UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 Mr. BUR K E's 
 
 SPEECH, 
 
 O N T H t 
 
 MOTION MADE FOR PAPERS 
 
 R E I. A T 1 V E T O T H B 
 
 PIRECTIONS FOR CHARGING THE NABOB OF 
 
 argot's private debts to EUROPEANS, 
 
 ON THI REVENUES OF THE CARNATIC, 
 
 FEBRUARY 28th, 1785. 
 
 W I T H A N 
 
 APPENDIX, containing feveral Document?. 
 
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 ^VKVBiov i^aaovcrt ^i to Seotctcrs? Ipyic^rlr/fio* Tuv toiStw* ; Efxat 
 [Kit n> ocKT^^oti iat dojcs* Ta; /y, p^jAta^^tf?, orxii An^uat Tw ra^it, 
 
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 vay/oj J3/*<y, uaTtt^ at etw^si'. 
 
 JULIANI Epift. I7t 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. DODSLEY, PALL-MALL, 
 
 M.DCC.LXXXV. 
 
 9i 8 2 6
 
 | ' I ' ... I I I I l i i.i 
 
 I ADF ERTI S EMENT. 
 
 ^HAT the Jeafi informed reader of this Speech 
 i^ may he enabled to enier fully into the fpirit of the 
 ^tranfaSiion on occafton of which it was delivered^ it 
 >:may be proper to acquaint him, that among the princes 
 ^.dependent on this nation in the fouthern part of In- 
 Zjdia,the mo ft conftderable at prefent is commonly known 
 by the title of the Nabob of Arcot. 
 
 This Prince owed the ejiablifhment of his govern^ 
 
 ment^ againfi the claims of his elder brother^ as well 
 
 as thofe of other competitors^ to the arms and influ-' 
 
 ence of the Britijh Eof India Company. Being thus 
 
 ejiabltfhed in a conftderable part of the domi?tions he 
 
 ^ftow pojjejjes^ he began, about the year ijSs, to form^ 
 
 '^ ct the inftigation (as he afferts) of the fervants 
 
 (M cf the Eajt India Company, a variety of dejigns 
 
 ^for the further extenfon of his territories. Some 
 
 <cyears after, he carried his views to certain obje5fs of 
 
 interior arrangement, of a very pernicious nature* 
 
 None of thefe dejigns could be compaJJ'ed without the 
 
 aid cf the Company's arms j nor could thofe arms be 
 
 employed conftfiently with an obedience to the Com-' 
 
 pany's orders. He was therefore advifed to form a 
 
 more fecret, but an equally powerful intereft among 
 
 the fervants of that Company, and among others both 
 
 cr^at home and abroad. By engaging them in his inte^ 
 
 ^rejis, the ufe ef the Company's power might be ob~ 
 
 ^tained without their ojtenjible authority ; the power 
 
 ^might even be employed in defiance of the authority, if
 
 ( vi ) 
 
 the cafe Jhould require, as in truth it often did require, 
 a proceeding of that degree of boldncfs. 
 
 ^he Company had put him into pojfeffton of fever al 
 great cities, and magnificent cafiles. The good order 
 of his affairs, his fenfe of perfonal dignity, his ideas 
 of oriental fpkndour, and the habits of an Afiatick 
 life (to which, being a native of India, and a Ma- 
 hornet an, he had from his infancy been enured) would 
 naturally haze led him to fix the feat of his govern- 
 ment within his o'jun dominions. Inftead of this, he 
 totally fequeflered himfelf from his country ; and, aban- 
 doning all appearance of fate, he took up his rejidence 
 in an ordinary houfe, which he pur chafed in the fuburbs 
 of the Company" s faElory at Madras. In that place 
 he has lived, without removing one day from thence^ 
 for fever al years pafl. He has there continued a con- 
 fiant cabal with the Company's fervants, from the 
 highefi to the lowefl , creating, out of the ruins of the 
 (ountry, brilliant fortunes for thofe who will-, and en- 
 tirely deflroying thofe who will not, be fubfervient t$ 
 his purpofes. 
 
 An opinion prevailed, Jlrongly confirmed by fever al 
 paffages in his own letters, as well as by a combination 
 of circumfiances forming a body of evidence which can- 
 not be rejijled, that very great fums have been by him 
 dijiributed, through a long courfe of years, to fome 
 tf the Coynpanfs fervants. Befides thefe prefumed 
 payments in ready money {of which, from the nature of 
 the thing, the direB proof is very difficult) debts have 
 at feveral periods been acknowledged to thofe gentlemen, 
 to an immenfe amount -, that is, to fome millions of fler- 
 ling money. There is firong reafon to fufpei, that the 
 body of thefe debts is wholly fictitious, and was never 
 created by money bona fide lent. But even on a fup- 
 pofition that this vafl fum was really advanced, it was 
 impoffible that the very reality offuch an afionifhing 
 ttanfaElion fhould not caufe fome degree of alar my and 
 incite to fome fort of enquiry. 
 
 It
 
 ( vii ) 
 
 It was not at all feemh/y at a moment when the 
 Company itfelf wasfo dijlreffed^ as to require a fujpen* 
 Jion^ by Atl of Parliament^ of the payment of bills 
 drawn on them from India and alfo a direct tax upoH 
 every houfe in England, in order to facilitate the vent 
 of their goods i and to avoid injiant infolvency at that 
 very moment that their fervants fbould appear in fa 
 flourifhing a condition^ as^ bejides ten millicn of other 
 demands on their mafters^ to be entitled to clainia 
 debt of three or four millions mere from the territorial^' 
 revenue -of one of their dependent princes. , 
 
 The ofienfible pecuniary trarfa^iions of the Nabob 
 cf Arcot, with very private perfons^ are fo enormous^ 
 that they evidently fet ajide every pretence of policy y 
 which might induce a prudent government in fome in- 
 ftances to wink at ordinary loofe practice in ill managed 
 departments. No caution could be too great in han- 
 dling this matter ; no fcrutiny too exat. It was evi- 
 dently the intereji^ and as evidently at leafi in the 
 power y of the creditors^ by admitting fecret participa- 
 tion in this dark and undefined concern^ to fpread cor' 
 ruption to the greatefl and the moji alarming extent. 
 
