setter to the ist-India Stock, on ttv vd Olive '3 Jaghire John Dunning, urton UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES I LETTER TO THE PROPRIETORS of EAST-INDIA STOCK, ON THE SUBJECT OF Lord CLI VE'S JAGHIRE; OCCASIONED BY Pis LORDSHIP'S LETTER on that Subjed. LONDON, Printed for CH. BAT HURST, at the Crofs-Keys y oppoflte St. Dun/ian's Church^ Flett~Jirttt* MDCCLXIV. Saturday ', y^n'/zS, 1764. AS the noble Lord, to whom the iupreme Command, Civil and Military, of your Settlements and Armies in Bengal^ was w lately offered by a Refolution of a General t; Court, has thought fit to infift on certain Terms ^ as the Conditions of his accepting that Appoint- ^ ment -, as you are now called on by an Adver- p tifement in the News-papers to meet again on Wedmfday next for the Purpofe, as it is gene- rally underftood, of confidering and deciding on thofe Terms, one of which is faid to be your Acquiefcence in his Lordfhip's Claim to a Rent or Tribute of 30,000 /. a Year for Lands in the Company's PofTefiion in that Province .; as this Claim is of a Nature not very generally un- derftood ; as it is neverthelefs of infinite Im- portance to the Company, that it mould be rightly underftood before it is determined; and as it is probable the Proceedings of the next Ge- neral Court, like thofe of the former, will be conducted with fo much Violence and Diforder by Perfons interefted to mifreprefent and rnif- iead, that it will be difficult, perhaps impofii- ble, to explain it there -, for all thefe Reafons, a Proprietor and Friend of the Company takes .this as a more eligible Method of offering you his Sentiment*, the Refult, however haftily ex- B pnfled, 354698 prefied, of proper Information and of cool and ciifpaffionate Inquiry. It will be necefTary to premife, left more fhould be expected than is intended, that I do not mean to meddle with any other Parts of the Letter addrefied to you by the noble Lord, and publifhed at the Eve of the late Election, than fuch as relate to this Claim-, nor to advert to that Letter at all, further than is material to- the Subject in my own Way of confidering it. Without further Preface then, which per- haps is not necefiary; or, if it be, the Time will not allow ; I proceed to the Confideratiott of the feveral Queftions, into which the Subject feems naturally to refolve itfelf. i . The Pro- priety of the noble Lord's Conduct abroad in- relation to the Subject-matter of his Claim. 2. The Validity of his Claim. And 3. the proba- ble Confequences of your Acquiefcence in it. To underftand the firft of thofe Queftions. rightly, it is necefTary you mould have a right Notion of the State of the Country, and of the Company's Affairs there at that Period. You will recollect, that Suraja Dowla, the Feigning Souba of Bengal* having plundered your Settlements, deftroyed many of your Ser- vants, and driven out the reft from his Domi- nions, to recover thole Settlements and profe- cute this War on the Part of the Company, a Fleet and Army was fent from Madrafs. This Armament ariving fafely, and its firft Opera- tions proving fucceisful, the Souba found him- felf conftrained to enter into a Treaty, reftor- ing your Settlements, and engaging to reftore or make Satisfaction for the Plunder : But his 2 Mo- [ 3 1 Motions indicating an Intention to diiregard this Treaty, and, as the noble Lord fays, to extirpate the Englijh as foon as the Troops and Squadron left the River \ it was judged ne- ceflary to renew the War, and to difarm him of the Power of doing further Mifchief. Each Side accordingly recurred to Arms, and after ibme Operations of little Importance, in which the Englifo were frill fuccefsful, they obtained at length a decifive Victory at PlaJJ'ey. To whom our Thanks were due for thefe SuccefTes, whether the Merit, as well as the Honour, of that Victory is to be wholly afcribed to the noble Lord, as his zealous Friends would perfuade us, or what Degree of Credit is due to the Whifpers then very current in India? which have fmce found their Way to Europe, and point our Gratitude to other Objects, it is foreign to our prefent Purpofe to inquire. Having no Refentments to gratify, npr any Spleen to indulge, I confine my Inquiries into the noble Lord's Conduct to fuch Parts of it only as refpect the Queftion before us. It fuffices then to obferve, that the Englijh Arms, and the Englijh Arms alone, having ob- tained this Victory, the Company were now the Mailers of Bengal; or (to ufe the noble Lord's Words) " the Company acquired and had de- livered into their Hands the abiblute Power over the three Provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orixa y whofe ordinary annual Revenues produce three Millions and a Half Sterling, infomucb that they were enabled to fet up and eflablijh in the Soubajhip any Perfon they thought fit " B 2 In [ 4 ] In this Situation we are to inquire what ought to have been done, and what was done. To fhorten this Inquiry, I decline going in- to a particular Difcuffion of the Queftion, whe- ther it was moft for your Intereft to fet up a new Souba, or retain the Soubafhip in your own Hands : A Queftion on which fome of the moft able and beft informed of the Company's Servants differ in Opinion, each fupporting*his own with Arguments that deferve more Confi- deration than we have Leifure to afford them. It is to be obferved however, that the En- gagements entered into with Meer Jaffier, in the fecret Negotiation conducted by Mr. Watts^ previous to the Battle which ended in the De- feat "and Death of the Souba, do not appear to have afforded any juft Objection to the Victors makingwhatever Ufe of the Victory they thought moft proper ; thofe Engagements being enter- ed into, and the Scheme of placing Meer Jaffier in a Government to which he had no Pretence of Title being adopted, in Expectation of that Officer's active Concurrence with the Troops under his Command in the Execution of a Plan by which he was to profit fo largely, and tinder an Engagement on his Part fo to do: Inftead of which, inftead of joining the Englifa Army, and acting againft the Souba, the crafty old Traitor, determined in all Events to fecure himfelf, had actually rejoined the Souba before the Battle, and by his Conduct at that Time railed well-grounded Sufpicions of that Infince- rity of which the Company has fince had fo much Experience : In the Action itfelf he took no Part, and fo doubtful was it, what Part he [ 5 ]' inclined to take, that it was thought necefTary ? when his Troops advanced, to employ your Ar- tillery to compel him to retire. With fo little Merit, and fo