupees for the public service. The offer was scornfully rejected.
A sum of not less than fifty lacs, was the peremp- tory demand. From the Governor-General’s in- formation we learn, that he was at this time offered a large sum of money for the dominions of the Rajah, by the Nabob of Oude ; that he was resolved to ex- tort the obedience of the Rajah ; otherwise to reduce his forts, and seize the treasure which they were sup- posed to contain ; or to conclude a bargain for his dominions with the Nabob Vizir.
It is necessary to be remarked, that Mr. Fowke, who had been replaced in the office of resident at Benares by the express command of the Court of Directors, the Governor-General removed about six months before his journey to Benares, on the sole pretence that “ he thought the resident there should be a man of his own nomination and confidence ; ” though the Court of Directors had decreed the con- trary, and issued to that effect their most peremptory commands. It is also requisite to be stated, that though the Governor-General, departed for Benares with the intention of inflicting a severe vengeance on the Rajah, a design which he communicated in trust
1 This was not “ exclusively ” the guilt of the Raja. His main offence was disaffection to the Company’s Government, and the purpose of freeing liimself from it whenever opportunity offered. — W.
376
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1
CHA1-. 7
1781.
• to some of his confidential friends,1 he entered no in- - timation of this design in the consultations, or records of the Deliberative Council, but on the contrary a minute importing nothing beyond an amicable and ordinary adjustment, and desiring powers for nothing but to make such arrangements, and perform such acts, for the improvement of the Zemindary “ as he should think fit and consonant to the mutual engage- ments subsisting between the Company and the Rajah.” The aptness of the expression consisted in its having sufficient laxity to stretch around all that the actor had in view, while its more obvious signifi- cation led not the mind of the hearer to any but ordinary transactions.
Upon the approach of the Governor-General to the boundary of the Rajah’s dominions, that Prince went out to meet him, and, to render the compliment still more respectful, with a retinue unusually great. Not contented with a mere interview of form, the Rajah pressed for a more confidential conversation. “ He professed,” says Mr. Hastings, “ much concern to hear that I was displeased with him, and contrition for having given cause for it, assuring me that his Zemindary, and all that he possessed, were at my devotion ; and he accompanied his words by an action, either strongly expressive of the agitation of his mind, or his desire to impress on mine a convic- tion of his sincerity — by laying his turban on my lap.” Mr. Hastings, according to his own account, treated the declarations of the Raja as unworthy of his re- gard, and dismissed him.
1 He communicated it to the only other member of Council, Mr. Wheler, ,is that gentleman publicly acknowledges. Narrative 13, Note. — W.
MR. HASTINGS ARRESTS THE RAJA. 377
Mr. Hastings arrived in the capital of the Raja^ooK \.
on the 1 4th of August ; earlier by some hours than
the Rajah himself. The Raja communicated his 17sL intention of waiting upon him in the evening. But the Governor-General sent his prohibition ; and at the same time directed him to forbear his visits, till permission should be received. The resident was next morning sent to the Raja with a paper of com- plaints and demands. The Raja in reply transmitted, in the course of the day, a paper in which he endea- voured to make it appear that his conduct was not liable to so much blame as the Governor-General im- puted ; nor deserved the severity of treatment which was bestowed. The Governor-General, without any further communication, put him under arrest the following morning ; and imprisoned him in his own house with a military guard.
This is the point, at which the reader should pause, to examine, by the rules of justice, the conduct of the parties ; since to this time their actions were the offspring of choice; afterwards, they became more the result of necessity on both sides.
Suppose the justice of the demand to have been ever so clear and certain ; suppose that the Raja had procrastinated, and endeavoured to evade the pay- ment of his defined and established tribute, which on the contrary he always paid with singular exactness ; suppose that importunity on each occasion had been requisite, and the delay of a few months incurred even in this case, where blame, if inability hindered not, might without dispute have been due, it will be acknowledged, that the behaviour of the Governor-
378
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. General would have been harsh, precipitate, and
cruel. Even the fines, and the soldiers would
1781- have been too hastily and vindictively applied to an offence, so common in India, and to which any consequences of importance are so little attached. The arrest, which to a man of rank is the deepest disgrace and injury, would have been an excess of punishment to a very considerable degree beyond the line of justice and humanity. If so, how much must be supposed to be added to that excess, when it is considered that the demand itself was extra- ordinary, irregular, and liable to the imputation of injustice ; that some even of Mr. Hastings’ collea- gues disputed the right of the Company to enforce any such demand ; and that Mr. Hastings, though he declared that his opinion was in favour of the right, dared not to decide upon it, but in express terms left the question doubtful, and reserved the decision for his superiors %
Mr. Hastings imposes a heavy burthen upon a native Prince : His right, in point of law or justice is a matter of doubt : The Prince shows reluctance to submit to what he very naturally regards as oppression : and by some little and ordinary artifices he endeavours to elude the demand: To this reluct- ance and these little artifices, Mr. Hastings attaches the name of guilt: Having sufficiently attached to them the name of guilt, he holds it requisite that guilt should meet with punishment : And as it is the dignity of the state against which the offence has been committed ; the dignity of the state, which is infinite, requires that the punishment should be ade-
INSUFFICIENCY OF THE DEFENCE OF HASTINGS.
379
quately severe. If this be justice, a way may be 7V-
found for inflicting any punishment justly at any
time, upon any human being. 178L
There are considerations, on the opposite side, which must not he forgotten. Mr. Hastings, in his present exigency, might naturally expect assistance from the Raja. It was common for the tributary Princes of the country to be compelled to assist their superiors in war. And it is probable that Mr. Hast- ings counted upon that assistance, when, in 1775, the agreement with the Raja was formed. It is, however, not a matter of doubt, that by the terms of that solemn compact, the Governor-General and his colleagues, whether they so intended or not, did surrender and renounce all right to make any demand upon the Raja of such assistance, or of any emolu- ment or service whatsoever beyond the amount of his annual tribute.1
Mr Hastings, in contest wTith his accusers, endea- voured to lay the burthen of his defence upon the duties which in India a dependant ruler owes to the authority on which he depends. But if these duties, whatever they may be, are solemnly remitted by him to whom they are due, and the right to exact them is formally given up, the obligation is destroyed, and becomes as if it never had existed. That the words of the grant to the Rajah Cheyte Sing barred every demand beyond that of his tribute, and by conse- quence that which was now made, Hastings no where directly controverts.2 He meets not the argument,
1 This, as mentioned above, was cancelled by the Sunnud of 1776.
See p. 262 note. — W.
2 The form of the words was affirmative and negative ; the first clause defining that which he was to pay ; the latter clause excluding by express
380
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. because it could not be answered ; he endeavours to
defeat it by other means ; by hiding it from obser-
1781. vation, while he sedulously directs the attention to different points.1
declaration ■whatever was not defined and specified in the former. Ambi- guity could not more effectually be excluded. The first clause included his tribute, and nothing else ; the latter negatived whatever was not in the first clause, that is, whatever was not his tribute. The words to which reference is always made, are the words of the resolution of the Council. It is true, that the words of the Sunnud, which was afterwards actually granted, and which ought to have been exactly correspondent to the words of the resolution, were too indefinite to fix any thing whatsoever in favour of the Raja. But this is one of the injuries which the Raja sustained; and cannot be employed to justify the oppression which was grounded upon it; it is on the contrary, a heinous fraud, for which the authors, were justly accountable. And the words of the resolution ought to be the explanation and the standard of what is left undefined in the Sunnud. It is remarkable, that there was a great deal of irregularity, and some suspicious circum- stances, in the mode of making out the deeds, and performing the invest- ment. The Raja objected to the first forms. They were altered. Other forms were adopted. And in the charges against Mr. Hastings, voted by the House of Commons, it is stated, that neither the first set of deeds, nor the second set of deeds, were entered in the records, or transmitted to the Court of Directors. In fact, there is so much of the appearance of improper design in these proceedings, that Mr. Burke scruples not to say, they “ give, by that complicated, artificial, and fraudulent management, as well as by his (Mr. Hastings) omitting to record that material document, strong reason to presume that be did even then meditate to make some evil use of the deeds which he thus withheld from the Company, and which he did afterwards in reality make, when he found means and opportunity to effect his evil purpose.” The design was, however, pro- bably, no worse than to leave himself a latitude of power with regard to the Raja. But the indefiniteness of the Sunnud very ill agreed with the solicitude expressed in Council by the Governor-General, in 1775, to ex- empt the Raja from dependence, and all chance of encroachment on his power. It is also necessary to state, that Mr. Hastings avers he had no concern in making out the Sunnuds, or omitting to record them ; that these practical operations belonged to the Secretary of the Board, under the superintendence of the majority, of which at this time he was not a part ; and that if there was any misconduct, that majority are to answer for it. See his Defence on the Third Charge.
1 The argument in the text and that in the note, repeated after Burke, rests upon either an erroneous or a wilful confounding of very different things. There are no such words in the grant as are here asserted. The grant
INSUFFICIENCY OF THE DEFENCE OF HASTINGS.
381
We must also be allowed to examine the rights which the custom of India gave to the Prince who received, over the Prince who afforded, the tribute. Far were they, indeed, from being of such a nature, as Mr. Hastings, for the benefit of his own excul- pation, affirmed. By whose construction ? By the habitual construction, by the public acts, of Mr. Hastings himself. The East India Company were the dependants of the Emperor Shah Aulum, and paid him a tribute. Did the East India Company hold themselves bound to obey every demand which the Emperor might choose to make upon them for assistance in his wars % Did they not treat him as a person to whose commands, or most urgent suppli- cations, not the smallest attention was necessary ? Did they not even treat him as a person toward whom they had no occasion to fulfil even the most solemn engagements *? Did they not, as soon as they pleased, refuse to pay him even his tribute for
book v.
CHAP. 7.
1781.
contains no clause excluding, by express declaration, all demands beyond the specified sum ; there is but one grant, one Sunnud, that -which was duly executed by the government, and accepted by Cheit Sing. Where then are the conditions to be found which the adversaries of Hastings choose to consider as conceded ? Either in a Sunnud, granted by the Vizir in 1773, or in the resolutions of the Council. The former is declared to be cancelled by the Sunnud of 1776 ; the latter were not final, and the public would have known nothing of them had they not been dragged into obser- vation ; and the worst that can be said of them is, that they were incon- sistent with the measure finally adopted. They afforded to Cheit Sing no ground of complaint. They had not been communicated to him to raise hopes which were disappointed. He knew of nothing but the terms to which he acceded — for him there were no others, and none could therefore have been violated. Hastings may be blamed for evading opposition, by acquiescing in purposed stipulations which he did not carry into effect, but it is not true that any breach of compact was committed. The Sunnud, the only authority that can be appealed to, remits no duties, relinquishes no rights, and annihilates no obligations. — W.
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
^H?rV Par^ dominions which they continued
to hold in his name *? Did not their ally, the Nabob
1/81' of Oude, in like manner depend upon the Emperor, and owe him tribute, which he never paid4? Was he not even his Vizir; in other words, his chief minister and servant, and therefore hound by a double duty to obey, to aid, and to protect him*? Did he, on these accounts, perform towards him the smallest act of service, or obedience*? No one, than Mr. Hastings, better knew, that in India the obligation of the person who pays tribute to the person who receives it is deemed so very slight, as scarcely to be felt or regarded; and no man was more ready to act upon that principle, when it suited his purposes, than Mr. Hastings. The law of the strongest, indeed, was in perfect force ; and whenever any party had the power to enforce obedience, it had no limit hut that of his will.1
The relation in which the Company stood to the Raja, the one as sovereign, the other as subject, Mr. Hastings represented as conferring “ an inherent right to impose such assessments as the Company
1 This argument is a complete vindication of Hastings’s proceedings. No doubt the subordinate authorities of the Mohammedan kingdom of Delhi, in its declining condition, were well enough disposed to withhold from the state its just dues, whenever they thought themselves strong enough to do so with impunity ; but what does the admission of this fact amount to ? — Not to a justification of the subordinate, but the condemnation of the principal ; to evidence of extreme impolicy or helpless weakness, which relaxed irrecoverably the reins of authority, and prostrated the sovereign at the feet of his subjects. Was it for the Governor of Bengal to imitate the imbecility and folly of the Mogul, and allow refractory or rebellious dependants to grow into disproportionate and dangerous im- portance ? What consequences could have been expected from such a policy, but those of which the empire of Delhi furnished so striking an illustration — the utter subversion of the state ? — W.
INSUFFICIENCY OF THE DEFENCE OF HASTINGS.
383
thought expedient.” But, in that case, the compact book v
into which the Company entered with the Raja,1
that on no pretence whatsoever should any demand 1781 • whatsoever be made upon him, beyond the amount of his tribute, were a form of words totally destitute of meaning, or rather a solemn mockery, by which the Company gave security and assurance to the mind of the Raja, that they would take from him nothing beyond his tribute, excepting just as much, and just as often, as they pleased.2
Mr. Hastings, in his own justification, and after the time when his conduct had produced the most alarming events, alleged the previous existence of designs, and even preparations, on the part of the Raja, traitorous and hostile to the Company. For the evidence of these designs, Mr. Hastings presents his own naked assertion. But to that, in such cir- cumstances, little value is to be attached. The assertion was also contradicted ; and by the man who best knew on what grounds it was made ; by Mr. Hastings himself. It was contradicted, by his own actions, a better testimony than his words. So far from repairing to the capital of the Raja, as to a
1 There was no such compact. — W.
* Mr. Francis at the time remarked; “ I did, from the first, express a doubt, whether we had strictly a right to increase our demands upon the Raja beyond the terms which we originally agreed to give him ; which he consented to ; and which, as I have constantly understood it, were made the fundamental tenure by which he held his Zemindary. If such demands can be increased upon him at the discretion of the superior power, he has no rights ; he has no property ; or at least he has no security for either. Instead of five lacs, let us demand fifty ; whether he refuses, or is unable to pay the money, the forfeiture of his Zemindary may be the immediate consequence of it, unless he can find means to redeem himself by a new treaty.” Minute in Council, 28th September, 1778; Second Report, ut supra, p. 30.
384
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 7.
1781.
place where any danger was to be apprehended, he repaired to it as a place where he might commit the greatest outrage upon its sovereign without the smallest dread of opposition or revenge.1
1 The affidavits, appended to Mr. Hastings’ Narrative, instead of prov- ing that any design of rebellion was on foot, prove the contrary ; by show- ing the total want of a foundation for the pretended suspicions. Much testimony was given in defence to this point on the trial. It amounted, however, to nothing but a statement of rumours, or of equivocal appear- ances, or of the opinions of witnesses who believed that which they wished. (See printed Minutes of Evidence on the Benares Charge, p. 1601 to 1616 and 1664 — 1788.) Lieutenant-Colonel Crabb, on the subject of the reports respecting the disaffection of the Raja — (after the treatment which he had received, the known existence of a cause for disaffection was very likely to be confounded with the supposed existence of disaffection itself) — was asked by the Select Committee (Second Report, Appendix, No. 11), — “ Whether there were any circumstances in the Company’s situation at that time to consider those reports probable? He said, Not that he knew of ; reports were circulated one half-hour, and contradicted the next ; and no one can trace the origin.” Among the alleged proofs, was given, a recent augmentation of his troops ; of cavalry, to the amount of 5000; (see the Evidence of Major Fairfax, Report, ut supra, Appendix, No. 15) ; yet all the horse in his service, when he was obliged to take the field, amounted only to about 2000; see Hastings’ Narrative, ut supra, Dd. The same sort of suspicions, and the same sort of reports, existed against the Nabob of Oude; and with more probability, and with more danger, because he had greater power. The Goveror-General himself says, “ I had received several intimations, imputing evil designs to the Nabob, and warning me to guard myself against them, and especially be careful that I did not expose myself to the effects of concealed treachery, by visiting him without a strong guard. Many circumstances favoured this suspicion. No sooner had the rebellion of this Zemindary (Benares) manifested itself, than its contagion instantly flew to Fyzabad — and the extensive territory lying on the north of the river Dewa, and known by the names of Goorucpoor and Bareech. In the city of Fyzabad, the mother and grandmother of the Nabob openly espoused the party of Cheyte Sing, encouraging and inviting people to enlist for his service, and their servants took up arms against the English. Two battalions of regular sepoys in the Vizir’s service, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hannay, who had been intrusted with the charge of that district, were attacked and surrounded in various places, many of them cut to pieces, and Colonel Hannay himself, encompassed by multitudes, narrowly escaped the same fate. The Nabob Vizir was charged with being privy to the intrigues which had produced and fomented those disturbances; and the little account that he seemed to make of them served to countenance the sus- picion.” (Narrative, ut supra, Cc.)
INSUFFICIENCY OF THE DEFENCE OF HASTINGS.
385
By Mr. Hastings the Raja was represented as v
having vast riches, which he ungratefully desired to
withhold from the Company in their greatest distress. 178L If the fact had corresponded with the assertion, it is not very allowable, for a mere debt of gratitude, to prosecute a man to his ruin. Of the riches of the Raja, however, we look in vain for the proof; and the fancy of those riches was, in all probability, no- thing more than a part of that vain imagination of the unbounded opulence of India, which the expe- rience of our countrymen might at a very early period have extinguished in their minds, hut which their cupidity has, in spite of their experience, kept alive, to hurry them into many of the weakest and most exceptionable of their acts. Of the Princes of India, there has not been one whom, after experience, they have not found to be poor ; scarcely has there been any whom, before experience, they have not believed to be rich.
Mr. Hastings endeavoured to strengthen his justi- fication by chicaning about the quality of the Raja, or his dignity and rank. Mr. Hastings denied that he was a sovereign prince : he was only a Zemindar.
Did this, however, change the nature of the compact, by which the Company had bound themselves to exact from this man, whether Prince or Zemindar, no more than his annual tribute *? W ould Mr. Hast- ings have asserted, that, being a Zemindar, the Com- pany had any better right to plunder him, than if he was a dependant Prince ? Had he been a subject, in the most unlimited sense of the word, would it have been any thing else than plunder, not to have taxed him along with the rest of his fellow-subjects, but to
VOL. iv. 2 c
386
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
ciiap.
1781.
_v have gone to him personally, and singly, and have — taken from him by compulsion, whatever it was the pleasure of the exactor to take? Would Mr. Hast- ings have undertaken to point out where the line of distinction between a Zemindar, and a dependent Prince, was to be found? Was not every Zemindar that had a large extent of territory and power, a dependant Prince ; and was not every Prince of a small extent of territory and power, a mere Zemindar? What could constitute any man a sovereign Prince, if all the powers of government secured, without participation, to him and his heirs for ever, over a country surpassing the extent of considerable king- doms, did not constitute the Raja of Benares a Prince ? But the father of the Raja, Bulwunt Sing, said Mr. Hastings, rose from the condition of a petty Zemindar. What had this to do with the question ? Did any one, better than Mr. Hastings, know, that those who acquired the station of dependant Princes in India almost uniformly ascended from the lowest origin? Did the birth of Aliverdi Khan prevent him from being the Subahdar of Bengal, and leaving his heir in the state of a tributary Prince?1
1 What was the condition of the Zemindars of the province of Benares, whose obedience as subjects was due to Cheyte Sing ? The fact is, that nothing was so indefinite as the title of Zemindar. Mr. Hastings himself says, “ The expulsion of Cheyte Sing was indisputably a revolution. I have always called it so.” A revolution, consisting in the mere change of a land-renter, rcmoveable at pleasure ! It is curious to contrast the words of Mr. Hastings’s own agent, Major Scott, who had occasion to exalt the situation of the Raja : “ Mr. Fowke, as Resident at Benares, appears to him, and certainly is, as an ambassador at a foreign though dependent court. From that Raja, the company receive 300,000/. sterling a-year. Benares is a seat of politics ; vackeels, or ambassadors, from every' power in India reside constantly there.” Evidence of Major Scott, in the Fifth Report (p. 7) of the Select Committee, 1781. Yet no small portion of the
INSUFFICIENCY OF THE DEFENCE OF HASTINGS.
387
Another of the allegations, upon which the defence book v
was attempted of the demands which Mr. Hastings
made upon the Raja and of the arrest of him for 1781 • evasions of payment, was ; that the police of the Raja’s dominions was very defective. It would have been difficult for his accuser to show in what part of India it was good. Three instances are adduced, on the complaint of Major Eaton, the English officer com- manding at Buxar, in which the people of the coun- try had behaved without respect to the English authority, and in one instance with violence to English sepoys, and even English officers. Upon this, re- monstrance had been made to the Raja, and, though it is not alledged that he abetted his officers or people, yet he had not made redress, to the satisfaction of the offended party. On the 14th of December, 1780, the Supreme Council wrote, commanding the Raja to make inquiry into one of the cases : which, as there is no complaint to the contrary, except that an answer had not been received on the 17th of next month, it would appear that he did. And just seven months after the date of this letter Mr. Hastings set out on the journey to inflict that punishment on the Raja which led to his ruin.1
Another extraordinary declaration of Mr. Hastings remains to be considered. “ I will suppose,” says he, “ for a moment, that I have erred, that I have acted with an unwarranted rigour towards Cheyte Sing, and even with injustice : Let my motive be consulted.” Then follows the account of this motive,
evidence adduced for the defence on Mr. Hastings’s trial went to prove that the Raja was a mere Zemindar. Vide Minutes of Evidence, ut supra.
— M. See preceding note, p. 301. — W.
1 Vide Minutes of Evidence on the Trial, p. 1 GUI .
2 c 2
388
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V chap. 7.
1781.
• in the following words : “ I left Calcutta, impressed . with the belief, that extraordinary means, and those exerted with a strong hand, were necessary to pre- serve the Company’s interests from sinking under the accumulated weight which oppressed them. I saw a political necessity for curbing the overgrown power of a great member of their dominion, and to make it contribute to the relief of their pressing exigencies. If I erred, my error was prompted by an excess of zeal for their interests, operating with too strong a bias on my judgment.”1 Here some portion of the truth comes forth. The Company were in want of money. The Raja was supposed to possess it. And since he would not give what was demanded willingly, the resolution was formed to take it from him by force. The pretence, however, that his power was overgrown, that is, from its magnitude an object of danger was utterly groundless. In what respect had that power increased, during the short period of five years, from the time when Mr. Hastings and his col- leagues confirmed and established his power, and when Mr. Hastings was so far from dreading it, that he wished to make it still more independent than it was really made 2 By a small body of troops hastily collected together, and wretchedly provided both with provisions and pay, the whole pow er of the Raja was in a few days, and wfith little bloodshed, completely subdued. And the military officers declared, that, even if the country had deliberately rebelled, a single brigade of the Company’s army would have sufficed for its reduction.2
1 Governor-General’s Narrative, ut supra, O, No. 1.
2 See the evidence of Lieutenant-Colouel Crabb, Second Report, ut
INSUFFICIENCY OF THE DEFENCE OF HASTINGS.
389
Nor was the Governor-General so perfectly disin- Bc^^7v'
terested, as he was desirous to make it appear. The —
whole power and emoluments of his office, over which 17SL he watched with so much jealousy and desire, were the powerful interests by which he was stimulated.
He knew, under the sentiments which prevailed at home, by what a slender and precarious tenure he enjoyed his place. He knew well that success or adversity would determine the question. He knew that with those whom he served, plenty of money 2 was success, want of that useful article, adversity.
He found himself in extreme want of it. The trea- sure to which he looked was the fancied treasure of the Raja ; and he was determined to make it his own. If under such circumstances as these, a zeal for the government which he served could sanctify his
supra, Appendix, No. 11. Observe the words of Mr. Hastings himself : “The treachery of Raja Cheyte Sing has compelled me to retreat to this place, where I wait to reduce this Zemindary ; a work I trust of no great
difficulty or time Troops are assembling daily, to which he can
afford no opposition.” Governor-General’s Letter to Colonel Muir, dated Chunargur, 29th August, 1781, ut supra, No. 4. Evidence was adduced on the trial, however, to prove this point with the rest. V ide Minutes, ut supra, on the Benares charge.
5 It is not candid to ascribe the motives of the Governor to a wish to conciliate support at home by the possession of money. He knew that the very existence of the British authority in India was at stake — Hyder triumphant in the Carnatic; war with the French and Dutch; the Mahrattas formidable in the Concan; Madras and Bombay destitute of resources, and depending wholly upon Bengal for means of keeping an army on foot. Bengal labouring under financial difficulties, and all the Governor-General’s views obstructed by a factious opposition ; it was not a time to reject legitimate means of saving the empire, because they were informal, or because they were harsh. Whether more candour and leniency would have effected the same objects may be matter of doubt, but the object was of a magnitude amply sufficient to justify the means by which it was accomplished. — W.
390
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
B^K _v- actions, then may Jefferies be regarded as a virtuous
On the very evening of the first day after the arrival of the Governor-General in the capital of the Raja, he gave his commands to Mr. Markham, the Resident ; who proceeded the next morning, with a few of his orderlies, to the palace of the Raja ; and he thus reported to his employer the result of his mission. “ The Raja submitted quietly to the arrest ; and assured me, that whatever were your orders, he was ready implicitly to obey : he hoped that you would
1 Mr. Hastings represented his animosity as inflamed by the danger, t«? which the detachment of Colonel Camac in Sindia’s country was exposed. The money expected from the Raja was, according to the statement of Mr. Hastings, destined to that service. But in the first place, Mr. Hastings was inexcusable, if he left the subsistence of an army, in a dangerous situation, to depend upon a supply which he knew to be precarious. Besides, it is, by the Select Committee, in their Second Report, shown, from a comparison of the dates, that the distress of the army was not an effect of delay in the payments of the Raja. And it is still further shown by that Committee in their Eleventh Report, that the present of two lacs of rupees (23,0001. sterling), which the Governor-General took from the Raja, he actually proposed to the Council on the 26th of June, 1780, to employ, (not representing it as money not his own) in supporting the detach- ment under Camac. The following are a few of the words of the Com- mittee. “ If the cause of Colonel Camac’s failure had been true, as to the sum which was the object of the public demand, the failure could not be attributed to the Raja, when he had on the instant privately furnished at least 23,0001. to Mr. Hastings; that is, furnished the identical money which he tells us (but carefully concealing the name of the giver) he had from the beginning destined, as he afterwards publicly offered, for this very expedition of Colonel Camac’s. The complication of fraud and cruelly in this transaction admits of few parallels. Mr. Hastings, at the Council Board of Bengal, displays himself as a zealous servant of the Company, bountifully giving from his own fortune ; and in his letter to the Directors (as he says himself), as going out of the ordinary roads for their advantage ; and all this on the credit of supplies, derived from the gift of a man, whom he treats with the utmost severity, and whom he accuses, in this particular, of disaffection to the Company’s cause and interests.” Ibid. p. 7.
THE ARREST OF THE RAJA RAISES A TUMULT.
391
allow him a subsistence : But as for his Zemindary, book v.
his forts, and his treasure, he was ready to lay them
at your feet, and his life if required : He expressed 178L himself much hurt at the ignominy which he affirmed must be the consequence of his confinement, and entreated me to return to you with the foregoing submission, hoping that you would make allowance for his youth and inexperience, and, in consideration of his father’s name, release him from his confine- ment, as soon as he should prove the sincerity of his offers, and himself deserving of your compassion and forgiveness.”
This conversation had only been a few minutes ended, when a guard of two companies of sepoys arrived ; the servants of the Raja were disarmed ; and he was left in charge of the officers. The sen- sation which this event produced in the minds of the people was immediately seen. The government of the Raja, and of his father Bui want Sing, had for many years afforded the people an uncommon portion of justice and protection ; and they had prospered under its beneficent care. Captain Harper, an officer of the Company, who had performed a great deal of service in that part of Hindustan, was asked in evi- dence by the Select Committee, ‘f How the provinces of Benares and Gazeepoor were cultivated, compared with those parts of Bahar which adjoin, and are only separated by the river Caramnassa*? He said, The provinces of Benares and Gazeepoor were more highly cultivated than any he ever passed through ; and far superior to the adjoining one of Bahar ; and that he attributed this comparative prosperity of those pro- vinces to the industry of the inhabitants, and to the
392
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK A
CHAP. 7
1781.
• secure and lenient government they lived under.” 1 - In consequence, the family of the Raja was naturally beloved ;2 and it sufficiently appears, from the affi- davits3 adduced by the Governor-General, that the English were by the natives, in those parts, in a pecu- liar manner detested. The confinement of their Prince was an act, which under the ignominious light in which imprisonment is regarded by the Indians, they viewed as an outrage of the most atrocious description. The passions of the people wrere inflamed ; and they flocked in crowds to the spot where their sovereign was confined. So little had any conception of resistance been entertained, that the two companies of sepoys, who were placed on guard, had come without ammunition. As the concourse of people increased, two additional com- panies, with a supply of ammunition, were ordered to their support. But before they arrived at the palace, all the avenues were blocked up, and a tumult arose which soon led to bloodshed, and at last to a furious engagement between the people and the troops. The unfortunate consequence was, that the sepoys and their officers were almost all des- troyed. On which side the acts of provocation and violence began, does not sufficiently appear.4 The
1 Report on the petition of Touchet, &c. p. 56. And the Governor- General himself, in Iris Minute in Council, 12th of June, 1775, declared that the Zemindary of the Raja consisted of “ as rich and well cultivated a territory as any district, perhaps, of the same extent in India.”
s There is no evidence to this effect and the fact is doubtful : it is cer- tain that no particular respect is felt by the people of Benares for their memory : the editor has frequently heard Cheit Sing and his father spoken of by natives as robbers and oppressors. — W.
3 Appended to his Narrative.
4 The Raja asserted, and Mr. Hastings has no where contradicted, that the provocation was given by the violence and insolence of the English and
THE RAJA ESCAPES.
393
1781.
Rajah, during this confusion, escaped by a wicket book v.
which opened to the river; and, letting himself
down the bank which was very steep, by turbans tied together, he escaped to the other side. The multitude immediately followed him across the river, and left the palace to be occupied by the English troops.
That this assemblage of the people, and the attack which they made upon the guard, was the fortuitous result of the indignation with which they were in- spired, by the indignity offered to their prince, and that it was in no degree owing to premeditation and contrivance, was amply proved by the events. The Raja knew that Mr Hastings was unattended by any military force ; and, if he had acted upon a pre- vious design, would not have lost a moment in secur- ing his person. The Governor-General himself de- clares ; " If Cheyte Sing’s people, after they had effected his rescue, had proceeded to my quarters, instead of crowding after him in a tumultuous manner, as they did, in his passage over the river, it is probable that my blood, and that of about thirty English gentlemen of my party, would have been added to the recent carnage : for they were about two thousand, furious and daring from the easy suc- cess of their last attempt : nor could I assemble more than fifty regular and armed sepoys for my whole defence.”1 Nothing was it possible to have said,
their agents. But his assertion, unless supported by circumstances, should not in such a case go far towards proof.— M. How little credit the Raja’s account deserves, is easily estimated. He asserts, in a letter to the Gover- nor-General, that the tumult began by the Sepoys firing on the people. “ The people of the Sirkar first fired balls from their guns, and discharged their muskets.” No one has ever disputed the fact that the Sepoys were first sent without ammunition. Narrative, App. 106. — W.
1 Narrative, ut supra.
394
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAP. 7
1781.
' more decisive of the character of a casual mob, led - by the mere contingency of the moment, without foresight, and without an end.
It was by no means worthy of a man of prudence and experience to have proceeded deliberately to a measure so likely to make a violent impression upon the minds of the people, without having made any provision whatsoever for preventing the unhappy effects which it tended to produce. Mr. Hastings at first, was able to assemble for his defence only six companies of Major Popham’s regiment, about sixty sepoys which he had brought with him from Ruxar as a guard to his boats, and a few recruits newly en- listed for the Resident’s guard; in all about four hundred and fifty men ; and without provisions even for a single day.
Ramnagur, was a fortified palace of the Raja, on the opposite side of the river, close to Benares. It was not expected that it could for any length of time resist the effect of artillery ; and the resolution was taken of reducing it with all possible dispatch. The remaining four companies of Major Popham’s regi- ment of sepoys, with one company of artillery, and the company of French rangers, lay at Mirzapoor; and were ordered to march to Ramnagur. Major Popliam was destined to assume the command, as soon as all the troops intended for the service had arrived. But the officer, who in the mean time com- manded the troops, was stimulated with an ambition of signalizing himself ; and, without waiting for the effects of a cannonade, marched to the attack of the palace through the narrow streets of the town by which it was surrounded. In this situation the
DANGER OF HASTINGS.
395
troops were exposed to a great variety of assaults, 7V
and after a fruitless opposition were compelled to ■
retreat. The commanding officer was killed ; aeon- 1/8L siderable loss was sustained ; and an unfavourable impression was made at the commencement of the struggle, which would have been a serious evil in a less trifling affair.
The Governor-General now regarded himself as placed in imminent danger. Letter upon letter was written to the commanding officers at all the military stations from which it was possible that timely assist- ance could be received. Few of these letters reached their destination ; for all the channels of communica- tion were interrupted; and so greatly were the people of the country animated against the English, that it was extremely difficult for any agent of theirs to pass without discovery and prevention. The con- tagion of revolt and hostility flew with unusual rapidity and strength. Not only did the whole of the district which owed the sway of the Raja fly to arms, the very fields being deserted of the husband- men, wdio voluntarily flocked to his standards and multiplied his ranks : but one half of the province of Oude is by the Governor-General affirmed to have been in a state of as complete rebellion as Benares.
Even the British dominions themselves afforded cause of alarm ; many of the Zemindars of Bahar had ex- hibited symptoms of disaffection : and the Governor- General received reports of actual levies, in that pro- vince, for the service of Cheyte Sing, The danger was exceedingly augmented from another source.
The Governor-General was entirely destitute of money ; and affirms, that the whole extent of both
396
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. hjs treasure and his credit exceeded not three thou-
chap. 7.
. sand rupees ; while the troops were all four months,
1781- and some of them five months, in arrear.1
He was alarmed with the prospect of an attack from Ramnagur, which report described as about to take place in the night. His situation at Benares was regarded, by himself, and by his military officers, as not defensible ; and he resolved to make his es- cape to the strong fortress of Chunar. He secretly quitted the city, after it became dark, leaving the wounded sepoys behind ; and arrived in safety at the place of his retreat.
Though the letters of the Governor-General reached not Colonel Morgan who commanded at Cawnpore, yet some intelligence travelled to him of the disorder which had arisen ; and with promptitude and decision he ordered the principal part of the force which he commanded to march. The requisi- tion both for money and for troops, which had been dispatched to Lucknow, was happily received : and was promptly obeyed. About the middle of Sep- tember, one lack and a half of rupees had been received, and a force was now collected deemed sufficient for the accomplishment of the enterprise.
The Raja had endeavoured to make his peace from the moment of his escape. He had written letters, in which he declared his sorrow for the attack which had been made upon the soldiers of the guard, and for the blood which had been spilt ; protested his own innocence with regard to the effects which had taken place, and which he affirmed to have arisen
1 Sec his letter to Mr. Whelcr, Appendix to his Narrative, No. 127.
BEHAVIOUR OF THE RAJA.
397
solely from the casual violence of the multitude, in- book v
flamed by the insolence of an English agent ; and
professed his readiness to submit with implicit obedi- 1/81 ence to whatever conditions the Governor-General might think fit to impose. Not contented with re- peating his letters, he made application through every person on whose influence with the English ruler he thought he might depend ; through one of the gentlemen of his party ; through Cantoo Baboo, his confidential secretary ; and through Hyder Beg Khan, one of the ministers of the Nabob Vizir. All his applications Mr. Hastings treated as unsatisfac- tory and insincere ; and deigned not to make to them so much as a reply. The Rajah collected his forces, and appealed by a manifesto to the princes of Hin- dustan. He was reported, truly or falsely, to be also venting the most extravagant boasts of the ruin which he meant to bring down upon the English ; though he totally abstained from all operations not purely defensive, and in his letters to the Governor- General appealed to his forbearance, as a proof of his desire to retain his obedience. In the mean time he sustained several partial attacks. On the 29th of August a considerable body of his troops, who occupied a post at Seeker, a small fort and town within sight of Chunar, were defeated, and a season- able booty in grain was procured. On the 3d of September a detachment was formed to surprise the camp at Pateeta, about seven miles distant from Chunar. But the enemy were on their guard, and received the party in good order, at the distance of a mile beyond their camp. They fought with a steadiness and ardour which disconcerted the sepoys
398
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHA1’.
1781.
} ■ ami were beginning to produce disorder, when an — attack, made with great gallantry upon their guns, by the two companies of grenadiers, induced them to leave the field with four of their cannon to the victors.
Pateeta was a large town surrounded by a ram- part of earth, which extended a considerable way beyond the town, to the adjoining hills. It had also a small square fort, built of stone, fortified with four round towers, a high rampart, and a great ditch. The principal force of the enemy was collected at this place, and at Lutteefpoor, a large stone fort sur- rounded with hills and a wood, at the distance of about fourteen miles from Chunar. The strength of both consisted mostly in the difficulty with which they were approached. According to the plan of opera- tions, which the English had arranged, Ramnagur was first to be assailed, both as it was the place where their arms had met with a disgrace, and because reduction of it would restore possession of the capital, and redeem their credit with the public. Several days were spent, in conveying battering cannon and mortars, with other preparations for a siege, to the camp of Major Popham, which was placed before the town. In the mean time one of the natives represented that it would be extremely dangerous to allow time to the enemy to strengthen themselves at Pateeta and Lutteefpoor; that the approaches to both were strongly guarded ; and that those to Lutteefpoor, in particular, could not be forced but with a serious loss ; that even if Lutteef- poor were reduced the object would not be attained, because the enemy could immediately gain the pass
OPERATIONS OF THE ENGLISH.
399
of Sukroot, which was behind, and. there maintain BC°(^7V
themselves against any force which could assail them:
He, therefore, recommended an attempt to gain pos- 1/b1' session of the pass by surprise, to which he under- took to conduct a part of the army by an unknown road ; and. the more to distract the enemy, he advised that an attack should at one and the same time be conducted against Pateeta. His representation was favourably received; Major Popham, with the quick discernment and decision, on which so much of mili- tary success depends, immediately acknowledging the excellence of the plan. The army was divided into two parts, of wdiich that which was destined for Sukroot began their march, under command of Major Crabb, about an hour before midnight, on the 15th of the month; and that for Pateeta, con- ducted by the commanding officer, Major Popham, about three o’clock on the following morning.