 Thefe fals relative ts the debts were fo notorious, 
 the opinion cf their being a principal fource of the dif- 
 orders of the Britifh government in India was fo un- 
 difputed and univerfaU that there was no party ^ no 
 description of men in parliament, who did not think 
 themfelves bounds if not in honour and confidence , at 
 leafit in common decency^ to inftituie a vigorous enquiry 
 into the very bottom of the bufinefisy before they admitted 
 any part of that vafi and fufipicious charge to be laid 
 upon an exhaufied country. Every plan concurred in , 
 dire^ing fiuch an enquiry ; in order that whatever was 
 dificGvered to be corrupt, firaudulent, or opprejfive^ , 
 fhould lead to a due ammadverfion on the offenders 5 
 and ifi any thing fiair and equitable in its origin fhould 
 be found (nobody fufpe filed that much, comparatively 
 fpeakingi would be fo found) it might be provided far j 
 
 a a m
 
 ( viii ) 
 
 in due fuhordination, however^ to the eafe of the fuhjeHy 
 0nd the fer vice of the ft ate. 
 
 Thefe were the alled^ed grounds for an enquiry, fet' 
 tied in all the bills brought into parliament relative to 
 India, and there were I think no lefs than four of them. 
 By the billy commonly called Mr. Pitt's bill^ the enquiry 
 was fpecially, and by exprefs words, committed to the 
 Court of Dire^ors, without any referve for the inter- 
 ference of any other fer fon or perfons whatfoever. It 
 fvas ordered that they fhould make the enquiry into the 
 origin andjujlice of thefe debts, as far as the materials 
 in their poffeffion enabled them to proceed \ and where 
 thty found thofe materials deficient, xhcy fhould order 
 the Prefidency of Fort St. George \^Madras^ to com^ 
 plete the enquiry. 
 
 The Court of Dire^ors applied themfelves to the 
 ixecution of the truji repofed in them. They firft 
 txamined into the amount of the debt, which they com- 
 muted, at compound inter eft, to be 2,945,600 ft er ling. 
 fFhether their mode of computation., either of the ori- 
 ginal fums, or the amount on compound intereft, was 
 exaSi \ that is, whether they took the intereft too high, 
 cr the fever al capitals too low, is not material. On 
 whatever principle any of the calculations were made 
 up, none of them found the debt to differ from the re* 
 ital of the ai, "juhich afferted, that the fums claimed 
 were " very large^^ The laft head of thefe debts the 
 Directors compute at . 2,465,680 fterling. Of the 
 exiftence of this debt the Dire^ors heard nothing until 
 1776, and they fay, that, '* although they had repeat- 
 ' edly written to the Nabob of Arcot, and to their 
 *"*" fervants, refpeling the debt, yet they had never 
 ** been able to trace the origin thereof, or to 
 " obtain any fatisfadory information on the fub- 
 
 The Court of Directors, after ftating the circunu 
 fiances under which the debts appeared to them to have 
 been contra^ed^ add as follows, " For thefe reafom 
 
 4 " Vit
 
 ( ir ) 
 
 *' wejhould have thought it our duty to enquire very 
 '* minutely into thofe debts^ even if the A^ of Far' 
 " liament had been filent on the fubje^l, before we 
 *' concurred in any meafure for their payment. But 
 f * with the pofttive injunctions of the Al before /, 
 *' to examine into their nature and origin^ we are in- 
 *' difpenfably bound to direU fuch an enquiry to be in- 
 *' ftituted^^* They then order the Prejident and Coun- 
 cil of Madras to enter into a full examination^ (^c. 
 &c. 
 
 The Dire^ors having drawn up their order tothePre- 
 Jidency on thefe principles^ communicated the draught of 
 the general letter in which thofe orders were cpntain- 
 edy to the Board of his Majeflfs Minijlers^ and other 
 fervants^ lately confiituted by Mr. Pitt's Eaji India 
 A51. Thefe Minijlers who hadjujl carried through Par- 
 liament the Bill ordering a fpecijic enquiry , immediately 
 drew up another letter., en a principle direily oppofite 
 to thaty which was prefcribed by theA5l of Parliament^ 
 and followed by the Directors. In thefe fecond orders, 
 all idea of an enquiry into the jujlice and origin of 
 the pretended debts, particularly of the laji, the 
 greateji, and the mojl obnoxious to fufpicion, is aban- 
 doned. They are all admitted and efiablifhed with- 
 out any invejligation whatfoever \ except fame private 
 conference with the agents of the claimants is to pafs 
 for an invefligation -, and a fund for their difcharge 
 is ajfigned and fet apart out of the revenues of the 
 Carnatic. To this arrangement in favour of their 
 fervantSy fervants fufpeBed of corruption^ and con- 
 viSied of difobedience, the DireSlors of the Eaji India 
 Company were ordered to fet their hands^ afferting it 
 to arife from their own convi5iion and opinion, in flat 
 contradiSlicn to their recorded fentiments, their jlrong 
 remonjlrance, arid their declared fenfe of their duty, 
 as well under their general truji and their oath as 
 Directors, as under the exprefs injun^ions of an A^ 
 of Parliament. 
 
 The
 
 ( X ) 
 
 ^he principles upon which this fummary proceed-^ 
 ing was adopted by the Minijlerial Board, are 
 ftated by themfelves in a number in the Appendix to 
 this Speech. 
 