little Faith on his Part, there could be no Reafon for a fcrupulous Adherence, or indeed for any Attention on yours to the Engagements entered into with this Man, whp had himfelf fo grofsly neglected them. It is to be prefumed therefore, that the no- ble Lord was induced to prefer and to perfevere in the Plan of raifing Jaffier to the Soubafhip from an Opinion, that the Government of a Na- tive would be more readily fubmitted to, and would be equally beneficial to the Company ; as the new Souba was a Creature of your own, raifed by your Arms, and without any other effectual Refource for his future Support : Nor does there appear, all Circumftances confidered, fufficient Reafon to pronounce, that thofe who entertained this Opinion judged amifs. It may be doubted, whether a territorial Sovereignty of fuch Extent could be properly governed under the limited Powers of a Company infti- tuted for very different Purpofes : And it feems pretty certain, that in the necefiary Attention to this Object the Company muft have loft Sight of the commercial Principles of its origi- nal Eftablifhment, an Eftablimment, which, in a Country like ours, would perhaps be ill ex- changed for all the Revenues of the Souba- fiiip, could they be fafely collected and tranf- mitted hither. It cannot however be queftioned, but that, with the Power in your Hands of difpofmg of the Soubafhip itfelf in any Manner you fhould think think proper, it was the Duty of thofe, who ex- ercifed this Power on your Behalf, to make fuch a Difpofition of it as would effectually fecure to the Company the juft and proper Objects of the Enterprife in which that Power was acquired ; and thoie were Reftitution and Satisfaction for pad Injuries, and a proper Eftabliihment to prevent future. For the firft of thofe Purpofes a large Sum of Money was ftipulated to be paid by Meer Jaf- fer. Let us lee what Care was taken of the Second, and this is the material Point of our Inquiry. In former Wars among the Country Pow- ers, your Servants, minding their proper Bufi- nefs only, affecting no other Character than that of Merchants, and taking no Part with either of the contending Parties, were wholly unconr cerned in the Event. Pretending to no Power, they provoked neither Jealoufy nor Refent- ment : Their fuppofed Wealth expofed them now and then to Exactions and Opprefllons, in. common with the other Inhabitants of the Country ; but Suraja J)Givla was probably the firft of the Princes of Indoftan, who thought it his Intereft to extirpate them : in all Changes of the Government hitherto they were fufferedj whoever prevailed, to go on as before, and were confidered as a uferul, induftrious People, whofe Commerce enriched the Country, and increafed the public Revenues. Perhaps it would have been happy for the Company, if they had never been known to the Natives of Indoftan in any other Character. Your [ 7 J Your Situation was now much changed. Having the whole in your Power, you were now to determine, whether your future Eftab- Jiflitnent in this Country was to be wholly com- mercial, wholly military, or a Compound of both. Having determined to place Meer Jaf- fier in the Soubafhip, it was further to be de- termined, whether you mould yourfelves return to your old Syftem, or adopt a new one. Your old Syftem was moft agreeable to your Conftitution, and, if it could be fafely pur- l-tied, more likely to produce you the regular Returns you expec~l in Europe, than any Scheme of Power or Conqueft, however fuccelT- fully executed. It might be hoped, that, un- der the Protection of a Souba of your own Cre- ation, you might be permitted to purfue your Trade with at leaft as much Advantage as here- tofore, and enjoy the juft Profits of that Trade unincumbered with military Expences. On the other Hand it might be reafonably doubted, whether your Settlements could now fubfift in the defencelefs Condition they had hithertobeen. HavingtakenupArms, and pro- ved by your SuecefTes your fuperior Skill in the Ufe of them, it was to be feared the Country Powers, who had experienced the Weight of your Interpofition, would lay hold of the firft Oppor- tunity to crufh an Eftablimment they had found to be fo dangerous and formidable. The new Souba himfelf (reafoning only from the general Treachery of the Country, and without laying Strefs on his perfonal Character more particu- larly ftained with that Vice) was unlikely, ihould he ever find himfelf firmly eftablimed,. to [ 8 ] to be retrained j by Motives of Gratitude, from employing his Power to the Definition of thole who gave it him. As a more immediate Dan- ger, the Succefles of the French in the Deckan gave Reafon to apprehend a Vifit from them in Bengal , nor were they the only European Neighbours, whofe Enterprifes it behoved the Company to guard againfl. Beyond all this, it was not to be expected, that the newly appointed Souba fhould be able to eflablifh himfelf in that Dignity, or maintain it a Moment, without a Continuance of the fame Support by which he had been raifed to it. Thefe Reafons concurring feemed to evince the Propriety of erecting new and expenfive Fortifications, and of raifing a large military Force to be kept in conftant Pay, provided this could be done without Detriment to your Trade. But it is obvious, to all who know the enormous Expence of a military Eftab- lifnment in that Country, that the necefTary Charge of raifing thofe Fortifications, and maintaining that Force, would exceed, perhaps in- a quadruple Proportion, the whoie Profits of your Trade there. In fhort, the Security of your Trade required the Protection of Fortifi- cations and a military Force ; and yet to adopt that Plan, without fome other Fund tofupport the Expence of k, was apparently deflructive to the Trade it was meant to fupport. The obvious and only Expedient was, to ap- propriate to this Ufe a fufficient Part of the Revenues of the Country, the whole of which were become your own by a much better Title than they had been his from whom you f 9 ] you Cook them : And this appears to have been the noble Lord's Idea at the Time of preparing the Articles, which he inftructed Mr. Watts to propoie to Jaffier , one of which was, " That a Trad of Land be made over to the En^lib Company, whofe Revenues mall be iurncient to maintain a proper Force of Europeans and Sea- poys to keep out the French, and aflift the Go- vernment againft all Enemies." * For this Purpofe the 9th Article of the Treaty with Jaffier provides, that "All the Lands lying to the South ofCulpee mail be un- der the Zemindary of the Engli/b Company^ and all the Officers of thole