He found the works of Pateeta strong, and the approach more hazardous than he had anticipated.
He had marched without his battering cannon or mortars. They were sent for, but made little im- pression. Apprehensive lest further delay should frustrate the attempt at Sukroot, he resolved to make an assault on the morning of the 20th. On that very morning the other division of the army, arrived, through ways nearly unpractically, at a village, about two miles from the pass. Major Roberts led the storming party at Pateeta, which hardly met with any resistance. After a slight stand at the outer intrenchment, the enemy tied through the fort, and the English soldiers followed without opposition. The pass at Sukroot was
400
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 7.
1781.
guarded by a body of men with three guns, who made a stout defence, but after a considerable loss fled through the pass, in which the English en- camped for the remainder of the day. The intelli- gence of the loss of Pateeta, and of the pass, was carried, at nearly the same time, to Lutteefpoor, to the Raja. He now, it is probable, began to despair. About four o’clock on the same day he fled from Lutteefpoor, and proceeded with a few followers to the fort of Bidgegur, wThich was his last resource. His army disbanded themselves ; and “in a few hours, the allegiance of the country,” says the Governor-General, “ was restored as completely, from a state of universal revolt, to its proper channel, as if it had never departed from it.”
The Governor-General made haste to return to Benares, where the formation of a new government solicited his attention. To quiet the minds of the people, a proclamation was issued, offering pardon to all, with the exception of Cheyte Sing and his brother. A grandson of the Raja Bulwant Sing, by a daughter, was selected as the future Raja : and as his years, nineteen, or his capacity, appeared to dis- qualify him for the duties, his father, under the title of Naib, was appointed to perform them in his name. Two important changes, however, were produced in the condition of the Rajah. His annual tribute was raised to forty lacs of rupees ; and the police, with the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the city of Be- nares, and the criminal jurisdiction of the whole country, was taken out of his hands. It was alleged that they had been wretchedly administered under
ARRANGEMENTS FOR GOVERNING BENARES.
401
his predecessor : and it was either not expected, or not desired, that he should he the author of an im- provement. A separate establishment was erected for each, and the whole was placed under the super- intendence of a native officer, who was denominated the Chief Magistrate of Benares, and made respon- sible to the Governor-General and Council. The power of the mint was also withdrawn from the Raja, and intrusted to the resident at his court.
After possession was taken of Lutteefpoor, the army lost no time in marching to Bijygur. The Raja did not wait for their arrival, but fled for protection to one of the Rajas of Bundelcund, fC leaving,” says Mr. Hastings, “ his wife, a woman of an amiable character, his mother, all the other women of his family, and the survivors of the family of his father Bulwant Sing, in the fort.” Mr. Hastings cuts very short his narrative of the transactions at Bijygur, and only remarks, that it yielded by capi- tulation on the 9th of November. These transactions were not omitted by him, because they were devoid of importance. The Ranee, that is, the widow of the deceased Raja, Bulwant Sing, endeavoured, before she opened the gates of the fort, which had been her own peculiar residence, to stipulate for some advantages, and among them for the safety of her own pecuniary and other effects ; representing her son, as having carried along with him whatever belonged to himself.1 Mr. Hastings manifested a
book v
CHAP. 7
1761.
1 The allegation, though it was possible that it might not be true, was at any rate highly probable. What he took away, Mr. Hastings de- scribes in the following pompous terms; “As much treasure as his elephants and camels could carry, which is reported to me to have con- VOL. IV. 2 D
402
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781.
7V' desire to have her despoiled. What is more remark- — able, in his letters to the commanding officer, he employed expressions which implied that the plunder of those women was the due reward of the soldiers ; expressions which suggested one of the most dread- ful outrages, to which in the conception of the coun- try, a human being could be exposed. The very words of the letter ought to be produced, that no inference may be drawm from it beyond what they evidently support. “ I am this instant favoured with yours of yesterday. Mine of the same date has
sisted of one lac of mohrs, and fifteen or sixteen of silver, besides jewels to an unknown amount.” There could be no reason for his leaving be- hind any part of what belonged to him. “ If he took as much as his elephants and camels could carry;” and if it amounted only to what the Governor-General is pleased to represent, the Raja must have been badly provided with beasts of burden. As the value of his jewels was “ unknown,” that is to say, no estimate was put upon them by rumour, it was probably known to be small ; since rumour seldom fails to give a name to the amount of any portion of wealth, which, from its magnitude, it is led to admire. Besides, it has never been found, when the exag- gerations of the fancy were suppressed, by the real discovery of the facts ; that the value of the jewels of these eastern princes was very great. And, moreover, the Raja of Benares was but a petty Prince; according to Mr. Hastings, a mere middle-man, for collecting the Company’s rents ; no prince at all ; and, therefore, could have had no great superfluity of wealth to bestow upon jewels. Over and above all which, his family had en- joyed their state only for some years of his father’s life, and five or six of his own. But any great accumulation of jewels in any family was seldom the purchase of a few years, but the collection of several generations. And still further, it is to be considered, that neither the Raja nor his father had ever enjoyed the whole of their revenues ; but had always paid a large tribute, either to the Nabob of Oude, or to the English; and were subject moreover to the drain, both of wars and of exactions. It ought likewise to be taken into the account, that they had contented themselves with moderate imposts upon the people, who were rich ; that is, had never been oppressed by rents severely screwed up. It is further evident, that if the Raja had carried much wealth away with him, it must have some- where afterwards appeared. — M.
That some was taken away is certain. From 250,000/. to 300,000/. was found in the fort. This is enough to invalidate the Raja’s pleas of poverty when called upon for a contribution of 50,000/. — W.
OUTRAGES UPON THE PERSONS OF THE PRINCESSES. 403
before this time acquainted vou with my resolutions B00K v-
. J J % CHAP. 7.
and sentiments respecting the Ranee. I think
every demand she has made to you, except that of 178L safety and respect for her person, is unreasonable.
If the reports brought to me are true ; your rejecting her offers, or any negotiation with her, would soon obtain your possession of the fort, upon your own terms. I apprehend that she will contrive to defraud the captors of a considerable part of the booty, by being suffered to retire without examination. But this is your consideration, and not mine. I should be very sorry that your officers and soldiers lost any part of the reward to which they are so well entitled ; but I cannot make any objection, as you must be the best judge of the expediency of the pro- mised indulgence to the Ranee. What you have engaged for, I will certainly ratify ; but as to per- mitting the Ranee to hold the pergunnah of Hur- lak, or any other, without being subject to the au- thority of the Zemindar, or any lands whatever, or indeed making any condition with her for a provision I will never consent to it.”1 2 It was finally arranged than the Ranee should give up the fort, with all the treasure and effects contained in it, on the express condition, along with terms of safety, that the per- sons of herself and the other females of her family should be safe from the dishonour of search. The
1 It is remarkable, that of the inferences which are drawn from this letter, by Mr. Burke, in his Third Article of charge, no notice whatsoever is taken by Mr. Hastings, in his Answer to that Charge, or indeed of any thing relative to the surrender of Bijygur, and the fate of the prize-money.
— M. It did not deserve a reply. Any examination which could have been intended, was of course of a public nature only, applying to the bag- gage and effects of the Ranee, not to her person. — W.
2 D 2
404
BISTORT OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1
CHAP. 7
1781.
• idea, however, which was suggested in the letter of - Mr. Hastings, “ that she would contrive to defraud the captors of a considerable part of the booty, by being suffered to retire without examination,” dif- fused itself but too perfectly among the soldiery ; and when the Princesses, with their relatives and attendants, to the number of three hundred women, besides children, withdrew from the castle, the ca- pitulation was shamefully violated ; they were plun- dered of their effects ; and their persons otherwise rudely and disgracefully treated by the licentious peo- ple and followers of the camp.1 One is delighted for the honour of distinguished gallantry, that in no part of this opprobrious business the commanding officer had any share. He leaned to generosity, and the protection of the Princesses, from the beginning. His utmost endeavours were exerted to restrain the outrages of the camp ; and he represented them with feeling to Mr. Hastings, who expressed his “great concern hoped the offenders would be discovered, obliged to make restitution and punished ; and direct- ed that recompense should be made to the sufferer, “ by a scrupulous attention to enforce the perform- ance of the remaining stipulations in her favour.”2
1 The authority referred to, sanctions no such exaggerated statement as that of the text. Hastings -writes, “ It gives me great concern that the licentiousness of any persons under your command should have given cause to complain of the infringement of the smallest article of the capitu- lation in favour of the mother of Cheyte Sing and her dependants.” No other authority for the disgraceful treatment of the princesses by the li- centious followers of the camp has been found. That they or rather their attendants were subjected to personal search, is possible, and this may have been the subject of complaint — the searchers were females. “ Re- solved:— that ten gold mohurs be given to each of the four female searchers.” Proceedings of a Committee of Officers, Tenth Report, 532. — W.
* See his Letter, Tenth Report, Select Committee, Appendix, No. 3.
DISPUTE CONCERNING THE PRIZE-MONEY.
405
The whole of the treasure found in the castle, of B00K v-
1 CHAP. 7
which the greater part did probably belong to the
Ranee, and not to the Raja, amounted to 23,27,813 1781 ■
current rupees. The whole therefore, of the trea- sure which the exiled Prince appears to have had in hand, not only to defray the current expenses of his government, but also to advance regularly the Com- pany’s tribute, was so far from answering to the hyberbolical conceptions or representations of the Governor-General, that it exceeded not the provision which a prudent Prince would have thought it always necessary to possess.
The army proceeded upon the obvious import of the words of the Governor-General in the letter, in which he seemed to desire, that they should not allow the female relations of the Raja to leave the fort, without the examination of their persons. They concluded, that the whole of the booty was “ the reward to which they were so well entitled,” and divided it among themselves.1 Among the practical conclusions deducible from his letter, it appears that this, at least, the Governor-General did not wish to receive its effect. He endeavoured to retract the permission which the army had inferred; and, by explaining away the terms which he had used, to recover the spoil for the exigencies of his government.
The soldiers, however, both officers and men, refused to surrender what they had, upon the faith of the
1 In a letter to tlie commanding officer, without date, but supposed by the Select Committee to have been written early in November (vide Tenth Report, App. No. 3.) the Governor-General’s words were still more precise, with regard to the booty. “ If she (the Begum) complies, as I expect she will, it will be your part to secure the fort, and the property it contains, for the benefit of yourself and detachment.”
406
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1
CHAP. 7
1781.
•Governor-General, appropriated. Failing in this . attempt, he endeavoured to prevail upon the army, in the way of loan, to aid the Company with the money, in its urgent distress. Even to this solicitation they remained obdurate. When Major Fairfax, in his examination before the Select Committee of the House of Commons, was asked, “ whether the officers assigned any reason for refusing to obey the requisi- tion of Mr. Hasting'? he said, he heard it was, because the Rohilla prize-money had never been paid.”1 Mr. Hastings was, therefore, not only frustrated as to every portion of that pecuniary relief which he expected from the supposed trea- sures of the Raja Cheyte Sing; he added to the burden, under which the Company was ready to sink, the expense which was incurred by subduing the revolt.
It is but justice to the Court of Directors to record the resolutions, in which they expressed their opinion of the conduct, pursued by their principal servant in India, towards the unfortunate Raja of Benares :
“ That it appears to this Court, that on the death of Suja-ad-dowla, 1775, a treaty was made with his successor, by which the zemindary of Benares, with
1 Second Report, ut supra, Appendix, No. 15. “ Being asked, whether
this was the sole reason ? he said, it was. Being asked, whether he did not hear it alleged ; that a promise was claimed by the officers from Mr. Hastings, that the prize-money, in the Rohilla war, when taken, should be the property of the captors ? he said ; He never heard of a promise previous to the capture; but he has heard that Mr. Hastings, after the prize-money was divided, promised, that if they would deliver it up, government would distribute it, in the manner they should think most proper.”
DECISION OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS.
407
its dependencies, was ceded in perpetuity to the East book 7V- India Company :
“That it appears to this Court, that Raja Cheyte 178L Sing was confirmed by the Governor-General and Council of Bengal, in the management of the said zemindary (subject to the sovereignty of the Com- pany) on his paying a certain tribute, which was settled at sicca rupees 22,66,180; and that the Bengal government pledged itself that the free and uncontrolled possession of the zemindary of Benares, and its dependencies, should be confirmed and guaranteed to the Raja and his heirs for ever, subject to such tribute, and that no other demand should be made upon him, nor any kind of authority or jurisdiction exercised within the dominions as- signed him, so long as he adhered to the terms of his engagements :
“ That it appears to this Court, that the Governor-General and Council did, on the 5th of July, 1775, recommend to Raja Cheyte Sing, to keep up a body of 2000 horse ; hut at the same time declared there should he no obligation upon him to do it :
“ That it appears to this Court, that Raja Cheyte Sing peformed his engagements with the Company, in the regular payment of his tribute of sicca rupees 22,66,180 :
“ That it appears to this Court, that the conduct of the Governor-General towards the Raja, while he was at Benares, was improper ; and that the impri- sonment of his person, thereby disgracing him in the eyes of his subjects, and others, was unwarrantable, and highly impolitic, and may tend to weaken the
408
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1 CHAP. 7
1781.
• confidence which the native princes of India ought - to have in the justice and moderation of the Com- pany’s government.”
That the conception, thus expressed by the Court of Directors, of the several facts which constituted the great circumstances of the case, was correct, the considerations adduced in the preceding pages appear to place beyond the reach of dispute. The sensibility which, in his answer, Mr. Hastings shows to the inferences which they present, is expressed in the following words : “ I must crave leave to say, that the terms, improper, unwarrantable, and highly im- politic are much too gentle, as deductions from such premises.” History, if concealment were not one of the acts by which truth is betrayed, would, out of tenderness to Mr. Hastings, suppress the material part of that which follows, and which he gave in his defence :
“ I deny, that the Bengal government pledged itself, that the free and uncontrolled possession of the zemindary of Benares, and its dependencies, should be confirmed and guaranteed to the Raja and his heirs for ever :
“ I deny, that the Bengal government pledged itself that no other demand should be made upon him, nor any kind of authority or jurisdiction, within the dominions assigned him, so long as he adhered to the terms of his engagement :
“ I deny, that I ever required him to keep up a body of 2000 horse, contrary to the declaration made to him by the Governor-General and Council, on the 5th of July, 1775, that there should be no obligation to him to do it :
UNFOUNDED ALLEGATIONS OF MR. HASTINGS.
409
“ My demand (that is, the demand of the Board) b°ok 7V
was not that he should maintain any specific number
of horse, hut that the number which he did maintain 178L should be employed for the defence of the general state :
“ I deny, that Raja Cheyte Sing was bound by no other engagements to the Company, than for the payment of his tribute of sicca rupees 22,66,180 :
“ He was bound by the engagements of fealty and absolute obedience to every order of the govern- ment which he served
“ I deny, that the Raja Cheyte Sing was a native Prince of India.”1
1 On equal grounds might the denial have been set up, that the Com- pany held the dignity of a prince of India. They were not only the sub- jects of Shah Aulum, but the subjects of the Nabob of Bengal; and according to the doctrine of Mr. Hastings, “ bound by the engagements of fealty, and absolute obedience to every order of the government which they served.” Hear what the Governor-General and Council themselves declare respecting their subordinate relation to that Nabob, in their secret letter (Second Report, ut supra, p. 22), 3d August, 1775. “ In the
treaties entered into with the late Vizir, in the years 1765, 1770, the Company’s representatives acted as plenipotentiaries from the Nabob Nujum ul Dowlah, and his successor Syef ul Dowlah.” Hastings’s plan of defence was this : To avail himself of the indefiniteness and uncer- tainty which surrounded every right, and every condition in India ; and out of that to manufacture to himself a right of unbounded despotism.
There is one remark, however, to which he is, in justice, entitled ; that this indefiniteness, and the latitude of authority, the exercise of which was, in the practice of the country, never bounded by any thing but power, constituted a snare into which it was very difficult not to fall. It is also to be remembered that it is one thing to act under the casual and imperfect information of the moment of action, agitated by the passions which the circumstances themselves produce ; and a very different thing to sit in judgment upon those acts, at a future period, when all the evi- dence is fully before us, illustrated by the events which followed, and when we are entirely free from the disturbance of the passions which the scenes themselves excite. It is the business of history, to exhibit actions as they really are ; but the candid and just will make all the allowance
410
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. ]y[r Hastings says, “ I forbear to detail the proofs
of these denials and as the pleas involved in them
178L coincide with those allegations of his which have been examined above, it is only necessary to refer to what has there been adduced.1 The Court of Directors, notwithstanding their condemnation of the treatment which the Raja had received, and notwithstanding the manner in which, by a train of unhappy circum- stances, the trial of arms was forced upon him, thought proper to declare, that his dethronement and proscription were justified by the war.2
for the actors, of which the case will admit. With regard to Mr. Hastings, it ought to be allowed, that the difficulties under which he acted were very great ; and might be expected to betray any but a very extraordinary man into expedients for relief which would not always bear examination. Mr. Hastings deserves no hypocritical tenderness with regard to the instances in which he violated the rules of justice or of policy ; but he deserves credit, in considerable, and perhaps a large degree, fbr having, in his situation, violated them so rarely. — M. The case which is here under review, was one in which there was no violation of justice or policy. Justice and policy both demanded the punishment of a disaffected dependant, and it was matter of urgent policy to draw forth all the resources of the state, when the state, as is universally admitted, was in imminent peril. Cheit Sing was quite able to afford the most im- portant services to his Government, and he withheld them. He deserved no lenity. For his expulsion he had to thank either his own treachery, or the indiscreet zeal of his followers. A few professions of regret for the past, and the proffer of a few lacks of rupees, would no doubt have pre- served his Zemindary and prevented an act of atrocity that left him without the slightest claim on the forbearance of the Government. It is possible that Hastings acted with unnecessary rigour in his first communications with the Raja at Benares, but this was an error of judgment not deserving of impeachment. — W.
1 Vide supra, p. 330 — 40.
5 The official documents relative to this passage of the history of India are found, in a most voluminous state, in those parts of the Minutes of evidence on Mr. Hastings’s Trial, which relate to the Benares Charge ; in the Second Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons, (1781) and its Appendix; in the Third of the Articles of Charge, and Answer to it, with the Papers called for by the House of Commons to elucidate that part of the accusation.
NEGOTIATION WITH THE POONAH GOVERNMENT. 411
It was shortly after his retreat to Chunar, thatB°°^7v-
the Governor-General received from Colonel Muir
the intelligence, that Mahdajee Sindia had offered 1/8L terms of peace. This was an event, calculated to afford him peculiar satisfaction. One of the osten- sible objects of his journey was, to confer with the Minister of the Raja of Berar, who was expected to meet him at Benares ; and, through the influence of the government of that country, to accelerate the conclusion of a peace. That Minister, however, died before the arrival of Hastings; and the loss of his intervention rendered the pacific intentions of Sindia more peculiarly gratifying. So far back as February,
1779, the Presidency of Bombay had recommended the mediation of Sindia, as that which alone was likely to render any service. The Colonel imme- diately received his instructions for a treaty, on the terms either of mutual alliance, or of neutrality; and either including the Peshwa, or with Sindia indi- vidually. If it included the Peshwa, the Colonel was authorized to cede every acquisition, made during the war, except the territory of Futteh Sing Guicowar,
Lahar, and the fortress of Gualior ; and to renounce (but without the surrender of his person) the support of Ragonaut Rao. He was instructed to retain Bassein, if it were possible, even with the surrender, in its stead, of all the territory (Salsette with its adjacent islands and the moiety of Baroach excepted,) ceded by the treaty of Colonel Upton; but not to allow Bassein itself to be any obstruction to the con- clusion of peace.
When the separate treaty was concluded with Sindia, who undertook to mediate with the Mali-
412
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAP. 7
1781.
• ratta powers, the Governor-General, who had not yet - departed from Benares, sent Mr. Anderson and Mr. Chapman ; the former to the court of Sindia, with full powers to negotiate and conclude a peace with the Poonah government ; the latter to the court of the Raja of Berar, to perform what was in his power towards the accomplishment of the same object.
The business was not very speedily, nor very easily concluded. The Poonah ministers, solicited for peace by the three English Presidencies at once,1 though they were somewhat shaken in their opposition, by the defection of Sindia from the war, by the steadiness with which the English sustained themselves against Hyder, by the facility with which they had subdued the Raja of Benares, and the vigour with which they carried the war almost to the gates of Poonah, were yet encouraged by the pressure which the English sustained, and still more, perhaps, by the eagerness which they manifested for peace.
Colonel Goddard, not yet informed of the steps which had been taken by Mr. Hastings for urging the business of peace with the Poonah ministers, deemed it necessary in pursuance of the powers for treating and concluding, with which he was invested, to commence a formal negotiation. And he gave the requisite commission to Mr. Watherstone, who arrived at Poonah on the 14th of January, 1782.
1 About the same time that the proposals for a peace were sent from Bombay and Bengal, a letter was addressed to the Peshwa, in the joint names of Lord Macartney, Sir Eyre Coote, Sir Edward Hughes, and Mr. Macplierson, through the Vakeel of Mohammed Ali, at Poona, expressing their wish for peace, the moderation of the Company, and the desire of the nation to conclude a firm and lasting treaty : a proceeding wholly unauthorized, contrary to the existing constitution of the Government of India, and only calculated to obstruct the negotiation. Duff, ii. 455. — W .
TREATY CONCLUDED WITH THE MAHRATTAS.
413
The cunning of the Poonah Ministers taught them bc(j°^7v'
the advantage of negotiation with two ambassadors,
acting under separate commissions ; who, by the 1781- desire of attaining the object for which they were sent, might he expected to bid against one another, and give to the Mahrattas the benefit of an auction in adjusting the terms of peace. They pretended there- fore, to be puzzled with two sets of powers : though they laboured to retain Col. Watherstone, after he was recalled.1 They put on the forms of distance; and stood upon elevated terms. Sindia, too, who meant to sell his services to the English very dear, was dis- pleased at the commission sent to solicit the inter- ference of the government of Berar. The extensive sacrifices, however, which the English consented to make, the unsteadfast basis on which the power of the leaders at Poonah was placed, and the exhausted state of the country, from the long continuance of its internal struggles, as well as the drain produced by the English war, triumphed over all difficulties ; a cessation of hostilities was effected early in March ; and a treaty was concluded on the 17th of May.
Not only the other territories which the English had acquired during the war, hut Bassein itself, the city also of Ahmedabad, and all the country in Guzerat which had been gained forFutty Sing, were given up ; and the two brothers, the Guicowars, were placed in the same situation, both with respect to one another, and with respect to the Peshwa, as they stood in previous to the war. Even of the
1 Their wish to retain this officer was however part of a policy not ap- preciated by the author : the ministers of the Peshwa would have willingly ooncluded a peace without Sindia’s mediation. Duff. ii. 456. — W.
414
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 7.
1781.
• territory, which had been confirmed to them by the - treaty of Colonel Upton, the English agreed to surrender their pretensions to a part (yielding annually three lacs of rupees), which had not yet come into their possession when the war was renewed. And all their rights in the city and terri- tory of Baroach, valued at 200,000?. a year, were resigned, by a separate agreement, to Sindia and his heirs for ever. To Sindia was also given up, by the liberty of seizing it, the territory, including the fort of Gualior, of the Rana of Gohud ; who had joined the English, but, as usual in India with the petty princes, who choose their side from the hope of protection on the one hand and the dread of plunder on the other, had been neither very able nor very willing, to lend great assistance. Having given offence by his defect of service, and created suspi- cions by his endeavours to effect a separate recon- ciliation with Sindia, he was, in adjusting the terms of the treaty with Sindia, left to his fate. The amity of Sindia was purchased, by still further sacrifices, which evince but little foresight. The project of Sindia for invading the territories of the Mogul Emperor, those of Nujuf Khan, and those of other chiefs in the province of Delhi and the adjoining regions, was known and avowed. And it was, intentionally, provided, that no obstruction, by the treaty with the English, should be offered to the execution of those designs.1
1 The letter of instructions of the Governor-General to Colonel Muir says, “We are under no engagements to protect the present dominions of the King, or those of Nudjiff Khan, and the Raja of Jaynagur; and if peace is settled betwixt Madajee Sindia and us, I do not desire that he
TREATY CONCLUDED WITH THE MAHRATTAS.
415
All that was stipulated in behalf of Ragouaut Rao 7V ■
was a period of four months, in which he might
choose a place for his residence. After that period 1/8L
the English agreed to afford him neither pecuniary nor any other support. The Peshwa engaged, on the dangerous condition of his residing within the dominions of Sindia, where he was promised security, to allow him a pension of 25,000 rupees per month.
An article was inserted respecting Hyder Ali, to which we have scarcely information to enable us to attach any definite ideas. The Mahrattas engaged, that within six months after the ratification of the treaty, he should be compelled to relinquish to the English, and their allies, all the places which he had taken from them during the war. But neither did the Mahrattas perform, nor did the English call upon them to perform, any one act toward the fulfilment of this condition. The English, on their part, engaged that they would never make war upon Hyder till he made war upon them; an engagement to which they as little expected that the Mahrattas would call upon them to adhere.1
should be restrained in carrying into execution any plans which he may have formed against them ; at the same time, I think it necessary to caution you against inserting any thing in the treaty, which may expressly mark either our knowledge of his views or concurrence in them. It will be sufficient for us (and Sindia ought to be satisfied with the latitude im- plied in it) if he is only restricted in the treaty from making encroachments on our own territory and those of our allies.” Second Report, ut supra,
App. No. 1. By the way, we may here remark, how enormous a difference exists, between the obligations of fealty which Mr. Hastings imposed upon himself (as representative of the Company) towards his undoubted Sovereign the Mogul ; and the obligations which, as supposed sovereign of Cheyte Sing, he exacted (on the same ground) from that unfortunate chief. Vide supra, p. 356.
1 In the twentieth article of charge, we have Mr. Burke’s view of the
416
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. The Mahrattas also agreed, and to this the imaei-
nations of the English attached a high importance,
178L that, with the exception of the ancient Portuguese
case. He says, that Mr. Hastings did wish to engage with the Mah- rattas in a plan for the conquest and partition of Mysore ; that in order to carry this point, he exposed the negotiation to many difficulties and delays ; that the Mahrattas, who were bound by an engagement with Hyder to make no peace with the English in which he was not included, pleaded this sacred obligation ; but Hastings undertook to instruct even the Mahrattas in the arts of crooked faith, by showing how they might adhere to the forms of their engagement, while they violated the sub- stance ; and what is most heinous of all, that Hastings, having effected the assent of the Mahrattas to the article which is inserted in the treaty, and led by his desire of conquest, opposed obstructions to the conclusion of a peace with the son and successor of Hyder Ali ; that it was for this reason he endeavoured to bind the hands of the Presidency of Fort St. George, by withholding his authority from the negotiation; and that it was not till after a long experience of the total absence of any intention on the part of the Mahrattas, to engage with him in his schemes upon Mysore, and till he was assured of the fact by his agent at the court of Sindia, that his late and reluctant assent to the negotiation was obtained ; and that, after the peace was concluded, and ratified by the Supreme Council, from which, he was absent, and of which, by reason of his absence, he formed not a part, he endeavoured to break it, or at least exposed it wantonly to the greatest danger of being broken, by insisting that its formal conclusion and ratification should be of none effect, and that it should be opened again for the purpose of inserting the useless, if not mischievous, formality of an article, admitting as a party the Nabob of Arcot. These imputations receive all the confirmation conveyed by an answer, which, passing them over in silence, appears to admit them. — M. All these imputations had no foundation whatever but in the malignity with which Burke came to regard Hastings. It was no doubt the object of the latter to engage the Mahrattas in an offensive and defensive alliance, and with this view, the articles regarding Hyder were inserted. What better course of policy could be devised ? That the agreement was not acted upon was not the fault of the British Government, for in truth the treaty was not ratified by the Peshwa until after Ilyder’s death. The object of Nana Fumavese in this delay is explained by Duff to have been the intimidation of both the English and Hyder, by holding out the possibility of a union with either against the other, by which he hoped to recover from the latter the territories south of the Nerbudda, and from the former, Salsette. If any blame could be imputed to Hastings, it was not for delaying or impeding the treaty, but sanctioning the sacrifices necessary to obtain it. Hist, of Mahrattas, ii. 4G3. — W.
THE BOMBAY GOVERNMENT OBJECT TO THE TREATY. 417
establishments, they would permit no other nation, 7V‘
except the English, to open with them any friendly
intercourse, or to erect a factory within their domi- 1/81- nions.
The terms of this agreement, the gentlemen of the Presidency of Bombay arraigned as inadequate, nay humiliating ; and declared, that had the negotiation been left to them and to Goddard, who best knew the state of the Mahratta government, and with what facility it might have been induced to lower its tone, a far more favourable treaty might have certainly been obtained.
CHAPTER VIII.
Burdens sustained by the Nabob of Oude. — His Complaints. — How received by the English. — Mr. Bristow removed from Oude. — Agreement between Mr. Hastings and the Nabob. — The Begums de- spoiled.— Whether the Begums incited Insurrection. — Alleged oppressions of Colonel Hannay. — The head Eunuchs of the Begums tortured. — A present of ten Lacs given to Mr. Hastings by the Nabob. — Governor-General accuses Middleton, and re- places Bristow. — Treatment received by Fyzoolla Khan . — Decision by the Court of Directors rela- tive to the Begums. — Set at nought by Mr. Hastings. — Governor-General’s new Accusations against Mr. VOL. iv. 2 E
418
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
?ook v. Bristow. — Governor- General's Plan to remove the
CHAP. 8.
Residency from Oude. — Governor-General repeats
1781 • his visit to Oude. — Resigns the Government. — Finan-
cial Results of his Administration. — Incidents at Madras.
The next of the great transactions to which the presence of the Governor-General, in the upper pro- vinces, gave immediate existence, was the memorable arrangement which he formed with the Nabob of Oude. In his payments to the Company, that Nabob had fallen deeply in arrear ; and the extreme pecuniary distress endured by the Company,1 ren- dered it necessary to devise the most effectual means for obtaining what he owed. His country, however, had, by misgovernment, fallen into the greatest disorder. The Zemindars were almost every where in a state of disobedience ; the country was impover- ished ; and the disposition of the people, either deserting it or pining with want, threatened the evils, or promised the blessings, of a general revolt.2 Before the connexion between the English and Oude, its revenue had exceeded three millions sterling, and was levied without being accused of deteriorating the country. In the year 1779, it did not exceed one- half of that sum, and in the subsequent years fell far below it, while the rate of taxation was increased,
1 Even the pay of the troops was, every where, four and five months in arrear.
s The Minute in which the Governor-General introduced the subject of his journey to the upper provinces, begins in these words ; “ The province of Oude having fallen into a state of great disorder and confusion, its resources being in an extraordinary degree diminished, and the Nabob. Asopli ul Dowla,” &c. Tenth Report of the Select Committee in 1781, App. No. 2.
COMPLAINTS OF THE NABOB.
419
and the country exhibited every mark of oppressive book v. exaction.
By the treaty of Fyzabad, formed with the late 178L Nabob at the conclusion of the Bohilla war, it was agreed, that a regular brigade of the Company’s troops should, at the expense of the Nabob, be kept within the dominions of Oude. Even this burden was optional, not compulsory; and the Court of Directors gave their sanction to the measure, “ pro- vided it was done with the free consent of the Subah, and by no means without it.” 1
To the first was added, in the year 1777, a second, called the temporary brigade, because the express condition of it was, that the expense should be charged on the Nabob “ for so long a time only as he should require the corps for his service.” The Court of Directors were still more anxious, in this case, than in the former, to determine, that the burden should not be fastened on the Nabob, contrary to his will : “ If you intend” (say they, addressing the Governor-General and Council) f‘ to exert your influence, first, to induce the Vizir to acquiesce in your proposal; and afterwards to compel him to keep the troops in his pay during your pleasure, your intents are unjust, and a corre- spondent conduct would reflect great dishonour on the Company.”
Even the temporary brigade did not put a limit to the expense for English soldiers whom the Nabob was drawn to maintain. Several detached corps, in the Company’s service, were also placed in his pay ;
1 Letter of Directors to the Governor-General and Council, dated 15th December, 1775.
2 E 2
420
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAP. 8.
1781.
• and a great part of his own native troops were put . under the command of British officers.
In the year 1779, the expense of the temporary brigade, and that of the country troops under British officers, increased, the one to the amount of more than eighty, the other of more than forty thousand pounds sterling, above the estimate. These particu- lars, however, constituted only the military part of his English expense. The civil expense resulted from an establishment under the resident, which, with- out any authority from the Court of Directors, or any record in the books of the Council, had gra- dually and secretly swelled to a great amount : and was increased, by another establishment for another agent of the Company, and by pensions, allowances, and large occasional gifts, to various persons in the Company’s service.
In that year, viz. 1779, the Nabob complained that the pressure was more than he was able to endure. “ During three years past,” said he, “ the expense occasioned by the troops in brigade, and others com- manded by European officers, has much distressed the support of my household ; insomuch, that the allowances made to the seraglio and children of the deceased Nabob have been reduced to one-fourth of wThat it had been, upon which they have subsisted in a very distressed manner for two years past. The attendants, writers, and servants, &c. of my court, have received no pay for two years past ; and there is at present no part of the country that can be allot- ted to the payment of my father’s private creditors, whose applications are daily pressing upon me. All these difficulties I have for these three years past
COMPLAINTS OF THE NABOB.
421
struggled through and found this consolation therein,
that it was complying with the pleasure of the Hon- .
ourable Company, and in the hope that the Supreme 1781 Council would make inquiry from impartial persons into my distressed situation ; but I am now forced to a representation. From the great increase of expense, the revenues were necessarily farmed out at a high rate, and deficiences followed yearly. The country and cultivation is abandoned. And this year, in particular, from the excessive droughts, deductions of many lacs 1 have been allowed the farmers, who are still unsatisfied. — I have received but just suffi- cient to support my absolute necessities, the revenues being deficient to the amount of fifteen lacs ; 2 and for this reason, many of the old chieftains, with their troops, and the useful attendants of the court, were forced to leave it, and there is now only a few foot and horse for the collection of my revenues ; and should the Zemindars be refractory, there is not left a sufficient number to reduce them to obedience.”
In consequence of these distressing circumstances, the Nabob prayed, that, the assignments for the new brigade, and the other detached bodies of the Com- pany’s troops, might not be required, declaring that these troops were “ not only quite useless to his government, but, moreover, the cause of much loss, both in the revenues and customs ; and that the detached bodies of troops, under their European officers, brought nothing but confusion into the
1 Stated by the resident, in his letter, dated 13th December, 1779, to amount to twenty-five lacs, 250,0007.
s 150,0007.
422
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8.
1781.
. affairs of his government, and were entirely their own _ masters.”1
This representation, which events proved to be hardly an exaggeration, and the prayer by which it was followed, the Governor-General received, with tokens of the highest indignation and resentment. “ These demands,” he said, “ the tone in which they are asserted, and the season in which they are made, are all equally alarming.” In the letter which was despatched in his words to the resident, the grounds on which the Nabob petitioned for relief are declared
to be “ totally inadmissible He stands engaged,”
it is added, “ to our government, to maintain the English armies which, at his own request, have been formed for the protection of his dominions, and it is our part, not his, to judge and to determine, in what manner, and at what time, these shall be reduced or withdrawn.” In his minute, in consul- tation, upon the subject, he says, that by the treaty made with Asoph ul Dowla, upon the death of his father, “ he became, eventually, and necessarily, a vassal of the Company.” He affirmed that “ the disorders of his state, and the dissipation of his revenues, were the effects of his own conduct, which had failed, not so much from the casual effects of incapacity, as from the detestable choice which he has made of the ministers of his power, and the participators of his confidence.”2 And to the Nabob
1 Tenth Report, ut supra, Appendix, No. 7.
2 The words which follow sufficiently indicate the species of companions which he meant : “ I forbear to expatiate further on his character ; it is sufficient that I am understood by the Members of the Board, who must know the truth of my allusions.” Lord Thurlow, the friend of Hastings, and his fierce defender on his trial, speaks out plainly, and calls them without reserve, the instruments of an unnatural passion. See “ Debate
APOLOGY OF HASTINGS.
423
himself he declared, “ Your engagements with the 8V‘
Company are of such a nature as to oblige me to
require and insist on your granting tuncaws for the l781- full amount of their demands upon you for the cur- rent year, and on your reserving funds sufficient to answer them, even should the deficiency of your revenues compel you to leave your own troops unpro- vided for, or to disband a part of them to enable you to effect it.”1
The difficulties, under which the Governor- General was placed, were severe and distressing.
It is true, that the protection of the Nabob’s domi- nions rested solely upon the British troops, and that without loss of time they would have been overrun by the Mahrattas, had those troops been withdrawn ; it is true, that the debt due to the Company would, in that case have been lost ; that a dangerous people would have been placed upon the Company’s frontier; that the Company’s finances, always in distress, and then suffering intensely by war, could not maintain the same number of troops, if their pay was stopped by the Yizir. And the law of self-preservation supersedes that of justice. On the other hand, from the documents adduced, it is evident, that the Eng- lish had no right to compel the Nabob, if not agree- able to him, to maintain any part of those their troops ; and the Governor-General was not entitled, as he did, to plead, at once, both the law of self-pre- servation, and the law of right. The truth also is.
in the House of Lords, on the Evidence delivered at the Trial of Warren Hastings,” &c. ; a quarto volume got up by Mr. Hastings, and distributed to his friends, but never published.