 By another feBion of the fame AEl, the fame Court 
 of Dire^fors were ordered to take into conftderation 
 and to decide on the indeterminate rights of the Rajah 
 of Tanjore and the Nabob of Arcot \ and in this, as 
 in the former cafe^ no power of appeal, revlfwn, or 
 alteration was referved to any other. It was a jurif- 
 di^iion, in a caufe between party and party, given to 
 the Court of Dire B or s fpedfically. It was known, 
 that the territories of the former of thefe princes had 
 been twice invaded and pillaged, and the prince de- 
 pofed and imprifoned, by the Company's fervants, in- 
 fiuenced by the intrigues of the latter, and for the 
 purpofe of paying his pretended debts. The Company 
 had, in the year 1775, ordered a reft oration of the 
 Rajah to his government, under certain conditions. 
 The Rojah complained that his territories had not 
 been completely reftored to him ; and that no part 
 of his goods, money, revenues, or records, unjufily 
 taken and with-held from him, were ever returned. 
 The Nabob, on the other hand, never ceafed to claim 
 the country itfelf and carried on a continued train of 
 negociation, that it fcculd cgc.in be given up to him, 
 in violation cf the Company s public faith. 
 
 The Directors., in obedience to this part of the Al^ 
 crdcied an enquiry, and came to a determination to 
 reftore certain of his territories to the Rajah. The 
 Miniflers proceeding as in the former cafe, without 
 hearing any party, refcinded the decificn of the Di^ 
 re5lors, refiifed the reftitution cf the territory, and 
 without 7e^ard to the condition of the country of 
 Tanjore, which had been within a few years four 
 times plundered (twice by the Nabob of Arcot, and 
 twice by enemies brought upon it folely by the politics 
 cf the fame Nabob, the declared enemy of that people) 
 
 and
 
 ( xi ) 
 
 and without difcomtlrfg a JhilUtig for their fufferings^^ 
 they accumulate an err ear of about 400^000 pounds 
 of pretended tribute to this enemy ; and then they 
 order the 'Directors to put their hands to a new ad" 
 judication^ dire^ly contrary to a judgment, in a ju- 
 dicial charaEier and truji, folemnly given by them, and 
 entered on their records. 
 
 'Thefe proceedings natiirclTy called for fome enquiry^ 
 On the iSth of February, 1785, Mr. Fox made the 
 following motion in the Houfe of Commons, after 
 moving that the claufes of the A^ fhould be read^ 
 " That the prefer officer do lay before this Houfe 
 " copies and extracts of all letters and orders of the 
 *' Court of Dire ^ or s cf the United Eafl India Compa- 
 ** ny, in purfuance of the injunctions contained in the 
 " 37//& and ^Sth claufes of the faid A51 ," and the 
 quejiion being put, it pciffed in the negative by a very 
 great majority. 
 
 The laji fpeech in the debate was the following ; 
 which is given to the public, not as being more wor- 
 thy of its attention than others (fome of which were 
 of confummate ability) but as entering more into the 
 detail of the fubjei. 
 
 SPEECH,
 
 S P E E C H, 8cc. 
 
 TH lE times we live in, Mr. Speaker, have been 
 dillinguilhed by extraordinary events. Ha- 
 bituated, however, as we are, to uncommon com- 
 binations of men and of affairs, I believe nobody 
 recolleds any thing more furprifmg than the fpec- 
 tacle of this day. The right honourable gentle- 
 man *, whofe conduct is now in queftion, formerly 
 ftood forth in this houfe, the profecutor of the 
 worthy baronet f who fpoke after him. He 
 charged him with feveral grievous acts of mal- 
 verfation in office ; with abufes of a public truft: 
 of a great and heinous nature. In lefs than two 
 years we fee the fituation of the parties reverfed ; 
 and a fingular revolution puts the worthy baro- 
 net in a fair way of returning the profecution in a 
 recriminatory bill of Pains and Penalties, grounded 
 on a breach of public truft, relative to the go- 
 vernment of the very fame part of India. If he 
 fhould undertake a bill of that kind, he will find 
 no difficulty in conducing it with a degree of Ikill 
 and vigour fully equal to all that have been ex- 
 erted againft him. 
 
 But the change of relation between thefe two 
 gentlemen is not fo ftriking as the total difference 
 
 Right honourable Henry Dundas. 
 
 f. Sir Thomas Rumbold, late governor of Madras. 
 
 B of
 
 t *! 
 
 of their deportment under the fame unhappy cir- 
 cumftances. Whatever the merits of the worthy 
 baronet's defence might have been, he did not 
 Ihrink from the charge. He met it with man- 
 linefs of fpirit, and decency of behaviour. What 
 would have been thought of him, if he had held 
 the prefent language of his old accufer ? When ar- 
 ticles were exhibited againft him by that right 
 honourable gentleman, he did not think proper to 
 tell the Houfe that we ought to inftitute no en- 
 quiry, to infpeft no paper, to examine no vvitnefs. 
 He did not tell us (what at that time he might 
 have told us with fome fhew of reafon) that our 
 concerns in India were matters of delicacy i that 
 to divulge any thing relative to them would be 
 mifchievous to the ftate. He did not tell us, that 
 thofe who would enquire into his proceedings were 
 difpofed to difmember the empire. He had not the 
 prefumption to fay, that for his part, having ob- 
 tained in his Indian prefidency, the ultimate obje6k 
 of his ambition, his honour was concerned in 
 executing with integrity the truft which had been 
 legally committed to his charge. That others, not 
 having been fo fortunate, could not be fo difin- 
 terefted -, and therefore their accufations could 
 fpring from no other fource than fadion, and 
 envy to his fortune. 
 
 Had he been frontlefs enough to hold fuch vaia 
 vapouring language in the face of a grave, a de- 
 tailed, a fpecified matter of accufation, whilfl he 
 violently refilled every thing which could bring the 
 merits of his caufe to the teft i had he been wild 
 enough to anticipate the abfurdities of this day ; that 
 is, had he inferred, as his late accufer has thought 
 proper to do, that he could not have been guilty 
 of malverfation in office, for this fole and curioust 
 reafon, that he had been in office ; had he argued' 
 the impoffibility of his abufmg his power on this
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 fote principle, that he had power to abufe, he would 
 have left but one impreflion on the mind of every 
 man who heard him, and who believed him in his 
 fenfes that in the utmoft extent he was guilty of 
 the charge. 
 