Parts mall be un- der their Jurisdiction ; the Revenues to be paid by them in the fame Manner with other Zemindars" The Treaty contains a further Engagement on the Part of the intended Souba, to defray the Charge of the Engli/b Troops, when he mould call for their Afliftance, whilft actually em- ployed in his Service : But, for the conftant re- gular Expence of maintaining an Army in Rea- dinefs to be fo employed when called for, the 9th Article before - mentioned is the only Provifion. By this Article, the Company were to become Zemindars or Renters of thofe Lands, at the old Rents ufually paid by for- mer Zemindars, amounting to near 30,000 /. per Annum. To derive any Advantage front this you were to find under Tenants to farm the Lands at improved Rents ; and the Dif- ference between the old Rents you were to pay, and the improved Rents you might receive, whatever that mould be, was to be your Profit, the Fund to fupport the future military Efta- C blifh- * Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengpl, Page 90. f 10 ] blimment which the new Syftem had rendered necefiary. The firft Obfervation, that ftrikes one on reading this Article, is the flrange Impropriety of referving thefe Lands to the Company in the Character of Renters only, inftead of re- taining to your Ufe the abfolute Property and Dominion ; inconfiftently fubjecting the Com- pany to a Dependence on that very Govern- ment which your Servants were then eftablifh- ing, when the Obje6l of the Refervation was a Force to maintain an Independence of that Government, and indeed to continue the Go- vernment itfelf nr ever dependent on the Com- pany. This Dependence of Zemindars on the Souba may be thought of little Confequence, but it is not fo. The noble Lord himfelf thinks otherwife, when he mentions it as one of the Circumftances that gave him Pleafure in reading his Patent, " that the Company was thereby freed from all Dependence on the Go- vernment." I go along with the noble Lord in thinking it very defireable that the Company Ihould be freed from this Dependence ; but if his Lordfhip thinks, that the proper Way of freeing the Company was to fubftitute himfelf in the Place of the Government, there we differ. The more important Confideration how- ever upon this Article is, the Competency of the Fund it provides to the Purpofes for which it was provided. The nett Produce of the Lands for the firft Year (1758) I am well in- formed, was 14,0417. 3J. after difcharging the Rent. From that Time the Company have have received no regular Accounts ; but the Sums paid into the Treafury at Calcutta, fub- jcft to the Rent and perhaps to other Deduc- tions, are as follow: For 1759, 43,7497. 13;. For 1760, 69,8397. 14. For 1761,73,8007. 17.-. For 1762, 70,1047. 135. On a Me- dium therefore of thefe five Years, the Pro- duce of thefe Lands appears to have been about 60,000 7. a Year, fubjeft to a dear Rent equal to one half of that Produce, and the other half only is the Fund, by which your military Ef- tablifhment was to be fupported ; a Fund fo difproportionate, that it is ahroft ridiculous to have been- fo minute in this Part of our In- quiry. Yet to give you a general Notion of the Ex- pence of a military Eftablimment in Bengal, and at the fame Time to fet you right in ibme Facts, which through Intereil or Ignorance have been ftrangely mifreprelented (and which is the more neceflary, as a Project is faid to be on Foot for rendering this Article ftill more expenfive than it has hitherto been) it is fit you fhould know, that, from the Acceffion of Meer Jaf- fier to the Soubafhip in 1757 to the i4th of June^ 1760 (which was not long before his De- pofition) the whole Sum paid into your Bengal Treafury from every Source, including the Produce of your Exports to that Country, and all that could be got from the Souba of the large Sum he had ftipulated to pay by Way of Reimburfement for your former Lofles and Expences, and excluding only occafional Sup- plies to Madraft and your other Settlements, was fo fully exhaufted by the vaft Charge of C 2 your f ,2 ] your military Forces and military Works ad- ded to the ordinary Expence of the Settlement, that Mr. Holwell, the then Governor, in a Letter pf that Date, which he has lately publifhed, * reprefenting to General Caillaud the then State of the Settlement, tells him there remained in the Treafury but one Lack and a half of Rupees, v/ithout any Hope of a further Supply, even by Borrowing ; fo low was the Company's Cre-: dit. The bare Pay of your Troops, we learn by the fame Letter, amounted to 50,000 Ru- pees a Month, exclufive of the Charge of mili- tary Stores, &:c. which he calls immenfe ; and the Charges of the Works then carrying on amounted to nearly twice as much more. Thofe Works were projected by the noble Lord, and carried on under his Direction, as long as he thought fit to remain in India -, and this Article of Expence alone is eftimated at upwards of 580,0007. Sterling. So. far is it from being true, as has been insinuated and in- deed aflerted, that, out of the vaft Sums paid into your Treafury in Confequence of the Treaty with Meer Jajfier^ you have been reim- burfed your whole Damages, LofTes, and Ex- pences, and enabled to carry on the whole Trade of India for 3 Years, befides fupporting your military Expences both in Bengal and Coromandel) that I have the beft Authority to fay, the whole of your Exports to Bengal du- ring that Period have been abforbed by thofe Expences, and your Servants there obliged to draw upon the Company here for more than the Value of your Imports. Nay, even fmce the Acquifition of an additional Revenue, pro- cured * Mr. HoliveH's Addrefs to the Proprietors, &c. P. 5?.