1 Tenth Report, ut supra, Appendix. No. 7.
424
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
Bchai\r’ ^aw °f self-preservation, when examined,
and brought into conformity with the facts, implies a
strong convenience, and nothing more. It was very convenient for the English at that time, to have a large body of troops maintained by a different treasury from their own. But it will hardly he maintained, at any rate by the friends of Mr. Hastings, that in his hands the British empire in India must have been destroyed, had it been com- pelled to rely upon its own resources.1 It was for a great convenience, then, and for nothing else, that the English, without any claim of right, com- pelled the Nabob Vizir to maintain their troops ; that is, treated him as the vassal which Mr. Hastings described him, and substantially seized and exercised the rights of sovereign and master over both him and his country.
Another point well deserves to be considered ; whether the original brigade of the Company’s troops was not a force sufficient to protect the Nabob’s country, against all the dangers with which it was threatened. If the English, who included in their own line of defence the boundaries of Oude, did not provide their due proportion, but impose the whole upon the Nabob, they defended themselves at his expense ; they delivered themselves from a burden, which was their own, and by compelling the Nabob to hear it, violated the laws of justice.
It is also a question, whether the troops, quartered
1 It would be presumptuous to affirm tliat it must have been destroyed, but it was enough for the government to apprehend the possibility of such an event, to justify their employing all available resources for its pre- vention. It was for something more than convenience; it was for se- curity.— W.
APOLOGY OF HASTINGS.
425
upon him in addition to that brigade, as they were book v.
kept in idleness in his dominions, were not, with
all their expense, of little use either to him or the i78i. Company. As they were not employed against the enemies of the Company, they could be of little use in repelling them ; and the complaint of the Yizir that they and their officers acted as the masters in his country, and as a source both of expense and of dis- order, is confirmed by Mr. Francis, who, in Council, pronounced it “ notorious, that the English army had devoured his revenues, and his country, under colour of defending it.”1
The Governor-General, when pressed for argu- ment, made the following avowal ; that ambiguities had been left in the treaty : And that it was the part of the strongest to affix to these ambiguities that meaning which he pleased.2 That this is a very common political procedure, every one knows. The allegation, however, in its essence, is, it is evident, only a varnish placed upon injustice by fraud. In the present case, besides, it happened, by a singular chance, that ambiguity had not existence, and the allegation of it was false. “ So long only as the Nabob pleased,” was the express condition of the compact ; and the moment at which the Nabob desired relief, the most exact definition was applied.
1 Extract of Bengal Consultations, 15th December, 1779 ; Tenth Report, ut supra, Appendix, No. 7.
s His words are these, “ As no period was stipulated for the continuance of the temporary brigade, or of the troops which are to supply their place in his service, nor any mode prescribed for withdrawing them ; the time and mode of withdrawing them must be guided by such rules, as necessity, and the common interests of both parties, shall dictate. These, either he must prescribe, or ourselves. If we cannot agree upon them, in such a division, the strongest must decide.” Ibid.
426
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1781.
The Governor-General surmised a circumstance, which always seems to have animated him to pecu- liar severity : that the idea of the instability of the existing government was among the causes which emboldened the Nabob to complain. ‘f I, for my own part,” said he, “ do not attribute1 the demand of the Nabob to any conviction impressed on his mind by the necessity of his affairs ; but to the knowledge which his advisers have acquired, of the weakness and divisions of our own government. This is a powerful motive with me, however inclined I might be, upon any other occasion, to yield to some part of his demands, to give them an absolute and unconditional refusal in the present ; and even to bring to punishment, if my influence can produce that effect, those incendiaries who have endeavoured to make themselves the instruments of division be- tween us.”2
Under the enormous demands of the English, and the Nabob’s inability to meet them, the debt with which he stood charged in 1780 amounted to the sum of 1,400,0001. The Supreme Council con- tinued pressing their demands. The Nabob, protest- ing that he had given up every thing, that “ in the country no further resources remained, and that he was without a subsistence,” continued sinking more
1 It would be very curious, if the Governor-General at the commence- ment of the year 1780, was totally ignorant of the ruin of the Nabob’s finances; and in eighteen months afterwards, viz. at the time of his journey to the upper provinces, was so convinced of that ruin, as to make it the principal ground of the extraordinary procedure which he adopted, when he, allowing the inability to be real, removed the brigade and other objects of complaint.
2 Extract of Bengal Consultations, 15th December, 1779 ; Tenth Report, ut supra, Appendix, No. 7.
BRISTOW REMOVED AND MIDDLETON APPOINTED. 427
deeply in arrear : till the time when the resolution B00K v-
r J _ CHAP. 8.
of Mr. Hastings was adopted, to proceed to make
with him a new arrangement upon the spot. ]78L
As a step preliminary to the affairs which the Governor-General meant to transact with the Nabob, he withdrew the resident, Mr. Bristow. This gen- tleman had been appointed by the party of General Clavering, when they removed Middleton, the pri- vate agent of Mr. Hastings : The Governor-General had removed him soon after the time when he re- covered his superiority in the Council : The Court of Directors had ordered him to be replaced, as unjustly and improperly removed : Mr. Hastings, in disobe- dience of these orders, had refused to replace him, till it became a condition of the compromise into Avhich he entered with Francis: And he now re- moved him again with a fresh violation of the au- thority of the Court of Directors, in conformity with whose orders he occupied the place. Mr. Middleton was again appointed, on the reason, notwithstanding the condemnation of the Court of Directors, again avowed, that a person in the Governor-General’s own confidence was necessary in that situation.
As the Governor-General intended to make a very short stay at Benares, and then proceed to Lucknow, the Nabob had already left his capital, in order to pay him the usual compliment of a meeting, when he received intelligence of the insurrection. Mr. Hastings, who wished not for the interview in a state of humiliation, or under the appearance of receiving protection from his ally, endeavoured by a letter to make him return to his capital. But the Nabob was eager to show the interest which he
428
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1781.
took in the fate of the Governor-General, or eager to know the situation in which he was placed ; and hastened with but a few of his attendants to Chunar. The English ruler was at pains to afford him a cordial reception. And with little debate or hesita- tion they made a memorable arrangement. In consequence of “ the repeated and urgent represen- tations of the Nabob, that he is unable to support the expenses of the temporary brigade of cavalry, and English officers with their battalions, as well as other gentlemen who are now paid by him,” (such are the terms of the preamble to the covenant) it was agreed, on the part of the Governor-General, that from the expense of the temporary brigade, and of all other English troops, except the single brigade left with Suja-ul-dowla, and a regiment of sepoys for the resident’s guard ; and from the expense of all payments to English gentlemen, excepting those of the resident’s office ; the Nabob should be relieved.1
’ See page 372, where it appears that Hastings, little more than a year before, treated as incendiaries, and threatened with punishment, those advisers, by whose suggestion he deemed it proper to assume that the Nabob implored the relief which was now granted, and so much as stated those sufferings of the country which the Governor-General now held studiously up to view. To threaten to punish the representation of griev- ances, as Burke justly on this passage remarks, is to endeavour to obstruct one of the most sacred duties of a dependent prince, and of his advisers ; a duty in the highest degree useful both to the people who suffer, and to the governing power. It affords a curious moral spectacle to compare the minutes and letters of the Governor-General, when maintaining, at the be- ginning of the year 1780, the propriety of compelling the Nabob to sustain the whole of the burden imposed upon him ; and his minutes, and letters, when maintaining the propriety of relieving him from these burdens in 1781 : The arguments and facts adduced on the one occasion, as well as the conclusion, are in flat contradiction to those exhibited on the other. See the Documents in the Second and Tenth Reports, ut supra ; printed also for the House of Commons on the 16th of Burke’s Charges : and in the Minutes of Evidence on the Trial.
ARRANGEMENT WITH THE NABOB OF OUDE.
429
According to another article, permission was granted book v.
him to resume such of the jaghires within his terri-
tories, as he himself might choose, with only this 1781 • reservation, that a pension equal to the net rent should he paid to the holders of such of them as had the Company for their guarantee. An article was also inserted, according to which the Nabob was to be allowed, when the suitable time should arrive, to strip Fyzoolla Khan of his territory, allowing him only a pension in its stead.
Such was all that was seen on the face of this agreement ; where no advantage to the English ap- peared. The circumstances, however, which consti- tuted the real nature of the transaction were only behind the curtain.
There were two Princesses, known by the name of the Begums ; the one, the mother of Suja-ul-dowda, the late Nabob; the other, the widow of the late Nabob, and mother of the present. These Princesses the preceding sovereign had always treated with the highest consideration and respect ; and allowed them a magnificent and expensive establishment. At the death of Suja-ul-dowla, those Princesses, according to the custom of India, were left in possession of cer- tain jaghires ; that is, the government portion of the produce of a part of the land, over which, for the greater certainty of payment, the holder of the jag- hire was allowed the powers of management and col- lection. This was the fund, from which the Begums provided for their state and subsistence ; and for the state and subsistence of the numerous families of the preceding Nabobs, placed under their superintend- ence. Suja-ul-dowla, at his death, had also left to
430
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. the Begums the greater part of the treasure which
happened to be iu his hands; and imagination swelled
1781- the sum to a prodigious extent. Mr. Hastings had been disappointed in the mine which he expected to drain at Benares. His power and reputation depended upon the immediate acquisition of money. In the riches of the Begums appeared to lie an admirable resource. It w7as agreed between Mr.. Hastings and the Nabob, that his Highness should be relieved from the expense, which he was unable to bear, of the English troops and gentlemen ; and he, on his part, engaged to strip the Begums of both their treasure and their jaghires, delivering to the Governor-General the proceeds.1
This transaction, however objectionable it may at first sight appear, Mr. Hastings represented as attended wTith circumstances wfiiich rendered it not only just but necessary. The weight of these cir- cumstances ought to be carefully and impartially considered.2
1 To enable the Nabob, “ to discharge his debt to the Company in the shortest time possible,” that is, to get money from him; “ and to prevent his alliance from being a clog instead of an aid that is, costing money, instead of yielding it, is declared by the Governor-General to have been “the chief object in his negotiations with the Nabob.” Letter to Mr. Middleton, 23rd September, 1781.
* Although the text does not repeat the enormous falsehoods which the oratory of Sheridan and Burke invented, and has been by some imagined to excuse, yet the general tone of the narrative is influenced by the misre- presentations of those masters in the art of rhetorical deception. The jagirs and treasures of the Begums were of considerable value, and what is of more consequence, were illegally held. The easy temper of the Nabob allowed the period of his accession to pass without interfering with the possessions of theBegums,but their occupancy ofthejagir was always depen- dant upon his pleasure, and the wealth, which had been his father’s, was by the Mohammedan law indubitably his own : a mother being entitled to one-eighth only of her husband’s property, and a grandmother having no
SITUATION OF THE BEGUMS.
431
In the year 1775, not long after the death ofBOOK- v
J ° _ CHAP. 8.
Suja-ul-dowla, his widow, the mother of the reigning
Nabob, complained, by letter, to the English govern- 178L ment, of the treatment which she received from her son. She stated that various sums, to the extent of twenty-six lacs of rupees, had been extorted from her, under the plea of his being in want of money to dis- charge his obligations to the English chiefs ; and that a recent demand had been urged for no less than thirty lacs, as absolutely necessary to relieve him, under his engagements to the Company ; and to save his affairs from a ruinous embarrassment. Upon the faith of the English government, to which alone she would trust, she agreed to make this sacrifice; and it was solemnly covenanted, on the part of her son, and guaranteed on the part of the English government, 1 that no further invasion should ever be made upon her, in the full enjoyment of her jaghires and effects, whether she resided within the dominions of Asoph ul Dowla, or chose to reside in any other place. This agreement was far from producing peace between the Nabob and the Begums. Perpetual complaints of injurious treatment were made by the Princesses, and the business of mediation was found by the English resident a difficult and delicate task.
claim to inheritance -where a mother is living : therefore, as sovereign or son, the Nabob had full right over the major part of the great wealth and power which the Begums had appropriated. — W.
1 This covenant was the grand error of the whole proceeding ; for the English had no possible right to interfere in a family dispute. It was the unauthorised act of the Resident at Lucknow, always strongly condemned by Hastings, and acquiesced in by the Council, on the plea of its having been done, and from the reluctance of the majority to withdraw their support from the Resident. Min. of Evid. 440. — W.
432
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1781.
In the beginning of the year 1778, those dissen- sions arose to a great height, and the aged Princess, “ whose residence the treatment of her grandson ” (to use the words of Mr. Middleton, the resident) “ seems to have rendered irksome and disgusting to her,” resolved to abandon his dominions, and repair on a pilgrimage to Mecca. To the execution of this design, the Nabob was exceedingly averse; because it would withdraw, from the sphere of his power, the great treasure which he imagined she possessed, and which at her death, if not before, he could render his own. Both the Nabob and his grandmother applied to the resident ; the one for the purpose of procuring his influence to prevail upon the Begum to remain ; the other for the purpose of procuring it to induce the Nabob to allow her to depart. The Begum complained that she was subject to daily extortions and insults ; that the Nabob withheld the allowance which had been established by the late Vizir for the maintenance of the family of her de- ceased husband; that had he resumed the jaghires and emoluments of her servants and dependants ; that he had made no provision for the maintenance of the women and children (a very numerous family) of the late Vizir, his own father; that the education and condition of the children were wholly neglected ; and that the favourites of the Nabob wTere allowed, and even encouraged, to degrade his family by their oppressions and insults. The resident reported to the Governor-General and Council, that “ the deport- ment of the Nabob toward her, his family, and relations in general, was, he could not but admit, very exceptionable ; that her claims were very mode-
SITUATION OF THE BEGUMS.
433
rate and just, and such as it would he natural to suppose the Nabob could not in decency refuse.” He even suggested, if the Nabob should refuse to comply with these reasonable demands, “ that the influence of the English government should be exerted, to secure to the Begum whatever might appear to be her rights in which case he doubted not that her design of departing with her treasure would be willingly abandoned.
While the resident was endeavouring, but without success, to prevail upon the Nabob to afford to his grandmother a reasonable satisfaction, he received from the second of the Princesses a representation of the violations which had been committed by her son of the conditions of the recent treaty ; a treaty which she called upon the English government, in quality of its guarantee, to protect. The resident in vain endeavoured to improve the behaviour of the Nabob ; and, in reporting upon his disappointment, observes, “ I have on all occasions, as much as possible, avoided troubling the Honourable Board with any matters which reflect upon the conduct or government of the Nabob, wishing rather to check and obviate abuses, by friendly admonitions and remonstrances to his Excellency himself, than to correct them by an appeal to your authority. But such is his Excellency’s disposition, and so entirely has he lost the confidence and affections of his sub- jects, that, unless some restraint is imposed upon him, which would effectually secure those who live under the protection of his government, from violence and oppression, I am but too well convinced, that no
VOL. iv. 2 f
BOOK V, chap. 8.
1781.
434
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \
CHAP. 8.
J781.
• man of reputation or property will long continue in - these provinces.”1
On the 23rd of March, the Council- General, in which Mr. Hastings had then the ascendant,2 took under their consideration the complaints of the Be- gums. With regard to the eldest of the Princesses, and those of the relations and subjects of the Nabob, in favour of whom the guarantee of the Company was not interposed, they held themselves incapable, in any other way than that of remonstrance and by tokens of displeasure, to oppose the oppressions of the Nabob. But as they had become parties to a treaty for the protection of the second of the Begums, the mother of the Nabob, they determined to make use of their authority on her behalf. On the rapacity which he had practised with respect to the elder of the Begums, and some of his other relations, their instructions to the resident were in the following words, “We desire you will repeat your remon- strances to the Vizir on these points, in the name of this government; representing to him the conse- quences of such an arbitrary proceeding ; the reproach to which his honour and reputation, as well as ours, from being connected with him, will he exposed, by such acts of cruelty and injustice; and the right which wTe derive, from the nature of our alliance with him, to expect that he will pay a deference to our remonstrances.” They add, “ with respect to
1 Mr. Middleton’s Letter to Gov. -Gen. and Council, dated Fyzabad, 3rd Feb. 1778. Report, ut supra.
- The members were. Mr. Hastings. Mr. Barwell, Mr. Francis, Mr. Wheler.
TREATMENT SUFFERED BY THE BEGUMS.
435
the Bao Begum (the mother of the Nabob), her book ^v.
grievances come before us on a very different footing.
She is entitled to our protection, by an act, not 1781- sought by us, hut solicited by the Nabob himself.
W e therefore empower and direct you, to afford your support and protection to her, in the due maintenance of all the rights she possesses, in virtue of the treaty executed between her and her son, under the gua- rantee of the Company.” 1
Such was the light in which the relative conduct of the Nabob and the Begums appeared to the Governor-General and Council, in 1778 ; and on the footing which was then established, matters between them remained, till the meeting between Mr. Hastings and Asoph ul Dowla at Chunar, in 1781, when the Nabob was, by treaty, allowed to seize the property of the Princesses, and of others his relations ; and, on the condition of bestowing that property upon the English, actually rewarded for the seizure, by obtaining relief from a permanent and oppressive expense. The reasons which Mr. Hastings adduced for this proceeding are, that the Begums had endeavoured to excite insurrection in Oude in favour of Cheyte Sing, and that they em- ployed their power and influence to embarrass and disturb the Nabob’s administration.
If the testimony of an accuser shall pass for proof, when that accuser derives great advantage from the supposition of guilt, and great loss from the suppo- sition of innocence, no individual is under protec-
’ Report, ut supra. The documents to which reference is here made were all reprinted, both in the papers called for by the House of Com- mons, and in the Minutes of Evidence, taken at the Trial in Westminster Hall.
2 F 2
436
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
v- tion.1 It is further to he remarked, that the insur-
O.
_ rection at Benares happened on the 16th of August ; and the treaty by which the Nabob was authorized to resume the jaghires was signed at Chunar, on the 19th of September. The Begums, who had first to hear of the insurrection at Benares, and then to spread disaffection through a great kingdom, had, therefore, little time for the contraction of guilt. Besides, when the government of the Nabob, as the English themselves so perfectly knew, had fallen into contempt and detestation with all his subjects, it was very natural to suppose, that the servants and dependants of the Begums, who were among the severest of the sufferers, would not be the least forward in exhibiting their sentiments. And as the seclusion of the Begums rendered it impossible for them to superintend the conduct of their servants abroad, they were less than other people responsible for their conduct.2
But the observation of greatest importance yet remains to be adduced. What was the proof, upon the strength which the Begums were selected for a singular and aggravated punishment ? Answer ;
1 This is arguing as if Hastings derived a personal advantage from the guilt of the Begums — whatever advantage resulted from the recovery of the wealth illegally detained by the Begums was entirely public. There could be no doubt that the position of the Begums, their resources, their armed followers, their pretensions, and their temper, were injurious in the highest degree to the government of the Vizir. — W.
2 If the Begums were incapable of responsibility, it followed that they were unfit to have power. They had no business with armed adherents if they could not prevent those adherents from perpetrating what they pleased. The fact is not true. The Begums had the means of controlling their servants; but had it been otherwise, as asserted in the text, it would at once justify whatever measures were necessary to wrest from them re- sources and powers they could not safely be trusted with. — W.
TREATMENT SUFFERED BY THE BEGUMS.
437
no direct proof whatsoever. Hardly an attempt is book^v.
made to prove any thing, except a rumour. Mr. -
Hastings’s friends are produced in great numbers to 1781 • say that they heard a rumour. Upon allegation of a rumour , that the Begums abetted Cheyte Sing, judgment was pronounced, and punishment followed.
Before a just judgment can he pronounced, and punishment can be justifiably inflicted, it is necessary that trial should take place, and that the party ac- cused should be heard in his defence. Was this jus- tice afforded the Begums'? Not a tittle of it. So far from it ; that Mr. Hastings, while yet in the heat of the insurrection at Chunar, when the Begums had scarcely had time to rebel, much less had he had time to make any inquiry into the imputation of guilt ; at a moment when all was confusion, alarm, and hurry ; when every thing was ready to be re- ported, and every thing to be believed ; pronounced a final judgment, to supersede the guarantee of the English government, to strip the Princesses of Oude of their estates, and give them up helpless into the hands of the Nabob.
Of the evidence adduced upon this important point, it is highly requisite to give a short account. If any- thing be indispensable to righteous judgment it is, that evidence should first be collected, and judgment follow after. Mr. Hastings pronounced judgment, and sent his instrument, the Nabob, to inflict punish- ment in the first place. Some time after all this was done, he then proceeded to collect evidence.
But evidence of what sort4? He brought forward persons who, he knew (or might know) beforehand, would give the sort of evidence he wished ; and a
438
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8.
1781.
month after judgment had been pronounced, got - them to make affidavit, before Sir Elijah Impey, of the facts, or supposed facts, of which it was useful for him to establish the belief. It is altogether unne- cessary to allude to the character or credibility of the individuals who were taken into this service. It is perfectly sufficient to observe, that this is a mode of getting up a proof, by means of which there never can he any difficulty in getting a proof of any thing. Find a number of persons, even if not mendacious, with minds sufficiently partial to you, or sufficiently influenced by circumstances, to believe as you would have them (often a very easy matter, whatsoever may be the state of the facts), and get them to set down whatever they and you think proper, exposed to no cross examination, exposed to no counter evi- dence ; and think, whether it would not he an extra- ordinary case, in which, upon these terms, any man, more especially a powerful ruler, could remain with- out a defence.
The fact is, that recourse to such a mode of defence betrays a deep consciousness, that the conduct in favour of which it is set up, stands much in need of a defence, and seems pretty strongly to imply that no better defence can be found for it.
The behaviour of the Supreme Judge, in lending himself to this transaction, exposed him to the se- verest strictures from the Managers for the Commons’ House of Parliament on the trial of Mr. Hastings. He acknowledged, upon his examination, that he went from Benares, where the business was concerted between him and Mr. Hastings, to Lucknow, the capital of Oude, for the express purpose of taking
CHARACTER OF THE AFFIDAVITS.
439
these affidavits, though he acknowledged that <r un- doubtedly, he did not consider his jurisdiction as extending to the province of Oude and though, in taking an affidavit, there is so little occasion for any remarkable qualifications in the Judge, that all he has to do is to hear a person swear that something in a paper is true, and to testify that he has heard him do so. “ What the affidavits contained,” said the Judge when examined upon the trial, “ I did not know ; nor do I know at present, for I have never read them.” He also declared that he did not know, whether the persons who swore to them had ever read them. He also said, “ I believe Mr. Middleton, in consequence of a letter Mr. Hastings wrote to him, had communicated the subject matter of what they were to depose to.” At the time of taking the affidavits of the natives, not so much as a sworn in- terpreter was present. The judge declared he never asked of one of the deponents, whether they knew the contents of their affidavits : and “ had no means of knowing whether the deponents in the Persian or the Hindu language understood any thing of the depositions which they gave, except that they brought their affidavits ready drawn.” He also admitted that, he had no means of knowing whether, of the affi- davits which were taken before him, the whole were published by Mr. Hastings, or whether all that had been unfavourable to him had not been suppressed. In fact, the examination of Sir Elijah Impey, upon the subject of the affidavits, discloses a curious scene, in which it appears that one object alone was in view, namely, that of getting support to any allegations
book v.
CHAP. 8.
1781.
440
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. which Mr. Hastings had set up.1 A set of affidavits,
CHAT. 8. # ° r
thus circumstanced, could be no proof of the guilt of
]78L an absent party.2
These affidavits affim not one criminal fact, on the part of the Begums. All that they affirm with re- gard to these Princesses is rumour merely. The witnesses had heard that the Begums instigated that disaffection, which manifested itself in almost every part of the Nabob’s dominions. In one sense this is evidence of the fairness and honourableness of Mr. Hastings ; for undoubtedly it goes a certain way to prove that no undue means were used to put matter into these affidavits.
Some of them speak directly to certain tumultuary proceedings in Goruckpore, one of the districts of Oude. But the insurrection, if such it might be called, was not against the British authority, for there was none there to oppose. The Nabob's sepoys were refractory for want of pay. An Aumil, or renter of the Begums, showed a disinclination to permit a party of the Nabob's sepoys to pass through his dis- trict, which he knew they -would plunder, and hence
1 Sec Minutes of Evidence at the Trial, p. 622 to 661 and 838 to 848. — M.
2 As usual this is uncandidly stated, and no regard is had to Sir Elijah Impey’s own account of the transaction. He states that he sug- gested the arrangement to Hastings, that people in England might be satisfied that Hastings in his narrative had affirmed no more than the truth. He thought the public would derive additional confidence from declarations on oath taken before a judicial authority, and offered his services accordingly. The narrative of Hastings carries with it proof of its own credibility and the suggestion of the Chief Justice was a work of supererogation. His interposition was a mistaken act of friendship, but it deserved not the strictures made upon it by the managers of the Commons, strictures of which the acerbity was deepened by the clear and resolute manner in which Sir Elijah’s evidence was given. — W.
EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE.
441
impose upon him a severe pecuniary loss. And the book 8V*
country people in general showed a hostile disposition
to these same sepoys of the Nabob. What has this 17SL to do, in the smallest degree, with the British autho- rity ? And if the sepoys had been British, which they were not, what proof is given, that the Begums were the cause of the hatred they experienced, or knew of the commotions to which that hatred gave birth % 1
Rumour affirmed that the Begums promoted the disaffection. If rumour, on such an occasion, were a proper ground of belief, rumour affirmed that the Nabob himself, together with his brother Saadut Ali, not only abetted the disaffection, hut had entered into a deliberate plan for the extirpation of the Eng- lish from the country. Why is rumour to be evidence against one, not evidence against another, just as it suits the pleasure and convenience of Mr. Hastings T
One of the deponents, who spoke most distinctly to what he reckoned symptoms of hostility on the part of the Begums, wTas a Major Macdonald, an English officer, in the service of the Nabob. He states that his march, at the head of a party of the Nabob’s sepoys, was opposed by Zalim Sing, a Ze-
1 Contumely to the Nabob’s officers was no new thing with the Begums, nor ever treated as rebellion till it suited the Governor-General. In January 1776, when the Begum was complaining to the English govern- ment, and when it was affording her protection, the Resident in Oude writes to the Governor-General and Council : “ In making this complaint, the Begum forgets the improper conduct of her own servants, who have hitherto preserved a total independence of the Nabob’s authority ; beat the officers of his government ; and refused obedience to his Perwannahs.”
Minutes, ut supra, p. 2048.
? W hether the rumours hostile to the fidelity of the Nabob were founded at all upon fact is doubtful ; but certainly they were shown to be of little regard when he put himself in the power of Hastings at Chunar. — W.
442 HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. xnindar who had Ions been treated by the Nabob as
CHAP. 8. . . J
■ a rebel. This hostile chief showed, even to Mac-
1781 • donald’s people, a paper purporting to be a sunnud from the Nabob, restoring him to his Zemindary, and vesting him with the government of certain dis- tricts ; and he informed them he had the Nabob’s instructions to drive, says the affidavit, “ the Frin- gies out of his districts, that he only waited for the fortunate hour, boats being already provided from Fyzabad (which the deponent knew absolutely to be the case) to cross the Gogra, and carry the Nabob’s orders into execution: Further, that his Excellency had altered his sentiments regarding the part he was to take in the present contest ; that his Excellency set out with the intent of adhering to his treaty with the Company, but that Mirza Saadut Ali wrote him he was to blame if he gave any assistance; that now was the time to shake off the English yoke ; that it might not be prudent to declare himself at once ; that he had only to stand neuter; and, under pre- tence of defending themselves, direct his subjects to take arms, and endeavour to prevent the junction of the English forces, when the matter would work of itself. The deponent said, he believed the reports, as before related, at that time, and still is of opinion, the threats therein contained were intended to be carried into execution had the league been successful.” 1
Of the disturbances, moreover, in Goruckpore, and the hostile disposition manifested by the people to the sepoys of the Nabob, we are presented with an-
1 Minutes, ut supra, p. 259, 2C1.
EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE.
443
to have been the effect of oppression ; of oppression,
cruel, and extraordinary, even as compared with the 1781. common degree of oppression under the government of the Nabob. It was given in evidence, that the country, from a very flourishing state in which it ex- isted under the preceding Nabob, had been reduced to misery and desolation ; that taxes were levied, not according to any fixed rule, hut according to the pleasure of the collector ; that imprisonments and scourgings for enforcing payment, were common in every part of the country ; that emigrations of the people were frequent ; and that many of them were so distressed as to be under the necessity of selling their children.1
The country thus oppressed was under the manage- ment of Colonel Hannav, an officer of the Company, who had obtained permission to quit for a time the Company’s service, and enter into that of the Nabob.
He was allowed to rent the provinces of Goruckpore and Baraitch ; and, commanding also the military force in the district, engrossed the whole of the local government. Mr. Holt, who was appointed assistant to the resident at the Vizir’s court about the begin- ning of the year 1780, was asked, “ Did you hear that Colonel Hannay was himself in particular dan- ger from the insurrections in 1781 ‘? — I did. — What do you suppose those insurrections arose from at first — did you ever hear of any machinations or contriv- ances of particular persons, or did you ever hear what
Minutes, ut supra, p. 3S1 — 390.
444
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. the cause was ihat they obiected to? — I have heard
CHAP. 8. . . . J
. it was owing to the misconduct and misgovernment
1781- of Colonel Hannay.” 1
Captain Edwards, another of the Company’s officers, who had obtained permission to accept of service with the Vizir, and who was aid-du-camp to that Prince at the time of Mr. Hastings’ quarrel with Cheyte Sing, was asked, “ In what situation was Colonel Hannay,” meaning in the service of the Vizir? — “ I understand that he rented a great part of the Nabob’s country, called Baraitch and Goruck- pore. — Ho you know what was the general fame of the country with respect to Colonel Hannay ’s admi- nistration in those provinces? — That the measures of his government appeared to the natives there very unjustifiable and oppressive. — Hid you ever see, or know, any fact or circumstance from which you could infer in the same manner ? — When I accom- panied his Excellency the Nabob into that country (I believe it was the latter end of the year 1779, or early in the year 1780), the country seemed to be little cultivated, and very few inhabitants made their appearance ; and the few that were in the country
1 Minutes, ut supra, p. 391. See to the same purpose the evidence of Colonel Aclimuty, p. 783. — M. Some other passages should have been quoted from the evidence of this witness if it was worth while to quote any. With regard to this very subject he was asked, “ What effect the administration of Colonel Hannay had in exasperating the natives ? — I saw no marks of exasperation whilst I was there. — At the time you was there you saw no marks of exasperation ? — What I mean by exasperation is — there was no insurrection In clemency to Mr. Holt, it should be added, that when he was in Goruckpore, and heard one thing and saw another, he was between sixteen and seventeen years of age. Min. Evid. 402. It is something beneath the dignity of history to quote such testimony as this in depreciation of a great public character. — W.
EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE.
445
seemed much distressed; and I understood that the book v.
country had been better peopled, hut that they had
all left the country in consequence of Colonel i781- Hannay’s administration. — Was it at Lucknow that you heard the reports concerning Colonel Hannay, and his oppressions ? It was both at Lucknow and at many other places : it was a general report.1
It is also a circumstance of great importance, that when Colonel Hannay entered the service of the Nabob in 1778, he was a man in debt, or what is called by the witness “ involved circumstances.”
Before the end of 1781, that is in a period of about three years, he was understood to have realized a fortune of 300,000C’ 2
It is now, however, in justice to Colonel Hannay, to be observed, with regard both to the oppressions of which he is accused, and the vast amount of his fortune, that most of the evidence adduced is evidence rather to the rumour of these facts, than to the facts themselves. But if this he a plea, as it undoubtedly is, in behalf of Colonel Hannay, it is a plea,3 it must be remembered, no less availing in favour of the Begums. It appears, indeed, with strong evidence
1 Minutes, ut supra, p. 778, 782. Of the insurrections one principal part at least was occasioned by indignation at the confinement of a great number of persons in the Fort of Goruckpore, followed by a design to effect their rescue. See Minutes, ut supra, p, 1963, where a letter of Colonel Hannay’s is acknowledged, to the officers on the spot, stating that the release of those prisoners would quiet the country. See the Cross Examination of Captain Williams, throughout, Ibid. p. 1935 — 1966.
2 Ibid. p. 390, 391.
3 Notwithstanding this admission, it is clear that the ‘rumours’ to Colonel Hannay’s disadvantage are treated with a leniency, and adopted with a readiness, not shown to those that were unfavourable to the Begums. — W.
446
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. from the cross examination of Mr. Hastings own
CHAP. 8. .Till
witnesses upon the trial, that a considerable number
1781- of the Rajas or ancient chiefs of the country,1 who till that time had remained in possession of their re- spective districts, paying an annual sum, as revenue, to the Vizir, were driven out during the administra- tion of Colonel Hannay ; and that they retained the country in a state of perpetual disturbance, by endless efforts for their restoration. 2 This accounts for the turbulent state of the country. Whether it was injustice, by which the Rajas were expelled ; or whether it was impossible to make them obedient subjects, sufficient evidence is not afforded to deter- mine.
It is at any rate certain, that Colonel Hannay became in the highest degree odious to the Vizir ; he dismissed him from his sendee before the end of the year 1781, and having heard that he was using his influence to be sent back, he wrote to the Gover- nor-General, about the beginning of September fol- lowing, in these extraordinary terms :
“ My country and house belong to you ; there is no difference. I hope that you desire in your heart the good of my concerns. Colonel Hannay is inclined to request your permission to be employed in the affairs of this quarter. If, by any means, any matter of this country dependent on me, should be intrusted to the Colonel, I swear by the Holy Prophet,
1 Here again the word Raja is misunderstood. In the district of Gorckpore, every Zemindar, however petty, takes the name of Raja. These ‘ ancient chiefs,’ therefore, are the creation of the text, and they were nothing but refractory fanners of the revenue, who would not pay their rents. Goruckpore has always been a troublesome district. — W.
2 Ibid. p. 1909—2008.
EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE.
447
that I will not remain here, hut will go from hence B00K v.
to you. From your kindness let no concern, depen-
dent upon me, he intrusted to the Colonel; and oblige 1781- me by a speedy answer which may set my mind at ease.”1
It is also a most suspicious circumstance, that the accusations of the Begums seem originally to have come from Colonel Hannay, and to have depended almost entirely upon the reports of him and his officers ; who were deeply interested in finding, for the disturbances of the country, which they ruled, a cause different from their own malversations.
When the Nabob departed from Chunar, at which time, according to the statements of Mr. Hastings, the Begums were in a state of rebellion, he chose to pass through Fyzabad, the place of their residence, accompanied merely by his usual attendants, and about five or six hundred horse : and, according to the opinion of Captain Edwards, probably entered the city with only a few attendants, as in general his rate of travelling far exceeded the utmost speed of a body of horse.
As every mark of suspicion that rebellion was excited or intended by the Begums was thus removed from the behaviour of the Nabob; so not a single expression ever appears to have been obtained from him, which implied that they had been guilty of any such offence ; and yet if he had conceived any appre- hension from them, it was to the English he must have flown for protection, and to them he would naturally have communicated his fears. His aid-du-
1 Minutes, ut supra, p. 660.
448
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. camp, Captain Edwards, who had accompanied him
to Chunar, and proceeded with the rest of the troops
17*L to Lucknow, when the Nabob left the direct road to his capital to pass through Fyzabad, was asked, “ Did you hear upon the return of the Nabob, and Hyder Beg, to Lucknow, any charge, or any thing that led you to believe, that discoveries of rebellion or treason had been made by the Nabob while at Fyzabad? — No, I did not. — When did you first hear of any accusation, or charge, of any rebellion or disaffection, against the Begums? — Some time after I arrived at Lucknow ; about a fortnight after, I heard the gentlemen in the Resident’s family mention the different accounts, that Colonel Hannay and his officers had sent. — Was the intelligence you received upon that subject confined to communi- cations, made by Colonel Hannay and his officers, to the Resident’s office, or did you hear of any other besides ? I heard that such reports prevailed at Lucknow, among the natives, which were not gene- rally believed ; and there were a few who mentioned they had heard the reports. — The question put to you is, whether you heard of any other instances than those mentioned by Colonel Hannay and his officers? — I heard my own servants say, as they went through the market-place, they had heard from the Resident’s servants, that they had heard such reports did prevail. — Meaning the reports from Colonel Hannay ? — Yes, meaning those reports. — Did the natives in general give any credit to these reports? —
No, I do not think they did Did you not hear
more of this sort of report after the treasure was seized in January, 1782? — I did; I heard the trea-
EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE.
449
1781.
sures were seized in consequence of the report, and B(^1KSV ' the charge and accusation, made by Colonel Hannay and some of his officers, that the Begums had been in a state of rebellion.” 1
As Colonel Hannay and his officers, white and black, were almost the only persons whose affidavits, originally taken at Lucknow, imputed any acts of disaffection to the Begums ; so they were his officers, including the Paymaster of his troops, who alone, or nearly so, were called to prove the allegation in England.2 One or two other persons, the aid of whose testimony was required, could speak to nothing but reports , at Allahabad, or at Calcutta.
And it appears, with great force of evidence, from the examination of the witnesses adduced in favour of Mr. Hastings, that the accusation rested upon the allegations of Hannay, and his officers: who, them- selves, could affirm nothing but rumour, or facts of which it is more probable that they themselves were the cause than the Begums; and that the story, being taken up by Mr. Hastings, and propagated by him and his friends, with all the authority of govern- ment, was spread abroad among the English through- out the country, and by them, in the usual manner, upon no better authority, passively, but not the less fervently and confidently, believed.3
The departure of the Nabob from Chunar, for the purpose of seizing the property of his mother and his grandmother, was urged by Mr. Hastings :
1 Minutes, ut supra, p. 777.
2 Colonel Hannay might have been an indifferent administrator of a province, though that is not proven, but that is no reason why he and his officers should be suspected of untruth. — W.
3 See Minutes of Evidence for the Prosecution, p. 361 — 951. Ditto, for
VOL. IV. 2 G
450
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK A
CHAP. 8.
1781.