 But, Sir, leaving thefe two gentlemen to alter- 
 nate, as criminal and accufer, upon what principles 
 they think expedient ; it is for us to confider. 
 Whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and 
 the Treafurer of the Navy, afting as a Board of 
 Control, are juftified by law or policy, in fuf- 
 pending the legal arrangements made by the 
 Court of Dii'eftors, in order to transfer the pub- 
 lic revenues to the private emolument of certain 
 fervants of the Eafl: India Company, without the 
 enquiry into the origin and juftice of their claims, 
 prefcribed by an a<5t of Parliament ? 
 
 It is not contended, that the aft of parliament 
 did not exprcfsly ordain an enquiry. It is not af- 
 ferted that this enquiry was not, with equal pre- 
 cifion of termsj fpecially committed under particular 
 regulations to the Court of Direftors. I conceive, 
 therefore, the Board of Control had no right what- 
 foever to intermeddle in that bufinefs. There is 
 nothing certain in the principles of jurifprudence, 
 if this be not undeniably true, that when a fpecial 
 authority is given to any perfons by name, to do 
 fome particular aft, that no others, by virtue of 
 general powers, can obtain a legal title to intrude 
 ihemfelves into that truft, and to exercife thofs 
 fpecial funftions in their place. I therefore confider 
 the intermeddling of minifters in this affair as a 
 downright ufurpation. But if the ftrained con- 
 flruftion, by which they have forced themfelves 
 into a fufpicious office (which every man, delicate 
 with regard to charafter, would rather have fought 
 conftruftions to avoid) were perfeftly found and per- 
 feftly legal, of this I am certain, that they cannot be 
 B 2 juftified
 
 [ 4 J 
 
 jiiftified in declining the enquiry which had been 
 prefcribed to the Court of Direftors. If the Board of 
 Control did lawfully poffels the right of executing 
 the fpecial truft given to that court, they muft take 
 It as they found it, fubjc6t to the very fame regu- 
 lations which bound the Court of Direftors. It will 
 be allowed that the Court of Diredors had no au- 
 thority to difpenfc with either the fubftance, or the 
 mode of enquiry prefcribed by the aA of parliament. 
 If they had not, where, in the aft, did the Board of 
 Control acquire that capacity ? Indeed, it was im- 
 pofllble they fhould acquire it. What muft wc 
 think of the fabric and texture of an aft of par- 
 liament which fhould find it necefTary to prefcribe a 
 ftrift inquifition i that fhould defcend into minute re- 
 gulations for the conduft of that inquifition j that 
 fiiould commit this truft to a particular defcription of 
 men, and in the very fame breath fhould enable an- 
 other body, at their own pieafure, tofuperfede all the 
 provifions the legiflature had made, and to defeat 
 the whole purpole, end, and objeft of the law ? This 
 cannot be fuppofed even of an aft of parliament 
 conceived by the Minifters themfelves, and brought 
 forth during the delirium of the laft feflion. 
 
 My honourable friend has told you in the fpeech 
 which introduced his motion, that fortunately this 
 queftion is not a great deal involved in the laby- 
 rinths of Indian detail. Certainly not. But if it 
 were, I beg leave to affure you, that there is nothing 
 in the Indian detail which is more difficult than in 
 the detail of any other bufinefs. 1 admit, becaufe I 
 have fome experience of the faft, that for the in- 
 terior regulation of India, a minute knowledge of 
 India is requifite. But on any Ipecific matter of 
 delinquency in its government, you are as capable 
 of judging, as if the fame thing were done at your 
 door. Fraud, injuftice, opprcfhon, peculation, en- 
 gendered in India, are crimes of the fame blood* 
 
 family,
 
 [ 5 ] 
 
 family, and caft, with thofe that are born and bred 
 in England. To go no farther than the cafe before 
 13? , you are juft as competent to judge whether the 
 fri'D of four millions fterling ought, or ought nor, 
 to be pafTed from the public treafury into a private 
 pocket, without any title except the claim of the 
 parties, when the iflue of faft is laid in Madras, as 
 when it is laid in Weftminfter. Terms of art, indeed, 
 are different in different places; but they are gene- 
 rally underftood in none. The technical ftyle of an 
 Indian treafury, is not one jot more remote than the 
 jargon of our own exchequer, from the train of our 
 ordinary ideas, or the idiom of our common lan- 
 guage. The difference therefore in the two cafes, 
 is not in the comparative difficulty or facility of the 
 two fubjefts, but in our attention to the one, and 
 oiir total negleft of the other. Had this attention 
 and negle6t been regulated by the value of the fe- 
 veral objedls, there would be nothing to complain 
 of. But the reverfe of that fuppofition is true. 
 The fcene of the Indian abufe is diflant indeed ; 
 but we mufl not infer, that the value of our intereft 
 in it is decreafed in proportion as it recedes from , 
 our view. In our politics, as in our common con- 
 du(5t:, we fliall be worfe than infants, if we do not 
 put our fcnfes under the tuition of our judgment, 
 and effectually cure ourfelves of that optical illuffon 
 which makes a briar at our nofe of greater magni- 
 tude, than an oak at five hundred yards diftance. 
 
 I think I can trace all the calamities of this coun- 
 try to the fingle fource of our not having had ftea- 
 dily before our eyes a general, comprehenfive, 
 well-conne6ted, and well-proportioned view of the 
 wholeof our dominions, and ajuft fenfe of their true 
 bearings and relations. After all its redudlions, 
 the Britifti empire is flill vaft and various. After 
 all the redudions of the Houfe of Commons, 
 (ftripped as we are of our brighteft ornaments, and 
 
 B 3 of
 
 E 6 } 
 
 of our moft important privileges) enough are yet 
 left to furnifh us, if we pleafe, with means of fhew- 
 ing to the world, that we dcferve the fuperintend- 
 ance of as large an empire as this kingdom ever 
 held, and the continuance of as ample privileges as 
 the Houfe of Commons, in the plenitude of its 
 power, had been habituated to affert. But if we 
 make ourfelves too little for the fphere of our 
 duty ; if, on the contrary, we do not ftretch and 
 expand our minds to the compafs of their objedl, 
 be well aiTured, that every thing about us will 
 dwindle by degrees, until at length our concerns 
 are fhrunk to the dimenfions of our minds. It 
 is not a predileflion to mean, fordid, home-bred 
 cares, that will avert the confequences of a falfe 
 cftimation of our intereft, or prevent the fhameful 
 dilapidation into which a great empire muft fall, 
 by mean reparations upon mighty ruins. 
 