- [ '3 ] cured you by Mr. Vanfittart, to the Amount of near 600,000 1. a Year, it is inconceivable how imall a Balance remains to the Company up- onyour whole Revenue in that Province, thus augmented, after defraying the Expence of maintaining your prefent Eftabliihment. Was it not then the Duty of thofe, who on Behalf of the Company adopted a military Plan necelTarily attended with fuch Expence, to have referved a Fund in fame Degree ade- quate to fupport that Expence ; and will it be pretended that 30,000 /. a Year was, or could be, under any Management, and with any CEconomy, an adequate Fund ? I mean not, it would be unjuft, to impute the Neglect to the Gentleman who fettled the Treaty with Jaffier (Mr. Watts.) Under the Circumftan- ces he was, it would be too much to expect from him a complete and perfect Regulation of every Thing necefTary to be regulated be^ tween the future Souba and the Company. It is indeed a high Degree of Merit in him to have done fo much towards it i and he will be found, on a Companion of the Articles he figned with thole recommended to him, to have made a Treaty upon the whole much more beneficial to the Company. It would be un- juft too to the noble Lord to expecl, that a- midft the Triumphs of Victory, and the vari- ous Objects which in Confequence of that Vic- tory engaged his Attention, he mould fet him- felf inftantly to correct the Miftakes, or fun- ply the Imperfections of that Treaty. But iurely, when the Souba's Tr-eafury fcacl been fufficiently examined, and the proper Arrange- ments made there*, when the new Souba, Ck a- greeable, greeable, we are told, to the Cuftom of Ea- item Princes, had made Prefents to fuch of the EngKJh, who by their Rank and Abilities Jiad been inftrumental to the happy Succefs of fo hazardous an Enterprife, fuitable to the Rank and Dignity of a great Prince" When the noble Lord in particular had, as he is pleafed to tell us, indulged himfelf in this " honour- able Opportunity" of acquiring an " eafy For- tune ;" and " the Cowpbfty's Welfare" was be- come " his only Motive for flaying in India ;" when he had cooly confidered the Treaty at his Leifure, had experienced the Amount of your military Expences, had informed himfelf of the Value of the Lands referved by the pth Article, and confequently knew how inade- quate this Refervation was to its Object -, it might then not unreaibnably be expefted, that the noble Lord would have had fo much At- tention to that Welfare of the Company, which he frayed to promote, as to think of fome Means, while it was yet in his Power, to make good a Deficiency too vifible to be over- looked, and too dangerous to remain unfup- plied without certain Ruin to the Company. If he had deigned to turn his Thoughts to this Subject, a much lefs Degree of Penetration, than his Lordfhip poflelTes, would have fug- gefted to him, that the firft Step to be taken towards fupplying this Deficiency was to cor- rect the Treaty in this Article ; to procure a Difcharge, if it were neceffary, from the Souba to the Company of the Rent improvidently agreed to be paid him , or, in Subflance, (whatever Form it might be proper to ufe) to refume [ '5 ] refume your Property in thofe Lands, arid ap- ply their whole Produce (where it was fo much wanted) to the Purpofes for which they had been fet apart. By this Step alone the Fund would have been doubled, and the Company delivered from that Badge of Subjection fo uniuitable to thole Ideas of Independence and Superiority, which his Lordfhip in other In- icances appears to have adopted in their full Extent. The better to enable you to judge of what in thofe Circumftances you had a Right to expect, you will doubtiefs be glad to know what others of your Servants in the like Circumftances have done. Every body knows, that on your firft Set- tlement in India as Traders by Permiffion and under the Protection of the Princes of the Country, your Condition obliged you to fub- mit to whatever Terms thofe Princes thought fit to require, as the Price of that Permiffion and Protection. Befides pecuniary and other Prefents at firft, fome kind of annual Acknow- ledgement, by Way of Rent or Tribute for the Diftricts allotted you, was generally in- fifted on. In the Camatick, for Inftance, you were re- quired to pay* an annual Rent or Tribute of 4000 Pagodas, or fome fuch Sum, for your PoflefTions on the Coaft of Coromandel ; and it was accordingly paid till the late long expen- five War on that Coaft, fomented, if not be- gun, as the noble Lord obferves, on Princi- ples of French Ambition, and now happily terminated by Englijh Valour. This has pro- duced I '6 J duced almoft as great a Change in your Situa- tion there, as that we have before fpoken of has done in Bengal. Inftead of continuing to carry on your Trade as ufual, under the Pro- tection of the Nabob of that Province, you became his Protectors, aflumed a milirary Cha- racter in his Defence, and maintained him in 'a Government, which without your Support he muft long fince have loft. The Relation between you and the Nabob being thus inverted, the Rent or Tribute was thought of no more. If your Servants there had been actuated by a Spirit of Conqueft, they might in their Turn have required of the Nabob the like Badge of his Dependence on the Company. They judged better ; they were content with a* real, , without a nominal Superiority : Still mindful of their Duty, they lay hold of this Oppor- tunity to enlarge your PoflefTions near Madrafs, (which had been found too narrow and incon- venient) by the Addition of a neighbouring Diftrict of confiderable Value called the Poo- nomalel Country, the whole of which they re- tained, and Hill retain, as the Company's Pro- perty, carrying the whole Produce to the Com- pany's Account, fubject to no Rents or Jag- hires, and in perfect Independence of the Na- bob, who had too much Senfe to expect, and had to do with People too attentive to your Interefts to fubmit to the Payment of a Rent for the fmall Part they found necefifary to re- tain of a Principality, the whole of which had been more than once conquered for him by your Arms. In [ '7 ] In like Manner in the Deckan, the Com- pany intending, in the Time of the Emperor Furruckfeer, to form a Settlement in the Ifle of Divy, obtained a Grant of that Ifland under an annual Rent, but were obliged to lay aiide their Scheme of fettling there by Means of the Oppofition it met with from /the Souba, and the fubfequent Troubles of that Country. From hence your Title lay dormant till 1759, when, the Succefles of Colonel For d againft the French having driven them out of that Coun- try, four large Provinces, which Sdabatjing, the prefent Souba, had ceded to the French, (or they, in other Words, had taken from him) were given back to that Prince ; but the City of Mafulipatam^ being of Importance from its Situation to the Company's Trade, was retained for the Company with feveral adjacent Dif- tricts of near 1 00,000 /. a Year Value, fuch a Revenue being thought necefiary .to defray the Expence of maintaining a fufficient Force to defend this new Acquifition. From that Time you have been, and are ftill, in PofTeflion of the City and Diftricts thus acquired as your own abfolute Property, and of Divy likewife ; and the Rent under which the latter was ori- ginally granted has never been demanded or thought of. The Souba, fenfible that the Company had all the Right that Conqueft can give to the Whole, rejoiced to find himfelf re- ftored to that large