• upon the arrival, however, of that Prince in his own - dominions, he manifested a great reluctance to enter upon the ungracious work. The Governor-General waited, as he himself informs us, “ with much impa- tience.” He urged the Nabob by the strongest remonstrances. He enjoined the Resident, in the most earnest and most peremptory terms, to leave no effort unattempted for the accomplishment of this important event. The reluctance however of the Nabob continued unsubdued; and Mr. Middleton, the Resident, was instructed to supersede the autho- rity of the Nabob, and perform the necessary measures by the operation of English power. He proceeded at last to the execution of the Governor- General’s commands; but the Nabob, shocked at the degradation which he would sustain in the eyes of his people, if acts under his government of so much importance should appear to emanate from any power but his own, undertook the melancholy task.1 The words of the Resident to the Governor-General are instructive: “ I had the honour to address you on the 7th instant, informing you of the conversation
the Defence, p. 1823 — 2008. — M. There can be no doubt that the allega- tion was in the main true, — that the Begums were disaffected to the British Government, — that they connived at, if they did not authorize, levies of armed men for the service of Cheit Sing, — that their followers were pre- pared to rise in his behalf. There was no actual rebellion, but there was a manifestation of hostile feeling which justified retribution. — W.
1 According to Mr. Hastings, the Nabob had no objection to plunder the Begums. But he had given jaghires to certain persons, whom Mr.
Hastings calls his “ Orderlies, and others of that stamp “ the
companions of his looser hours.” These he wished not to resume ; and, therefore, endeavoured to depart from his engagement of resumption alto- gether. But the cause appears not sufficient to account for the effect. If he had resumed the jaghires of his orderlies, which were of trifling amount, what would have hindered him from giving them something of equal or greater amount ?
THE NABOB AVERSE TO PLUNDER THE BEGUMS.
451
which had passed between the Nabob and me on B00K
1 ^ CHAP. 8.
the subject of resuming the jaghires ; and the step
I had taken in consequence.” The step was the 17Sl* issuing of perwannahs or warrants to the Aumils or agents on the jaghires, to desist from acting in behalf of the Begums. “ His Excellency appeared to be very much hurt and incensed at the measure; and loudly complains of the treachery of his ministers, first, in giving you any hopes that such a measure would be adopted ; and, secondly, in promising me their whole support in carrying it through. But as I apprehended ” (he means, expected) “ rather than suffer it to appear that the point had been earned in opposition to his will, he at length yielded a nominal acquiescence, and has this day issued his own perwannahs to that effect; declaring, however, at the same time, both to me and his ministers, that it is an act of compulsion.” 1
The resumption of the jaghires was not the only measure which had been conceived and resolved against the Begums. Their treasures were to be seized.2 The Nabob and the resident, with a body
1 Letter to Mr. Hastings, dated 9th of December, 1781. Notwith- standing these, and the numerous other proofs, that Hastings was well aware of the reluctance of the Nabob, to proceed to the acts by which his parents were plundered, Hastings, when it suited his purpose to put on the show of a wonderful tenderness for the Nabob, wrote to his private agent,
Major Palmer, viz. on the 6th of May, 1783, “ that it had been a matter of equal surprise and concern to him to learn from the letters of the resi- dent, that the Nabob Vizir was with difficulty, and almost unconquerable reluctance, induced to give his consent to the attachment of the treasure deposited by his father under the charge of the Begum his mother, and to the resumption of her jaghire, and the other jaghires of the individuals of his family;” as if he had never heard of these facts before ! Such speci- mens of Mr. Hastings, as this, meet us often in the records of his govern- ment.
8 As some confusion took place, though much less than what was
2 G 2
452
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
v. of English troops, proceeded towards the abode of the - princesses at Fyzabad, where they arrived on the 8th
1782.
expected, and the servants and agents of the princesses -withheld not some demonstrations of opposition, when the jaghires were taken away ; this was called resistance ; and Mr. Hastings was willing it should appear that this was heinous guilt, and that only in punishment of this guilt the reso- lution of seizing their money was adopted. (See Letter of Governor- General and Council to the Court of Directors, 11th of February, 1782; Tenth Report, ut supra, Appendix No. 5.) He himself, however, has furnished sufficient proof, that the resolution was adopted before the resumption of the jaghires was begun. “ It may be necessary,” he says, in his letter dated at Suragegurrah on the Ganges, 23rd of January, 1782, “ in this place to inform you, that in addition to the resolution of resuming the Begums’ jaghires the Nabob had declared his resolution of reclaiming all the treasures of his family which were in their possession, and to which by the Mohammedan laws he was entitled. This resolution I have strenu- ously encouraged and supported .... I have required and received the Nabob’s promise, that whatever acquisitions shall be obtained from the issue of these proceedings, it shall be primarily applied to the discharge of the balance actually due from him to the Company.” (Tenth Report, ut supra, Appendix No. 6; and Minutes of Evidence, ut supra, p. 2078.) Before the acquiescence of the Nabob could be procured to the execution of the plan for resuming the jaghires, viz. oil the 6th of December, 1781, the Resident writes to Mr. Hastings as follows : “ Your pleasure respect- ing the Begums, I have learnt from Sir Elijah ; and the measure heretofore proposed will soon follow the resumption of the jaghires. From both, or indeed from the former alone, I have no doubt of the complete liquidation of the Company’s balance.” These expressions apply so necessarily to the seizure of the treasures, that they can be applied to nothing else. In another letter to the Governor-General, on the following day, the Resident alludes to the same measure in the following terms : “ His Excellency talks of going to Fyzabad, for the purpose heretofore mentioned, in three or four days ; I wish he may be serious in his intention ; and you may rest assured I shall spare no pains to keep him to it.” The representation which was made, both in this letter to the Directors, and in the defence which Mr. Hastings first presented to the House of Commons, that the opposition of the Begums, to the seizure of their jaghires, was the cause on account of which the treasure was forcibly taken away from them, Mr. Hastings in a second defence retracted, affirming that the assertion was a blunder. See this defence, Minutes of Evidence at the Trial, p. 366. It was attempted to account for the blunder, by stating that the first defence was not written, and hardly examined by Mr. Hastings. According to this account, his blood was very cool upon the subject of his accusation, notwithstanding the loud complaints he so frequently preferred of the mental torture which it inflicted upon him. — M. What this last remark
MEANS OF COERCION APPLIED TO THE BEGUMS.
453
of January. The first days were spent in demands 8V
and negotiations. On the 12th the troops were
ordered to storm the town and the castle, but little 17*2- or no opposition was made ; for no blood was shed on either side ; and the troops took possession of all the outer enclosure of the palace of one of the prin- cesses, and blocked up the other.
Still, however, the female apartments were un- violated, and the treasure was not obtained. The difficulty was to lay hands on it without the disgrace of profaning and polluting the sacred precinct. The principal agents of the princesses were two aged personages of great rank and distinction, who had been in high trust and favour with the late Nabob ; the eunuchs, Jewar Ali Khan, and Behar Ali Khan.
It was resolved to put those personages in confine- ment, and apply to them other severities, in order that the Begums might, by their compassion, be moved to give up the treasure; or that the eunuchs themselves should be compelled, by their sufferings, to give up what was in their own custody, and use their influence with the princesses to resign what they possessed. By the torture of one party, money was to be extorted from another. The cruel lessons of Eastern despotism were well acquired by English- men.1
imports is not very clear. The fact was, that a very few days were allowed to reply to charges of most voluminous extent. It was wholly impossible for one person, unaided, to compose a reply to each head of accusation. Hastings wrote some of the answers, his friends wrote others, of which he approved upon a cursory perusal ; it is more wonderful that so few mistakes, than that any, should have been made.- — W.
1 This is quite unauthorized. No person was “ tortured and what- ever punishments were inflicted were not the acts of Englishmen. Except as guards in the service of the Vizir, they had nothing whatever to do with
454
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1782.
The expedient was attended with success. The Begums, or rather the elder of the two, in whose pos- session, as head of the female department, the treasure was placed, was wrought upon by these proceedings to make a surrender ; and money was paid to the English resident to the amount of the bond given to the Company by the Nabob for his balance of the year 1779-80.
The eunuchs were not yet released. Another balance remained, for the year 1780-81. Money for the discharge of this remaining debt was also demanded of the Princess. “ She declared with apparent truth,” says the Resident, “ that she had delivered up the whole of the property in her hands ; excepting goods ; which, from the experience,” he adds, “ of the small produce of the sale of a former payment made by her in that mode, I refused, as likely to amount, in my opinion, to little or nothing.” Money, however, was absolutely required ; and new severities were employed. To the officer guarding the eunuchs, the following letter was addressed by the Resident, dated the 20th of January, 1782. “ Sir, when this note is delivered to you, I have to desire, that you order the two prisoners to be put in irons, keeping them from all food, &c., agreeable to my instructions of yesterday. (Signed) Nath. Middleton.”
The sufferings to which they were thus exposed drew from the eunuchs the offer of an engagement
the proceedings; and the severities adopted were the acts of the Nabob and his ministers. The orders for their enforcement were addressed to the officers on duty, through the Resident, but they originated with the Nabob. — W.
MEANS OF COERCION APPLIED TO THE BEGUMS.
455
for the payment of the demanded sum, which they 8V-
undertook to complete, within the period of one
month, from their own credit and effects. The 17s2' engagement was taken, hut the confinement of the eunuchs was not relaxed; the mother and grand- mother of the Nabob remained under a guard; and the Resident was commanded, by Mr. Hastings, to make with them no settlement whatsoever. In the mean time, the payment, upon the bond extorted from the eunuchs, was begun ; the Begums delivered what they declared was the last remaining portion of their effects, including down to their table utensils ; and the Resident himself reported “ that no proof had yet been obtained of their having more.” Before the 23rd of February, 1782, upwards of 500,000/. had been received by the Resident for the use of the Company; and there remained on the extorted bond a balance, according to the eunuchs, of 25,000/. ; and of no more than 50,000/. according to the Resident.
The prisoners entreated for their release ; declaring their inability to procure any further sums of money while they remained in confinement ; but expressing a confident hope of being able to raise the balance required, if they were allowed to go abroad among their friends, and solicit their assistance. So far from any relaxation of their sufferings, higher measures of severity were enjoined. On the 18th of May, after they had lain two months in irons, the officer who commanded the guard under which they were con- fined, wrote to the Resident in the following words :
“ The prisoners Behar Ali Khan, and Jewar Ali Khan, who seem to be very sickly, have requested their irons might be taken off for a few days, that
456
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK ^
CHAP. 8.
1782.
they might take medicine, and walk about the garden of the place where they are confined. Now, as I am sure that they will be equally secure without their irons as with them, I think it my duty to inform you of this request. I desire to know your pleasure con- cerning it.” The nature of the orders under which the Resident acted, rendered it necessary for him to refuse the smallest mitigation of their torture. Nay, within a few days, that is, on the 1st of June, other terrors were held up to them. They were threatened to be removed to Lucknow, where, unless they per- formed without delay what they averred themselves unable to perform, they would not only be subjected to still severer coercion, but called upon to atone for other crimes. As these crimes were not specified, the threat was well calculated to act upon their fears. It involved the prospect of unbounded punishment ; any infliction, in short, for which persons with arbitrary power in their hands could find or feign a pretence. Several expedients were offered both by the prisoners and the Begums, who were alarmed at the prospect of losing, by removal, their confidential servants. These expedients -were not treated as objectionable, on any other score except that of time. They were rejected. The prisoners were removed to Lucknow, and cruelties inflicted upon them, of which the nature is not disclosed, but of which the following letter, addressed by the assistant-resident to the commanding officer of the English guard, is a disgraceful proof. “ Sir, the Nabob having deter- mined to inflict corporal punishment upon the prisoners under your guard, this is to desire that his officers, when they shall come, may have free access
CRUELTIES INFLICTED ON THE BEGUMS’ MINISTERS. 457
to the prisoners, and be permitted to do with them book v.
as they shall see proper.”
All the measures, however, of severity which could 1782- be devised proved unavailing, though the women of the Zenana were at various times deprived of food till they were on the point of perishing for want.
The rigours went on increasing till the month of December ; when the Resident, convinced both by his own experience, and the representation of the officer commanding the guard by which the princesses were coerced, that every thing wThich force could accomplish was already performed, and that if any hope remained of further payments, it was by lenient methods alone they could be obtained, removed of his own authority the guard from the palaces of the Be- gums, and set at liberty their ministers. As endea- vours had been used to make the severities appear the act of the Nabob, so the Resident strove to make the favour appear the bounty of the man by whom the English sceptre was swayed ; declaring to the Begums, that it wasthe Governor-General from whom the relief had been derived, and that he “ was the spring from whence they were restored to their dig- nity and consequence.” The letter in which the commanding officer reported the execution of the order of release, exhibits what no other words can express. “ I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant ; and, in consequence, immediately enlarged the prisoners, Behar Ali Khan, and Jewar Ali Khan, from their confinement, a cir- cumstance that gave the Begums, and the city of Fyzabad, in general, the greatest satisfaction. In tears of joy, Behar, and Jewar Ali Khan expressed
458
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1782.
their sincere acknowledgments to the Governor- General, his Excellency the Nabob Vizir, and to you, Sir, for restoring them to that invaluable blessing, liberty ; for which they would ever return the most grateful remembrance ; and at their request I trans- mit you the enclosed letters. I wish you had been present at the enlargement of the prisoners. The quivering lips, with the tears of joy stealing down the poor men’s cheeks, was a scene truly affecting. If the prayers of these poor men will avail, you will at the last trump be translated to the happiest regions in heaven.”1
1 Letter to the Resident, dated Fyzabad, 5th of December, 1782. See Tenth Report, ut supra, and Minutes of Evidence, ut supra, p. 348, 725. Appendix to 2d Art. of Charge, p. 78, 97, 43, 172. — M. The Eunuchs -were, no doubt, very happy to be released from confine- ment, but during the greater part of the time it was little more than nominal. They resided in a spacious and commodious house, belonging to one of themselves. They had all their servants about them, no restric- tion was placed on their food, and they were allowed to receive visitors. For about three months they had irons on their legs, but even then they could walk in the garden, and their fetters were removed when they returned from Lucknow, in August. The two Begums, the grandmother and mother of the Nabob, were subjected to no hardships, nor indignities, except a guard at the gate of the palace. So little did they suffer, that their faithful adherents, the two Eunuchs, were desirous they should be made to apprehend something worse — their forcible removal from Fyzabad. The officer in command writes to the Resident, “ The Cajahs (the two Eunuchs) one day told me that if I would pitch the Begum’s camp equipage, and desire her to prepare for an immediate journey, she would probably pay the balance due.” With regard to the distress for provisions, suffered by the inmates of the Khurad Mahal, the inferior women of Shuja-ad- Dowlah’s Zenana, it appears to have been, in some respects, accidental, and was one in which the English were not implicated ; their maintenance was by assignments upon the revenues of a particular district, which revenues were ill-collected, and the native officer, whose business it was to provide the establishment with supplies, was deficient in the means. Whether there was any design in this, or what object was to be effected by it, is not very obvious, but it was not a case in which the English authorities could with propriety interfere. Major Gilpin, the commandant of the guard,
PRESENT FROM THE NABOB.
459
Of the transactions of Mr. Hastings with the 8V-
Nabob at Chunar, another feature still remains. A
present was offered ; a present of a sum of no less 1782, than ten lacs, or 100,0001. sterling ; and notwith- standing the Company’s laws against presents, not- withstanding the acknowledged distress of the Nabob, and his inability to pay the debt which he owed to the Company, it was accepted. The Nabob was totally unprovided with the money ; the gift could be tendered only in bills, which were drawn upon one of the great bankers of the country. As the intention of concealing the transaction should not be imputed to Mr. Hastings, unless as far as evidence appears, 1 so in this case the disclosure cannot be imputed to him as virtue, since no prudent man would have risked the chance of discovery which the publicity of a banker’s transactions implied. Mr. Hastings in- formed the Directors of what he had received, in his letter dated the 20th of January, 1782 ; and in very plain terms requested their permission, as a reward for his services, to make the money his own.2
however, advanced 10,000 rupees for the expenses of the Mahal. Evidence of Capt. Jaques and Major Gilpin. — Minutes of Evidence, 849-910. Nothing could be more grossly unjust than to impute the sufferings which were thus occasioned, and which were most preposterously and falsely exaggerated, to the purposes or orders of Hastings.
1 The removal just before of the Company’s agent, Mr. Bristow, and the appointment of a private agent of his own, ought constantly to be treated as a ground of suspicion ; because it is exactly what a man with rapacious intentions would have performed.
4 Letter of the Governor-General, Eleventh Report, ut supra, Appendix C, No. 1. Why he should have wished for his reward out of this, rather than any other portion of the Company’s money, at first strikes the mind as obscure. But a very appropriate reason may be supposed. Drawn from any of the known sources of the Company’s revenue, the money must
460
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1782.
In the beginning of 1782, when little or no pro- gress had been made in realizing the sums of money which the Governor-General expected from his ar- rangements with the Nabob, he began to express, in a strain of unusual severity, his disapprobation of the Resident, Mr. Middleton : either really dissatisfied with him under the failure of his efforts ; or by a concerted plan, anticipating the commands of the Directors for the restoration of Bristow by removing the confidential agent, now when the confidential transactions were closed, that the restoration of Bristow might carry the appearance of his own act, and receive its completion before the commands of the Directors should arrive.1 Manifesting extreme anxiety for the acquisition of the money, on account of which he had ventured on disreputable ground, “ the agreement,” he said, “ which I concluded with the Yizir has yet served only to gratify revenge, or some concealed interest, and to make me odious to my own countrymen.”2 The Resident had at first
have appeared in their accounts, and could not be given to the Governor- General without the consent of the Company at large. The assent of the Directors obtained, the gift of the Nabob might have never appeared in any account, no consent of the Company at large have been sought, and the donation appropriated by the Governor- General without the knowledge of the public.
1 The complaints against Middleton are exposed to the suspicion of insincerity; 1. by their unreasonableness; 2. by the conformity of the artifice to the character of Mr. Hastings ; 3. by its great utility for the interest of his reputation, as well as of his pride and consequence ; 4. by the continued and very extraordinary subservience of Middleton, after- wards, to the views of Hastings, notwithstanding the serious injury which he now sustained at his hands.
2 Letter to Middleton, dated Benares, 1st of January, 1782. Extracts from Papers (in No. 1, vol. i.) presented to the House of Commons, 13th
HASTINGS S QUARREL WITH MIDDLETON.
461
suggested his doubts, whether the force which he sv‘
could employ in the resumption of the Jaghires would .
be sufficient to overcome the opposition which he an- 1782- ticipated. “ I judged it improper,” says the Governor- General, “ to expose a service of such importance, either to the hazard of a defeat, or the chance of a delay, and therefore immediately issued orders for the march of Colonel Sir John Cumming, with his entire detachment, for the performance of it.”1 The Resident hastened to communicate his opinion, that the Nabob would be alarmed and disgusted at the march of this force into his dominions ; that the pay- ment of the detachment would be a breach of the immediate treaty, equivalent to an order for imposing upon him anew the expense of the temporary bri- gade ; that a part of the Nabob’s troops were equal to the service ; and that a fortnight would suffice for its accomplishment. Under these representations the Governor-General ventured not to continue the march of the detachment ; but he declared to the Resident, that the contradictions in his statements covered them with doubts ; and, if the Resident could not assure him of his perfect competence to the ser- vice, that he would himself suspend his journey to the Presidency, and repair to Lucknow for the accom-
of March, 178G, p. 52. The Governor-General, showing a keen sensibility to the imputations on his character to which the transactions in Outle exposed, him, (“ I must desire,” said he, “ that your letters, upon all official and public subjects, may be official ; I cannot receive any as private, and my reputation and character have been too far committed to admit of an intercourse which I cannot use as authority”) seemed to think that the success of the measure, the money in hand, would sanctify the means. The rule, he well knew, too generally holds.
1 Letter from the Governor-General to the Council, dated 23rd of January, 1782 ; Tenth Report, Appendix, No. 6.
462
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V,
CHAP. 8.
1782.
plishment of the business in person. The Resident declared his competence ; and the Governor-General departed from Benares on his way to Calcutta on the 7th of January. He departed, however, “ after much hesitation, and I will confess,” says he, “ with some reluctance. I dread the imbecility and irresolu- tion which too much prevail in the Nabob’s councils, and must influence in some degree both the conduct of the Resident and the Minister ; and I consider the impending measure of too much consequence to be exposed to the risk of a disappointment.” The Resi- dent had stated, that the Governor-General had not by him been understood as intending the reformation, this year, of the Nabob’s military establishment, or as expecting a present supply to the Company’s treasury. " These,” says the Governor-General, in his letter of 3rd January, “ are fresh instances of what I have had too frequent cause to complain of, your total inatten- tion to my instructions.” He then repeats to the Re- sident the passage in his instructions, in which he told him, that rt to enable the Nabob to discharge his debt to the Company in the shortest time pos- sible was the chief object of his negotiation :” that the jaghires should be appropriated to that purpose : and that the reform of the troops should take place immediately after the settlement of the sum to be allowed for the personal and domestic expenses of the Nabob.1 But these expressions are vague, and necessarily express no more than a very eager desire for despatch ; and the Resident, for aught that ap- pears in the words, might be well justified in the
1 Extracts from Papers, ut supra, p. 53, 53; Tenth Report, ut supra Appendix, No. 6.
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE QUARREL.
463
conclusion which the Governor-General thought proper to condemn.
Mr. Middleton continued the exertions, and prac- tised all the severities, which have already been described, for extorting the money which the Go- vernor-General demanded. Yet he was formally accused by the Governor-General on the 23rd of September, and pronounced guilty of remissness in his duty ; when Mr. Bristow was appointed to fill the office from which, before the recent transactions, he had just been removed. In the mean time, that is, on the 6th of May preceding, Major Palmer had been sent to Oude, as the private agent of Mr. Hastings ; and various newr demands were urged upon the dependent Prince. The current annual claims varied, from seventy to one hundred and thirty lacs per annum, previous to the time of Middleton’s appointment in 1781. The receipts of the Resident in discharge of those claims, varied from sixty to eighty lacs per annum, whence the balance of debt perpetually increased. At the time of concluding the treaty between the Nabob and Hastings at Chunar, that balance appeared to stand at forty-four lacs. The Resident, instead of eighty lacs, which before was the maximum of the annual payments, realized one crore and forty-six lacs. By demands, however, urged by Major Palmer to the amount of eighty-two lacs, and claims of unknown balances, which appeared on adjusting the books of the Presi- dency, the sums, of which payment in that year wTas required of the Nabob, exceeded considerably two crores and a-half, that is, were at least equal to twice
book v.
CHAP. 8.
1782.
4G4
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. the annual revenue of the whole country.1 In vindi-
CHAP. 8. J
eating himself from the charge of remissness, in
l782- seizing the treasures of the Begums, Mr. Middleton shows, that not only had he been successful in regard to the ultimate acquisition, but that no unne- cessary time had intervened, and that no instrument of coercion, except the disgraceful one of violating the apartments and the persons of the Princesses, had been left unemployed. “ The Nabob,” he says, “ was son to the Begum we were to proceed against : a son against a mother must at least save appear- ances : circumstances sufficiently marked the English as the principal movers in the business : the favour- able occasion was not missed to persuade the Nabob that we instigated him to dishonour his family for our benefit : I had no assistance to expect from the Nabob’s ministers, who could not openly move in the business : in the East, it is well known, that no man, either by himself or his troops, can enter the walls of a Zenana — scarcely in the case of acting against an open enemy — much less an ally — a son against his own mother. The outward walls, and the Begum’s agents, were all that were liable to immediate attack : they were dealt with — and suc- cessfully, as the event proved.”2
1 “ The Nabob’s net revenue,” (says Mr. Middleton, Defence to the Governor-General and Council; Extracts from Papers in No. 1, vol. ii., presented to the House of Commons, 13th March, 1786, p. 2.) “ to my knowledge, never exceeded a crore and a half, but generally fell very short of that sum.” The Governor-General disavowed the demands which were made by his private agent, Palmer, and other remissions took place. —Ibid.
2 Ibid. p. 3.
QUARREL WITH MIDDLETON.
465
The reply which is made by the Governor-General B00K v-
to this defence is remarkable. As usual with the
Governor-General, it is mysterious and equivocal. 1/82- But if any thing can be gathered from it, they are the two following things : that he did intend that Mr. Middleton should have violated the Zenana ; and that not having acted in that manner, Mr. Middleton, his own chosen and confidential agent, might, both by himself and by others, be suspected of having betrayed his duty for bribes. “ I was pointed,” says the Governor-General, “ in my orders to Mr. Mid- dleton, that he should not allow any negotiation or forbearance, when he had once employed the Com- pany’s influence or power in asserting the Nabob’s claims on the Begums. My principal, if not sole inducement, for this order, which, with the instruc- tions following it, was as absolute as it could be expressed, was — to prevent the imputation which is too frequently, with whatever colour of reason, cast on transactions of this nature, begun with demands of sums of money to an enormous amount, supported with a great military parade and denunciations of vengeance for a refusal, and all relenting into the acceptance of personal submission and promise of amendment : in plainer words, I did not choose to be made the instrument of private rapacity, if any such design existed ; nor to expose myself to the obloquy of it, if such a design did not exist.”1 The Governor-General, however, no where said to Mr. Middleton, you shall enter the Zenana itself, if respect for it prove any obstruction to your designs.
1 Governor-General’s Minute on Mr. Middleton’s Defence, 21st Octo- ber, 1783. Ibid. p. 14.
VOL. IV. 2 H
466
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1782.
And it would have been equally easy for him to have condemned the Resident had he understood his orders in that invidious sense, as it was, according to the sense in which he did understand them. If the Resident had been guilty of the violation, and a storm of odium had arisen, the political conduct of the Governor-General lays sufficient ground for the presumption that he would not have scrupled to form for himself a screen out of his own ambi- guity.1
Upon the intelligence received of the recall of Mr. Bristow, and the appointment of Mr. Middleton to the office of Resident with the Vizir, previous to the memorable journey to Benares, the Court of Directors wrote to the Governor-General and Council, in the following terms : — “ Equally extraordinary, and un- warrantable, have been your proceedings respecting Mr. John Bristow. He was appointed Resident at Oude in December, 1774. In December, 1776, he was recalled without the shadow of a charge being exhibited against him. By our letter of the 4th of July, 1777, we signified our disapprobation of the proceedings against Mr. Bristow, and directed that he should be restored to his station ; which direction we confirmed by our subsequent letter of the 23rd of December, 1778. Mr. Bristow arrived in India in February, 1780, and in October of the same year, it was resolved by your Board, that Mr. Bristow should return to Oude ; but that his appointment should be limited solely to the conduct of political
’ Hastings intended that his orders should be obeyed. It was for his agents to adopt the least objectionable mode of executing them. This is all that can be fairly inferred from his instructions. — W.
ANIMADVERSIONS OF THE COURT OF DIRECTORS.
467
negotiations, Mr. Middleton being at the same time R<[)®^ 8V
nominated to settle pecuniary matters with the Vizir.
On the 21st May, 1781, upon receiving a letter from 1,s2 the V izir, expressing his desire that Mr. Bristow should be removed from his court, he was again recalled.
But, without entering into the consideration of this matter, and in order to vindicate and uphold our own authority, we do hereby positively direct, that Mr.
Bristow do forthwith proceed to Oude, in the station of our Resident there. You are likewise to observe, that we shall not suffer any other person to proceed to Oude, for the management of the finance, one person being, in our opinion, sufficient to transact our business there as principal in both those depart- ments.” 1
Along with the reprobation of the recall, and command for the restoration of Mr. Bristow, a similar reprobation and command arrived from the Court of Directors respecting Mr. Fowke, as Resident at Benares. The Governor-General, claim- ing a latitude in disobeying the orders of the Com- pany, when those orders were “ destructive to their own affairs,” and alleging that the diminution of authority of the Governor-General, in displaying to the eyes of India the defeat of his intentions even with respect to his own agents, was so destructive ; insinuating also, besides these general, some parti- cular objections, of which he spoke in the following mysterious terms, “ My present objection to his appointment I dare not put upon record, the
'Company’s General Letter to Bengal, 28th August, 1782 ; Tenth Report, ut supra, Appendix, No. 8.
2 H 2
468
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
8V- Members of the Board individually know it ; ” opposed obedience to the Company’s injunctions.
1/82. fpjie Members, however, of the Board, con-
sisting of Mr. Stables, Mr. Macpherson, Mr. Wheler, and Sir Eyre Coote, were of a different opinion ; they declared that, where the commands of the Directors were precise and peremptory, they con- ceived themselves to have no latitude of choice ; and Mr. Fowke received his appointment. The arrangement which the Governor-General had made for the management of the affairs of Benares had, as usual, disappointed his pecuniary expectations; and his dread of blame on the score of the transactions, to which his journey had given birth, seems upon this head to have rendered his irascibility peculiarly keen. The storm of his indignation fell upon the person into whose hands the collection of the revenues had fallen, the father of the newly-made Raja. “ I feel myself,” said Hastings, “ and may be allowed on such an occasion to acknowledge it, personally hurt at the ingratitude of this man, and at the discredit which his ill-conduct has thrown upon my appointment of him. He has deceived me : he has offended against the government which I then represented.” The “ personal hurts” of the Governor-General seem but too frequently to have prompted the measures of his administration. If he was “ personally hurt,” he was ill-qualified to assume the function of a judge. The Naib had failed in raising all the money which had been im- posed as tribute upon the province. Had the tribute not been, as it was, too large, dismission from his office might appear to be a sufficient visita-
TREATMENT OF FYZOOLLA KHAN.
469
tion for his offence. He was also deprived of lands, 8V-
thrown into prison, and threatened with death, by
the sole authority of Mr. Hastings, who did not so 1/8‘2- much as communicate the measures to his Council till after they were passed ; while the Naib in vain represented, that the tribute exceeded the means of the country ; that the ordinary receipts had been diminished by a drought : and that from a severe illness, he had, during two months, been incapable of attending to the painful and laborious duties of his office.1
Among the articles in the treaty, formed by the Governor-General with the Vizir at Chunar, one related to the Nabob Fyzoolla Khan. This was the chief who survived the ruin of the Rohilla nation in 1774, and who, having occupied a strong post on the hills, concluded a treaty, under the sanction and guarantee of the English government, by which he received in jaghire the country of Rampore and some other districts of Rohilcund, estimated at a revenue of fifteen lacs of rupees. “ From the month of Oc- tober, 1774, to the latter end of February, 1778,” says the Governor-General, “ we had no reference made to us relative to Fyzoolla Khan; but on the 25th of February, 1778, we received a letter from Mr. Middleton, in which he informed us, that reports had prevailed at Lucknow, that Fyzoolla Khan re- tained in his service a greater body of troops than were specified in the treaty of 1774, and that he had given protection and encouragement to Zabita Khan’s defeated army. Mr. Middleton, in the same letter.
See the Minutes of Evidence upon the Benares Charge.
470
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
ROOK
CHAP.
1782.
SV' told us, that he did not pay much attention to these — reports; but added — that the Nabob’s oppressive and unjust conduct, in various instances, might induce Fyzoolla Khan to form connexions, and to engage in schemes, incompatible with his duty and allegiance to the Vizir.”
The treaty which had been formed between Fy- zoolla Khan and the Vizir, in 1774, commonly known by the name of the treaty of Lai Dang, had been signed by the English Commander-in-Chief, in the name of his nation, as both a party to the trans- action, and guarantee of the engagement. Dis- trusting the faith of the Nabob, and alarmed by the preceding imputations, which he justly regarded as proofs that the wish was formed to dispossess him of his country, Fyzoolla Khan endeavoured to assure himself more completely of the protection of the English; and, as if the signature of the commanding officer was not sufficiently binding, made earnest application to have the treaty ratified by the Go- vernor-General and Council. “ Upon this subject,” says Mr. Hastings, “ I had frequent applications from him. But the guarantee appeared to me unne- cessary, except as it would afford great satisfaction to Fyzoolla Khan; for our government must have interfered, if the Nabob Vizir had attempted to encroach upon the rights which Fyzoolla Khan en- joyed under his treaty with the Vizir. Mr. Middle- ton deputed Mr. D. Barwell to Rampore, the resi- dence of Fyzoolla Khan. Mr. Barwell transmitted to Mr. Middleton a very particular account of Fy- zoolla Khan’s conduct, which appeared to have been in no instance contrary to his engagements ; and in
TREATMENT OF FYZOOLLA KHAN.
471
the month of April, his treaty with the Nabob Vizir BC°°^8V
was guaranteed by the Company, agreeably to his
earnestand reiterated requests. By whose suggestions 1/y2- doubts were instilled into the mind of Fyzoolla Khan, as to the validity of the treaty which Colonel Champion had witnessed, I know not.” On the occasion of the guarantee a present of elephants, horses, and other articles, with a lac of rupees, or 10,000^. sterling, was made to the Nabob, and one of a similar sum, or another lac, to the Company.
This transaction was soon followed by another.
In the same year intelligence was received of a war between England and France. Fyzoolla Khan,
“ being indirectly sounded,” displayed the greatest readiness to assist. He was under no obligation to afford a single man ; but, at the suggestion of the Resident at Oude, made an offer of all his cavalry,
2000 strong, and actually furnished 500. The Go- vernor-General, on the 8th of January, 1779, wrote to him, “ that in his own name, as well as that of the Board, he returned him the warmest thanks for this instance of his faithful attachment to the Com- pany and the English nation.”
In the treaty of Lai Dang, were the three follow- ing articles : “That Fyzoolla Khan should retain in his service 5000 troops, and not a single man more : that with whomsoever the Vizir should make war, Fyzoolla Khan should send two or three thousand of his troops, according to his ability, to join him : and that if the Vizir should march in person, Fyzoolla Khan should attend him with his forces.”
In November, 1780, the Governor-General and
472
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8.
1782.
• Council recommended to the Vizir to demand, that is, the Governor-General and Council did themselves demand, of Fyzoolla Khan, to furnish a body of 5000 horse, “ as the quota stipulated by treaty for the service of the Vizir.” The treaty however, did not stipulate for 5000, but only for 2000, or 3000, according to his ability ; and not for horse, but troops , of wThich not the whole, but the usual pro- portion in horse, equity of construction, could by any means, require : and the troops were not for the ser- vice of the Vizir, but of the Company.1 With the strongest expressions of duty and allegiance, Fyzoolla Khan represented, that his whole force was by treaty limited to 5000 men ; of which 2000 were horse, and 3000 foot ; that 3000 foot were required for the bu- siness of his government and collections ; but the whole was at the command of the Vizir and the Com- pany. When this answer was received, the Gover- nor-General, who, together with Mr. Wheler, consti- tuted the whole Board, and by his casting vote united in his own person all the powers of government, de- clared upon record, that “ The Nabob Fyzoolla Khan had evaded the performance of his part of the treaty between the late Nabob Suja ul Dowla and him, to which the Honourable Company were guarantees, and upon which he was lately summoned to furnish
1 This was too evident to be denied by any body ; but it was expressly stated to Fyzoolla Khan, by the Vizir, in the letter in which he commu- nicated the demand, that the demand was made by the direction of Mr. Hastings, and “not for his (the Vizir’s), but the Company’s service.” (See the Twenty-second Charge, moved by Mr. Burke,) Mr. Hastings himself says (see his answer to that charge), “ Fyzoolla Khan was under no engagement to furnish us with a single man, nor did I ever demand a man from him.” True, in sound, as usual with Mr. Hastings; false in substance.
TREATMENT OF FYZOOLLA KHAN.
473
the stipulated number of troops, which he is obliged Bc°°^8v
to furnish on the condition by which he holds the
jaghire granted to him.” 1782-
In defence of this procedure Mr. Hastings states, that the Company was environed with difficulties : the burden of the Mahratta war ; the alarming pro- gress of Hyder Ali in the Carnatic ; the march of the Berar army into Cuttack : and the prospect of an armament from France : That Sir Eyre Coote, before departing for Madras, recommended application to Cheyte Sing for a body of horse to cover the province of Bahar ; a battalion of sepoys; 1000 of the Vizir’s infantry; and as many ofFyzoolla Khan’s troops as could be procured, for the defence of Rohilcund.
That the British officer who commanded in that dis- trict complained, by letter, of having with him only 500 of that chieftain’s horse, though, ‘r in his agree- ment with government, he was obliged to keep up 500 troops for assisting in the defence of Rohil- cund That in the hurry of business, he, and the other Members of the Board, were deceived by this letter in the belief that 5000 was the quota defined ; and that horse, though not expressed in the treaty, was undoubtedly understood.1
A deception of such a kind, in matters of such importance, is not the most honourable sort of apo- logy, even where it holds.2 The demand, however.
1 Hastings’s Defence on the Charge respecting Fyzoolla Khan.
2 The Vizir knew the terms of the treaty better; and his letter was before Hastings, in which he admitted that the demand was a breach of that treaty. “ Should Fyzoolla Khan mention any thing of the tenor of the treaty, the first breach of it has been committed by him. I will reproach him with having kept too many troops, aud will oblige him to send the 5000 horse.”
474
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8
1782.
• of the Board went far beyond the erroneous words of . the letter. The letter spoke of only troops , not horse ; and it spoke of 5000, as only to he kept up; not sent out of the country, for deduction was neces- sary of those required for indispensable service at home : And the declaration of one of the parties as to what was understood in a treaty, hut not expressed, when there is no reason why it should not have been expressed, is an unavailing pretence, which, if admitted, would for ever place the -weaker of two contracting parties at the mercy of the stronger : As to the dangers of the British government, urged by the Governor-General on this, as they are on so many other occasions, there is only one principle which can render them applicable in his defence ; viz. that they furnished sufficient grounds for taking from every prince or lord of the country, whatever any of them had not ability to prevent him from taking.
In proceeding to measures of compulsion, Hastings somewhat lowered his demand. On the 15th of February, 1781, he decreed in Council, “ that a deputation to Fyzoolla Khan should be immediately recommended to be sent by the Nabob Vizir, accom- panied by an agent from Mr. Middleton in behalf of the English government, as guarantees, and that in presence of proper witnesses they should demand immediate delivery of 3000 cavalry ; and if he should evade or refuse compliance, that the deputies should deliver a formal protest against him for breach of treaty, and return, making their report to the Vizir, which Mr. Middleton was to transmit to the Board.” The deputation was sent. Fyzoolla Khan, alleging
FRAUDULENT CONDUCT OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL.