 I confefs I feel a degree of dilguft, almoft lead- 
 ing to defpair, at the manner in which we are act- 
 ing in the great exigencies of our country. There, 
 is now a bill in this houfe, appointing a rigid inqui- 
 fition into the minuteft detail of our offices at 
 home. The collection of fixteen millions annu- 
 ally i a collc(5lion on which the public greatnefs, 
 iafety, and credit have their reliance ; the whole 
 order of criminal jurifprudence, which holds toge- 
 ther fociety itfelf, have at no time obliged us to 
 call forth fuch powers ; no, nor any thing like 
 them. There is not a principle of the law and 
 conftitution of this country that is not fubverted 
 to favour the execution of that project *. And for 
 what is all this apparatus of butlle and terror ? Is 
 It becaufe any thing fubflantial is expeded from it? 
 No. The ftir and buftle itfelf is the end propofed. 
 The cye-fervants of a fhort-fighted mafter will em- 
 
 Appendix, N i. 
 
 ploy
 
 [ 7 ] 
 
 ploy themfelves, not on what is mod effential to hit 
 affairs, but on what is neareft to his ken. Great 
 difficulties have given a juft value to ceconomy ; 
 and our miniiler of the day muft be an ceconomift, 
 whatever it may coft us. But where is he to exerc 
 his talents ? At home to be fure ; for where elfe 
 can he obtain a profitable credit for their exertion ? 
 It is nothing to him, whether the object on which 
 he works under our eye be promifing or not. If 
 he does not obtain any public benefit, he may 
 make regulations without end. Thofe are fure to 
 pay in prefent expectation, whilfl the effed is at a 
 dillance, and may be the concern of other times, 
 and other men. On thefe principles he choofes 
 to fuppofe (for he does not pretend more than to 
 fuppofe) a naked poflibility, that, he ihall draw 
 fome refource out of crumbs dropped from the 
 trenchers of penury ; that fomething fhall be laid 
 in {tore from the (hort allowance of revenue officers* 
 overloaded with duty, and famifhed for want of 
 bread , by a reduction from officers who are at this 
 very hour ready to batter the treafury with what 
 breaks through ftone walls, for an increafe of their 
 appointments. From the marrowlefs bones of 
 thefe (keleton eflablifhments, by the ufe of every 
 fort of cutting, and of every fort of fretting tool, 
 he flatters himfelf that he may chip and rafp an 
 empirical alimentary powder, to diet into lome 
 fimilitude of health and fubftance the languifhing 
 chimeras of fraudulent reformation. 
 
 Whilft he is thus employed according to his po- 
 licy and to his tafte, he has not Icifure to enquire 
 into thofe abufes in India that are drawing off mo- 
 ney by millions from the treafures of this country, 
 which are exhaufting the vital juices from mem- 
 bers of the ftate, where the public inanition is far 
 more forely felt than in the local exchequer of 
 England, Not content with winking at thefe 
 
 B 4 abufe&
 
 [ 8 ] 
 
 abufes, whilft he attempts to fqueeze the laborious 
 ill-paid drudges of Englifh revenue, he lavifhes in 
 one a(5b of corrupt prodigality, upon thofe who 
 never ferved the public in any honeft occupation 
 at all, an annual income equal to two thirds of 
 the whole colletflion of the revenues of this king- 
 dom. 
 
 Actuated by the fame principle of choice, he 
 has now on the anvil another fcheme, full of dif- 
 ficulty and defperate hazard, which totally alters 
 the commercial relation of two kingdoms ; and 
 what end foever it fhall have, may bequeath a 
 legacy of heart-burning and difcontent to one of 
 the countries, perhaps to both, to be perpetuated 
 to the lateft pofterity. This projedt is alfo under- 
 taken on the hope of profit. It is provided, that 
 out of fome (I know not what) remains of the Irifh 
 hereditary revenue, a fund at fome time, and of 
 fome fort, fhould be applied to the protefbion of 
 the Irifh trade. Here we are commanded again 
 to talk our faith, and to perfuade ourfelves, that, 
 out of the furplus of deficiency, out of the favings 
 of habitual and fyftematic prodigality, the minifter 
 of wonders will provide fupport for this nation, 
 finking under the mountainous load of two hundred 
 and thirty millions of debt. But whilft we look 
 with pain at his defperate and laborious trifling ; 
 whilft we are apprehenfive that he will break his 
 back in ftooping to pick up chaflf and ftraws, he 
 recovers himfelf at an elaltic bound, and with a 
 broad-caft fwir.g of his arm, he fquanders over his 
 Indian field a fum far greater than the clear pro- 
 duce of the whole hereditary revenue of the king- 
 dom of Ireland *. 
 
 Strange 
 
 The whole of the net Irifh hereditary revenue is, on a 
 medium of the laft feven years, about 330,000 yearly. The 
 revenues of all denominations f^U Hiort more than ^ 150,00a 
 
 yearly
 
 [ 9 1 
 
 Strange as this fcheme of conduft in miniftry is, , 
 find inconfiftent v/ith all juft policy, it is dill true 
 to itfelf, and faithful to its own perverted order. 
 Thofe who are bountiful to crimes, will be rigid to 
 merit, and penurious to fervice. Their penury is 
 even held out as a blind and cover to their prodi- 
 gality. The cEConomy of injuftice is, to furnifh 
 refources for the fund of corruption. Then they 
 pay off their proteftion to great crimes and great 
 criminals, by being inexorable to the paltry frailties 
 of little men ; and thefe modern flagellants are fure, 
 with a rigid fidelity, to whip their own enormities on 
 the vicarious back of every fmall offender. 
 