TracT: of Country which theFr?fl& had obliged him to give up to them, with an Exception of the fmall Part the Com^ pany chole to referve, their Title to which he D readHy E i ) readily confirmed, and the Paymen-t of a Rent for it was never dreamt of on either Side. To return to Bengal When Mr. Vanfittart in 1760 found it neceffary to enlarge the Com- pany's PofTeffions, in order to make the milf- tary Fund equal to the Demands upon it,, he required on your Behalf, and procured tc a much larger Diftrict of Country (to ufe the noble Lord's Words) than the Company had before enjoyed under the Treaty with Meer Jaffier^ together with a larger Eftate and Inte- rejl in thofe Lands, than they had in thofe be- fore granted j and, inftead of referving to the Government the ufual Rents of Homage which thofe Lands were fubject to, both the Lands find thofe Rents were granted to the Company" Perhaps what has been faid may fuffice to fa- tisfy you, that the fame Attention to the Wel- fare of the Company which was fhewn by your Servants under fimilar Circumftances in the Carnatick^ in the Deckan, and in 1760 in Ben- gal^ you had a Right to expect from thofe who conducted your Affairs in the lafl-mentioned Province in 1757 , at leaft, that the noble Lord v who continued in India above two Years after, the Governor of your Settlements, and the Commander of your Armies, mould have cor- rected the Impropriety of the Treaty in this Refpefb in the Manner the Intereft and Honour of the Company appear to have required. That this might have been done at any Time, cannot be denied. The Souba who was not more indebted to you for his Elevation, than dependent on you for the Continuance of his Government, who might have been, as he af- terwards [ '9 ] terwards was difplaced without Commotion or Bloodihed,and would have funk into Nothing, if you had difcontinued your Support ; a Crea- ture, in fhort, in whofe Name the noble Lord was underftood to govern the Soubafhip in eve- ry Thing in which he chofe to interpofe, muft have fubmitted to this, or any other Demand that might have been made on him. That this Demand might have been juftly made on him, fuppofing him lefs indebted to you than he was, and that it was even beneficial to him to have complied with it, is equally clear, if it be re- membered that the Force, which this Revenue was wanted to maintain, was as necefTary to his Safety as to your own. More,Iprefume,neednot be faid to convince you, that if the Souba, when it was propofed to him, or when he propofed, (for it matters not which) to relinquish hisPre- tenfions to this Rent in Favour of the noble Lord, had been defired to do it in Favour of the Company, he would with equal Readinefs have fubmitted to it. In whofe Favour then ought this to have been defired ? Or rather, to whofe Account ought this Cefllon, when obtained, to have been carried ? The Company (to adopt an Expreffion of his Lordfhip's) had a particular Claim, wanting it for a Purpofe in which the Souba had an equal Intereft. His Lordfhip pretends not. to any particular Claim. The Scuba's Generofity had been fo fuitable to the Rank and Dignity of a great Prince., that the noble Lord's Fortune was eafy^ and he had received the Reward of bis honourable Ser- vices" The Company's Fortune in that Coun- P * try, try was by no Means eafy, and they were coa- ftantly rendering Services for which they had, no Reward. You were furely then as proper Objects of the Scuba's Gratitude, whofe Troops and whofe Servants had made him what he was, as the noble Lord, who was only known to him as the Leader of thofe Troops, and the firfl of thofe Servants ; but to fup- pofe that Gratitude, or any Confideration of that Sort, had any Part among Meer Jaffier's Motives to the Conceflion, is to forget th$ Character of the Man, and indeed of the Country, as it is generally reprefented to us ; and, not only fo, is contrary to the Fad, ac- cording to my Lord's Account of it, from which it plainly enough appears, as the Truth undoubtedly was, that it proceeded from a Conviction in the Nabob, founded on the Experience he had had, that it was impoffible to fupport himfelf without the Company's Af- fiftance ; and a' Confcioufnefs that what he was defired to give his Confent to part with might be taken from him, whether he confented or no ; he gave up therefore what he knew he could not retain, having firft difcovered as much Difinclination as he durft. To dojuftice even to fuch a Character asMeer J&ffier's, it is pretty clear that the fame Con- fcioufnefs of the Company's Power, the fame Defire of engaging the Support of that Power, and the fame Dread of its being otherwife em- ployed, were the moft prevalent, if not the only Motives to Acquiefcence with the feveral other Princes, from whole Dominions the Com- pany [ 21 ] pany has lopped off the Acquifitions we lately fpoken of. The noble Lord would have it underftood, that Meer Jaffier's Grant to him proceeded from his Senfe of the Services that had been juft then rendered him in the Expedition to Patna, and the Conviction he had of the Value of fuch fmcere Allies. At whofe Expence and Rifque then was that Expedition undertaken ? Who were thofe Allies, the Value of which Meer Jaffier had then discovered ? Whofe were the Troops, and in whofe Pay was their Com- mander, by whom thofe Services had been ren- dered, of which Meer Jaffier entertained this Senfe ? Let us fuppofe what is not to be fuppo- fed, that Meer Jaffier , knowing nothing of the Company but the Perfons of its Servants, had been really grateful; but had fo far miftaken the proper Object of his Gratitude, as to have intended this Favour for his Lordfhip, unafked and unfollicited, which the noble Lord confefles was not the Cafe ; was his Lordfhip to profit by this Miftake, to the Prejudice of the Com- pany, whole Servant he was, and whofe Ser- vice had enabled him to raife himfelf to a Sta- tion for which moft Men would have thought, though his Lordfhip is pleafed ip think other- wife, they ewed the Company fonmhmg in Point of Gratitude. But the noble Lord denies, that this Claim of his can be attended with any Prejudice to you. Having before told you, that the reft of his Fortune, arifing, as he fays, from the grateful Bounty of the Nabob, and for which nothing like Gratitude is due to the Company, was yas " acquired without Prejudice to you, and that you would not have had more for his hav- ing had, lefs ," He is pleafed to apply the fame Dbfervation to this Claim likewife, affecting to confider it as a Queftion between him and the Mogul, or between him and the Nabob, in which you