475
both his inability and the express words of the treaty, offered “ in addition to the 1000 cavalry already granted, to give 1000 more, when and wheresoever required, and 1000 foot;” together with one year’s pay in advance, and funds for the regular payment of them in future. The offer was rejected ; and the protest made. Hastings suspended all proceedings upon this protest at the Board ; met with the Nabob at Chunar ; and signed the following article relative to Fyzoolla Khan: — “ That as Fyzoolla Khan has, by his breach of treaty, forfeited the protection of the English government, and causes, by his continuance in his present independent state, great alarm and detriment to the Nabob Vizir, he be permitted, when time shall suit, to resume his lands and pay him in money, through the Resident, the amount stipulated by treaty, after deducting the amount and charges of the troops he stands engaged to furnish by treaty ; which amount shall be passed to the account of the Company during the continuance of the present war.”
What comes next to be stated is a characteristic circumstance. In transmitting the treaty of Chunar to his colleagues at the Board, Mr. Hastings accom- panied each article with his own explanations and remarks. Those upon the article relating to Fyzoolla Khan, were as follows: “The conduct of Fyzoolla Khan in refusing the aid demanded, though not an absolute breach of treaty, was evasive and uncandid. The demand was made for 5000 cavalry ; the engage- ment in the treaty is literally for 5000 horse and foot; Fyzoolla Khan could not be ignorant that we had no occasion for any succours of infantry from
book v.
chap. 8.
1782.
47G
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. ancj that cavalry would be of the most essential
service; so scrupulous an attention to literal expres-
1782. sjon5 when a more liberal interpretation would have been highly useful and acceptable to us, strongly marks his unfriendly disposition ; though it may not impeach his fidelity ; and leaves him little claim to any exertions from us, for the continuance of his jaghires. But I am of opinion that neither the Vizir’s, nor the Company’s interests would be pro- moted by depriving Fyzoolla Khan of his inde- pendency : And I have, therefore, reserved the ex-
ecution of this agreement to an indefinite term ; and our government may always interpose to prevent any ill effects from it.”
This imperiously calls for some observations. Mr. Hastings inserts, in an article of a solemn, public treaty, and sets his hand to the article, that a depend- ent of the Company has been guilty of a breach of treaty ; when at the same moment, he writes to his colleagues, that he has not been guilty of a breach of treaty, and that his fidelity is unimpeached. He gives to the Vizir, by equally solemn treaty, what the Vizir anxiously solicited, as an object of great desire, permission to dispossess Fyzoolla Khan; yet he writes to his colleagues, that this was a fraudulent artifice, and that he never meant the permission to have any effect. The cause of Mr. Hastings, during a calm investigation, suffers exceedingly by his practice and skill in the arts of deceit ; because the fair colours, which he himself can throw upon his conduct, become thoroughly untrustworthy, and, unless where they are supported by other evidence, cease to persuade.
NEW ARRANGEMENT WITH FYZOOLLA KHAN.
477
When, too, Mr. Hastings informs his colleagues, book ^v.
that by the treaty in virtue of which Fyzoolla Khan
possessed his jaghire, he was bound to afford 5000 ]782-
troops, the information was glaringly incorrect ; for the oppressed dependant had expressly appealed to the treaty, and offered obedience to the full extent of its bonds. Nay, by the treaty, he was rigidly hound not to retain in his service any more than 5000 troops both horse and foot ; and had he sent 5000 horse to the service of the English, in addition to which he must have raised horse and foot for the business of his country, he might have been punished for breach of treaty, and on this pretext, deprived of his independence.
F or several months after the return of the Vizir to his own capital, the Governor-General was impor- tuned, by applications both from him and from the Resident, to permit the expulsion of Fyzoolla Khan.
Towards the end of the year, 1782, a negotiation was opened for a pecuniary commutation of the military aid. Major Palmer was deputed to Ram- pore ; and spent a month, as he himself significantly expresses it, “ in order to effect by persuasion, what he could have obtained in an hour by threats and compulsions;” that is, a sum of fifteen lacs of rupees, on the condition of being exempted from all future claims of military service.
Endeavour was used to obtain from Fyzoolla Khan another sum of fifteen lacs ; for which his jaghire, which was only a tenure for life, was to be converted into a perpetual hereditary possession. As this change in his tenure was supposed to be of the highest importance to Fyzoolla Khan, he very much
478
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book V. surprised the English agent by declaring his inability
• to advance the money required, and declining the
178'2- bargain. From the improving cultivation of the country, and apparent riches of the people, the effects of the good government which that lord had main- tained, the English, as usual, believed, in company with the Vizir, that his riches were immense.1
Major Palmer bore his testimony, on this occasion, to the falsehood, too, of the imputations upon which the oppression of Fyzoolla Khan had been founded : That he had given encouragement to the desertion of the ryots of the Vizir ; and that he had a greater number of troops than 5000. The numbers of the Rohilla people in this country exceeded that amount ; but Rohillas, in other than military employments, were not by the treaty forbidden. At any rate, the Major adds, “ it does not appear that their number is formidable, or that Fyzoolla Khan could by any means subsist such numbers as could cause any serious alarm to the Vizir; neither is there any appearance of their entertaining any views beyond
1 The result proved the unsoundness of his excuse, for he did pay the fifteen lacs, and without any inconvenience. Of the rapid improvement of his resources, we have undeniable testimony in the life of Hafiz Rehmat Khan. It is there stated by Mustajat Khan, “ When Fyzoolla Khan took possession of the territory granted to him by the treaty of Lolldong, he adopted every means in his power for increasing the cultivation, and, in a few years, so improved the country, that the produce was treble, or per- haps quadruple, the former amount. Being prudent in his expenditure his coffers were well filled, and he was enabled to entertain a large proportion of the Afghans of Bareilly, Pillibheet, Ownla, &c., all of whom eagerly flocked to his standard,” p. 130. That in all this Fyzoolla Khan acted w isely is not denied, but the tendency of his measures was as undeniably a violation of the spirit of the treaty, into which he had entered ; and their success is a proof that his plea of inability to furnish either men or money was dishonest. — W.
FYZOOLLA KHAN.
479
the quiet possession of the advantages which they at present enjoy.”
It was an object with the Governor-General and Council, to convince the Court of Directors that the bargain they had made with Fyzoolla Khan was a good one, and the money obtained an ample com- pensation for the alienated right. They now, there- fore, distinctly understood and affirmed, that Fyzoolla Khan was bound not to exceed the number of 5000 troops, in horse and foot, and to send to the service of the Vizir only two or three thousand men ; which, to the Vizir, they said, was f‘ a precarious and unserviceable right that “ the rumours which had been spread of the hostile designs of Fyzoolla Khan, against the Vizir, were totally groundless ; and if he had been inclined, that he had not the means to make himself formidable.” 1 These expressions are to be contrasted with those made use of, on the 1 st of April, 1781, by the Assistant Resident, Johnson; who wras sent for the purpose of making the protest, in case of the refusal of 3000 horse. On the hunt for appearances of guilt, he found them at every step ; and the very day after his arrival, reported, that “ the Rohilla soldiers, in the district of Rampore alone, were not less than twenty thousand.” With great caution should men in power receive from their agents reports by which their known wishes
1 Secret Letter from Bengal, dated 5th April, 1783; Extracts from Papers (in No. 2, vol. i.), presented to the House of Commons, ut supra, p. 44. In the Secret Letter from Bengal, dated 10th March, 1783, the Governor-General and Council also say, “ This” (the fifteen lacs) “ is a valuable compensation for expunging an article of a treaty, which was of such a tenor, and so loosely worded, that the Vizir could never have derived any real advantage from it. The money will of course be received by the Company, in part liquidation of the Vizir’s debt.”
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1 782.
480
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8.
1782.
• are flattered ; because the proportion of observers is . lamentably small, who, in such cases, will not deceive themselves, and without any formed inten- tion of mendacity, yet from the very lust of pleasing the men on whose favour or disfavour their prosperity or adversity depends, give them reports which will deceive them. It is necessary, in justice to Mr. Hastings, to add, that with respect to the permis- sion, granted by the treaty of Chunar, to resume the jaghire of Fyzoolla Khan, he afterwards allowed that his conduct was the proper object of blame.2
It appears that the Yizir relented at a period rather early in the persecution of the Begums. Before the recall of Mr. Middleton, he wrote to the Governor-General several letters, on the particular subject of the resumption of the estates, and the confiscation of the treasures of the Princesses, and
1 For the passage relating to Fyzoolla, see Parliamentary Papers, ut supra; the Twenty -second Article of Charge presented by Mr. Burke; the Answer of Mr. Hastings ; and the Tenth Report of the Select Committee. — M. Hastings admits that in the anxiety and alarm, which he naturally suffered during the crisis of Cheit Sing’s insurrection, he assented, without due consideration, to the Vizir’s views of dispossessing Fyzoolla Khan; even then, however, he provided against their being precipitately realized, and what was the consequence ? They never were realized. It was there- fore monstrous injustice to impeach him for concurrence in a measure that never took place, in consequence of his own precautions against its unrea- sonable accomplishment. That the expulsion of the Nabob of Rampore might in time become imperative was very probable, for there was no doubt, whatever may be pretended in the text, that the Nabob’s troops and resources considerably exceeded those limits to which the treaty pur- posed to restrict him, and there was as little doubt of his hostility to the Vizir. The contingency was however obviated by a pecuniary levy, in consideration of which he was released from all obligation to furnish troops for the service of the Vizir. So little real injury was done to Fyzoollah Khan, by this arrangement, that he enjoyed a prosperous administration until his death, in the year 1794, during which his country became exceedingly flourishing and prosperous, and he left a large accu- mulated treasure to unworthy descendants. — W.
SEQUEL OF THE TRANSACTIONS.
481
appears to have severely complained of the oppro- 8> '
brious part which he was compelled to perform. It
was one of the rules of the Governor-General, to lv82' suppress as much as possible of any correspondence, of w7hich the appearance would give him pain.
These letters, accordingly, were not entered in the Company’s records. But what he wrote to the Resident on the subject of them remains, and shows, that in his breast they excited the highest resentment.
He chose to consider them as not the letters of the Vizir ; whom he represents as too void of character, to write any thing of himself. He called them the letters of the minister, f‘ who,” says he, “ by an abuse of his influence over the Nabob, he being, as he ever must be, in the hands of some person, a mere cipher in his hands, dared to make him assume a very unbecoming tone of refusal, reproach, and resentment, in opposition to measures recommended by me, and even to acts done by my authority.”
He persisted in ascribing guilt to the Begums, and said, “ the severities which have been exercised towards them, were most justly merited, by the advantage which they took of the troubles in which I was personally involved last year, to create a rebellion in the Nabob’s government;1 and to com-
1 When it suited the Governor-General he could assign the disturbance in Oude to very different causes. In a Minute [Bengal Secret Consul- tations, 10th December, 1783; Extracts from Papers (in No. 2, vol. iv.) presented to the House of Commons, upon the 13th day of March, 1786, p. 7], he says, “ The Zemindars in the provinces of Oude, and in the other dominions of the Nabob, Asoph ul Dowlah, have ever been either in a state of actual rebellion, or bordering upon it; even in the time of the Nabob Sujah ul Dowlah, they could only be restrained by a military force superior to that which they could oppose to it.” The instigations, surely of the Begums was not then wanted to account for the little ferment which took place in Oude, upon the occasion of the explosion in Benares.
VOL. IV. 2 I
482
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. plete the ruin which they thought was impending
. on ours.” “ If it is the Nabob’s desire to forget
1/82- and forgive their past offences, I have no objection to his allowing them, in pension, the nominal amount of their jaghires ; but if he shall ever offer to restore their jaghires to them, or to give them any property in land, after the warning which they have given him, by the dangerous abuse which they formerly made of his indulgence ; you must remonstrate, in the strongest terms, against it ; you must not permit such an event to take place; until this government shall have received information of it, and shall have had time to interpose its influence for the prevention of it.” On this, and on various other occasions, wdiere the Governor-General spoke of pensions with so much ease, he well knew, that in the circum- stances and with the disposition of the government of the Vizir, a pension, unless to Englishmen whom he feared, little or nothing differed from a name. Nay more; if the payment had been sure, the nominal revenue was but a portion of the actual proceeds ; and the Begums, of course, were to be robbed of all the rest. It was in fact from this robbery, namely the revenue which the Nabob could extract from the estates of the Begums, beyond the pensions he would bind himself to pay them, that the money was to come, by which the distress of Mr. Hastings was to be relieved.1
1 Jagirs and estates are here confounded, although two very different things ; the Begums had no estates, and every principle of good govern- ment demanded the resumption of grants held upon the condition of mili- tary service, which only furnished a pretext for levying armed followers, and a means of defying the authority of the state. — W.
DECISION OF THE DIRECTORS DISREGARDED.
483
The period at last arrived for the review, by the Bc°° jj- g ' ■
Court of Directors, of the proceedings of then govern
ment in India relative to the Begums. In their 1/82- letters of the 14th of February, 1783, “It nowhere,” say the Directors, “ appears, from the papers at present in our possession, that the Begums excited any commotions previous to the imprisonment of Cheyte Sing, and only armed themselves in con- sequence of that transaction ; and it is probable that such a conduct proceeded from motives of self- defence, under an apprehension, that they themselves might likewise be laid under unwarrantable con- tributions.” The Court of Directors, in consequence, gave their commands, that if, upon inquiry, it should appear that the Princesses had not been guilty of the practices of which Mr. Hasting accused them, then- estates should be restored ; and an asylum offered them within the Company’s territory. In obedience to this injunction, it was moved by Mr. Stables, a member of the Supreme Council, that the inquiry should be instituted.
The conduct pursued by the Governor-General is the next object of regard. He set himself in oppo- sition to the inquiry ; and, having a majority of the Council on his side, he prevented it. The reasons by which he supported his opposition were as follows.
He asserted, “that the reasons of the Court of Directors, if transmitted with the orders for the in- quiry, will prove, in effect, an order for collecting evidence to the justification and acquittal of the Begums, and not for the investigation of the truth of the charges which have been preferred against
2 I 2
484
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. them.” Here the insinuation is, that whenever, in
India, the views of government are known, all evi-
1/82, dence tendered will he sure to coincide with those Hews. The Governor-General ought to have reflected, that, if this he true, all the evidence which he pro- duced against the Begums, Cheyte Sing, or any of the other parties, whom he pretended to punish under the colour of guilt, if in other respects less devoid of the essentials of proof than it really was, ought to he counted for nothing. Besides, it was neither neces- sary, nor did the author of the proposal require, that “ the reasons ” of the Court of Directors should be transmitted with the order for inquiry. Mr. Hastings in a further Minute asserted, that the inquiry wrnuld be fraught with “ evils greater than any which exist in the consequences which have already taken place, and which time has almost obliterated.” “ If,” said he, “ I am rightly informed, the Nabob Vizir and the Begums are on terms of mutual good will, it would ill become this government to interpose its influence, by any act which might tend to revive their animosities, and a very slight occasion would be sufficient to effect it. They will instantly take fire on such a delaration, proclaim the judgment of the Court in their favour, demand a reparation of the acts, which they will construe wrongs, with such a sentence warranting that construction, and either accept the invitation (to reside under the protection of the Company), to the proclaimed scandal of the Nabob Vizir, which will not add to the credit of our government, or remain in his dominions, but not under his authority, to add to his vexations and the
NEW MEASURES OF HASTINGS.
485
disorders of the country, by continual intrigues and B°(^8V
seditions. Enough already exists to affect his peace,
and the quiet of his people. If we cannot heal, let us 1/S2- not inflame the wounds which have been inflicted.”
He added, “ If the Begums think themselves aggrieved to such a degree as to justify them in an appeal to a foreign jurisdiction ; to appeal to it against a man standing in the relation of son and grandson to them ; to appeal to the justice of those who have been the abettors, and instruments of their imputed wrongs ; let us at least permit them to be the judges of their own feelings, and prefer their complaints, before we offer to redress them. They will not need to be prompted. I hope I shall not depart from the sim- plicity of official language, in saying, the Majesty of Justice ought to be approached with solicitation, not descend to provoke or invite it, much less to debase itself by the suggestion of wrongs, and the promise of redress, with the denunciation of punishments, before trial, and even before accusation.” If nothing remained to stain the reputation of Mr. Hastings, but the principles avowed in this singular pleading, his character, among the friends of justice, would be sufficiently determined.
Although the commands of the Court of Directors, respecting reparation to the Begums, were strength- ened by a formal application from the Vizir, “ re- questing ” (such are the words of Mr. Hastings, in- troducing the subject to the Board) “ that he might be permitted to restore, to his grandmother and other relations, the jaghires which were taken from them the beginning of last year,” the authority of the Governor-General was sufficient to prevent, at the
486
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP. 8.
1782.
• present time, the adoption of any measure in their - favour.1
Notwithstanding the severities practised upon the family of the Vizir, and the usurpation of his autho- rity by Mr. Middleton, who even issued warrants upon his own authority for the resumption of the jaghires, Mr. Middleton was dismissed for want of rigour in pressing the demands of the English go- vernment ; and Mr. Bristow was appointed, under the implied as well as declared expectation, that he would supply what had been remiss in the conduct of his predecessor. Nor was this all. He was fur- nished with a set of instructions, from the hand of the Governor-General, hearing date the 23rd of October, 1782. In these instructions, in which he was parti- cularly referred to the injunctions which Mr. Middle- ton had previously received, four objects were prin- cipally pointed out to his attention; 1st, “ To limit, and separate the personal disbursements of the Vizir from the public accounts; 2ndly, To reform the mili- tary establishment, reducing the troops to one uniform corps, and to the form, if possible, most useful to the Company, that of cavalry ; controlling even the ap- pointment of officers, nay, “ peremptorily opposing it,” as often as the Vizir should persist in a choice which to the Resident should appear objectionable; 3rdly, To control, or rather to exercise, the power of appointing Aumils and collectors in the revenue de- partment, it being reserved to the Nabob’s ministers to appoint them, wuththe concurrence of the Resident;
1 See the Fourth Article of Charge, and Mr. Hastings’s Answer, with the Papers printed by the House of Commons in 1786.
HASTINGS INSISTS UPON THE VIZIR’S DEPENDENCE.
4thly, To endeavour to reform the disgraceful state of the administration of justice.
The grand object of the English government was, to obtain from the Nabob the payment of the sums for which they had induced him to become bound. But such were the disorders of his administration, and such the effects of those disorders upon the population and produce of the country, that without great reforms this payment seemed impracticable, and without the virtual assumption of the powers of government into better hands than those of the Yizir and his agents, all reform was an object of despair. The government, accordingly, had been converted into a government of Englishmen, in fact ; conducted by the instrumentality of the Yizir and his agents, and under the forms of their authority. Of this, the points of instruction to Mr. Middleton, described above, are more than adequate proof.
In the administration of the Nabob, the principal organ went by the name of the Minister. The person raised to this office by the influence of the Governor-General was Hyder Beg Khan. The character and situation of this person, as described by Mr. Hastings himself, require to be noticed. In his instructions to Mr. Bristow, in October, 1782, he says : “ Immediately on your arrival, sound the disposition of Hyder Beg Khan. His conduct has, for some time past, been highly reproachable. Till within these three months he possessed, without control, both the unparticipated and entire adminis- tration, with all the powers annexed to that govern- ment; the Nabob being, as he ever must be in the hands of some person, a mere cipher in his.” To
487
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1782.
488
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1782.
so great a degree did Mr. Hastings represent the Vizir as being the mere tool of the minister, that he treated the very letters of the Vizir, as literally the letters of the minister ; and spoke of him and of them in the following terms : “ He has dared to use both the Nabob’s name and even his seal affixed to letters, either dictated to the Nabob, or written from him without his knowledge.” He then pro- ceeded to state the necessity, that this man, in whose hands the Vizir was a tool, should be merely a tool in the hands of the English Resident ; in other words, that the English Resident should wield sub- stantially the powers of government. “ I cannot omit,” said he, “ to repeat the sentiments which I expressed in the verbal instructions which I gave you at your departure, that there can be no medium in the relation between theResident and the minister, but either the Resident must be the slave and vassal of the minister, or the minister at the absolute devotion of the Resident.” He then describes him as the mere creature of the English government. “ He exists,” said the Governor-General, by his dependence on the influence of our government; and if he will submit to hold his office on such conditions as I require, I would prefer him to any other. At the same time, it will be necessary to declare to him, in the plainest terms, the footing and conditions on which he shall be permitted to retain his place, with the alternative of dismission, and a scrutiny into his past conduct, if he refuses. These conditions are described as follows ; “ In the first place, I will not receive from the Nabob, as his, letters dictated by the spirit of opposition — but shall
HASTINGS S OPINION OF THE VIZIR.
489
consider every such attempt as his minister's and as 8V
an insult on our government. In the second place, I
shall expect that nothing is done, in his official cha- 1/S2- racter, but with your knowledge and participation ; at the same time the first share of the responsibility will rest with you : the other conditions will follow distinctly in their places, because I consider you as responsible for them.” The responsibility implies the power ; therefore the power was to exist in the Resident ; and any opposition, so much as by letter, that is, by complaint, was to be considered as an insult on the English government,
To the Minister, Hyder Beg, Mr. Hastings him- self wrote in the following terms. “ In answer to my letter Raja Gobind Ram received a perwanna from the Nawab, containing complaints and reproaches at my interference in his affairs, and his unwillingness to receive any agent from me. These sentiments, and these expressions, are neither consonant to the benevolence of the Nawab’s temper, nor to the friendship which, I know, he possesses for me ; — but were dictated for other purposes, known to yourself only. They are your sentiments, and your expres- sions ; and not the Nawab’s. But my astonishment at the other parts of the perwanna is not to be ex- pressed ; for it declares all I had said respecting the disordered state of the Nawab’s government to be entirely false. Either these affirmations were dic- tated by the Nawab ; or written without his know- ledge. If they wTere dictated by the Nawab, they were such as would not admit of a reply from me, in an immediate address to himself; because I must have told him that he was deceived, and kept in
490
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. utter ignorance of his own affairs, at the same time
that the whole world, except himself, saw the con-
1782- dition they were in, and the destruction that was hanging over him. If the letter was written in the Nawab’s name, hut without his knowledge, what must have been your opinion of me, that could induce you to attempt so gross a deception upon my understanding? In either case, your conduct is without excuse. Its object I plainly see. By the authority of the Nawab Vizir you mean your own. When you make the Nawab to complain of the usurpation upon that authority, and to assert his right to the uncontrolled exercise of it, the plain inter- pretation of this is, that you yourself lay claim to the usurpation of his authority, and to the uncontrolled exercise of it. And how has it been exercised ? I shall not repeat particulars, having already written to you fully upon them — and the subject is un- pleasant. But I must tell you that such is their notoriety, that the report of them is echoed to me from all parts of Hindostan and the Deccan ; and the most alarming apprehensions are expressed by my agents, employed in the remote affairs of this government, lest they should attract the hostilities of other powers.” 1 — Such, at the end of October, 1782, was the opinion declared by Mr. Hastings of the condition in which the government of Oude was kept, in the hands of the Nabob and his Minister.
In pointing out to Mr. Bristow the establishment of new offices, for the business of the revenues, for reform in the administration of justice, for the
1 Governor-General to Hyder Beg Khan, dated 20th October, 1782. Minutes, ut supra, p. 797.
CONDUCT OF HASTINGS TOWARDS MR. BRISTOW.
491
appointment of new administrators, and the coercion 8v-
of rebellious Zemindars ; as part of the objects, on
the accomplishment of which, for the reform in the 17S2- disorders in the Nabob’s government, the desires of the Governor-General were fixed ; absolute perform- ance was exacted at the hands of the Resident, without any other limitation to the exercise of his power, than what the rules of prudence, and “ every ostensible and external mark of respect to the Nabob,” might recommend.
When the Resident had as yet been but a few months in office, a letter, was written by the Vizir, dated the 28th of March, 1783, arrived, complaining, in the most bitter terms, of the assumption of his authority by the Resident. Instead of treating it, according to the terms of his paper of instructions, as the letter, “ not of the Vizir, but of the Minister, and as an insult on the English government,” the Governor-General received it with profound respect ; and on the 21st of April presented it, with the documents by which it was attended, to the Council, as a matter deserving their most serious regard.
From the delicacy of the relation, in which, on account of former oppositions, he stood to Mr. Bristow, he professed a desire to he guided in his sentiments, on this occasion, by the sentiments of the Board. On the 19th of May, consultation upon the subject took place, when the reserve of the Governor-General disappeared. He declared, that tfthe facts, as stated in the Nabob’s complaints, were usurpations of the authority, and even of the sovereignty of the Nabob Vizir.” But, what was more singular, he declared that his instructions to
492
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8.
1782.
• Mr. Bristow did not authorize any usurpation of that . authority or sovereignty. And he proposed, even before Mr. Bristow should be heard in his defence, that certain proceedings of his, the objects of the Vizir’s complaint, should be immediately revoked. The Council, however, rejected this proposition; and only so far concurred with the Governor-General, as to send Mr. Bristow a copy of the papers, and require his defence. The tone of the Governor- General, upon this, rose very high. “ The Governor- General,” such were the terms of his minute, “ desires it to be recorded, that he protests against the resolution of the Board, and will assign his reasons at large hereafter.” What follows is still more remarkable. As if he had penned the instruc- tions by bis sole authority, and as if upon that authority alone their validity rested, he declared them no longer of any force. The Minute goes on ; “ He (the Governor-General) also desires, that as the instructions given by bim to Mr. Bristow have no longer any force, and as he solemnly disavows their authority, under any construction, for Mr. Bristow to exercise any control over the Nabob Vizir, or participation in the sovereignty of the Vizir’s do- minions, the Board will be pleased to cause such new instructions to be drawn out, and transmitted to Mr. Bristow, as they shall think proper.” If the whole extent is admitted of the exaggerating language of Mr. Hastings and the Nabob, which nevertheless very far exceeded the facts, the whole of his paper of instructions not only authorized but commanded a complete control over the Nabob Vizir, and not a participation only in the
NEW MEASURES RELATIVE TO THE VIZIR.
493
sovereignty, but the substantial exercise of the 8V whole.1
On the 24th of July, Mr. Hastings complained 1/82- to the Board, that Mr. Bristow had been guilty of disrespect to the Board, in not transmitting his defence ; and on this occasion could not forbear alluding to an offence, which he appears never to have surmised without a purpose of punishment ;
“ Perhaps,” said he, “ Mr. Bristow may wish to avail himself of the principle, which forbids that any man should be condemned unheard, to withhold his de- fence until he shall have exceeded the period which has been so repeatedly portended for the close of the present government.” On the 28th of the same month, he moved, “ That Mr. Bristow, for disrespect to the Board, and disobedience of the written orders to him by the Board on the 29th of May, be removed and recalled from his station and office at Lucknow.”
Yet Mr. Hastings had before him a letter of Mr. Bristow dated on the 23rd of June, in the following words : “ Since I had last the honour to address you,
I have been confined to my room by indisposition.
I am now somewhat recovered, and shall not fail to expedite my reply to your commands of the 29th ult., which I have on this account been compelled to post- pone.” The Board refused to acquiesce in the pre- cipitate condemnation, recommended to them by their
1 It is memorable, that there is actually in his Paper of Instructions the following passage : “ From the nature of our connexion with the govern- ment of Oude, from the Nabob’s incapacity, and the necessity which will for ever exist (while we have the claim of a subsidy upon the resources of his country), of exercising an influence, and frequently substituting it entirely in the place of an avowed and constitutional authority in the administration of his government,” &c.
494
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 8.
1782.
President ; and soon after, the letter of Mr. Bristow, dated on the 30th day of July, arrived. The Resi- dent either absolutely denied the facts which were asserted in the complaints of the Vizir, or represented the actions with which he was charged, as actions to the performance of which he was by the tenor of his instructions compelled, actions absolutely neces- sary to accomplish the ends which the English government had in view, actions attended with bene- ficial effects, and performed with all the delicacy possible towards the Vizir. The complaints he repre- sented as flowing solely from the minister, to whose interests all reform was adverse, who had opposed it, in every instance, with all the power of eastern sub- tlety, with all the power of a despotic influence tyrannically exercised over the helpless Vizir, and with all the effect which could be given to this power by a hold upon the ear of the Governor- General. On hearing this defence, the Council- General, with the exception of Mr. Hastings, the accuser, unanimously declared, that no misconduct on the part of Mr. Bristow had been proved ; and by their decision pronounced a heavy condemnation of their chief. Nothing seems better supported than the opinion which the minute of Mr. Macpherson expressed, “ That Mr. Bristow has fully refuted the accusations advanced against him ; and that, if they had in some degree been established, they would lie more against the Board than against Mr. Bristow, who continually advised them of his endeavours to carry their instructions into effect.”
The Governor-General meditated an important change, in the relations between the Nabob of Oude,
ARTIFICE OF HASTINGS.
495
and the English government. He moved that in V
conformity with the proposal of the Vizir, and of his
minister, the English residency should be withdrawn, 1782- and the joint security of the Nabob and the minister taken for the discharge of the obligations which the Company held upon the government of Oude. In the instructions, to which reference has so frequently been made, of Hastings to Bristow, “ The Nabob/’ it was said, “ has repeatedly and bitterly complained of the indignity which he suffers in his authority, by the usurpation of the Company’s residents ; and has repeatedly demanded, that whenever the Company’s balance shall be completely discharged, he may be free from this vexation, that he may be permitted to pay the subsidy in ready money ; and that the assignments which have been granted to satisfy that demand may be restored him.” The quarter from which this proposition proceeded, Mr. Hastings at the same time declared, was no secret to him. It proceeded, he said, from Hyder Beg Khan. He added, tf It may not, however, be amiss to talk with the minister on this subject ; to let him know, that it is well understood to be a demand for substituting his authority in the place of the Company’s, and to invest him with the sovereignty of the Vizir’s domi- nions.” These words are pregnant with meaning : in the first place they declare, that the authority, ex- ercised by the Company, embraced the sovereignty of the Vizir’s dominions, though, for the sake of crimi- nating Mr. Bristow, he could erect every interference in that sovereignty into an act of guilt ; and secondly they declare, that to withdraw the English residency from Oude, was to deliver over the Vizir, and his
496
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK \
CHAP. 8
1782.
• sovereignty into the hands of Hyder Beg, whose - character he painted in the blackest colours. Yet, at the very moment when he was proposing to offer up this sacrifice of the Vizir and his sovereignty to the cupidity and tyranny of Hyder Beg Khan, he was not restrained from the glaring hypocrisy of express- ing a deep concern for the indignity which he pre- tended the Vizir had sustained, by the part which the English Resident had acted, in endeavouring to reform his government, and check the malversations of the minister by whom he was oppressed.
At the very time, however, of penning his instruc- tions, Mr. Hastings stated that he had an inclination to the present measure. “ I confess,” says he “ that 1 did myself give encouragement to this proposition ; knowing at the same time the quarter from which it came, I mean from Hyder Beg Khan ; but willing to exonerate this government from the trouble and responsibility, and the Company from the disgrace, of whatever might attend the administration of the Nabob’s government. I thought, too, that it pre- sented a sure prospect of the regular payment of the current demands, by the penalty, which would attend the failure, in the resumption of the former system of assignments, and in the personal claims which it would lay on the minister. But his misconduct has- since manifested itself in so many particular instances — besides the universal disorder of the country ; and this is so alarming in its effects to our government, that I shall hesitate, until I have the surest and most satisfactory grounds, to recommend an acquies- cence in such a measure.” What change there was in the grounds, except for the worse, in the few
THE ENGLISH RESIDENCY WITHDRAWN FROM OUDE. 497 months between the time when this was written, and book v.
CHAP. 8.
the date of his motion, does not appear. Another
point is also remarkable. In the conversation which 1783- the Governor-General recommended to the resident to hold with the minister on this subject, he desired him to ask, provided the sovereignty of the Vizir’s domi- nions according to the terms of his proposition were transferred to him, “ Whether, in the event of his invoking our government in a new scheme of hosti- lities, by those which his mal-administration may pro- duce, whether internally, or by invasion in that coun- try, he shall think himself in justice exempt from the personal vengeance which we may be disposed to exact from him.”
In the first letter of complaint, which was received from the Vizir against Mr. Bristow, the proposition for the removal of the residency, and the appointment of Hyder Beg Khan to the entire management of the country, was renewed; and Mr. Stables, in his Minute in Council on the 19th of May, 1783, declares, that this was the “ great object which the minister, and”
(the cipher in his hands) “ his master, had in view, in preferring their complaints against the Resident.”
Mr. Stables added, “ In justice and candour to the Nawab Vizir and his minister, I think the Board ought explicitly to declare that they cannot, on any account, comply with the Vizir’s request, to grant him discretional powers over his country, while such heavy debts remain due to the Company.” In the debate, too, in Council, of the 31st of July, after the proposition was formally moved by the Governor- General, it met with the opposition of all the other members of the Board. The tone of the Govemor-
2 K
VOL. IV.
498
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
General, however, after the opposition had lasted
• for a little time, grew so high, as to intimidate his
i/«3. colleagues; threatening them with the inconve- niences of a divided administration, and the loss of his authority in the difficulties which attended the government of Oude. They were, therefore, induced to offer on the 31st of December to acquiesce in his proposal, provided he wrould take the whole respon- sibility of the measure upon himself. This, however, was a load which the Governor-General declined. It was aftenvards explained, that responsibility with his fortune, or a pecuniary responsibility, was not under- stood. Responsibility, thus limited, which in fact was no responsibility at all, leaving nothing to be affected but his reputation, which it was impossible to exempt, he had no objection to undergo. On the 31st of De- cember, it was determined, that the residency should be withdrawn ; on receiving the security of creditable bankers for the balance which the Nabob owed to the Company, and for the accruing demands of the current year.
Many grounds of suspicion are laid in this trans- action. From one remarkable fact, they derive the greatest corroboration. There is great reason to believe, that the letters which were written in the name of the Nabob, complaining of Bristow, were in fact suborned by the Governor-General, written in consequence of instructions, that is, commands secretly conveyed.
When Mr. Bristow was removed, just before the first journey of the Governor-General towards Oude, the removal was in like manner preceded by violent complaints from the Nabob. These complaints were
THE NABOB’S COMPLAINTS SUBORNED BY HASTINGS.
499
suborned. Mr. Hastings himself, when proposing V
the return of Mr. Bristow in 1782, informs the
Nabob’s Vakeel, that “ His Highness,” meaning the 17b3- Nabob, “ had been well pleased with Mr. Bristow, and that he knew what the Nabob had written formerly was at the instigation of Mr. Middleton.”1 2 The instigation of Mr. Middleton was the instigation of Mr. Hastings.
Besides, it is in evidence, that this was not a sin. gular case. It was the ordinary mode of procedure, established between Mr. Hastings and the Nabob.
There was, it appears, a regular concert, that the Nabob should never write a public letter respecting the residents or their proceedings, till he had first learned privately what Mr Hastings wished that he should express, and that he then wrote accordingly.
This appeared most fully, after the departure of Mr. Hastings, when the Nabob proposed to carry on the same practice with his successor. In a letter re- ceived on the 21st of April, 1785, “ I desire,” says the Vizir, “ nothing but your satisfaction : And hope that such orders as relate to the friendship between the Company and me, and as may be your pleasure, may be written in' your private letters to me through Major Palmer, in your letters to the Major, that he may in obedience to your orders properly explain them to me, and whatever may be settled he may first, in secret, inform you of it, and afterwards I may write to you, having learnt your pleasure — in this way, the secrets will be known to your mind
1 Extract of an Arzee, -written (27th August, 1782) from Raja Gobind Ram to the Vizir, by the Governor-General’s directions. Minutes of Evidence, ut supra, p. 795.
2 K 2
500
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
bookv. alone, and the advice upon all the concerns will be
given in a proper manner.” The same thing is still
l'83' more clearly expressed by the minister Hyder Beg Khan, on the same occasion. l{ I hope that such orders and commands as relate to the friendship between his Highness’s and the Company’s govern- ments, and to your will, may be sent through Major Palmer in your own private letters, or in your letters to the Major, who is appointed from you at the pre- sence of his Highness, that, in obedience to your orders, he may properly explain your commands, and whatever affair may be settled, he may first secretly inform you of it, and afterward his Highness may, conformably thereto, write an answer, and I also may represent it. By this system, your pleasure will always be fully made known to his Highness, and his Highness and me will execute whatever may be your orders, without deviating a hair’s breadth.” When it was the intention of Mr. Hastings that Mr. Bristow, who had been withdrawn upon complaints, which without any dislike to Mr Bristow, the Na- bob through Middleton had been instructed to prefer, that obedient sovereign was instructed to make an application of a very different description. “ The Governor,” said the Nabob’s Vakeel in the Arzee already quoted, u directed me to forward to the pre- sence, that it was his wish, that your Highness would write a letter to him ; and, as from yourself, request of him that Mr. Bristow may be appointed to Luck- now.” In his answer to the Vakeel the Nabob cu- riously says, “ As to the wishes of Mr. Hastings, that I should write for him to send Mr. John Bris-
MYSTERIOUS RECALL OF BRISTOW.
501
tow, it would have been proper and necessary, for book 8V-
you, privately to have understood what were Mr
Hastings’ real intentions; Whether the choice of 1783- sending Mr. J ohn Brishnv was his own desire : Or, whether it was in compliance with Mr. Macpherson’s — that I might then have written conformably there- to.— Writings are now sent to you for both cases.
Having privately understood the wishes of Mr. Hast- ings, deliver whichever of the writings he shall order you.”1 — After all this, and after the threats of Mr. Hastings against all letters from the Nabob which he might dislike, the meaning of the letters com- plaining of Bristow cannot be misunderstood. It was a shrewd surmise of the Nabob, respecting Mac- pherson : who had become recently a Member of the Supreme Council, and whose support Mr. Hastings might require. The accusations, which the Gover- nor-General afterwards aimed at Mr. Macpherson for supporting Bristow, fall in, at least, with the conjec- ture.