 It is to draw your attention to cEconomy of quite 
 another order ; it is to animadvert on offences of a 
 far different defcription, that my honourable friend 
 has brought before you the motion of this day. It 
 is to perpetuate the abufes which are fubverting the 
 fabric of your empire, that the motion is oppofed. 
 It is therefore with reafon (and if he has power to 
 carry himfelf through, I commend his prudence) 
 that the right honourable gentleman makes his 
 ftand at the very outfet -, and boldly refufes all 
 parliamentary information. Let him admit but 
 one ftep towards enquiry, and he is undone. You 
 muft be ignorant, or he cannot be fafe. But before 
 his curtain is let down, and the (hades of eternal 
 night (hall veil our eaftern dominions from our view, 
 permit me. Sir, to avail myfelf of the means which 
 were furnifhed in anxious and inquifitive times, to 
 demonftrate out of this fmgle a6t of the prefent 
 Minifter, what advantages you are to derive from 
 permitting the greateft concern of this nation to 
 be feparated from the cognizance, and exempted 
 
 yeaHy of the charges. On the prefent produce, if Mr. Pitt's 
 fcheme was to take place, he might gain from feven to tea 
 thoufand pounds a year, 
 
 even
 
 [ 10 ] 
 
 even out of the competence, of parliament. The 
 grcateft body of your revenue, your moft nume- 
 rous armies, your moft important commerce, the 
 richeft fources of your public credit, (contrary 
 to every idea of the known fettled policy of Eng- 
 land) are on the point of being converted into a 
 inyilery of ftate. You are going to have one half 
 of the globe hid even from the common liberal 
 curiofity of an Englilh gentleman. Here a grand 
 i*evolution commences. Mark the period, and 
 xriark the circumftances. In moft of the capital 
 changes that are recorded in the principles and 
 fyftem of any government, a public benefit of 
 lome kind or other has been pretended. The re- 
 volution commenced in fomething plaufiblc ; in 
 Ibmething which carried the appearance at leaft 
 of punilhment of delinquency, or corredion of 
 abufe. But here, in the very moment of the 
 converfion of a department of Britifh government 
 into an Indian myftery, and in the very a6l in 
 which the change commences, a corrupt, private 
 intereft is fet up in dire6l oppofition to the necef- 
 lities of the nation. A diverfion is made of mil- 
 lions of the public money from the public treafury 
 to a private purfe. It is not into fecrct negoci- 
 ations for war, peace, or alliance, that the Houfe 
 of Commons is forbidden to enquire. It is a mat- 
 ter of account; it is a pecuniary tranfadlion ; it is 
 the demand of a fufpefled fteward upon ruined te- 
 nants and an embarraffed mafter, that the Com- 
 mons of Great Britain are commanded not to in- 
 fpe6l. The whole tenor of the right honourable 
 gentleman's argument is confonant to the nature of 
 his policy. The fyftem of concealment is foftered 
 by a fyftem of falfehood. Falfe fads, falfe colours, 
 falfe names of perfons and things, are its whole 
 fupport. 
 
 Sir, I mean to follow the right honourable gen- 
 tleman
 
 [ .. ] 
 
 deman over that field of deception, clearing what 
 he has piirpofely obfcured, and fairly dating what 
 it was neceflary for him to mirreprefent. For this 
 purpofe, it is neceflary you fliould know with fome 
 degree of diftin(5lners, a little of the locality, the 
 nature, the circumftances, the magnitude of the 
 pretended debts on which this marvellous dona- 
 tion is founded, as well as of the perfons from 
 "Whom and by whom it is claimed. 
 
 Madras, with its dependencies, is the fecond 
 (but with a long interval, the fecond) member of 
 the Britifh empire in the Eaft. The trade of thac 
 city, and of the adjacent territory, was, not very 
 long ago, among the mod flourifhing in Afia. But 
 fince the eftablilhment of the BritiQi power, it 
 has wafted away under an uniform gradual de- 
 cline ; infomuch that in the year 1 779 not one mer- 
 chant of eminence was to be found in the whole 
 country*. During this period of decay, about 
 fix hundred thoufand fterling pounds a year have 
 been drawn off by Englifli gentlemen on their 
 private account, by the way of China alone f. If 
 we add four hundred thoufand, as probably re- 
 mitted through other channels, and in other me- 
 diums, that is, in jewels, gold, and filver diredlly 
 brought to Europe, and in bills upon the Britilh 
 and foreign companies, you will fcarceiy think the 
 matter over-rated. If we fix the commencement 
 of this extraction of money from the Carnatic at a 
 period no earlier than the year 1760, and clofe it 
 in the year 1780, it probably will not amount to a 
 great deal lefs than twenty millions of money. 
 
 During the deep filent flow of this fteady ftream 
 of wealth, which fet from India into Europe, k 
 
 ^ Mr. Smith's examination before the Seleft Committee, 
 Appendix N z. 
 f Appendix N" 2. 
 
 generally
 
 I: I* 3 
 
 generally pafled on with no adequate obfervation ; 
 but happening at fome periods to meet rifts of 
 rocks that checked its courfe, it grew more noify, 
 and attraded more notice. The pecuniary difcuf- 
 fions caufed by an accumulation of part of the for- 
 tunes of their fervants in a debt from the Nabob of 
 Arcot, was the firft thing which very particularly 
 called for, and long engaged, the attention of the 
 Court of Diredors. This debt amounted to eight 
 hundred and eighty thoufand pounds fterling, and 
 was claimed, for the greater part, by Englilh gen- 
 tlemen, refiding at Madras. This grand capital, 
 fettled at length by order, at ten per cent, af- 
 forded an annuity of eighty-eight thoufand 
 pounds*. 
 
 Whilfl; the Diredors were digefting their afto- 
 nifhment at this information, a memorial was pre- 
 fented to them from three gentlemen, informing 
 them that their friends had lent likewife, to mer- 
 chants of Canton in China, a fum of not more 
 \ than one million fterling. In this memorial they 
 called upon the Company for their afliftance and 
 interpofition with the Chinefe government for the 
 recovery of the debt. This fum lent to Chinefe 
 merchants, was at 24 per cent, which would yield, 
 if paid, an annuity of two hundred and forty thou- 
 fand pounds f. 
 