have no Manner of Intereft or Con- cern. This Argument his Lordftiip very art- fully preffes, his Advocates every-where make great Ufe of it, and it feems to have made Im- prefllons in his Favour on the Minds of difm- terefted People unacquainted with this Subject. But this Argument will not, I truft, have much Weight with you, if you are fatisfied by what has been faid, that it ought to have been yours, if it is not; that it was his Lordfhip's Duty to have retained or procured it for you, and that it was not merely a Neglect, but a Violation of that Duty to employ the Influence you gave him to procure it for himfelf. You will recol- lect too, that, fuppofing his Lordfhip's Claim invalid, you have ftill the fame Power to appro- priate this Rent to your own Ufe, and the fame Influence to procure every body's Confent that may be thought neceffary, whenever you pleafe. Nor is this all , it is certain, as certain as any Thing that has^iappened can be, that, had his Lordmip only negle&ed his Duty in this In- ftance, without putting it out of the Power of thofe who came after him to repair that Neg- lect, this Revenue would long e're now have been yours. It is not to be doubted, but that the Payment of it to the Souba, had it conti- nued to the Revolution in 1760, would have continued no longer. Thofe who brought a- bont t *s ] ^out that Revolution, who found it necefTary to add other Lands of much greater Value to the Company's Poffeffions, would have requir- ed for thefe, as they did for thofe, an abfolute Independence of the Country Government, and would have carried the full Produce of the whole to the Company's Account, conformably, as we have feen, to what had been done in the like Cafe in the Carnatick, and in the Deckan. You will judge then, with what Truth you have been told, that this Lordfhip and Rent, or, as my Lord fomewhere in his Letter calls it, his Eft ate in the Eaft- Indies ^ was " made over to him, no Prejudice refulting to the Company and only this Difference, that you are to pay the Quit Rents to him inftead of the Govern- ment : a clear Profit to this Nation of 3 0,000 /. a Year. 5 ' It is ftrange his Lordmip mould fo far miftake the Nature of his Claim, as to fee it in this Light ; but there are Paffions in the human Breaft that pervert the Underftanding ; unfortunately they grow with Indulgence, and admit of no Satiety. If you have ftill a Doubt of the Opinion you ought to entertain of this Tranfaftion, change but the Scene, and fuppofe it to have happened nearer home. Suppofe any of thofe gallant Of- ficers, who during the late War^ without Dif- paragement to the noble Lord, contributed as much to fupport and extend the Honour and Terror of the Englijh Name in other Parts of the Globe, as the noble Lord was doing in Afa v had employed the Influence, which their Com- mands, their SuccefTes in thofe Commands, and, if you will, their pbrfonal Merit in obtaining f 24 ] thofe SuccefTes had given them, to the Acqiii- fition of a territorial Dominion in the Coun- tries they had conquered to their private Ufe. Suppofe, if you will, they had only accepted fuch a Dominion from Friends or Foes againft his Majefty's Inclination, or even without his Per- miflion , what would have been thought, and what would have been faid of thofe Officers ? Does then the phyfical Difference of Climates introduce a different Set of Rules for the Con- duel of an Officer in Afia, in the Service of a Company, to whom the King's Favour has in this, and many other Inflances, delegated his Sovereign Rights ? Before we difmifs this Queftion, let us once more recollect the Inflances we have before gi- ven of Acquifitions for the Company by others of its Servants. We have feen that they have judged differently for the Company , let us now fee, whether there is any Refemblance in their Conduct to that of the noble Lord, in their Manner of judging for themlelves. Can it be doubted (I am fure it will not by thofe who know the Parties and their Hiftory) but that the Services rendered to Mahomet Ally Khan, the Nabob of the Carnatick^ by General Lawrence were as important as thofe of the no- ble Lord to Kfeerjaffier, his Influence with him as great, his Pretenfions to a Jaghire as good, and the Means of obtaining it as eafy r 1 Yet fuch has been the Continence, fuch the Virtue of that brave old Soldier, whofe Abilities have been ib long employed to your Advantage in the Council and in the Field, whofe Penetration firft difcovered the noble Lord's Military Me- rit, [ 25 J rit, whofe Protection encouraged it, and whofe Example taught him co conquer, that, after a long Life worn out in your Service, almoft as poor as when he firft entered it, when, inftead of accepting or foliciting Jagh- ires, he was lately importuned by the Nabob to accept fome Proof of his Gratitude ; he paid into the Company's Treafury the Prefent that was fent him (a Lack of Rupees, i2,5oo/.) the Moment he received it, and refufed to apply a fingle Rupee to his own Ufe, till theTranfac- tion had been communicated to your Court of Directors, and the Ships of the laft Year car- ried him out their Permifiion. Can it be doubted, but that, when Col. Ford y after driving the French out of the Deckan, was reftoring to Salabatjing the four fine Provinces, of which they had long difpoflefs'd him, the Souba would have confented to any Divifion that might have been propofed to him, of the Produce of the Lands he was to give up to the Company ? Yet that worthy Officer has no Jaghire, and You have the whole Revenue. Can it be doubted, but that Meer Cqffim was as much obliged to Mr. Vanfittart^ General Cail- laud, and the reft of the feledl Committee, who raifed him to the Soubamip, as Meer Jaffier had been to the noble Lord ? Or that, if it had been propofed to him, he would have referved the Lordlhip and Rents of the Lands agreed by the Treaty to be given up to the Company, and afterwards would at any Time have grant- ed that Lordfhip and thofe Rents to his Benefac- tors in any Manner they chofe ? Yet, You have the whole Property and Produce ,of the Lands, E and C 26 3 and none of thofe Gentlemen have Jaghires. Nor muft it here be forgot, that when the new Sou&awzs preparing to follow the Example of his Predeceflbr, and mower down his Favours upon thofe, who by their Rank and Abilities had been inftrumental in his Promotion, fuitable, as the noble Lord exprefles it, " to the Rank and " Dignity of a great Prince,*' Thofe Gentlemen have the Merit of refufing no lefs than 20 Lack of Rupees, 250,0007. and to this Hour have received no Fruits of his Gratitude, or of his