The cause which prompted so violent a desire for his recall is involved in comparative mystery. We can trace a kind of analogy. As the preceding removal of Mr. Bristow was immediately followed by the first visit of the Governor-General to the Nabob ; so the present removal was immediately followed by another. This, undoubtedly, proves nothing against Mr. Hastings : but if there be any other grounds for suspicion, this tends to confirm them. If these visits were intended for any unjustifiable transactions between the Governor and Nabob, the removal of a
1 Minutes of Evidence, ut supra, p. 798, 799, 796.
502
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8.
1784.
witness, whose compliance could not be depended upon, was just the proceeding which in such circum- stances, every man would adopt.1
Before the removal of the residency was finally settled, the Governor-General had represented, that a great demand existed for his presence in Oude, to aid in settling the disorders of the country, and in making such arrangements as would enable the Yizir to fulfil his engagements. His journey was opposed by the other Members of the Board. Upon it, how- ever, for some reason or another, the Governor-Ge- neral had set his heart. A letter was procured from Major Palmer, representing the state of the country as alarming, and urgently requiring the immediate presence of Mr. Hastings ; with other letters from the Yizir, and his minister, earnestly requesting to see the Governor-General at Lucknow. The consent of a majority of the Council was at last obtained; and Mr. Hastings was authorized to proceed to Lucknow, vested with all the powTers of the Board, to regulate and determine the affairs both internal and external of the state, and for that purpose to command even the military resources of the English government without control. The proposition of the Governor-General was introduced on the 20th of January, 1784 ; the consultation was closed, and the authority of the Board conferred on the 16th of Fe- bruary; and on the following day, the 17th, the journey of the Governor-General began.
1 This detail of the conflicting opinions of the council, and of the ma- chinery by which Hastings maintained a necessary control over the Vizir, his minister, and the British Resident, is scarcely matter for history, espe- cially when the object of the whole proves to be the indication of a very vague inference, unfavourable to the private integrity of Hastings. — W.
SECOND JOURNEY TO THE UPPER PROVINCES. 503
In proceeding to Lucknow, he passed through the B°°^8V‘
province of Benares, which, in the time of Cheyte
Sing and his father, manifested so great a degree of 1/84‘ prosperity ; and, there, witnessed the effects of his late proceedings. The first deputy w7hom he had appointed for the Raja was dismissed for the offence of not making up his payments to the exacted amount. The second, as might well be expected, acted upon the “ avowed principle that the sum fixed for the revenue must he collected.” The consequence was, that the population were plunged into misery ; and desolation pervaded the country. “From the confines of Buxar,” says Mr. Hastings, “ to Benares,
I was followed and fatigued by the clamours of the discontented inhabitants. The distresses which were produced by the long-continued drought unavoidably tended to heighten the general discontent. Yet, I have reason to fear, that the cause existed princi- pally, in a defective, if not a corrupt and oppressive administration.” “ I am sorry to add, that from Buxar to the opposite boundary, I have seen nothing but traces of complete devastation in every village.”
“ I cannot help remarking, that except the city of Benares, the province is in effect without a govern- ment. The administration of the province is mis- conducted, and the people oppressed ; trade discou- raged, and the revenue in danger of a rapid decline from the violent appropriation of its means.”1 It is remarkable, how few of the political arrangements of Mr. Hastings produced the effects which he expected from them ; and how much his administration con-
1 Letter from the Governor- General to the Council Board, dated Lucknow, 2nd of April, 1784.
504
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8.
1784.
• sisted in a perpetual change of ill-concerted . measures. The arrangements for the government of Benares were his own ; and for the effect of them he was responsible ; but he enjoyed a happy faculty of laying the blame at any door rather than his own. He ascribed the existing evils to the deputy solely ; and with the approbation of the Council removed him. The predecessor of that deputy, who trans- gressed in nothing but the extent of his exactions, met with a severer fate. To procure some redress of his grievances, he had even repaired in person to Calcutta, where, so far from receiving any attention, he received two peremptory orders from the Supreme Council to quit the city, and return. Nor was this all. Upon the arrival of Mr. Hastings at Benares, he ordered him into prison again ; after which his vexations and hardships soon put a period to his life. His poverty was real, and he died insol- vent.
The Governor-General arrived at Lucknow on the 27th of March. He had some success in obtaining money from the minister into whose hands the government was transferred. In order still more to disburden the revenues of the Vizir, he agreed to withdraw the English detachment commanded by Colonel Sir John Gumming, which still was stationed on the frontiers of Oude at the Nabob’s expense ; and agreed for this reason, “ That the Company would gain nothing by its continuance, since the Nabob had not the means of defraying the expense ; and whether it remains,” he added, “ on account of the Company, or be continued to swell the Nabob’s with an accumulating debt which he
PROCEEDINGS OF HASTINGS AT LUCKNOW.
505
cannot pay, its effects on the Company’s funds will book V
prove the same, while it holds out a deception to the
public.” Mr. Hastings had eluded inquiry into the l785, truth of the allegations on which the confiscation of the estates and treasures of the Begums, and others, had been ordered ; and the commands of the Court of Directors had till this time remained without effect.
The time, however, was now come, when at least a partial obedience was deemed expedient ; and Mr. Hastings reported to the Board, that the jaghires of the Begums, and of the Nabob Salar Jung, the uncle of the Vizir, had been “ restored, conformably to the Company’s orders, and more so to the inclinations of the Nabob Vizir, who went to Fyzabad for the ex- press purpose of making a respectful tender of them in person to the Begums.” The restoration, how- ever, tardy as it was, fell greatly short of complete- ness; for Mr. Hastings reported that the personages, in question, had made a voluntary concession of a large portion of their respective shares.” The Governor-General was now so far from expressing any apprehensions of disorder from the possession of jaghires by the Princesses and other principal persons of the Nabob’s family, that he declared his expecta- tion of their influence in supporting the arrangements wdiich had taken place with the Vizir.1
The Governor-General departed from Lucknow on the 27th of August. He arrived at the Presidency on the 4th of November, resumed his seat at the Council Board on the 11th, and on the 22nd reminded the Directors of his request, addressed to them on
1 Letters from the Governor-General to the Council Board, datedBenares,
20th September, 1784.
506
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V
CHAP. 8.
1785.
• the 20th of March in the year 1783, to nominate his - successor. He now began to prepare for his depar- ture. On the 8th of February, 1785, he resigned his oflice, and embarked for England.1
In India, the true test of the government, as affect- ing the interest of the English nation, is found in its financial results. In 1772, when the administration of Mr. Hastings began, the net revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, which, being the principal branch of receipt, will suffice for that general conception which is all I can attempt to convey, were 2,373,650/.; the civil and military charges of the government of Bengal were 1,705,279/. ; difference 668,371/. : The whole of the bond and other debts in India were 1,850,166/. ; and the debt in England, including capital stock, and the sums due to the annuitants, was 12,850,166/. In 1785, the revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, including the new revenue of Benares, and the subsidies from Oude, amounted to 5,315,197/. ; the charges, deducting Clive’s jaghire, 30,000/. per annum, which ceased in 1784, one-half of the allowance to the Nabob of Bengal, and the tribute to the Mogul, amounted to 4,312,519/. ; the difference, 1,002,678/., is an improvement upon the year 1772, of 334,307/. ; but, on the other hand, the debt in 1786, when the whole of the arrears of Mr. Hastings’ administration were brought to account,
1 For the preceding train of measures, the reader is referred to the Papers, relating to the province of Oude, presented to the House of Commons in the year 1786; to the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-second Articles of Charge, presented by Burke, with the Answers of Mr. Hastings, and the Appendix of Documents printed along with them ; also to the Minutes of Evidence on the Trial, in which the Docu- ments were printed again.
FINANCIAL RESULTS OF HASTINGS’ ADMINISTRATION. 507
was raised to 15,443,3497 in England: and in book v.
India, including China, to 10,464,9557 ; a sum of
25,908,3347 ; to which should be joined 1,240,0007 l785- the sum which was yielded by the subscription at 155 per cent, of 800,0007 added this year to the capital- stock. The administration of Mr. Hastings, there- fore, added about twelve and a-half millions to the debt of the East India Company ; and the interest at five per cent, of this additional debt, is more than the amount of the additional revenue.1
Nor is this the only unhappy result in the financial administration of Mr. Hastings. The net territorial revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, instead of increasing had actually declined. In the year ending the 1st of May, 1772, they amounted to the sum of 2,126,7667, and in the year ending on the same day in 1785, to that of 2,072, 96372 In Lord Corn- wallis’s celebrated revenue letter, dated 16th Novem- ber, 1786, it is allowed, that the state of the accounts exhibits a debt in India of 8,91,25,518 rupees, and assets valued at 5,81,24,567, with a balance against the Company of 3,10,00,950. But Lord Cornwallis observes, that the amount of assets is so much made up for the sake of show, that is, delusion, that it pre-
1 For these statements see the accounts exhibited in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Reports of the Committee of Secrecy, in 1781 ; and the accounts presented to parliament for the several years. See also Bruce’s Plans for British India, p. 323. — M. It should not be forgotten, however, that during his administration he had to provide, from the revenues under his management, for the whole charge of the Bombay and Madras Presidencies, during most ruinous wars, for armaments sent to their succour, for operations and negotiations intended for their relief, and for the defence of Bengal. The addition to the debt was as moderate as could have been looked for under such extraordinary pressure. — W.
s An account presented to the House of Commons, March 30th, 1786.
508
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. sents a result widely distant from the truth; and
that the balance between the debts, and such assets as
]785- are applicable to their extinction, would not, in his opinion, fall short of 7,50,00,000 rupees. “ Of this debt something more than a crore of rupees was sub- scribed for transference to England, leaving a debt of about 6| crore, “ nearly the whole of which,” he says, “ is running at an average rate of interest of 8| per cent, per annum.” “ For the discharge of this,”
See also the following statement of the Bengal Revenues, taken from the printed Minutes of Evidence on Mr. Hastings’ Trial, p. 1275.
|
Years. |
Current net Colleetions. |
Balances col- lected. |
Total. |
Bengal charges Collection. |
|
1776—7 |
187,15,865 |
13,94,769 |
201,10,634 |
49,05,739 |
|
1777—8 |
170,49,710 |
20,78,451 |
191,28,161 |
53,80,818 |
|
1778—9 |
173,95,871 |
19,19,747 |
193,15,618 |
56.45,947 |
|
1779-80 |
180,21,226 |
15,66,322 |
195,87,548 |
56,80,637 |
|
Rupees. |
711,82,672 |
69,59,289 |
781,41,961 |
216,13,141 |
|
1781—2 |
189,55,004 |
6,23,989 |
195,78,993 |
66,55,869 |
|
1782—3 |
188,24,855 |
6,50,462 |
194,75,317 |
59,63,661 |
|
1783—4 |
181,93,492 |
4,49,916 |
186,43,408 |
71,29,094 |
|
1784—5 |
176,68,646 |
8,91,701 |
185,60,348 |
73,73,738 |
|
Rupees. |
73,641,997 |
26,16,069 |
762,58,066 |
271,22,362 |
|
Less in last four years . |
. 18,83,895 |
|||
|
Increase in |
last four years |
55,09,221 |
||
|
1777—1780 |
Total |
580,31,327 |
||
|
1781—1784 |
576,97,718 |
|||
|
Less in last three years |
3,33,909 |
|||
|
1774—5 |
195,69.610 |
17,40,399 |
213,10,009 |
|
|
1775-6 |
195,25,825 |
12,18,176 |
207,44,001 |
|
|
1776—7 |
187,15,865 |
13,94,769 |
201,10,634 |
|
|
578,11,300 |
43,53,344 |
621,64,644 |
||
|
Total in 1781 |
1784 ... |
576,97,718 |
||
|
Less in last three years. |
44,66,927 |
HISTORY OF THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY RESUMED.
509
his Lordships adds, “ your Bengal government alone book 8V-
can hereafter furnish a fund ; which (under the limi-
tations in the estimate) is stated at a gross sum of 1785- about 46,00,000 current rupees per annum. And
Another View of the Collections under the Bengal Government.
|
Years. |
Current Col- lections. |
Collected account Balances. |
Gross Col- lection. |
Charges Collection |
Annual Receipts into the Treasury. |
|
|
1772- |
-3 |
2,37,29,763 |
18,18,226 |
2,56,17,989 |
41,56,970 |
2,14,61,019 |
|
1773—4 |
2,35,77,528 |
18,05,528 |
2,53,83,057 |
43,02,596 |
2,10,80,460 |
|
|
1774—5 |
2,37,20,882 |
17,40,399 |
2,54,61,282 |
41,51,272 |
2,13,10,009 |
|
|
1775- |
-6 |
2,40,33,296 |
12,18,176 |
2,55,51,472 |
45,07,471 |
2,10,44.001 |
|
1776- |
-7 |
2,36,21,604 |
13,94,769 |
2,56,16,373 |
49,05,739 |
2,01,10,434 |
|
1777- |
-8 |
2,24,30,527 |
20,79.450 |
2,45,08,978 |
53,80,818 |
1.91,28,160 |
|
1778- |
-9 |
2,30,41,818 |
19,19,747 |
2,49,61 565 |
56,45,946 |
1,93,15,618 |
|
1779-80 |
2,37,01,863 |
15,66,321 |
2,47,68,185 |
56,80,937 |
1,90,83,547 |
|
|
1780-81 |
2,26,82,691 |
14,24,542 |
2,41,07,233 |
60,98,510 |
1,80,08,723 |
|
|
1781- |
-2 |
2,56,10,873 |
6,23.989 |
2,62,34,863 |
66,55,869 |
1,95,78,993 |
|
1782- |
-3 |
2,47,88,515 |
6,50,461 |
2,54,38,977 |
59,63,660 |
1,94,75,316 |
|
1783—4 |
2,53,22.585 |
4,49,915 |
2,57,72,201 |
71,29,093 |
1,86,43,107 |
Mr. Stuart’s Minute on the Revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa ; Minutes of printed Evidence of Hastings’ Trial, Appendix, Art. vi. No. 157, p. 904.— M.
This statement, it may be remarked, explains the preceding, and puts in a clearer light, The real nature of the financial operations of Hastings’s administration. The absolute collections of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, had not declined, on the contrary, they had increased. The total collec- tions of 1772 were rupees 2.56.17.000 ; those of 1783, 2.57.72.000, giving a surplus on the latter of rupees 1.55.000. The former period too, it should be remembered, was the first year of the new settlement, under which farmers of the revenue bade against each other, and raised the amount to a height which proved ruinous. The charges of collection had at the same time increased, and these being deducted from the collectors, left a decrease upon the “ net” collections. As observed by Mr. Macpherson, the suc- cessor of Hastings, those charges “ might more properly be called the increasing expenses of our government, than the increased expenses of the collection of the Revenue,” including, in fact, the charges of the Dewani and Foujdari Adaulut, or Civil and Criminal Courts, besides many other expenses only remotely connected with the business of collection. Min. Evid. 714, 722 — 904. The strong tendency of such charges to increase, and the difficulty of effectively controlling them in seasons when the energies of the government are absorbed by great political interests, are so universally a part of the history of all administrations, in all countries, that they reflect no particular discredit on the government of Hastings. — W.
510
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAF. 8
1782.
• the ordinary expenses of your different settlements, - allowing for the provision of an European investment, at present exceed their resources.”1 That is to say ; The revenue of the Indian government at the close of the administration of Mr. Hastings, was not equal to its ordinary expense.
The incidents which had occurred under the Pre- sidency of Madras, from the period of terminating the war with Tippoo, till the time when Mr. Hastings surrendered his office, remain to he adduced.
The situation of the Nabob of Arcot, as it had long been, so it continued to be, a source of uneasi- ness and of difficulty to the English rulers in the southern Presidency. The wretched government which that Nabob maintained, and which his want of talents, his want of virtue, and the disadvantages of his situation, disqualified him for improving, not only sunk the people into the deepest wretchedness, but cut off the resources required for the defence of the country. The impossibility, which the Presi- dents had experienced, of obtaining, through his hands, the means which were necessary to provide for the security of the province; or their connivance, from unworthy motives, at his unwillingness to provide them, had laid open the country to all the disasters, to which the weak and unprotected state in which it was found by Hyder Ali exposed it. When the war began, the strongest necessity existed for rendering the resources of the country available to its defence. Supplies, in the highest degree defective, had been obtained from the Nabob; nor
1 Extract from Revenue Letter, printed by order of the House of Commons, 1787.
MACHINATIONS AGAINST LORD MACARTNEY.
511
was there any rational prospect of improvement. ®°°rK8v‘
F or the payment of particular debts, both to the
Company and to individuals, it had been usual with 1782- him, according to the custom of Indian princes, to grant assignments on the revenues of particular districts; and no inconsiderable portion of the whole was under this disposition. As the exigency was peculiarly violent ; nothing less being imme- diately at stake, than the existence, in the Carnatic, of both the Nabob and the English ; Lord Macartney regarded an extension of the same expedient, namely, an assignment of all his revenues, as the only feasible plan for meeting the present difficulties ; and com- pliance with it, as no unreasonable condition imposed on the Nabob, seeing the proceeds were to be em- ployed for his own defence, and that it was impos- sible, he could, if defended at all, be so well defended, by any other means. Not without great difficulty the consent of the Nabob was obtained.
It was an arrangement far from agreeable to that vanity and ambition, which formed a strong ingre- dient in his character. And there was no want of persons in his confidence who inflamed his discon- tent; and who excited him to employ every strata- gem to obtain the surrender of the power he had given away.
It has already been observed, that the seat or durbar of the Nabob, who had taken up his residence at Madras, was one of the most corrupt and active scenes of intrigue, that had ever been exhibited in India. The Nabob, who was totally incompetent to his own defence, was necessarily in a state of abject dependence upon the Company ; but, receiving di-
512
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. rectly the revenues of the country, he endeavoured,
as tar as possible, by the application ot money, to
1782- secure the gratification of his will. His policy was, to purchase friends among the English rulers ; and to excite opposition to those whose acquiescence he failed in acquiring. The effects were mischievous, in a variety of ways. The servants of the Company were too frequently taught to look to the violation, rather than the performance of the duties, as their most certain source of reward ; and the business of the Presidency was in general disturbed by a violent spirit of division and counteraction.
The mind of the Nabob was of that class of minds which must, by a kind of necessity, be always governed by somebody ; and in the imbecility of age, and of a constitution Avorn with indulgence, he now leaned more absolutely on the accustomed support, than at an earlier period of his life. The persons who at this period had acquired the entire ascendency over him Avere Ameer ul Omrah, his second son, and Paul Benfield. The former is described as excelling in all the arts of eastern, the latter in all the arts of western, villany. The passion of the former was power, the passion of the latter, money ; and this much, at least, appears, that both pursued their ends with much ardour, with great talents for intrigue, with great audacity, and not much of moral restraint. The immediate object of the former was to get his elder brother disinherited, and to obtain the succes- sion for himself. For this purpose the old Nabob, whose passions and those of his favourite were one, had employed all his arts to obtain from the Com- pany an acknoAvledgment, that he had the right of
MACHINATIONS AGAINST LORD MACARTNEY. 513
naming his successor, without regard to the esta-BOOK^v.
blished order of inheritance. With a view, by
obtaining favour with the English, to pave the way 1782- to this and other desirable objects, the Ameer ul Omrah had acted the part of a zealous instrument in obtaining the consent of his father to the assignment of the revenues. When he found that Lord Macart- ney was as little subservient to his purposes, after this event as before, his disappointment and his enmity were equally strong. His endeavour was to render the assignment useless ; to annul, if possible, the trans- action. As he had his father’s mind compliant in all things, so he had it eager in the pursuit of an end, the hope of which served as a balm to the wound his pride had received, in ever relinquishing the management of the revenues. In Benfield he met with an able coadjutor. Benfield had been re- moved by Lord Macartney from some of the offices which he held as a servant of the Company. The liberalities and the views of the Nabob and his son pointed out a path to fortune as well as revenge.
The first expedient was, by practising on the renters, and other persons in charge of the revenues, to render unproductive the collections. Disordered and desolate as the country was, without a govern- ment, and ravaged by a destructive foe, the realizing of any revenue was in itself a difficult task. Lord Macartney had appointed a committee, consisting of some of the most trust-worthy of the Company’s servants at the Presidency, for conducting the busi- ness relative to the assigned revenues. They speedily discovered, that secret orders and sugges- tions, which counteracted all their proceedings, had
2 l
VOL. IV.
514
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. been sent into the districts. The people had been
taught to distrust the validity of the engagements
J 782. formed with the English government; and hence to practise all the arts of delay and evasion. The greatest oppression was evidently exercised upon the unhappy cultivators : yet little could be obtained from the renters and collectors for the Company’s treasury; while large sums, it is affirmed, were privately sent to the Ameer ul Omrah. 1
The known enmity of Sir Eyre Coote to Lord Macartney suggested the first stratagem for over- turning the engagement with the President. A bait was offered, the attractions of which, it was supposed, the avidity of the General for power would not be able to resist. The Nabob offered to vest in his hands full authority over all the officers of his government and revenues. But the General too well knew what a frightful chaos his government was, to have any desire for the responsibility of so dangerous a trust.
As soon as it was found that the ear of the Governor-General was open to representations against the Governor of Madras, it was a channel in which the Nabob and his instruments industriously plied. Lord Macartney was accused of not having abilities to render the assignment of the revenues productive : of enhancing the disorders of the country ; and, above all, of practising the utmost cruelty and oppres- sion towards the Nabob and his family. Letters of this import were not only sent at various times in the Nabob’s name to Bengal ; but one was written and transmitted to the British King.
1 Barrow’s Life of Macartney, i. 241.
CONDUCT OF HASTINGS TOWARDS MACARTNEY.
515
Sufficient encouragement having been received B00K v-
from the Governor-General, the Nabob ventured at
last to solicit the restoration of his revenues, by the l783- surrender of the assignment ; and his former agents,
Assam Khan, and Mr. Richard Sullivan, were sent on a second mission to Bengal, in January, 1783.
Their criminative representations against Macart- ney were received; and not only entered on the records, but immediately sent to England ; without communication to the party accused ; and of course without an opportunity afforded him of obviating their effects, however undeserved, by a single word of defence. A most singular examination of the Nabob’s agents or advocates took place before the Supreme Council, on the subjects on which the Nabob prayed their interference. The agents were directed to state whatever they knew, and did state whatever they chose ; matters of hearsay, as much as of perception ; without a word of cross-exami- nation, from an opposite party, to limit and correct the partial representation of interested reporters.
After completing their statements, and not before, they were asked, if they would swear to the truth of what they had stated. The compulsion was almost irresistible. To have said, they would not swear, was to confess they had not spoken truth. Assam Khan, however, excused himself, on the plea that it was not honourable for a Mussulman to confirm what he said by an oath. Mr. Sullivan had no such apology, and therefore he took his oath, but with a tolerable latitude ; that, “ to the best of his belief and remembrance, he had spoken the truth, and nothing but the truth ; ” an oath which, if we have
2 L 2
516
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
-- ^ • charity enough to believe it to be in no degree
strained, affected not any part of the truth, however
1/M material, which it might have suited and pleased him to suppress.
On the strength of this information, partial and interested as it was, a resolution was passed, on the 8th of January, 1783, to surrender the assignment into the hands of the Nabob; though not only had this assignment been formerly approved and highly praised by the Governor-General and Council, as an act of equal utility and justice, but the delicacy of the Madras government, which endeavoured to accomplish the end by gentle means, had been treated as too scrupulous, and the utility of a greater severity particularly and strongly displayed.1
The interruption and disturbance which the Nabob was able to give to the government of Madras, he was emboldened to carry to the greatest height, by the
1 The reader should have before him the very words. In the letter from the Governor-General and Council to the president and Select Committee of Fort St. George, dated 5th April, 1782, they “regret,’’ they say, “ that the government of Madras should have suffered any consideration, even of delicacy towards the Nabob, or attention for those feelings which it might be natural for him to retain, to restrain them from availing themselves as effectually for the assignment as the desperate necessity which exacted such a concession, inevitably de- manded.” They add a great compliment, and say, “ Happy would it be for the national interest and reputation, if the same disinterested and forbearing spirit should invariably dictate the conduct of their affairs.” They rise to the use of unlimited terms, instructing the Governor to assume every power necessary to render the assignment effective — “ in a word, the whole sovereignty” (such is their expression) “ if it shall be necessary to the exercise of such a charge, not admitting the inter- position of any authority whatever, which may possibly impede it. If you continue the Nabob’s agents; or suffer them to remain, under what- ever denomination, in the actual or virtual control of the revenue, they are your servants, and you alone will be deemed responsible for all their acts. And your intercourse with the Nabob may and ought to be restricted to simple acts and expressions of kindness.”
ASSIGNMENT OF THE CARNATIC TERRITORY.
517
encouragement which he received from so high a v.
quarter. A viler display of hypocrisy is not upon
record, than the language in which the author of the 1783‘ calamities of the whole Rohilla nation, of those of Cheyte Sing, and of the Begums of Oude, affected to bewail the cruelties which, he said, were practised upon the Nabobs of the Carnatic and Oude, by Lord Macartney, and Mr. Bristow. “ The condition,” Mr. Hastings said,1 “ of both Princes is equally destitute and equally oppressed; and the humiliation of their remonstrances shows them to be equally hopeless of any redress but in the mercy of their oppressors.”3 Orders were despatched to Madras for the restoration of his revenues to the Nabob ; of which the sixth part, which he had reserved to himself, as requisite for the maintenance of his family and dignity, had been exactly paid; and in reality yielded to him more money for his private purposes, than he had ever before enjoyed. It curiously happened, that before the orders of the Supreme Council arrived at Madras, despatches were received from the Court of Directors, which conveyed their approbation of the assignment, and commanded the assistance of the Bengal govern- ment to render it effectual ; despatches which, at the
1 In Ins Minute on the 2nd of November, 1783, printed among the papers presented to the House of Commons on the 13th of March, 1786.
For the opinion which Mr. Hastings entertained of the mischievous cha- racter of the Nabob, and of the intrigues of which he was at once the cause and the dupe, entertained as long as since the period when he was second in council at Madras; see the records of that Presidency in Rous’s Appendix, p. 682*, 688*, 704, 717, 718, 729.
2 Nothing is here stated but the truth; and the cases of both princes were not analogous to those with which they are contrasted. At the same time there is no doubt that Hastings would have felt little sympathy for either, if he thought their situation incompatible with public benefit or necessity.
— W.
518
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. same time, contained the condemnation of the trans-
action by which Mr. Sullivan was appointed an agent
I/83. 0f t]ie Supreme Council at the residence of the Nabob, and a declaration that the only organ of com- munication with Mohammed Ali was the Governor and Council of Madras. Upon this communication from the Court of Directors, the Governor and Council applied to the Supreme Council for the as- sistance which they were commanded to yield. After a hesitation of a few months, the Supreme Council resolved to disobey : And informing the Governor and Council of Madras, that they assumed the right of judging for themselves, they repeated their orders of the 13th of January, and commanded the surrender of the assignment.
The consequences of obedience appeared to Lord Macartney of the most alarming description. The pay of the Madras army was at that moment seven months in arrear : from the resources of the Carnatic alone was any supply to be obtained : not a single pagoda, since the death of Sir Eyre Coote, had been sent from Bengal : if the assignment was given up, the slender produce of the Circars, which Mr. Hast- ings wmuld have sacrificed, would alone have re- mained : and neither the native, nor European troops, could be expected to bear any addition to the pri- vations which they now endured. With a prospect of the actual dissolution of the government, if the revenues, on which every thing depended, were at so extraordinary a moment given up ; and fully im- pressed with the conviction, that to surrender them to the Nabob was to render them unavailing to the defence of the country, defence which then fell upon’
ALLOWANCES TO BE MADE FOR HASTINGS.
519
the Company without any resources, and oppressed book v.
them with a burden which they were unable to bear,
he resolved to maintain the assignment, which, at 1785. the close of the second year, had yielded one million sterling from those very countries, which for eighteen months after the invasion of Hyder Ali had not con- tributed a pagoda toward the expenses of the war.
With this disobedience, Mr. Hastings, whose ad- ministration was now so formidably assailed in Eng- land, and who was deeply concerned in the success with which he might perform the business of winding it up, found, either not leisure, or not inclination, to enter into contest.1
After the unreserved exhibition, which I have ac- counted it my duty to make, of the evidence which came before me of the errors and vices of Mr. Hast- ings’s administration, it is necessary, for the satisfac- tion of my own mind, and to save me from the fear of having given a more unfavourable conception than I intended of his character and conduct, to impress upon the reader the obligation of considering two things. The first is, that Mr. Hastings was placed in difficulties, and acted upon by temptations, such as few public men have been called upon to overcome :
And of this the preceding history affords abundant evidence. The second is, that no man, probably, who ever had a great share in the government of the world, had his public conduct so completely explored, and laid open to view. The mode of transacting the business of the Company, almost wholly by writing;
1 Papers presented to the House of Commons, pursuant to their orders of the 9th of February, 1803, regarding the affairs of the Carnatic, vol. ii. ; Barrow’s Life of Lord Macartney, i. 238 — 280
520
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK ^
CHAP. 8.
1785.
• first, by 'written consultations in the Council ; - secondly, by written commands on the part of the Directors, and written statements of every thing done on the part of their servants in India; afforded a body of evidence, such as under no other government ever did or could exist. This evidence was brought forward, with a completeness never before exempli- fied, first by the contentions of a powerful party in the Council in India ; next by the inquiries of two searching committees of the House of Commons ; in the third jdace by the production of almost every paper which could be supposed to throw light upon his conduct, during the discussions upon the proceed- ings relative to his impeachment in the House of Commons ; lastly, by the production of papers upon his trial. And all this was elucidated and commented upon by the keenest spirits of the age ; and for a long time without any interposition of power to screen his offences from detection. It is my firm conviction, that if we had the same advantage with respect to other men, who have been as much en- gaged in the conduct of public affairs, and could view their conduct as completely naked, and stripped of all its disguises, few of them would be found, whose character would present a higher claim to indul- gence than his. In point of ability, he is beyond all question the most eminent of the chief rulers whom the Company have ever employed ; nor is there any one of them, who would not have succumbed under the difficulties which, if he did not overcome, he at any rate sustained. He had no genius, any more than Clive, for schemes of policy including large views of the past, and large anticipations of the
POINTS OF MERIT IN HASTINGS’S ADMINISTRATION.
521
future ; but he was hardly ever excelled in the skill 8
of applying temporary expedients to temporary difh
culties ; in putting off the evil day ; and in giving a 1,8a' fair complexion to the present one. He had not the forward and imposing audacity of Clive ; but he had a calm firmness, which usually, by its constancy, wore out all resistance. He was the first, or among the first of the servants of the Company, who at- tempted to acquire any language of the natives, and who set on foot those liberal inquiries into the lite- rature and institutions of the Hindus, which have led to the satisfactory knowledge of the present day.
He had the great art of a ruler, which consists in at- taching to the Governor those who are governed; his administration assuredly was popular, both with his countrymen and the natives in Bengal.1
1 The same course is here adopted that was pursued in regard to Clive, and an inculpatory review of almost all the leading measures of the admi- nistration of Hastings is nullified by a tardy admission of its general merits. But if all his most important acts are open to the charges of cruelty, injustice,vindictiveness, corruption, vileness, self-seeking, dishonesty, and hypocrisy ; if he trampled upon the just rights of all the native princes with whom he had to deal ; if he instigated and fostered wars of unjust aggression ; if he interfered unauthorizedly and impoliticly with the powers of the other Presidencies ; if he patronized base and corrupt men, and dis- missed and persecuted honest men ; if he employed the authority of justice to sanctify falsehood, and even to minister to his vengeance ; it is not pos- sible to conceive in what his redeeming virtues consisted. It cannot be believed, that with all this mass of criminality against him, he should have enjoyed the attachment of those he governed, and that his administration should have been popular, not only with his countrymen, but with the natives of Bengal. The more ready solution of the problem is, the falsehood of the accusation. That every act of a government, so full of momentous and perilous matter as his, should be free from rational exception, perhaps from just censure, would be a phenomenon to which the history of man could afford no parallel. Like other men, he was occasionally ignorant or imperfectly informed ; he doubted, he wavered, he changed his opinion, he was biassed by his feelings ; he judged erroneously, he acted wrongly. He was not, however, judged like other men, by his acts, but every
522
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
chap.
1780.
CHAPTER IX.
Legislative Proceedings from 1773 to 1780. — Renewal of the Charter. — Select and Secret Com- mittees of the House of Commons Proceedings
against Indian Delinquency. — Mr. Dundas’s Past India Bill. — Mr. Fox's East India Bills. — Mr. Pitt's East India Bill.
v. It is now time to inquire into the proceedings to _ which the affairs of India had given birth in England since the last great legislative interference. From the year 1767 till the year 1773, the East India Company was hound to pa.y to the public, yearly, the sum of 400,000/., “ in respect of the territorial acquisitions and revenues lately obtained in the East Indies.” But in the year 1773, the financial embar- rassments of the Company became so great, that they were obliged to solicit, and they received, a loan from the public of 1,400,0001. At that time it was represented, “ That in the then circumstances of the
mistake or misconception, every hasty impression, every fluctuating pur- pose, every injudicious resolution, was hunted out, made public, and arrayed in evidence against him. The Author may well say, that few statesmen could endure such a searching exposure. The ultimate decision of the world will, however, be pronounced not upon a pitiful dissection of his private, but the great body of his public acts, and this decision has already elevated him above grovelling detraction. We look now with wonder, not unmixed with contempt, upon the almost insane virulence with which he was assailed, and think of him in no other character than that of the ablest of the able men who have given to Great Britain her Indian empire. — W.
LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS.
523
East India Company, it would not be in their power gv-
to provide for the repayment of such loan, and for
the establishing their affairs upon a more secure 178°- foundation for the time to come, unless the public should agree to forego for the present all partici- pation in the profits arising from the territorial acquisitions and revenues lately obtained in the East Indies.”1 It was, accordingly, at that time enacted, that it should not be lawful to make a dividend of more than six per cent, per annum on the Company’s capital stock, till that loan was repaid ; and that the w7hole of their surplus profits should be applied to its liquidation: that after the loan of 1 ,400,000?. should be repaid, it should not be lawful to make a dividend of more than seven per cent, per annum, upon the capital stock, until, by the application of the whole of their surplus profits, their bond debt should be reduced to the sum of 1,500,000?. In the year 1779, the loan being repaid, and the debt reduced, according to the terms of the preceding ordinance, an act was passed, to be in force for one year, permitting a dividend of eight per cent, for that year, and reserving the surplus profits for the future disposal of the legislature. In the year 1780, another act was passed for one year also, containing precisely the same enactments as that of the preceding year.
As the exclusive privileges were to expire upon three years’ notice after the 25th of March, 1780, it was now high time to treat about a renewal of the charter; and accordingly, during the latter part of
Such arc the words of the preamble of the act, 21 Geo. III. c. 65,
524
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK 1
CHAP. 9
1781.
T- that year, and the beginning of 1781, much nego- - tiation took place between the treasury and the East India House. In parliament, the business was of very difficult handling. The contests between the Supreme Council and Supreme Court, which were represented as actually opposing one another with an armed force, had given occasion to petitions from the British subjects in India, from the Governor-General and Council, and from the East India Company ; and had made a deep impression upon the public mind. The complaints and representations of Mr. Francis, taken up warmly by a powerful party in the legis- lative assembly, had filled the nation with ideas of injustice and other crimes on the part of Mr. Hast- ings. Intelligence had been received of the irrup- tion of Hyder Ali into the Carnatic, with the strongest representations of the misconduct of those agents under whom so much calamity had arrived. And strong fears were excited, that the ruin of the English interests, in that part of the world, was at hand.
The points were two, upon which the views of the minister and the Company found it difficult to concur; the right to the territory ; and the remuneration due to the public for the advantages which the East India Company were allowed to enjoy. According to the minister, the right of the crown to all territory acquired by subjects, was a matter of established law. The Company were at this time sufficiently bold to assert, that the Indian territory which they had acquired belonged of right to themselves. On the other point, the only question was, what propor- tion of the proceeds from the Indian territory the
PROPOSITIONS OF LORD NORTH.
525
East India Company should be made to give up to B®°^9V'
the nation.
Lord North was now tottering on the ministerial 1781> throne ; the East India Company were, therefore, encouraged to greater boldness, in standing out for favourable terms ; and they declined to bring forward a petition for a renewal of the charter, on those terms to which the minister desired to reduce them.
On the 9th of April, 1781, he represented, that “ though he did not then intend to state any specific proposition relative to the future management of the Company’s affairs, still he held it to be his duty to state to the House some points, that would be very proper for them to consider, before they should pro- ceed to vote. First, the propriety of making the Company account with the public for three-fourths of all the net profits above eight per cent, for dividend ; Secondly, of granting a renewal of the charter for an exclusive trade for a short rather than a long term ; Thirdly, of giving a greater degree of power than had been hitherto enjoyed, to the Governor of Bengal, that, in future, among the members of the Council, he might he something more than a primus inter pares, equal with the name of chief; Fourthly, of establishing a tribunal in England, for jurisdiction in affairs relating to India, and punishing those servants of the Company who should be convicted of having abused their power;
Fifthly, the propriety, as all the despatches received from India by the Directors were by agreement shown to his Majesty’s Secretary of State, of making all despatches to India be shown to him before they were sent, lest the Directors might, at some time or
526
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1781
gv- other, precipitate this kingdom into a war, without — necessity, with the princes of that country ; Sixthly,”
• he said, “ it would be the business of the House to determine, upon wThat terms, and whether with or without the territorial revenues, the charter should be renewed ; Seventhly, whether, if government should retain the territories, it might not compel the Company to bring home the revenue for govern- ment; and, Eighthly, whether any, and what regu- lations ought to be made, with respect to the Supreme Court of Judicature.” 1 *
Of these propositions, the third, the fourth, and the fifth, are remarkable, as the archetype, from which were afterwards copied three of the principal provisions in Mr. Pitt’s celebrated East India bill.3 At last a compromise was effected between the
1 See Parlimentary History, xxii. 111.
s The purport of these three propositions he expressed more explicitly on the 25th of May. “ He had an idea which he had once thrown out, of giving the Governor-General greater powers than were at present vested in him ; authorizing him in some cases to act independently of his Council, only stating to them, after he had so acted, the reasons upon which he justified his conduct, and sending home those reasons; together with such as the Council should at the time have delivered, in
case they differed in opinion from the Governor-General Another
matter he designed to introduce was this: At present the Company were obliged to send copies of all their despatches from India, but not of any of the orders and instructions which they sent out : He meant, therefore, to insert in the bill a clause, obliging them to show to the Lords of the Treasury, or the Secretaries of State, all their instructions to their servants that related to their political and military conduct ; and to add further, that if his Majesty thought proper to signify, through his Secretaries of State, to the Directors, any order relative to the particular conduct of the Com- pany’s servants, in regard to the prosecution and management of war in India, or to the political direction of affairs, or to any treaties with the powers in India, that the Directors should be obliged to obey such order,
and to send it out to India immediately He thought it would be
a desirable thing to establish a Court of Judicature in this kingdom, to hear and determine, in a summary way, all charges of peculation and oppression in India.” Ib. p. 326.