 Perplexed as the Direftors were with thefe de- 
 mands, you may conceive. Sir, that they did not 
 find themfelves very much difembarrafled, by being 
 made acquainted that they muft again exert their 
 influence for a new referve of the happy parfimony 
 of their fervants, colledted into a fecond debt from 
 
 Fourth Report, Mr. Dundas's Committee, p. 4. 
 
 t A witnefs examined before the Committee of Secrecy 
 fays, that eighteen per Cent, was the ufual intereft ; but he had 
 heard that more had been given. The above is the account 
 which Mr. B. received. 
 
 thfi
 
 t >3 1 
 
 the Nabob of Arcot, amounting to two millions 
 four hundred thoufand pounds, fettled at an inte- 
 reft of 12 per cent. This is known by the name of 
 the Confolidation of 1777, as the former of the 
 Nabob's debts was by the title of the Confolidation 
 of 1767. To this was added, in a feparate parcel, 
 a little referve called the Cavalry Debt, of one 
 hundred and fixty thoufand pounds, at the fame 
 intereft. The whole of thcfc four capitals, 
 amounting to four millions four hundred and forty 
 thoufand pounds, produced at their feveral rates, an- 
 nuities amounting to fix hundred and twenty- three 
 thoufand pounds a year; a good deal more than one 
 third of the clear land-tax of England, at four 
 ihillings in the pound , a good deal more than 
 double the whole annual dividend of the Eaft India 
 Company, the nominal mafters to the proprietors 
 in thefe funds. Of this intereft, three hundred and 
 eighty-three thoufand two hundred pound a year 
 flood chargeable on the public revenues of the 
 Carnatic. 
 
 Sir, at this moment, it will not be neceflary to 
 confider the various operations which the capital and 
 intereft of this debt have fucceftively undergone. 
 I fhall fpeak to thefe operations when I come par- 
 ticularly to anfwer the right honourable gentleman 
 on each of the heads, as he has thought proper to di- 
 vide them. But this was the exa6t view in which 
 thefe debts firft appeared to the Court of Dire6tors, 
 and to the world. It varied afterwards. But it never 
 appeared in any other than a moft queftionable fhape. 
 When this gigantic phantom of debt firft appeared 
 before a young minifter, it naturally would have 
 juftified fome degree of doubt and apprehenfion. 
 Such a prodigy would have filled any common 
 man with fuperftitious fears. He would cxorcife 
 that fhapelefs, namelefs form, and by every thing 
 facred would have adjured it to tell by what means 
 
 a fmall
 
 a fmall number of flight individuals, of no con* 
 fequence or fituation, poffefled of no lucrative 
 offices, without the command of armies, or tht 
 known adminiftration of revenues, without pro- 
 fcfTion of any kind, without any fort of trade fuffi- 
 cient to employ a pedlar, could have, in a few 
 years (as to fome even in a few months) have 
 amafied treafurcs equal to the revenues of a re- 
 fpeflable kingdom ? Was it not enough to put 
 thefe gentlemen, in the noviciate of their adminif- 
 tration, on their guard, and to call upon them 
 for a ftrid enquiry (if not to juftify them in a re- 
 probation of thofe demands without any enquiry ac 
 all) that when all England, Scotland, and Ireland^ 
 had for years been witnefs to the immenfe fums laid 
 out by the fervants of the Company in flocks of all 
 denominations, in the purchafe of lands, in the buy- 
 ing and building of houfes, in the fecuring quiet 
 feats in parliament, or in the tumultuous riot of 
 contefted eleflions, in wandering throughout the 
 whole range of thofe variegated modes of inventive 
 prodigality ; which fometimes have excited our 
 wonder, fometimes roufed our indignation ; that 
 after all India was four millions ftill in debt to 
 ihem ? India in debt to ihem ! For what ? Every 
 debt for which an equivalent of fome kind or other 
 is not given, is on the face of it a fraud. What is 
 the equivalent they have given ? What equivalent 
 had they to give ? What are the articles of com- 
 merce, or the branches of manufacture which 
 thofe gentlemen have carried hence to enrich India ? 
 What are the fciences they beamed out to en- 
 lighten it ? What are the arts they introduced to 
 chear and to adorn it ? What are the religious, 
 what the moral inflitutions they have taught among 
 that people as a guide to life, or as a confolation 
 when life is to be no more, that there is an eternal 
 debt, a debt *' fliil paying, ftill to owe," which mult 
 
 be
 
 [ 15 1 
 
 be bound on the prefent generation In India, and en- 
 tailed on their mortgaged pofterity for ever ? A 
 debt of millions, in favour of a fet of men, whofc; 
 names, with few exceptions, are either buried in the 
 obfcurity of their origin and talents, or dragged 
 into light by the enormity of their crimes ? 
 
 In my opinion ,the courage of the minifter was 
 the moft wonderful part of the tranfa<5lion, efpc* 
 cially as he muft have read, or rather the right ho- 
 nourable gentleman fays, he has read for him, 
 whole volumes upon the fubjedl. The volumes, 
 by the way, are not by one tenth part fo numerous 
 as the right honourable gentleman has thought 
 proper to pretend, in order to frighten you from 
 enquiry ; but in thcfe volumes, fuch as they are, 
 the minifter muft have found a full authority for 
 a fufpicion (at the very leaftj of every thing relative 
 to the great fortunes made at Madras. What is 
 that authority ? Why no other than the ftanding 
 authority for all the claims which the Miniftry 
 has thought fit to provide for the grand debtor 
 the Nabob of Arcot himfelf. Hear that Prince, in 
 the letter written to the Court of Direflors, at the 
 precife period, whilft the main body of thefe debts 
 were contrafting. In his Letter he ftates himfelf 
 to be, what undoubtedly he is, a moft competent 
 witnefs to this point. After fpeaking of the war 
 with Hyder Ali in 1768 and 1769, and of other 
 meafures which he cenfures (whether right or 
 wrong it fignifies nothing) and into which he fays 
 he had been led by the Company's fervants ; he 
 proceeds in this manner " If all thefe things were 
 * againft the real intcrcfts of the Company, they 
 *' are ten thoufand times more againft mine, and 
 * againft the profperity of my country, and the 
 *' happinefs of my people ; for your interefts and 
 *' mine are the fame. JVhat were they owing to then ? 
 * to th^e private views of a few individuahy who bave_ 
 - V,:/V - - *^ 8 ^'enriched
 
 r '6 ] 
 
 * enriched themfehes at the expence of your infiuencei 
 ' and of my country ; for your fcrvants HAVE NO 
 *' TRADE IN THIS COUNTRT', neither do you 
 pay them high wages, yet in a few years they return 
 *' to England, with many lacks of pagodas. Hew 
 " can you or I account for fuch immenfe fortunes^ 
 ' acquired in fo fhort a time, without any vijible means 
 ' cf getting them .?" 
 