Bounty. If no Inftances of the Kind we are feeking, are to be found among your own Servants, let us employ another Page in enquiring into thofe of your Rivals. The Dutch are too fober, too provident, and too wife, to give us any hope of rinding Ex- amples of this Sort among them. The Severity of their Conftitution allows no body to reward their Servants, but themfelves ; with them eve- ry Prefent which Gratitude or Bounty produces, be it large or fmall, is carried to the Compa- ny's Account. The French have the fame Rules, but are lefs drift in the Obfervance of them ; and among them the noble Lord fuppofes he has found a Precedent in the Condudt of Mr. Du- pleix. " Mr. Dupleix Cfays hej the Comman- " der in Chief of the French Forces in India 9 " obtained a Title of Honour inferior to mine, " and had feveral Jaghires given him by the " Nabob of the Deckan in Lands ceded to the *' French Company, which he enjoyed for fe- " veral Years after he returned to Europe, and " until " until the Lands, upon which the Jaghires w were granted, were taken from the French' 9 This, if it be one, is not perhaps the only Circumftance, in which the attentive Obferver will difcover a Refcmblance in the Conduct of. that extraordinary Perfonage, and of the noble Lord. Mr. Dupkix had great Merit with the Company he ferved, had render'd it great and fubftantial Services ; but at length he ruined it. " Les InteretS) fays he, in a Memorial he pre- " fented to the Company on his return from In- "dia, Us Inter sis de la Compagnie quejefers, & " la Gloire de ma Nation ont ete les Guides & la " Mobile de toutes mes Operations^ &c." Words, that cannot be better tranflated, than in thofe of the noble Lord, when he declares *' The Ho- " nour of my Country, and the Intereft of the " Company, were the Principles that governed all " myA&ions." Mr.Dupleix thought his Services not fufficiently rewarded, he complained of In- juflice from the Directors, he form'd a Claim on the Company, he commenced a Law-fuit to fupport it, he was not fo well advifed as to drop that Suit, and try to carry his Point by other Means, he perfifted, he mifcarried, and is lately dead a Beggar. In which of thofe Circumftan- ces the Refemblance will hold, I prefume not to determine, except that it will not hold in the laft. Whether Mr. Dupleix ever enjoyed a Jaghire, I know not. That, after he had adorn- ed himfelf with Indian Titles, and Indian Ho- nours, Omra, Nabob of the Carnatic^ Joint ouba of the Deckan, &c. he conceived ac length an Affection for an Indian Eftate, is cer- tain. What were the Sentiments of the French E 2 Company C 28 ] Company on that Subject, how contrary to his Duty and to their Constitution, they thought it, may' be feen in their Memoir.* They actually claimed and inftfted on his carrying the whole Pro- duce of that Eftate to their Account^ notwithftand- ing an ingenious Device of his to elude it:):. What Mr. Dupleix himfelf thought of his Duty in that refpect fome Time before, you will collect from what follows. The firft of the Pieces jujltficatives, annexed to his Memoir, gives us the Form of a Perwanna or Grant from Chundafaib of feveral Villages in the Neighbour- hood of Pondicherry to this Effect : the beft Light it will bear ; for it is fuppofing the Ceffions to have been made you by fome of the PrtdecefTbrs of Meerjaffier, who fupported themfelves by their own Strength, affetted Independence of tta Mo- guly and were certainly ii.d -pendent of You. But to reprefent your Title to Acquifitions made in the Days of Meer Jaffier or Meer Co/im as founded on the Authority or Power of the Souba^ is an Infult on your Understandings of Ib grofs a kind, as can ferve only to (how to what wretched Shifts Men reduce themfelves, who labour to fupport a (Claim fq devoid of every real Foundation. Under God and his Majefty, you hold only of yourfejves, by your oWn Power, acquired, by your own Force, by which alone thofe Sou- bas acquired, and by which alone they likewife held, their Governments. In a Country like that, where, according to the noble Lord, the Conftitution is loft in Anarchy and Confufion, where no Rights are acknowledged, nor any Laws fubmitted to but thofe of the Sword , ic is idle to talk of any other Title. Tho' in Point pf Form therefore thefe Ac- quifitions were ceded to you by Meer Jaffier-, and by Meer Cofflm ; a Form very properly and prudently adhered to, for Reafons that ought no", perhaps need not, be more particularly ex* plained ; it is rid.culous to confider thofe Ceffi- ons as having any effective Operation, or thole F 2 Ac- Acquisitions as founded in any other Title than that of Conqueft, the lawful Fruits of a juft and fuccefsful War. It was not by Parchments, but by the Sword you acquired this Title ; it is by the Sword, and not by Parchments, you are to to maintain it. What the noble Lord fays of the Ctflion made to you by Meer CoJJim^ is certainly true as applied to the Ceffwn made to him by Meer Jaffier -, that it is " as much a Conference of the Battle of " Plafley, as the Advantages which 'were gained immediately after that Vittory?' The Queftion then is fairly reduced to this, whether anAcquifi- tion obtained under the Influence (directly or indi- rectly it matters not) of a Force abling under your Orders^ and raifed and maintained at ycur Ex- pence, is to be applied to hisLordJhip's private Be- nefit or to your own. And as it is impofiible there can be two Opinions on this Queftion, I might here clofe the fecond Head of our Enquiry. But left the noble Lord mould in it's Turn abandon the Claim infifted on by his Letter, and revive his Pretenfions under the Mogul Constitution ; and (whether he does fo or no) to give you a further Specimen of the Truth and Candour of the Arguments that have beer} ufed upon this Occafion, I will trefpafs a Mi- nute longer on your Patience, and take fome Notice of the Anfwers attempted to be given to the Objections before mentioned, to be drawn from that Conftitution. You will re- member therefore, that this proceeds on a Sup- pofition of the Conftitution being ftill in its full Vigour, fbat the Nabob has no Right to alienate thelmperial Rents, is a Propofition prov- ed [ 37 1 ed by the very Terms of it. The Emperor, and the Emperor only, can divcft himfelf of his own Property. To fuppofe a concurrent Power in the Nabob, is to fuppofe the latter in- dependent j and then, as each may happen to grant the fame Thing to different Perfons, the Suppofition involves the Abfurdity of two cor exifting abfolute Rights in different Perfons, in one and the fame Subject. 