RENEWAL OF THE CHARTER.
527
minister and the Directors. A petition for renewal B00K v-
of the charter was presented from the Directors, on
the 26th of June, 1781. And an act was passed, of 178L which the following were the principal provisions :
That, whereas the Company, since the 24th of June,
1778, when they had paid their loan to the public, and reduced their bond debt to the pre-appointed limits, had been in possession of all the profits arising from the Indian territory, exempt from participation with the public, they pay 400,000?. to the public, in discharge of all claims upon that account previous to the 1st of March, 1781 : That all the former privi-
leges granted to the Company be continued to them, till three years’ notice after the 1st of March, 1791 :
That the Company pay out of their clear profits, a dividend of eight per cent, per annum on the capital stock, and of the surplus three-fourths to the public, reserving the remainder to their own use : And that
the claims with respect to the territory, on the part both of the Crown and of the Company, remain un- affected by the present act. Of the propositions, thrown out by the minister, for the introduction of reforms into the government of India, only one was carried into effect ; namely, that regarding the powers of ministers over the political transactions of the Company. It was ordained that they should com- municate to ministers all despatches which they sent to India, with respect to their revenues, and their civil and military affairs ; and that in all matters relative to war and peace, and transactions with other powers, they should be governed by the direc- tions which ministers might prescribe.1
' 21 Geo. HI. cap. 65.
528
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK CHAP. 9.
1781.
On the 12th of February, 1781, petitions from the Governor- General and Council, and from a number of British subjects residing in Bengal, and from the United Company of merchants trading to the East Indies, against the pretensions and proceedings of the Supreme Court of Judicature, were read in the House of Commons ; and after a debate it was agreed, that a Select Committee should be chosen to whom they were referred. This wms that celebrated committee who were afterwards instructed to take into consideration the administration of justice, in the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa ; and in what manner that country might be governed with greatest advantage to the people both of Great Britain and of India; in which Committee the most conspicuous, as well as the most laborious member, was Edmund Burke.
The Select Committee was moved for by General Smith, who belonged to what is called the opposition party in the House ; and it was chiefly composed of members who had acted not in concert with the minister. That a wTant of equal zeal for the elucida- tion of Indian delinquency might not be imputed to his party, the minister, on the 30th of April, imme- diately after the arrival of newTs of the irruption of Hyder Ali into the Carnatic, moved for the formation of a Secret Committee, who should inquire into the causes of the war, then subsisting in the Carnatic, and into the state of the British possessions on the coast. This Committee was composed almost entirely of persons connected with the minister ; and Mr. Henry Dundas, then Lord Advocate of Scotland, was its presiding and most active member.
FORMATION OF MR. DUNDAS’S COMMITTEE.
529
The first of these Committees presented the House book v
x # # CHAP. 9.
with twelve Reports, the other with six ; and the
public is deeply indebted to them for the publication 178L of the most important documents of the Indian go- vernment, during the period to which their inquiries applied. Any considerable desire for the welfare of India, guided by any considerable degree of intelli- gence, would have drawn a great lesson from that example. An adequate plan for a regular, and suc- cessive, and still more perfect publication of the most material documents of the Indian administration, would be one of the most efficient of all expedients for improving the government of that distant depend- ency.1
On the 23rd of May, a report from the Select Com- mittee on the petitions against the Supreme Court was read ; and leave given to bring in a bill, for the better administration of justice in Bengal, for the relief of certain persons imprisoned at Calcutta under a judgment of the Court, and for indemnifying the Governor-General and Council for resisting its pro- cess. The subject was debated on the 19th of June,
Mr. Dunning being the most remarkable of the oppo-
1 The Reports of the two Committees, described in the text, undoubtedly contain a vast mass of authentic and important matter, so as to have extracted from the Records of the Company all that is of consequence for the elucidation of events during the periods to which they refer. Some of the contents are trivial and irrelevant, but the whole compilation is of exceeding value. Many important official documents, illustrative of the history of British India, have been published from time to time, since the date of those celebrated Reports, and, consistently with the spirit of the present day, official muniments regarding India are likely to be multiplied. Their utility, however, is even already impaired by their abundance, and the labour of consulting them is unfavourable to their being advantageously consulted. A systematized and judicious selection is wanted, to render them conveniently subservient to public information. — W.
VOL. IV. 2 M
530
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V ciiAr. 9.
1782.
nents of the bill. It was passed without delay ; and it exempted from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court the Governor-General and Council, all matters of revenue, and all Zemindars, and other native farmers and collectors of the revenue.1
Lord North resigned the office of Minister in the month of March, 1782 ; and was succeeded by the Marquis of Rockingham and party, the hostility of whom to the present managers in India was suffi- ciently known.
On the 9th of April, 1782, Mr. Dundas moved that the reports wffiich he had presented as Chairman of the Secret Committee should be referred to a Committee of the whole House; and, in a speech of nearly three hours in length, unfolded the causes and extent of the national calamities in the East. He expatiated on the misconduct of the Indian Presi- dencies, and of the Court of Directors ; of the former, because they plunged the nation into wTars for the sake of conquest, contemned and violated the en- gagement of treaties, and plundered and oppressed
1 The object of the act is not so much to exempt from the jurisdiction of the Court natives of India inhabitants of the provinces, as to forbid the pretexts under which they had been attempted to be brought within that jurisdiction. It is therefore enacted, that no person shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, for, or by reason of his being a land- owner, land-holder or farmer of land, or deriving his support in any way from connexion with landed property, or exercising any ordinary or local authority commonly annexed to the possession or farm of lands. It also declared that no native, for or by reason of his being employed by the Company, or British subjects, either in public or private matters, should become subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, in any questions of inheritance or contract, except under special agreement. The exemp- tions of the Governor and Council, and the prohibition of the Court’s inter- ference on matters of revenue, are as stated in the text. See a useful compilation, entitled the Law relating to India and the East India Com- pany, 1840, p. 41. — W.
RESOLUTIONS MOVED BY MR. DUNDAS.
531
the people of India; of the latter, because they blamed misconduct only when it was unattended with profit, but exercised a very constant forbearance towards the greatest delinquency, as often as it was productive of a temporary gain. The speech was followed up by a number of propositions, which he moved in the shape of resolutions. Beside the reproaches which these resolutions cast upon the general strain of the Company’s administration in India, they pronounced a condemnation, so strong, upon the measures of the Presidency of Madras, that nothing less than criminal proceedings against the authors of them could accord with so vehement a declaration of their guilt. The resolutions were so- lemnly voted ; articles of charge against Sir Thomas Bumbold and other Members of the Madras Council were adopted ; and a bill of pains and penalties, for breaches of public trust, and high crimes and mis- demeanors, committed by Sir Thomas Rumbold, was introduced by Mr. Dundas. The bill was read a first time. Before the second reading, Sir Thomas Rum- bold was heard in his defence. The session drew to a close, before a great progress was made. In the beginning of 1783, the state of the ministry was unsettled. And, as if, when ministry is unsettled, parliament were inadequate to its functions, the bill was neglected till the middle of the session. After the middle of the session, the members soon began to be remiss in their attendance.1 And on the 19th of
book v.
CHAP. 9.
1782.
’ On the 2nd of May, 1783, “ The Lord Advocate complained of the very thin attendance that he had hitherto found, whenever the bill of pains and penalties against Sir Thomas Rumbold became the subject of discussion. He wished to know whether it was seriously intended to pursue the business to theendor not? Ifitwas the intention of the House to drop it, he wished to
2 M 2
532
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
December, immediately after the dismissal of Mr.
Fox’s coalition ministry, a motion was made and
1783- carried for adjourning the further consideration of the bill till the 24th day of June next, hy which the prosecution was finally dropped. Sir Thomas con- sented to accept of impunity without acquittal ; his judges refused to proceed in his trial, after they had solemnly affirmed the existence of guilt; and a black stain was attached to the character of them both.
Beside his prosecution of Sir Thomas Rumbold, Mr. Dundas proceeded to urge the legislature to spe- cific propositions against Mr. Hastings, and Mr. Hornby, the presiding members of the other Presi- dencies. Against Mr. Hastings, in particular, he preferred a grievous accusation, grounded on the re- cent intelligence of the ruin brought upon the Raja Cheyte Sing. On the 30th of May, 1782,’ he moved, and the House adopted, the following resolution : “ That Warren Hastings, Esq. Governor-General of Bengal, and William Hornhy, Esq. President of the Council of Bombay, having in sundry instances acted
be made acquainted with that circumstance, and then he would not move for another hearing on the subject: for it was a mockery to go into the evidence on the bill, when there could not be kept together a sufficient number of members to make a house. — Mr. Fox declared, that, to drop the bill would be productive of the most fatal consequences ; for it would convince the world, that the most atrocious misconduct in India would meet with impunity in parliament. And, therefore, he requested gentlemen would, for the credit, honour, and interest of the country, attend to the evidence for and against the bill. If the bill should be lost for want of attendance, it would not clear the character of Sir. T. Rumbold. On the other hand, it would hold out this idea to the people of India, that it was in vain for them to expect redress of their grievances in England — Mr. W. Pitt thought, that some mode might be devised to enforce attendance, as in the case of ballots for election committees.” Parliamentary History, xxiii. 805.
/
RESOLUTIONS AGAINST MR. HASTINGS.
533
in a manner repugnant to the honour and policy of this nation, and thereby brought great calamities on India, and enormous expenses on the East India Company, it is the duty of the Directors of the said Company to pursue all legal and effectual means for the removal of the said Governor- General and Presi- dent from their respective offices, and to recall them to Great Britain.” The Marquis of Rockingham was still minister ; and his party appeared to have firmly determined upon the recall of Mr. Hastings. The vote of the House of Commons was therefore followed by a similar proceeding on the part of the Directors. But the death of the Marquis, which happened at this critical period, gave courage and strength to the friends of that Governor, and in a Court of Proprietors of East India Stock on the 31st of October, 1782, the order of recall which had been made by the Court of Directors was rescinded by a large majority.
On the 24th of April, 1782, the Chairman of the Select Committee presented a series of resolutions, which referred to little more than two points. Mr. Sullivan, who was Chairman of the East India Com- pany, had mis-stated a conference held between him and certain Members of the House of Commons ; and the consequence had been, that the relief intended to certain persons confined in the common gaol at Cal- cutta, had been considerably delayed : Mr. Sullivan had also postponed the transmission of the act of par- liament for the remedy of the evils arising from the proceedings of the Supreme Court of Judica- ture : Mr. Sullivan had, moreover, hound a clerk at the India House, peculiarly qualified to give infor-
book v.
CHAP. 9.
1783.
534
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1783.
3V< mation, by an oath of secrecy, from communicating — evidence to the Select Committee. A series of reso- lutions were, therefore, moved and carried for the censure of Mr. Sullivan. This is the first of the points to which the resolutions moved on the part of the Select Committee referred. On the second, viz. the conjunct transaction of Mr. Hastings and Sir Elijah Impey, in making the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court head of the Sudder Dewannee Adaulut, it was resolved. That the dependence of the Chief Justice, created by holding emoluments at the plea- sure of the executive government, was inconsistent with the faithful administration of justice : That the Governor-General and Chief Justice were highly culpable in that transaction : And that the appoint- ment should be immediately vacated and annulled. To these resolutions were added other two : The first, f‘ That the powers given to the Governor-General and Council by the East India Act of 1773, ought to be more distinctly ascertained : ” The second, “ That it will be proper to reduce into one act the several acts of parliament made to regulate the East India Company, and further to explain and amend the same, and also to make new regulations and pro- visions to the same end.” The whole of these re- solutions were carried ; and upon those which related to the dependence, in other words the corruption, of the Chief Justice, was founded a resolution, voted on the 3rd of May, for an address to the King, that he would recall Sir Elijah Impey, to answer for his conduct in that transaction.
The vote of the Court of Proprietors, in opposition to the recall of Mr. Hastings, was severely repro-
PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT CONTINUED.
535
1783.
bated by Mr. Dundas, at the beginning of the next book v.
session of parliament, when he moved, that all the
proceedings in relation to it should be laid before the House ; and pronounced it an act both dangerous in principle, and insulting to the authority of parliament.
On the 5th of March, 1783, a petition from the United Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies was presented to the House of Commons, and referred to a Committee. It set forth, that having paid 300,000/. of the sum exacted of them for the benefit of the public, by the late act, they were unable to pay the 100,000/. which remained; that the advances which had already been received by the public “ were made under mistaken ideas of the petitioners’ pecuniary abilities;” that the aid neces- sary to carry on their affairs only to the 1st of March, 1784, would upon the most moderate calcu- lation be 900,000/., even if excused the payment of the sum of 100,000/., due upon the late agreement; and they prayed, that if re-imbursement be not made to them, they be allowed to increase their bond debt, without diminishing their dividend, which would affect their credit ; that they be not required to share any thing with the public, till the increase thus made of their bond debts be again wholly reduced ; that the term of their exclusive privileges, a short term being injurious to their credit, should be enlarged ; and that the petitioners be relieved from that share of the expense attending the service of the King’s troops and navy which according to the late act they were bound to afford.
Two acts were passed for their relief; the first allowing more time for the payment of the taxes for
356
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
v. whiCli they were in arrear, and enabling them to
borrow money on their bond, to the amount of
1783- 500,000/. ; the second act (the relief granted by the first being found insufficient), accommodated them with a loan from the public to the amount of 300,000/. ; both acts permitting them to continue a dividend of eight per cent, ; though, after paying necessary expenses, their receipt fell short of that dividend by a sum of 255,813/. 1 They borrowed money, therefore, to be divided among themselves, to that amount ; a singular way for a trader to keep out of debt.
Upon the death of the Marquis of Rockingham, the Earl of Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of Lans- downe, became minister, and continued in office from the 13th of July, 1782, till the 5th of April, 1783. At that time, the coalition of Lord North and Mr. Fox gave existence to the ministry which that cir- cumstance has served to designate, and to charac- terize.
The former exertions of Mr. Dundas, in the investigation and adjustment of the nation’s Indian affairs, were followed up by a bill, which he intro- duced to the House on the 14th of April, 1783. Its principal provisions were these ; That the King should have the power of recall over the principal servants of the Company : That the Governor- General and Council of Bengal should have a con- trolling power over the other presidencies ; and that the Governor-General should have a power of acting, on his own responsibility, in opposition to the opi-
1 Sec the acts of 23 Geo. III. cap. 36 and 89; and Cobbett’s Pari. Hist, xxiii. 571.
MR. DUNDAS’s EAST INDIA BILL.
537
nion of his Council: That the Governors at the 9V *
other presidencies should not have a power of origi
nating any measure contrary to their Councils, hut 1/83' a power of suspending their action by a negative till the opinion of the Controlling Presidency should be known : That the displaced Zemindars should be replaced: That the Raja of Tanjore should be secured in all his present possessions. In his speech he repeated his former arguments for the recall of Mr. Hastings ; and then launched out into the numerous and extraordinary circumstances, which pointed out Lord Cornwallis as the fittest person in the world for the government of India.
“ Here there was no broken fortune to be mended !
Here was no avarice to be gratified ! Here was no beggarly, mushroom kindred to be provided for ! No crew of hungry followers, gaping to be gorged!”1 Leave was given to bring in the bill. But Mr. Dun- das, who was now in opposition, and of course received no encouragement from the ministry, did not perse- vere.
On the 11th of November, in the year 1783, a new parliament met. In the speech from the throne they were informed, that definitive treaties of peace had been signed, or preliminaries ratified, with the courts of France and Spain, with the United States of America, and the States General of the United Provinces. They were also informed, that among the important objects, the urgency of which had required their presence after so short a recess, the affairs and government of India solicited the
1 See the acts of 23 Geo. III. cap. 36 and 39; and Cobbelt’s Pari.
Hist, xxiii. 759.
538
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. utmost exertions of their abilities, and that the
fruit was now expected of those important inqui-
1/S3- ries, which had been so long and diligently pur- sued.
By the treaty of peace with France, Pondicherry, and Carrical, to both of which some territory was annexed, the whole of the possessions which France enjoyed in Bengal and Orissa at the commencement of the war, together with Mahe, and the power of restoring their factory at Surat, were conceded to the French. In the treaty with the Dutch, Trincomalee was restored; but Negapatam was retained.
The opponents of the ministry, in both houses of parliament, proclaimed aloud the necessity, occasioned by the state of affairs in India, for instant and effectual reform. They enumerated the abuses which appeared to prevail; and they called upon, they stimulated, and importuned the minister to bring forward a scheme of improvement, and without delay to gratify the impatient expectation of the people. In these vehement calls, the voice of Mr. William Pitt was distinguished for its loudness and importunity. At that time it suited him to desire not only reform, but complete reform : reform, co-extensive with the evil, possible to be removed ; and the good, capable of being attained. He challenged and summoned the minister to bring forward a plan, “ not of tempo- rary palliation or timorous expedients ; but vigorous and effectual; suited to the magnitude, the import- ance, and the alarming exigency of the case.” Mr. Fox afforded his adversaries but little time to com- plain of delay.
MR. FOX’S EAST INDIA BILL.
539
His plan was divided into two parts, and intro- book gv-
duced in two separate bills ; one having a reference
to the governing power at home ; the other to the 1783- administration in India.
I. For constituting an organ of government at home, the two existing Courts, of Directors, and Proprietors of the East India Company, were to be abolished, as totally inadequate to the ends of their institution ; and, in their room, seven commissioners were to be named in the act, that is, chosen by the legislature. These commissioners, acting as trustees for the Company, were to be invested with full powers for ordering and administering the territories, reve- nues and commerce of India ; and to have the sole power of placing and displacing all persons in the service of the Company, whether in England or abroad.
The following were the most material of the sub- ordinate regulations.
F or managing the details of the commerce, but subject to the authority and commands of the Supe- rior Board, nine assistant Directors were to be named by the legislature, being Proprietors, each, of not less than 2,000?. of East India capital stock.
In the superiorbody, vacancies were to be supplied by the King: in the inferior they were to be supplied by the Proprietors, voting by open poll. Removals in the superior body were to be performed by the King, upon the address of either house of parliament; in the inferior, by the same authority, and also by concurrence of any five of the Chief Directors, re- cording their reasons.
For the more speedy and effectual repression of
540
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. offences committed in India, the Directors were,
CHAP. 9. .
within twenty-one days after the receipt of any accu-
I783- sation or charge, to enter upon the examination of it, and either punish the offender, or record their reasons for not punishing.
Before any person who had served in India, and against whom any charge appeared, should be al- lowed to return, the Directors were to make a particular inquiry into the circumstances of the charge, and to record their reasons for permitting the return.
Upon knowledge of any dispute subsisting between the heads of the different settlements, or between the heads and their councils, the Directors were to insti- tute immediate inquiry, and come to a decision in three months, or to record their reasons why they did not.
If the constituted authorities at any of the settle- ments should require the direction or opinion of the Directors, they were to give it in three months, or to record their reasons for not giving it.
If any injury to any native prince should be com- plained of, or appear, the Directors were to inquire, and to make compensation wherever it was due.
For publicity, one expedient was thought to suffice, that the Directors should once in six months lay before the Proprietors the state of the commerce; and before the commencement of each parliamentary session, should present to the ministers, certain political and commercial statements, which the minis- ters should exhibit to parliament.
It was provided that no Director or Assistant Director, should, while in office, hold any place of
MR. FOX’S EAST INDIA BILL.
541
profit under the Company, or any place during plea-
sure under the King ; but neither was to be disqua- —
lified for retaining a seat in parliament. And the act 1783- was to continue in force during four years.
II. Under the second part of the plan, that which had for its object the reform of the immediate admi- nistration in India, no improvement whatsoever, in the order and distribution of the powers of govern- ment, was attempted, and hardly any thing higher was proposed, than to point out what were deemed the principal errors or delinquencies into which the Indian government had strayed, and to forbid them in future.
Stiict obedience was enjoined to the commands of the Directors, because Mr. Hastings, whenever a strong motive occurred, disobeyed them.
The councils were forbidden to delegate their powers ; because, in two memorable instances, those of his journeys to the Upper Provinces, the Supreme Council had delegated theirs to Mr. Hastings.
The regular communication to the councils of all correspondence was rendered imperative upon the Governor-General and other Presidents, because Mr. Hastings, when he had certain objects to serve, had withheld parts of the correspondence.
Because the other servants of the Company had usually united with the governors, in those proceed- ings of theirs which were most highly condemned, the servants were to be rendered less dependent upon the governors, by lodging a greater share of the patronage in the hands of the commissioners.
No banyan, or native steward, of any of the prin-
542
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. cipa] servants was to be allowed to rent the revenues ;
because the banyan of Mr. Hastings had rented them
1783- to a great amount. Such renting to the banyan was declared to be the same thing as renting to the master.
No presents were to be taken even for the use of the Company ; because Mr. Hastings had taken presents, and screened himself by giving them up at last to the Company.
The abolition was to be ordained of all monopolies ; because the Company’s servants in Bengal had been the cause of evil, by monopolizing salt, beetel-nut, and tobacco.
Passing then from the imputed errors in Bengal to those at Madras, the bill proposed to enact :
That no protected or dependent prince should re- side in the Company’s territory, or rent their lands ; because the Nabob of Arcot had disturbed the Presi- dency with intrigues by residing at Madras, and had rented, as was alleged, corruptly, the Madras jaghire :
That no civil or military servant of the Company should lend money to such prince, rent his lands, or have with him any pecuniary transaction ; because, the lending of money to the Nabob of Arcot, renting his lands, and other money transactions between him and the Company’s servants, had given rise to many inconveniences.
As the inaccurate definition of the limits prescribed to the control of the Governor-General and Council over the other Presidencies had been fertile in dis-
t
putes, an attempt, but not very skilful, was made to
MR. FOX’S EAST INDIA BILL.
543
remove that deficiency, by enacting that it should
extend to all transactions which had a tendency to
provoke other states to war. 1/83‘
The old prohibition of the extension of territory was enforced; by forbidding hostile entrance upon any foreign territory, except after intelligence of such hostile preparations, as were considered serious by a majority of the Council ; forbidding alliance with any power for dividing between them any acquirable territory ; and loans of troops to the native princes ; excepting, in all these cases, by allowance of the Directors.
The project of declaring the Zemindars, and other managers of the land revenue, hereditary proprietors of the land, and the tax fixed and invariable ; originally started by Mr. Francis, and in part pro- posed for enactment in the late hill of Mr. Dundas ; was adopted.
Instead of the regulation, introduced into the Dill of Mr. Dundas, that the Governor-General should have a power of acting upon his own responsibility, independently of the will of his Council, power was only to be given to him, and to the Presidents at the other settlements, of adjourning or postponing, for a limited time, the consideration of any question in their respective councils.
A mode was prescribed for adjusting the disputes of the Nabob of Arcot with his creditors, and with the Raja of Tanjore.
All offences against the act were rendered amenable to the courts of law in England and India. And all persons in the service of the Company, in India, or
544
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
gv- in that of any Indian prince, were declared unfit,
during the time of that service, and some succeeding
1/83- time, to hold the situation of a member of the lower house of parliament.
No proceeding of the English government, in modern times, has excited a greater ferment in the nation, than these two bills of Mr. Fox. An alarm diffused itself, for which the ground was extremely scanty, and for which, notwithstanding the industry and the art with which the advantage was improved by the opposite party, it is difficult, considering the usual apathy of the public on much more important occasions, entirely to account. The character of Mr. Fox, who was at that time extremely unpopular, and from the irregularity of his private habits, as well as the apparent sacrifice of all principle in his coalition with Lord North, was, by a great part of the nation, regarded as a profligate gamester, both in public and in private life, contributed largely to the existence of the storm, and to the apprehensions of danger from the additional power which he appeared to be taking into his hands.1 In the House of Commons, indeed, the party of the minister emi- nently prevailed ; and though every objection which the imaginations of the orators could frame was urged against the measure with the utmost possible perti-
1 To prevent misconception, it is necessary to preclude the inference that I concur in the opinion, which I give in the text, as one among the causes of a particular effect. In the private character of Mr. Fox, there was enough, surely, of the finest qualities, to cast his infirmities into the shade. And though, absolutely speaking, I have no great admiration to bestow upon him, either as a speculative or practical statesman ; yet, when I compare him with the other men who had figured in public life in his country, I can find none whom I think his superior, none, perhaps, his equal.
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF FOX’S BILL. 545
nacity, vehemence, and zeal, the bill passed by aBc°°^9v'
majority of more than two to one.
In the mean time opportunity had been found for 1783‘ alarming the mind of the King. The notion circu- lated was, that, by vesting the whole patronage of India in the hands of Mr. Fox, by vesting it in a board of commissioners, under his appointment, it would be impossible for the King ever to employ, as minister, any other man ; and the power of Mr. Fox would be rendered absolute over both the King and the people. Instead of having recourse to the expe- dients, which the law had placed in his hands, of dismissing his ministers, or even dissolving the parliament ; a clandestine course was adopted, which violated the forms of the constitution. Though it had often been declared that the constitution depended on the total exemption of the deliberations in par- liament from the impulse of the royal will, the King employed Lord Temple to inform as many as he thought fit of the peers of parliament, that those who should vote for the Indian Bill, he would take for his enemies. On the day of the second reading of the bill, the minister was left in a minority of seventy -nine to eighty-seven.
The outcry which was raised against this measure holds a considerable rank among the remarkable incidents in the history of England. It was a declaration, a vehement declaration, on the part of the King, and of the greatest portion of all the leading orders in the state, as well as of the body of the people, that the Commons House of Parliament, as now constituted, is altogether inadequate to the ends which it is meant to fulfil. Unless that acknow-
2 N
VOL. IV.
546
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
-ok, ledgment was fully made, the outcry was groundless and impostrous.
1783. The essence of the change which Mr. Fox pro- posed to introduce consisted in this, and in nothing hut this : That the Board of Directors should be chosen, not by the owners of Company’s stock, but by the House of Commons.
Surely, if the House of Commons were a fit instrument of Government, a better choice might be expected from the House of Commons, than from the crowd of East India Proprietors. The foundation on which the justice of the clamour had to rest, if any justice it contained, was this; that the House of Commons would act under a fatal subservience to the profligate views of the minister. But to suppose that the House of Commons would do this in one instance only, not in others, the motive being the same ; that they would make a sacrifice of their duty to their country, in one of the most ruinous to it of almost all instances, while in other instances they were sure to perform it well, would be to adopt the language of children, or of that unhappy part of our species whose reason is not fit to be their guide. If the House of Commons is so circumstanced, as to act under motives sufficient to ensure a corrupt compli- ance with ministerial views, then, undoubtedly, the House of Commons is a bad organ for the election of Indian rulers. If it is not under such motives to betray the interests of the country to the views of ministers, then it is undoubtedly the best instru- ment of choice which the country can afford: Nor is there any thing which can render it, compared with any other electing body, which could be formed
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF FOX S BILL.
547
in the country, unfit for this function, which does B°^iKgv-
not, by necessity, imply an equal unfitness for all
its peculiar functions: If it is unworthy to be trusted ,783- with the election of East India Directors, it is still less worthy to be trusted with the purse-strings of the nation : If there would be danger to the British people in the one case, the danger is far greater in the other.
A heart-felt conviction, that the House of Com- mons, as now constituted, is totally unworthy of trust, announced in the strongest of all possible terms, by the King, by the principal part of the aristocracy, of the whole, in short, of that part of the nation whose interests and ideas are in the strongest manner linked to monarchical and aristocratical privileges and distinctions, is of infinite importance ; because it may be so employed as to make them ashamed of that opposition to reform, which, by so many selfish and mean considerations, they are in general engaged to maintain.
There is but one allegation, which appears capable of being employed to elude the force of this deduction: That the House of Commons would not act under a profligate subservience to the views of a minister, if subject only to the influence which was then at the command of the minister ; but would be sure to do so, if subject to all that influence which would be created by adding the patronage of India.
This allegation, then, rests upon the assumption, that the profligate subservience of the House of Com- mons depends wholly upon the degree, more or less, of the matter of influence to which it is exposed : If
2 N 2
548
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK CHAP. 9.
1783.
• the quantity to which it is exposed is sufficiently - small, it will have no profligate subserviency : If the quantity to which it is exposed is sufficiently great, its profligate subserviency will he unbounded. Admit this: and is any thing necessary, besides, to prove the defective constitution of that assembly ? In taking securities against men, in their individual capacity, do wTe rest satisfied, if only small temptations to mis- conduct exist? Does not experience prove, that even small temptations are sufficient, where there is nothing to oppose them ?
In the allegation is implied, that the House of Commons wrnuld, as not yet feeling the influence of Indian patronage, have, in choosing men for the Board of Direction, at that first time, chosen the best men possible ; hut these men, being the best men possible, would have employed the Indian patronage placed in their hands, to corrupt the House of Com- mons into a profligate subservience to the views of the minister. F or what cause ?
The analysis of the plea might, it is evident, be carried to a great extent, but it is by no means necessary ; and for the best of reasons ; because the parties wTho joined in predicting the future profligacy of the House, universally gave it up. The House of Commons, they said, is now, is at this instant, that corrupt instrument, wffiich the patronage of India applied to it in the way of influ- ence wrnuld make it. The House of Commons, they maintained, was then at the beck of the minister; was, even then, in a state of complete subservience, even for the worst of all purposes, to the minister’s views. Mr. Pitt said, “ Was it not the principle,
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF FOX’s BILL.
549
and declared avowal of this bill, that the whole B00K f
system of India government should be placed in
seven persons, and those under the immediate ap- 1/S3- pointment of no other than the minister himself'?
He appealed to the sense and candour of the House, whether, in saying this, he was the least out of order '? Could it be otherwise understood, or inter- preted ? That these seven men were not to he ap- pointed solely by the minister?”1 On another occa- sion, he said, that he objected to Mr. Fox’s hill,
“ because it created a new and enormous influence, by vesting in certain nominees of the minister all the patronage of the East.”2 Mr. W. Grenville (after- wards Lord Grenville) said, “ The hill was full of blanks, and these blanks were to be filled by that House : It was talking a parliamentary language to
say, the minister was to fill the blanks ; and that the seven commissioners were the seven nominees of the minister: Seven commissioners chosen, by parlia-
ment ostensibly, but in reality by the servants of the Crown, were to involve in the vortex of their au- thority, the whole treasures of India : These, poured forth like an irresistible flood upon this country, -would sweep away our liberties, and all that we could call our own.”3 But if parliament would choose these seven commissioners at the beck of the minister ; what is there they would not do at the beck of the minister ! The conclusion is direct, obvious, and
1 Debate on Mr. Fox’s motion for leave to bring in his East India bills ; Cobbett’s Pari. Hist, xxiii. 1210.
* Debate on the state of the nation; Cobbett’s Pari. Hist. xxiv. 271.
3 Debate on Mr. Fox’s motion, ut supra, Cobbett’s Pari. Hist, xxiii. 1229.
550
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 9.
1783.
irresistible. Upon the solemn averments of these statesmen, the question is for ever set at rest.1
At the same time it must be admitted, that the bills of Mr. Fox, many and celebrated as the men were who united their wisdoms to compose them, manifest a feeble effort in legislation. They afford a memorable lesson ; because they demonstrate, that the authors of them, however celebrated for their skill in speaking, were not remarkable for the powers of thought. For the right exercise of the powers of government in India, not one new security was pro- vided; and it would not be very easy to prove, that any strength was added to the old.
I. There was nothing in Mr. Fox’s number Screw,
1 The character here given of the House of Commons is an exaggerated picture of defects inseparable from its consitution at any period, insepa- rable from the constitution of all popular assemblies, and proofs not of profligacy; the term is absurd; but of the bounded extent of human wisdom and virtue. No assembly, comprising a number of persons of various tempers, prejudices, education, intelligence and interests, will ever be capable of considering any question whatever upon its own merits alone, and, according to their unbiassed judgment ; they will and must act under various influences, the combination of which constitutes the grand element of all parliamentary opinion — party. The ministerial party, be the House of Commons sublimated to the utmost tenuity of purification by the alembic of reform, must always comprise in it elements of strength which may be more than a match for the utmost efforts of the opposition, and it must, therefore, ever be an object of prudent precaution to guard against their augmentation, either in number or efficiency. It was no universal conviction, therefore, that the House of Commons of 1783 was in a special degree unworthy of trust, which rendered the proposed ministerial accession of patronage so widely unpopular, but a reasonable jealousy of that additional influence which not only at that particular period, but in all time to come, in reformed or unreformed Parliaments alike, must have accrued to the party of the minister from his monopoly of the East India patronage. It is taking a very circumscribed view of the measure to consider it only in relation to any particular state of the national repre- sentation : the objections to it are abstractedly valid at all seasons, and are founded on the constitution of Parliament, and the nature of man. — W.
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF FOX’S BILL.
551
more than in the Company’s number Twenty-Four , fJV-
to ensure good government : and by this change of
one electing assembly for another, the nation decided, 1<s3‘ and under the present constitution of the House of Commons decided well, that had would only be im- proved into worse.
If such was the nature of the fundamental expe- dient, it cannot be imagined that the subsidiary ones would impart a high degree of merit to the whole.
If not absolutely nugatory, they were all feeble in the highest degree. What useful power of publicity, for example, was involved in transferring annually to the hands of the ministers, a certain portion of Indian papers*? A proper policy being established between the minister and his seven directors, they could present to parliament every thing which favoured their own purposes, keep back every thing which opposed them ; and thence more effectually impose upon the nation. It seems, from many parts of the hill, to have been the opinion of its authors, that if they only gave their commands to the rulers of India to behave well, they would he sure to do so. As if there was no channel of corruption but one, it was held sufficient, if the directors, while in office, were prohibited from holding places of profit under them- selves, and places of profit during pleasure under the King.
The seven directors, in the case of some of their most important decisions, were bound to record their reasons ; a most admirable security where the public are to see those reasons : Where they are to be seen
only by the parties themselves, and by those who have like sinister interests with themselves, as in
552
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. this case by the minister, they are obviously no security at all,
1783' Good conduct in any situation depends upon the motives to good conduct, which operate in that situa- tion ; and upon the chance for intelligence and probity in the individuals by whom it is held. That, in regard to motives, as well as intelligence and probity, the public had less security for good con- duct, in the case of the ministerial commissioners, than in the case of Directors chosen by the Com- pany, will be fully made to appear, when we come to examine the nature of the ministerial board erected by Mr. Pitt ; a board, which, in all those par- ticulars, is very nearly on a level with that of Mr. Fox.
II. With regard to that part of the scheme which was intended to improve the state of administration in India, no change in the order and distribution of the powers of government was attempted. The plan of the machinery, therefore, that is, the whole of its old tendency to evil, described by Mr. Fox as enor- mous, was to remain the same. All, it is evident, that, upon this foundation, could be aimed at, was, to palliate ; and in the choice of his palliatives, Mr. Fox was not very successful.
Merely to forbid evil, in a few of the shapes in which it had previously shown itself, was a slender provision for improvement, when the causes of evil remained the same as before ; both because there were innumerable other shapes which it might assume, and because forbidding, when there is no chance, or little chance, of harm from disobedience, is futile, as a barrier against strong temptations.
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF FOX’S BILL.
553
To lessen the power of the Chief Ruler in selecting 9V'
the immediate instruments of his government, was —
so far to ensure a weak and distracted administra- 178a tion. The sure effect of it was, to lessen the power of a virtuous ruler in obtaining assistance to good :
And as the co-operation of the inferior servants, in the imputed plunder, embezzlement, and oppression, was secured, not by the power of the Governor- General to promote them ; but by the common interest which they had in the profits of misrule ; his not having the power to promote them was no security against a co-operation secured by other means.
In respect to sanctions, on which the efficiency of every enactment depends, Mr. Fox’s bill provided two things ; chance of removal, and prosecution at law ; nothing else. In respect to chance of removal ; as the effect of the bill was to render the minister absolute with regard to India, those delinquencies alone, which thwarted the views of the minister, created any danger; those which fell in with his views were secure of protection. F rom prosecution at law, under tribunals and laws such as the English, a man who wields, or has wielded the powers of government, has, it is obvious from long experience, very little to fear.
It really is, therefore, hardly possible for any thing in the shape of a law for regulating the whole govern- ment of a great country, to be more nugatory than the bill of Mr. Fox.
On the great expedient for ensuring the rights of the native subjects, borrowed from Mr. Francis, the scheme of declaring the rent of the land unchange-
554
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 9.
1783.
able, and the renters hereditary ; we have already made some and shall hereafter have occasion to make other remarks ; to show, that it is founded upon false ideas, and productive of evil rather than good.
The prohibition of monopolies, and presents, and some other minor regulations, were beneficial, as far as they went.
If this project of a constitution for India proves not the existence of a vast portion of intellect, among those by whom it was framed, the objections of those who had only to criticize, not to invent, appear to prove the existence of a still smaller portion among its opponents. Not one of their objections was drawn from the real want of merits in the plan ; from its total inefficiency, as a means, to secure the ends, at which it pretended to aim. They were all drawn from collateral circumstances ; and, what is more, almost all were unfounded.
The danger to the constitution, in giving the ap- pointment of Directors to the House of Commons, was the subject of the principal cry. But it has been shown, that this could have no injurious effect, unless the House of Commons were already perverted from its supposed ends, and the goodness of the consti- tution destroyed.
Much rhetoric was employed to enforce the obli- gation created by the “ chartered rights of men.” But it was justly observed, That the term “ chartered rights of men,” was a phrase full of affectation and ambiguity : That there were two species of charters ; one, where some of the general rights of mankind were cleared or confirmed by the solemnity of a pub- lic deed ; the other, where these general rights were
CONCESSIONS TO THE COMPANY.
555
limited for the benefit of particular persons : That gv
charters of the last description were strictly and
essentially trusts, and ought to expire whenever they l'84- substantially vary from the good of the community, for the benefit of which they are supposed to exist.
The loss of the India bill, in the House of Lords, was the signal for the dissolution of the ministry.
At the head of the new arrangement was placed Mr.
Pitt. On the 14th of January, 1784, he moved for leave to bring in a bill on the affairs of India. A majority of the House of Commons still supported his opponent, and his bill was rejected. Mr. Fox gave notice to the House of his intention to bring in a second bill. On the 10th of March, however, par- liament was dissolved; and in the new House of Commons the minister obtained a decided majority.
The re-introduction of his India bill could now wait his convenience.
The new ministry had been aided in the triumph obtained over their opponents, by all the powers of the East India House, who had petitioned against the bills of Mr. Fox, had employed every art to excite the public disapprobation, and had exerted themselves at the general election to swell the ministerial majority. The minister owed a grateful return. The Company’s sale of teas was a principal source of their income. It had of late been greatly reduced by the powers of smuggling. As high price afforded the encouragement of smuggling, a sufficient reduction would destroy it. Any part of the mono- poly profit would not have been a pleasant sacrifice to the Company. The public duties, they thought, were the proper source of reduction : and it pleased
556
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V chap. 9.
1784.
• the minister to agree with them. On the 21st of - June, he moved a series of resolutions, as the foun- dation for an act, which soon after passed, and is known by the name of the Commutation Act. The duties on tea, about 50 per cent., were reduced to 12| per cent. It was estimated that a diminution would thence arise of 600,000/. in the public revenue. Under the style and title of a commu- tation, an additional window-tax, calculated at an equal produce, was imposed.
To relieve their pecuniary distress, the Company, as we have seen, had applied to parliament for leave to borrow 500,000/., and for a further aid, after- wards, of 300,000/. in exchequer bills. They had also prayed for a remission of the duties which they owed to the public, to the amount of nearly a million. They were bound not to accept, without consent of the Lords of the Treasury, bills drawn on them from India, beyond the annual amount of 300,000/. Bills however had arrived from Bengal to the amount of nearly one million and a half beyond that amount. For these distresses some provision had been made before the dissolution of the preceding parliament. The minister now introduced a bill, to afford a further relief in regard to the payment of duties, and to enable them to accept bills beyond the limits which former acts of the legislature had prescribed.
In other pecuniary adventures, the receipts upon the capital embarked are in proportion to the gains. If profit has been made, profit is divided. If no profit, no division. Instead of profit, the East India Company had incurred expense, to the amount of an
PITT’s EAST INDIA BILL.
557
enormous debt. It was proposed that they should book ^v.
still have a dividend, though they were to borrow
the money which they were to divide, or to obtain 1784- it, extracted, in the name of taxes, out of the pockets of their countrymen. A bill was passed which authorized a dividend of eight per cent. In defence of the measure, it was urged, that unless the dividend was upheld, price of India stock would fall. But why should the price of India stock, more than the price of any thing else, be upheld, by taxing the people ? It was also urged, that not the fault of the Company, but the pressure arising from the warlike state of the nation, produced their pecuniary distress.
If that was a reason, why was not a similar relief awarded to every man that suffered from that cause?
The arguments are without foundation ; but from that time to this they have supported an annual taxation of the English people, for the convenience of the parties on whom the government of India depends.
At last, Mr. Pitt’s bill, for the better government of the affairs of the East India Company, was again introduced ; and, being now supported by a com- petent majority, was passed into an act, on the 13th of August, 1784. With some modification, it was the same with the bill which the former House of Commons had rejected.
The Courts of Directors and Proprietors remained, in form, the same as before. The grand innovation consisted, in the erection of what was called a Board of Control. This, together with, 1. The creation of a Secret Committee of Directors ; 2. A great dimi- nution in the powers of the Court of Proprietors;
558
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
chat.
1784
9V- 3. A provision for a disclosure of the amount of the — fortunes brought home by individuals who had been • placed in offices of trust in India ; 4. The institution of a new tribunal for the trial and punishment of the offences liable to be committed in India ; constituted the distinctive features of this legislative exertion; and are the chief particulars, the nature of which it is incumbent upon the historian to disclose. The other provisions were either of subordinate efficacy, or corresponded with provisions in the bills of other reformers, which have already been reviewed.
I. The Board of Control was composed of six Members of the Privy Council, chosen by the King, of whom the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and one of the principal secretaries of state were to be two ; in the absence of whom, the senior of the remaining four was to preside. In point of fact, the whole business has rested with that senior ; the other com- missioners being seldom called to deliberate, or even for form’s sake to assemble. The senior is known by the name of the President of the Board of Control, and is essentially a new Secretary of State ; a secretary for the Indian department. Of this pretended Board and real Secretary, the sphere of action extended to the whole of the civil and military government, exer- cised by the Company ; but not to their commercial transactions. Its duties, very ill defined, or rather not defined at all, were adumbrated, in the following vague and uncertain terms: “From time to time, to check, superintend, and control, all acts, operations, and concerns, which in any wise relate to the civil or military government, or revenues, of the territories and possessions of the said United Company in the
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT’s BILL.
559
East Indies.” All correspondence, relative to the 9V-
government, was to be communicated to the Board ;
including all letters from India, as soon as received, 1784- and all letters, orders, or instructions intended for India, before they were sent. The Board was also to be furnished with copies of all proceedings of the Courts of Directors and Proprietors ; and to have access to the Company’s papers and records. By one clause it was rendered imperative on the Court of Directors to yield obedience to every command of the Board, and to send out all orders and instructions to India altered and amended at the pleasure of the Board. On the second introduction of the bill, when a sure majority made the minister bold, a power was added by which, in cases of secrecy, and cases of urgency ; cases of which the Board itself was to be the judge ; the Board of Control might frame and transmit orders to India without the inspection of the Directors. It was only in the case of a doubt whether the orders of the Board of Control related or did not relate to things within the sphere of the civil and military government, that the Directors were allowed an appeal. Such a doubt they were to refer to the King in Council. An appeal from the King’s Council, to the King in Council, was an appeal from men to themselves.
Of two bodies, when one has the right of unlimited command, and the other is constrained to unlimited obedience, the latter has no power whatsoever, but just as much, or as little, as the former is pleased to allow. This is the relative position of the Board of Control, and the East India Company. The powers of the Board of Control convert the Company’s
560
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V.
CHAP. 9.
1784.
Courts into agents of its will. The real, the sole governing power of India is the Board of Control, and it only makes use of the Court of Directors as an instrument, as a subordinate office, for the ma- nagement of details, and the preparation of business for the cognizance of the superior power.
The real nature of the machine cannot be dis- puted, though hitherto its movements have been generally smooth, and the power is considerable which appears to remain in the hands of the Direc- tors. The reasons are clear. Whenever there is not a strong motive to interfere with business of detail, there is always a strong motive to let it alone. There never yet has been any great motive to the Board of Control to interfere ; and of consequence it has given itself little trouble about the business of detail, which has proceeded with little harm, and as little benefit, from the existence of that Board. So long as the Court of Directors remain perfectly subservient, the superior has nothing further to desire. Of the power which the Directors retain, much is inseparable from the management of detail.
The grand question relates to the effects upon the government of India, arising from an authority like the Board of Control, acting through such a subor- dinate and ministerial instrument as the Court of Directors.
It is evident, that, so far as the Directors are left to themselves, and the Board of Control abstain from the trouble of management, the government of India is left to the imperfections, whatever they were, of the previous condemned system, as if no Board of Control were in existence. In that part of the
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITTS BILL.
561
business, in which the Board takes a real share, book v
it is still to be inquired, what chance exists, that
better conduct will proceed from the Board of 1784- Control, than would have proceeded from the Court of Directors
Good conduct in public men arises from three causes ; from knowledge or talent ; from the presence of motives to do good ; and the absence of motives to do evil.
I. Few men will contend that the lord, or other person, whose power, or powerful kinsman, may re- commend him for President of the Board of Control, is more likely to possess knowledge or talent, than the Court of Directors. That which the practical state of the British constitution renders the presiding principle in directing the choice of men for offices wherein much either of money or power is to be en- joyed, affords a much greater chance for ignorance than knowledge. Of all the men who receive edu- cation, the men who have the most of parliamentary influence are the least likely to have any unusual portion of talent ; and as for appropriate knowledge, or an acquaintance in particular with Indian affairs, it cannot be expected that the Board of Control should ever, except by a temporary and rare con- tingency, be fit to be compared with the Court of Directors : besides, it would have been easy, by laying open the direction to men of all descrip- tions, and by other simple expedients, to increase exceedingly the chance for talent in the Court of Directors.
II. If the Board of Control then is more likely than the Court of Directors to govern India well,
VOL. iv. 2 o
562
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. the advantage must arise from its situation in regard
to motives : motives of two sorts ; motives to appli-
1784- cation ; and motives to probity. Both the Board of Control, and the Court of Directors, are destitute of these motives to a high degree; and it is a matter of some nicety to make it appear on which side the deficiency is most extraordinary.
Motives to application, on the part of the Board of Control, can be discovered none. And application, accordingly, such as deserves the name, a careful pursuit of knowledge, with incessant meditation of the ends and the means, the Board has not even thought of bestowing. If Mr. Dundas be quoted as an objection, it is only necessary to explain the cir- cumstances of the case. The mind of Mr. Dundas was active and meddling, and he was careful to exhibit the appearance of a great share in the government of India : but what was it, as President of the Board of Control, that he ever did? He presented, as any body might have presented, the Company’s annual budget, and he engrossed an ex- traordinary share of their patronage. But I know not any advice which he ever gave, for the govern- ment of India, that was not either very obvious, or wrong.
The institution of the Board of Control, as it gave no motives to application in the members of that Board, so it lessened prodigiously the motives to application in the Court of Directors. Before the existence of the Board of Control, the undivided reputation of good measures, the undivided ignominy of bad, redounded to the Court of Directors. The great sanction of public opinion acted upon them
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT’S BILL.
563
with undivided energy. Men are most highly stimu- book y.
lated to undergo the pains of labour, when they are
most sure of reaping the fruits of labour ; most 1784- surely discouraged from labour, when they are least sure of reaping its advantages ; but, in taking pains to understand the grounds of action, and laboriously to frame measures adapted to them, the Court of Directors, before their subjugation to the Board of Control, were sure of reaping the fruits of their labours in the execution of their schemes. What motive, on the other hand, to the laborious considera- tion of measures of government, remained, when all the fruits of knowledge and of wisdom might be rejected by the mere caprice of the President of the Board of Control ?
Such is the sort of improvement, a retrograde im- provement, in respect to knowledge or talent, and in respect to application, which the expedient of a Board of Control introduced into the government of India.
It only remains that we examine it in relation to probity ; and inquire, whether the men who compose it are subject to the action of stronger, or weaker motives, to the exercise of official probity, than the Court of Directors.
There are two sorts of motives, on which, in re- gard to probity, the conduct of every man depends : by the one he is attracted to virtue ; by the other repelled from it.
In regard to attracting motives, very little is pro- vided to operate either upon the Board of Control, or the Court of Directors. The sanction of public opinion, the credit of good, and the discredit of bad
2 0 2
564
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK
CHAP.
1784.
gv- conduct, is one source ; and it does not appear that __ there is any other. In the first place, it ought to be remembered, as a law of human nature, that the influence of this sanction is weakened, or more truly annihilated, to any important purpose, by division. Whatever might have been its force, upon either the Board of Control, or the Court of Directors, acting alone, it is infinitely diminished when they act both together, and by sharing, go far to destroy respon- sibility.
For the salutary influence of public opinion, both the Board of Control, and the Court of Directors, are unfavourably situated ; hut it will probably, without much dispute, be allowed, that the Court of Directors is the least unfavourably situated. So long as they acted by themselves, the Court of Directors were ex- posed, without shelter, to the public eye. The Pre- sident of the Board of Control is the mere creature of the minister, existing by his will, confounded with the other instruments of his administration, sheltered by his power, and but little regarded as the proper object either of independent praise, or of inde- pendent blame.
With regard to motives repelling from probity, in other words, the temptations to improbity, to which the Board of Control and the Court of Directors are respectively exposed, the following propositions are susceptible of proof: That almost all the motives of
the deleterious sort, to which the Court of Directors stand exposed, are either the same, or correspond, with those to which the Board of Control is exposed : That those to which the Court of Directors are ex- posed, and the Board of Control is not exposed, are
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT’S BILL.
565
of inconsiderable strength : That those to which the Bc°c^p gv
Board of Control is exposed, and the Court of Direc
tors are not exposed, are of great and uncommon 1/ 84- strength: And that by the conjunct action of the
two bodies, the deleterious motives of the one do not destroy those of the other, but combine with them, and increase the power of the whole.
It is to be observed, that neither the Board of Control, nor the Court of Directors have any direct interest in the misgovernment of India. Their ambition is not gratified by the unnecessary wars, nor their pockets filled by the oppressions and pro- digalities of the Indian rulers. In as far as the Directors are proprietors of India stock, and in as far as good government has a tendency to increase the surplus produce of India, and hence the dividend upon stock, the Court of Directors have an interest in the good government of India. The Board of Control, as such, has necessarily no such interest; in this respect, therefore, it is inferior to the Court of Directors.
If exempt from motives of the direct kind, to the misgovernment of India, it remains to inquire what are the motives of the indirect kind, to the action of which the Board of Control, and the Court of Directors, are severally and respectively exposed.
In the first place, we recognise the love of ease ; an incessant force, and for that reason of the most potent agency in human affairs. Bating the cases in which the result depends not upon the general qualities of the species, but the accidental ones of the individual, this is a motive which it is not
566
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I
CHAP. 9,
1784.
■ easy to find other motives sufficient to oppose ; - which, in general, therefore, prevails and over-rules. This is a motive, to the counteraction of which, there is scarcely any thing provided, in the case either of the Board of Control, or of the Court of Directors. To a great extent, therefore, it is sure to govern them. Provided things go on in the beaten track, without any unusual stoppage or disturbance, things will very much be left to themselves.
Little, however, as is the application to business, which can rationally be expected from the Court of Directors, still less can be looked for on the part of the Board of Control, where either hereditary idle- ness and inefficiency will preside ; or the mind of the President will be engrossed by those pursuits and struggles on which the power of the ministry, or the consequence of the individual, more immediately depends. The consequence is certain ; whenever aversion to the pain and constraint of labour governs the superintendent, the interest of the subordinates, in every branch, is naturally pursued at the expense of the sendee, or of the ends which it is the intention of the service to fulfil.
Beside the love of ease, which every where is one of the chief causes of misgovernment, the motives to the abuse of patronage, and to a connivance at delin- quency in India, seem almost the only deleterious motives, to the operation of which either the Board of Control, or the Court of Directors, are exposed.
In regard to patronage, the conduct of the Court of Directors will be found to exhibit a degree of ex- cellence which other governments have rarely at- tained. In sending out the youths who are destined
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT’s BILL.
567
for the different departments of the sendee, the Direc- gv-
tors have been guided, no doubt, by motives of affec-
tion and convenience ; but all youths go out to the 1784- lowest stations in their respective departments, and can ascend only by degrees. The rule of promotion by seniority has sometimes been too rigidly observed ; seldom, comparatively, violated by favouritism. The Directors, who send out their relatives and con- nexions, have very often retired from the direction, before the youths whom they have patronized are of sufficient age or standing in the service, to occupy the stations in which the power of producing the greater evils is enjoyed.
But, as the constitution of the Court of Directors has prevented any considerable abuse of patronage ; so the situation of the British minister, depending as he does upon parliamentary interest, creates, it may, without much fear of contradiction, be affirmed, a stronger motive to the abuse of patronage, than, under any other form of government, was ever found to exist. In this respect, good government is far less exposed to violation from an institution such as that of the Court of Directors, than an institution such as that of the Board of Control.1
1 “ With respect to the abuse of patronage,” said Mr. Windham, in his famous speech (May 26th 1809) on Mr. Curwen’s Reform Bill, “ one of those by which the interests of countries will in reality most suffer, I perfectly agree, that it is likewise one, of which the government, pro- perly so called, that is to say, persons in the highest offices, are as likely to be guilty, and from their opportunities more likely to be guilty than any others. Nothing can exceed the greediness, the selfishness, the insatiable voracity, the profligate disregard of all claims from merit or services, that we often see in persons in high official stations.” Par. liamentary Debates, xiv. 758; for publication in which the speech was written and prepared by the author.
568
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK I chap. 9
1784.
To connivance at delinquency in India, the Direc- tors may be supposed to be led by three sorts of motives :
1. Inasmuch as they may have been delinquents themselves ;
2. Inasmuch as they may send out sons and other relatives, who may profit by delinquency ;
3. Inasmuch as delinquents may be proprietors of India stock, and hence exert an influence on the minds of Directors.
1 . The motive to connive at any delinquency, in which a man is to have no profit, because he himself has formerly been delinquent in a similar way, must be regarded as a feeble, if any motive at all. Ex- perience proves it. Clive was not less violent against the undue emoluments of the Company’s servants, because he had drawn them so copiously himself. If the Court of Directors be inferior in this respect to the Board of Control, it must be allowed to be an inferiority easily compensated by other advantages. Besides, if a man must be supposed to sympathize with delinquency, because he has been a delinquent himself, the disposition is pretty nearly the same which leads to delinquency in India and in England ; and hence a danger fully as great, of finding this kind of sympathy at the Board of Control, as in the Court of Directors.
2. The Directors may send out sons and nephews. So may the Secretary of State for the India depart- ment, the President of the Board of Control.
3. East India delinquents may operate on the minds of Directors through influence in the Court of Proprietors. East India delinquents may also
MERITS AND .DEMERITS OF PITTS BILL.
569
operate on the minds of ministers through parlia- book gv-
mentary influence. And the latter operation, it is
believed, will certainly appear to be, out of all 1784- comparison, the stronger, and more dangerous operation of the two.
In point of fact, the influence exerted upon the Directors through the Court of Proprietors has never been great. The Court of Directors have habitually governed the Court of Proprietors • not the Court of Proprietors the Court of Directors. The Company’s servants returned from India have not been remarkable for holding many votes in the General Court.
The powerful operation of ministerial support extends to every man in India, whose friends have a parliamentary interest in England. The men who have the greatest power of doing mischief in India, are the men in the highest stations of the govern- ment. These are sure to be generally appointed from views of ministerial interest. And the whole force of the motives, whatever they are, which operate to their appointment, must operate likewise to connivance at their faults.
In every one of the circumstances, therefore, upon wThich good government depends, the Board of Control, when examined, is found to be still more defective, as an instrument of government, than the Court of Directors, the incompetency of which to the right government of India, had been so loudly and so universally proclaimed,
What will be said in its favour is this : That the Board of Control and the Court of Directors check each other. To this end we must of necessity
570
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. suppose, that where the Court of Directors may have
an interest in misgovernment, the Board of Control
i/S-i. wpj pave no suc]1 interest, and in that case will not allow the Court of Directors to pursue their interest; that, in like manner, where the Board of Control may have an interest in misgovernment, the Court of Directors will have no such interest, and in that case will not allow the Board of Control to pursue their interest.
According to this supposed mode of operation, the interests of all the governing parties are defeated. The theory unhappily forgets that there is another mode of operation ; in which their interests may he secured. This is the mode, accordingly, which stands the best chance of being preferred. It is a very obvious mode ; the one party having leave to provide for itself, on condition that it extend to the other a similar indulgence. The motives to mis- government, under this plan, are increased by aggregation, not diminished by counteraction. Such are the greater part of the pretended checks upon misgovernment, which have ever been established in the world; and to this general law the Board of Control and Court of Directors do not, certainly, form an exception.
There is still another circumstance ; and one to which the greatest importance will doubtless be attached. So long as the government of India was independent of the minister, he had no interest in hiding its defects ; he might often acquire popularity by disclosing them. The government of India, in these circumstances, was subject to a pretty vigilant inspection from Parliament. Inquiries of the most
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT’S BILL.
571
searching description had twice been instituted, and Bc°^gV-
carried into its innermost recesses. The persons
charged with the duties of government in India, 1784- acted under a full sense of the attention with which they were watched, and of the exposure to which their conduct was liable. A beneficial jealousy was preserved alive, both in parliament, and in the nation.
At that time both erred, perhaps, by too much, rather than too little, of a disposition to presume among their countrymen in India the existence of guilt : a disposition far more salutary, notwithstand- ing, than a blind confidence, which, by presuming that every thing is right, operates powerfully to make every thing wrong. A great revolution ensued, when the government of India was made dependent upon the minister, and became -in fact an incorporated part of his administration. Then it was the interest of the minister to prevent inspec- tion ; to lull suspicion asleep ; to ward off inquiry ; to inspire a blind confidence ; to praise incessantly the management of affairs in India; and, by the irresistible force of his influence, make other men praise it. The effects are instructive. From the time of the acquisition of the territorial revenues of Bengal, parliament and the nation had resounded with complaints of the Indian administration. The loudness of these complaints had continually in- creased, till it became the interest of the minister to praise. From that very moment complaint was extinguished ; and the voice of praise was raised in its stead. From that time to this, no efficient inquiry into the conduct of the government in India has ever taken place. Yet, in the frame of the
572
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V. CHAP. 9.
1784.
government, no one new security can be pointed out, on which a rational man would depend for any improvement; and the incumbrances of the East India Company have continued to increase.1
II. It was ordained by this act, that the Court of Directors should choose a Committee of Secrecy, not to exceed the number of three. As often as the Board of Control should frame orders which required secrecy, they were to transmit these orders, without communicating them to the Court of Directors ; and receive answers to them under the same concealment. This was a regulation which enabled the Board of
1 The assertion that complaint was extinguished by the new bill, is somewhat incompatible with the fact, that it was immediately followed by the impeachment of Hastings. It is also possible that that very impeach- ment exercised more influence than the Bill. So impotent a conclusion, after such pompous note of preparation was well calculated to disgust the public, and teach them the salutary lesson of listening in future to com- plaints with caution and distrust. It would, however, have been more generous to have believed that complaint ceased because grievances ceased ; not because the minister had an interest in silencing the aggrieved. And whether he had or not an interest in so doing, the position in which he was now placed was very unfavourable for such a purpose. The author has omitted to notice the origin of a new principle in all questions affecting India, which is, an English House of Commons is more likely to operate as a stimulus to attention than any disinterested tenderness for the con- dition of the people of India. The administration is now responsible for the foreign and domestic policy of India. This is quite enough to provoke jealousy, to animate inquiry, to keep open the eyes of opposition in a persevering vigil, which the absence of all party-feeling would be too soporific a state to maintain. So far, therefore, was the institution of the Board of Control from administering a narcotic to the representatives of the people in Indian questions, it had a tendency to supply them with new inducements to vivacity. That it failed so to do, that no more instances of public ingratitude welcomed the return of the Governor-Generals, who succeeded Warren Hastings, is to be attributed in candour and in truth to the extinction of all pretext for a similar abuse of the power of the Parlia- ment, as well as to an improvement in the spirit of the House, and to a more extensive knowledge of the nature of our Indian empire, and the difficulties of its administration, amongst the educated portion of the people. — \V.
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT’S BILL.
573
Control, and the Committee of Secrecy to annihilate, bc^k v.
as often as they pleased, the power of the Court of
Directors. With respect to the government of India, 1784- the Court of Directors might be regarded as in fact reduced to three. Of this subsidiary regulation the effect was to render more complete the powers of the Board of Control.
III. It was ordained, that no act or proceeding of the Court of Directors, which had received the approbation of the Board of Control, should be an- nulled or in any way affected, by the Court of Pro- prietors. This was a provision, by means of which, as often as it pleased the Board of Control, and the Court of Directors, they could annihilate all direct power of the Court of Proprietors. By these several regulations, for more and more lessening the number of persons in whom any efficient part of the power of the East India Company remained, the facility of using it as a tool of the minister was more and more increased.
IY. The next important provision, in the bill of Mr. Pitt, was that by which it was rendered obli- gatory upon the servants of the Company, to give an inventory of the property which they brought from India. If the undue pursuit of wealth was there the grand cause of delinquency, this undoubtedly was a regulation of no ordinary value. When the amount of a man’s acquisitions in India was known, com- parison would take place between his acquisitions and his lawful means of acquiring ; and the great sanction of popular opinion would operate upon him with real effect. The difficulty of convicting the delinquent would thus be exceedingly diminished ;
574
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
^hap^ 9' anc^ this ProsPect °f punishment would contribute powerfully to save him from crime.
I7S4. To the credit of the authors of the bill be it spoken, means of far greater than the usual efficacy were em- ployed to force out the real state of the facts, and to defeat the efforts of concealment or deception. The parties were rendered subject to personal examination upon oath ; and, for false statement, to the forfeiture of all their goods, to imprisonment and incapacitation. Information tending to the detection of falsehood was called for by the greatest rewards.1
So important an instrument of good government, as this, ought not, assuredly, to he confined to India. Wherever the pursuit of wealth is liable to operate to the production, in any degree, of had government, there undoubtedly it ought to exist.
V. A new tribunal was constituted “ for the pro- secuting and bringing to speedy and condign punish- ment British subjects guilty of extortion, and other misdemeanors, while holding offices in the service of the King or Company in India.” The Judicature was composed of one judge from each of the common
1 These clauses were repealed, only two years afterwards, in the amended Bill, by Act 26, Geo. III. cap. lvi., and, notwithstanding the commendation bestowed upon them in the text, most justly ; for as even Burke, although he opposed some of the amendments, observed of the original law, which rendered every individual who had been in India accountable for his fortune, it was incongruous with the national character, a violation of national rights, unbecoming to the legislature, and disgraceful to the country ; it afforded every subterfuge which villany could desire, and exposed honesty alone to ridicule and contempt.” The orator treated the following scheme, for the establishment of a Special Tribunal for Indian Delinquencies, with equal severity. All that had been said in its condemnation “ fell short of its turpitude ; it had no authority, example, similitude, or precedent, except perhaps the Star-Chamber of detestable memory.” Parliamentary History, xxv. p. 1276. — W.
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITTS BILL.
575
law courts in Westminster Hall, chosen by his Court; book gv-
four peers, and six members of the House of Com-
mons, chosen, after an operose method, by their re- 1784- spective houses of parliament.
Of the procedure, according to which justice was, in this channel, to be administered, the only part which it is here material to notice, is that, which regards its powerful instrument. Evidence.
For more effectually opening the sources of evi- dence, it was ordained, that witnesses should be compelled, by punishment, as for a misdemeanor, to attend, and by fine or imprisonment, at the discretion of the Court, to give evidence. The Commissioners or Judges might send for papers, persons, and records, and commit to prison for all prevarication.
The punishment of offences committed in India, by trial in England, conducted under the rules of evidence mischievously established in the English courts, was impracticable, and the attempt absurd.
This important truth seems, in part at least, to have been now very clearly perceived by the legislature ; and an attempt was made, very feeble indeed, and far from commensurate with the evil, to remedy a defect of the law ; a disgusting defect, which ensured, or little less than ensured, impunity to one of the highest orders of crimes.
f‘ Whereas the provisions made by former laws ”
(such are the words of the statute,) “ for the hearing and determining in England offences committed in India, have been found ineffectual, by reason of the difficulty of proving in this kingdom matters done there,” it was enacted, that witnesses should be ex- amined in India by the competent judges, that their
576
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
book v. testimony should be taken down in writing, and
that, when transmitted to England, it should be re-
1784. ceived as competent evidence by the tribunal now to be established. It was further enacted, “ in order ” (says the statute) “ to promote the ends of justice, in ascertaining facts committed at so great a distance from this country, by such evidence as the nature of the case will render practicable,” that all writings which might have passed between the Company and their servants in India, might, as far as they related to the facts in question, be read, and their evidence, as far as to the Court might appear to weigh upon the question, should be received. And also, upon the prayer of either of the parties, power was given of obtaining the examination, upon interrogatories, before a commissioner duly appointed, of absent witnesses, the depositions of whom, in this manner procured, should be admitted as evidence.
Of this important provision, in the East India bill of Mr. Pitt, the nature will appear, if we consider, first the necessity for it, and next its adaptation to the ends which it had in view.
1 . The necessity for it implies, that there was no tribunal, as yet existing in this kingdom, which was adequate to the purpose of punishing and repressing crimes committed in India ; because, if there was any such tribunal, no other, for a pui’pose which might have been answered without it, ought to have been called into existence. By enacting, therefore, a law for the creation of this new tribunal, the legislature of the country, with all the solemnity and weight of legislation, declared, that, for the punishment of crimes of the description here in question, the other
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT’S BILL.
tribunals of the kingdom, the courts of law, the courts of equity, and even the high court, as it is called, of parliament, are unfit. In what respect, unfit? Not merely for their absurd exclusion of such evidence as it was ordained that the new tribunal should receive. Because, had this been the only objection, it might have been easily removed, by simply prescribing what sort of evidence they ought to receive. They were therefore, according to the declaration of the legisla- ture, unfit on other grounds, and these so fundamental, that no superficial change could remove the unfitness.
This declaration is of very great extent. For if the tribunals, previously existing, were all, even with such rules for the admission of evidence, as the legislature might have compelled them to observe, unfit to try and to punish the crimes of high func- tionaries in India, they were equally unfit to try and to punish the crimes of high functionaries in Eng- land. The crimes of high functionaries are not one sort of thing in England, another sort of thing in India. They are the same sort of thing in both countries. And the only difference is, that the means of proof are to be brought in one case from a greater distance.
That the courts of law and equity are not tribunals by which the crimes of high functionaries can be repressed, was already the doctrine of the constitu- tion ; since it appointed the method of impeachment before the high court of parliament. The present declaration of the legislature bore, then, particularly, only upon the method of impeachment. That the declaration was just, in regard to the method of im- peachment, if any doubt till then could possibly have
VOL. iv. 2 p
577
BOOK V. CHAP. 9.
1784.
578
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
B00K v- remained, was made appear, according to the con-
fession of all parties, even in parliament, a few years
1784. afterwards, by the trial of Mr. Hastings.
We may then proceed upon it as a fact, fully esta- blished by experience, and solemnly recognised by the legislature, that, as far as law is concerned, there is impunity, almost or altogether perfect, to the crimes of high functionaries in England.
2. If wTe consider the adaptation of this tribunal of Mr. Pitt to the ends wdrich it had in view, we shall first perceive that it was so constituted as to be an instrument in the hands of the minister, and sure to do whatever could be done with any tolerable degree of safety, to secure his objects, whatever they might be.
It consisted of two parts ; three judges sent from the three courts of common law ; and ten members from the houses of parliament. The subservience of the judges of the common-law courts to the minister, or to the master of the minister, is the doctrine of one of the most remarkable parts of the British con- stitution; the trial by jury. If it were not for the wrong bias to which the judges of England are liable, and ail biases are trifling compared with the bias towrards the Court, the institution of a jury would not only be useless, but hurtful. And if this be the doctrine of the constitution, there is assuredly none of its doctrines, which an experience more full and complete, an experience more nearly unvarying, can be adduced to confirm.
Such is the state of the case, in as far as regards that part of the proposed tribunal, consisting of the ordinary judges. With regard to that part which
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT’S BILL.
579
consisted of members chosen by the two houses ofBOOKnv
parliament, the case is cleared by the doctrine of the
authors of the hill themselves. Mr. Pitt and his 1784 friends maintained, and nobody affected to deny, that the members to be chosen by parliament for Mr.
Fox’s Directors, would be “nominees” of the minister. There was nothing which could give the minister a power of nomination in that, which he would not possess in the present case. The second class of the members of the tribunal would, therefore, be “ nominees ” of the minister.1
The subservience of the whole would for that reason be complete. So far only as it was the interest of the minister that justice should be well administered, so far only would there be the intention to administer it well. How far, even when it had the intention, it would have the other qualities requisite for the detection and punishment of the official offences of official men, would demand a long
1 For some curious information on tliis subject, see a debate 'which, took place in the House of Commons, on the 16th of February, 1785, on the positive fact, that a ministerial list of members to be balloted for on the very first choice for this new tribunal, was handed to members, by the door-keeper, at the door of the House. Cobbett’s Pari. Hist. xxv. 1054 — 1060. After some experience, viz. on the 19th of March, 1787, Mr. Burke said, “ that the new judicature was infinitely the worst sort of jury that could be instituted, because it had one of the greatest objec- tions belonging to it that could belong to any panel. The members of it were nominated by the minister, and it was known soon after the com- mencement of every session who they were.” Cobbett’s Pari. Hist. xxvi. 748. Mr. Pitt said, “ if the Right Hon. Gent, meant generally to in- sinuate, that, in every act of the House, the influence of the minister was prevalent, he should not attempt to enter into the question, nor did he think such an insinuation decent or respectful to parliament.” This, if not an admission, was not far from it. The only other circumstance with which he attempted to contradict the assertion was this, that each gentleman gave in a list. True; but what list? The minister’s list, or another ?
2 P 2
580
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
BOOK V CHAP. 9.
1784.
inquiry sufficiently to unfold. I must leave it to the . reader’s investigation. Enough has probably been said to give a correct, if not a complete, conception of this new expedient for the better government of India.
Such were the five principal provisions in the cele- brated India bill of Mr. Pitt. Of other particulars, not many require to he mentioned ; and for such as do, a few words will suffice.
As the increase of the patronage and influence of the minister was the foundation of the furious outcry, which had been raised against the plan of Mr. Fox, there wTas a great affectation of avoiding all increase of ministerial patronage, by the bill of Mr. Pitt. In particular, no salaries were annexed to the offices of President, or Members of the Board of Control ; and it was stated, that these offices might always be filled, without increase of expense to the nation, or of influ- ence to the Crown, by functionaries who enjoyed other places of profit. We shall afterwards see, that this was a mask ; which it was not long thought necessary that the project should wear.
The patronage of India was left to the Directors, subject to the following inroads : That the nomination of the Commander-in-Chief, wTho should always be second in Council, should belong exclusively to the King ; That the Governor-General, Presidents, and Members of all the Councils, should be chosen, sub- ject to the approbation of the King: And that the King should have the power of recalling them.
When it is said that the patronage of the Company was left with the Directors, it can only, by any body, be meant, that it was ostensibly left. For it never
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PITT S BILL.
581
can for one moment be doubted that whatsoever g '
patronage is in the hands of the subordinate and
obeying body, in reality belongs to the superordi- 1/84' nate and commanding. To ministerial purposes in general the patronage of the East India House is the patronage of the minister : In all the departments subordinate to the minister a large portion of the patronage necessarily follows the superintendence of the details. And it is probable that, in the East India House, a less proportion of the patronage re- mains, not placed immediately at the command of the minister, than in the most immediate departments of his administration, those, for example, of the Admi- ralty, and the Commander-in-Chief.1
1 Mr. Burke said, “ The new bill (Mr. Pitt’s) vested in the Crown an influence paramount to any that had been created by the first bill (Mr. Fox’s). It put the whole East India Company into the hands of the Crown : And the influence arising from the patronage would be the more dangerous, as those who were to have the distribution of the whole, in reality, though perhaps not in name, would be removeable at the will and pleasure of the Crown.” Cobbett’s Pari. Hist. xxiv. 354. Mr. Fox said, “ By whom is this Board of Superintendence to be appointed ? Is it not by his Majesty ? Is it not to be under his control ? In how dreadful a point of view, then, must the very supposition of an agreement between this Board and the Court of Directors strike every one who attends to it! Must not the existance of such a union extend the influence of the prero- gative, by adding to it the patronage of the Company ? Is it not giving power to the Sovereign for the ends of influence, and for the extension of that system of corruption which had been so justly reprobated ?” Ibid. 395. Mr. Fox again said, “ The last parliament, to their immortal honour, voted the influence of the Crown inconsistent with public liberty. The Right Hon. Gent., in consequence of that vote, finds it probably unequal to the great objects of his administration. He is therefore willing to take the present opportunity of making his court — where he knows such a doctrine as the above will never be acceptable — and the plain language of the whole matter now is — that the patronage of India must be appended to the executive power of this country, which otherwise will not be able to carry on schemes hostile to the constitution in opposition to the House of Commons.” Ibid. 337. — To these authorities may be added that of the Court of Directors. In the “ Reply to the Arguments against
582
HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA.
*00K v. Such were the contrivances for improving that part
of the machinery for the Indian government, which
1784' had its seat in England. For immediate operation upon the faults of that part of it which had its seat, by unavoidable necessity, in India, the provisions of Mr. Pitt coincided to a great degree with the pal- liatives of Mr. Fox. A control was given to the Governor-General and Council of Bengal over the other Presidencies. Aggressive wars, presents, and disregard of orders, were forbidden. The Zemindars who had been displaced, were to be restored, and their situation as much as possible rendered perma- nent ; though nothing was said about their hereditary rights, or a tax incapable of augmentation. The debts of the Nabob of Arcot, and his disputes with the Raja of Tanjore, were to be taken into consider- ation, and a plan of adjustment was to be devised, by the directors.
(he Company’s Claim,” &c. dated East India House, 19th January 1805, it is affirmed, “ The control and direction of Indian affairs is not with the Company : unless, indeed, it be argued, that the small share of patron- age left to them constitutes power and influence : All the great wheels of the machine are moved by government at home, who direct and control the Company in all their principal operations in India.” See State Papers in Asiat. Ann. Reg. for 1805, p. 201.
END OF VOL. IV.
E. Varty, Printer, 27, Camomile Street, Bishopsgate.