'That the Company may be called to an Acccount by the Emperor for what has been already paid his Lord/hip^ and that he is therefore accountable to them for what he has already received, is but a Conclufion from the former Petition; for if they are the Emperor's Rents, he has a Right to demand them, and it can furely be no Anfwer to that Demand to fay, you have paid them to fomebody elfe, under Colour of an Alienation from one who had no Right to make it. To meet this Conclufion, his Lordmip infifts, that the whole yearly Sum payable to the Emperor being made up by the Nabob, that is all he ex- . peels ; and it is immaterial to him, what the Nabob does with the Rents, or the Lands which produce them, which the Nabob therefore may difpofe of as he thinks fit, and out of them con- fer Favours on whpm he pleafes. This Argu- ment, you fee, fuppofes that the whole yearly Sum will be regularly paid by the Nabob : not to mention how thofe Payments have in fact been made, what Reafon can be given why it {hould be required of you to pay this Money to any Nominee of the Nabob's, in which you could be fafe no longer than while the Nabob was punctual in his Payments, arid thus take upon 1554698 [ 38 ] upon yourfelves theRifque of his becoming thro* Difhonefty unwilling, or thro* Diffipation un- able, to pay the Mogul what he had a Right to demand, and what, if not paid otherwite, he would certainly demand of You. But taking his Lordfhip's Anfwer to thisOb- jection to have more Colour than it has ; fuppof- irig, for the fake of the Argument, you might rely on the Nabob's Care to indemnify you, by his Punctuality with the Mogul, againft any ill Confequences of your accommodating your Payments to his (the Nabob's) Pleafure in Fa- vour of his Nominee : From this very Anfwer arifes the next Objection ; which is, that at moft the Nabob's Alienation could exift no longer than bh own Government^ and was not binding on fas Succejfor ; for could it be ferioufly expected in any Period of the Mogul Government, that any Nabob mould have fo much Regard for his Pre- deceflbr's Favourites, as to make himfelf ac- countable to his Mafter for what they, and not he, received. It is no Anfwer to this to fay that " there are Numbers of Jaghires in the Pro- " vince of Bengal^ granted by former Nabobs, remark the Inconfiftency) is his Lordfhip's Doubt, whether Meer Jajfier was really depofed or no. 'Tis certain (and the Form of the Stipulation between Meer Cojffim and the Company, to which his Lordfhip re- fers, proves it) that it was not at firft intended to t 39 ] to do more than make Meer Cofflm Regent, and leave the Soubafhip nominally with Jaffier \ yet his Lordfhip, and all who know that Tranf- aclion, know that Jaffier himfelf difapproving this, and being induced by his Fears to wilh himfelf fafe under the Company's Protection at Calcutta^ he quitted the Munfub, Coffim af- cended it in Form, and became nominally as well as really Souba. His Lordfhip here affects to fuppofe, your Directors intended ' to retain " his Jaghire for the Benefit of the Mogul^ to " the Prejudice of Him, and of their Country." To cafe his Lordihip of that Apprehenfion, there feems very little Reafon to doubt, that, it" his Lordfhip's LVetenfions had not obstructed, your Directors would, as was their Duty, have taken the proper Meafures to iecure it for You, who have the bcft Title to it, conformably to the Policy of your wifeft and honefteft Servants in fimilar Cafes. By the Mogul Conftitution the being an Om- rah was an indifpeniable Qualification, without which no Man could have a Jaghire. To make out his Title under that Conltitution, his Lord- ihip had dated himfelf to be poffeffed of that Dignity, under a fuppofed Creation in the Ycaf 1757 > an< ^ ne claimed, it feems, a Jaghire as a Sort of Incident to it. " To fupport that Dignity (fays he) the " Scuba* according to the Cuftom of the Coun- *' try, affigns a Jagbire or Eftate within his own " Province." His Lordfhip very well knew, that in the prefent State of Things no fuch Confequence follows that Dignity : He knows many Omrabs without Jaghires : Mr. Watts 2 and L 40 ] and Col. Coote are both, if I miftake not, of that Number. His Lordlhip affecls to be furprized, that your Directors fliould prefume to doubt his having had the Honour of an Omrah conferred on him, having (as he fays) * a Copy of his " Parent in their Cuftody." Whether they had a Copy of what he calls his Patent in their Cuftody, I know not ; but I am inform'd, and have every Rcafon to believe my Information true, that there are certain Books ufually tranf- mitted from each of your Settlements, which contain, or ought to contain,- Copies of all the Letters that pals between your Prefidents and ihePeople of the Country ; and that your Direc- tors had, and ftrll have in their Cuftody, one of thofe Books delivered by the noble Lord, containing Copies of various Letters to his Lordfhip from the Court of Delhi, from the Emperor, the Vizier, and the Buxey, (the two principal Officers of State) fubfequent to the iuppoied Date of his Patent, none of which either ftyle him an Omra, or make the leaft mention of his having any fuch Title conferred on him ; a Silence in his Lordfhip's own Judg- ment fo inconfiftent with the Idea of his being really an Omra, that in a Letter from the noble Lord to theVizier, in the fa me Collection, dated Sept. ic), 1758, are thefe Words : that ' be [ 53 ] be that Merit great as it may, it affords not an adequate Pretenfion to the Thing he demands. To grace himfelf with infinite Commendation in every Page of his Letter was efiential to his Manner of arguing it was not a Sally of " oftentatious Vanity," but really neceffary to his Lordmip's Argument. To correct the Excefs of that Argument, and to let in a fairer and fuller Light on the Subject was equally neceflary to mine. The Liberty his Lordlhip has taken in this and other Publica- tions with Names, which in my Judgment the Company has every Reafon to hold dear, has not provoked me to go further into that f>rtof Difcuffion than my prefent Subject re- quired. In this I claim fome Merit with his Lordfhip : It intitles me to expect, that if on fome future Occafion a fuller Underiland- ing of thofe Paflfages mould be requifite, his Lordfhip with the Greatnefs and Liberality of a noble Mind will hold me excufed in purfu- ing that Difcuffiorr, difagreeable as it will be to me, a little further. FINIS. 38. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. ; i^ . -,--y & & Form L9-32m-8,'58(5876s4)444 UNIVERSITY OP CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES _A 000017667 7