 "When he afked this queflion, which involves 
 its anfwer, it is extraordinary that curiofity did 
 not prompt the Chancellor of the Exchequer to 
 that enquiry which might come in vain recom-_ 
 mended to him by his own a6t of parliament* 
 Does not the Nabob of Arcot tell us in fo many 
 words, that there was no fair way of making the 
 enormous fums fent by the Company's fervants to 
 England ? and do you imagine that there was or 
 could be more honefty and good faith in the de- 
 mands, for what remained behind in India ? Of 
 what nature were the tranfaftions with himfelf ? 
 If you follow the train of his information you 
 muft fee, that if thefe great fums were at all lent^ 
 it was not property, but fpoil that was lent -, if not 
 lent, the tranfaflion was not a contrafl, but a fraud. 
 Either way, if light enough could not be furnifhed 
 to authorife a full condemnation of thefe demands, 
 they ought to have been left to the parties who beft 
 knew and underftood each others proceedings. Ic 
 was not ncceffary that the authority of government 
 fhould interpofe in favour of claims, whofe very 
 foundation was a defiance of that authority, and 
 whofe obje(5l: and end was its entire fubverfion. 
 
 It may be faid that this letter was written by 
 the Nabob of Arcot in a moody humour, under 
 the influence of fome chagrin. Certainly ic was -, 
 but it is in fuch humours that truth comes out. 
 And when he tells you from his own knowledge, 
 what every one muft prcfume, from the extreme 
 
 probal^ility
 
 .; [ 17 ] 
 
 probability of the thing, whether he told it or 
 not, one fuch teftimony is worth a thoufand that 
 contradift that probability, when the parties have a 
 better underftanding with each other, and when 
 they have a point to carry, that may unite them in 
 a common deceit. 
 
 If this body of private claims of debt, real or de- 
 vifed, were a queftion, as it is falfely pretended, be- 
 tween the Nabob of Arcot as debtor, and Paul 
 Benfield and his aflbciates as creditors, I am fure 
 I (hould give myfelf but little trouble about it. If 
 the hoards of oppreflion were the fund for fatisfy- 
 ing the claims of bribery and peculation, who 
 would wifh to interfere between fuch litigants ? If 
 the demands were confined to what might be 
 drawn from the treafures which the Company's 
 records uniformly aflert that the Nabob is in 
 poflTeflion of; or if he had mines of gold or filver, 
 or diamonds (as we know that he has none) thefe 
 gentlemen might break open his hoards, or dig in 
 his mines, without any difturbance from me. But 
 the gentlemen on the other fide of the Houfe know 
 as well as I do, and they dare not contradict me, 
 that the Nabob of Arcot and his creditors are not 
 adverfaries, but collufive parties, and that the 
 whole tranfaftion is under a falfe colour and falfe 
 names. The litigation is not, nor ever has beenj, 
 between their rapacity and his hoarded riches. No i 
 it is between him and them combining and con- 
 federating on one fide, and the public revenues, 
 and the miferable inhabitants of a ruined country, 
 on the other. Thefe are the real plaintiffs and the 
 real defendants in the foit. Refufing a (hillingfrom 
 his hoards for the fatisfadtion of any demand, the 
 Nabob of Arcot is always ready, nay, he earneftly, 
 and with eagernefs and paffion, contends for de- 
 livering up to thefe pretended creditors his territory 
 and his fubjeds. It is therefore not from trea- 
 
 C furies
 
 [ i8 ] 
 
 furies and mines, but from the food of your unpaid 
 armies, from the blood withheld from the veins, 
 and whipt out of the backs of the moft miferable 
 of men, thac we are to pamper extortion, ufury, 
 and peculation, under the falfe names of debtors 
 and creditors of ftate. 
 
 The great patron of thefe creditors (to whofe 
 honour they ought to erefl ftatues) the right ho- 
 nourable Gentleman *, in dating the merits which 
 recommended them to his favour, has ranked 
 them under three grand divifions. The firft, the 
 creditors of 1767 *, then the creditors of the Ca- 
 valry Loan ; and laftly, the creditors of the Loan 
 in 1777. Let us examine them, one by one, as 
 they pafs in review before us. 
 
 The firft of thefe loans, that of 1767, he infifts, 
 has an indifputable claim upon the public juftice. 
 The creditors, he affirms, lent their money publicly ; 
 they advanced it with the exprefs knowledge and 
 approbation of the Company i and it was contraft- 
 cd at the moderate intereft of ten per cent. In this 
 loan the demand is, according to him, not only juft, 
 but meritorious in a very high degree ; and one 
 would be inclined to believe he thought fo, becaufe 
 he has put it laft in the provifion he has made for 
 thefe claims. 
 
 I readily admit this debt to ftand the faireft 
 of the whole ; for whatever may be my fufpicions 
 concerning a part of it, I can convift it of no- 
 thing worfe than the moil enormous ufury. But 
 I can convict upon the fpot the Right honour- 
 able Gentleman, of the moft daring mifreprefcnta- 
 tion in every one fa6l, without any exception, that 
 he has alledged in defence of this loan, and of his 
 own conduft with regard to it. I will fiiew you 
 that this debt v/as never contracted with the know- 
 
 Mr. Dundas. 
 
 ledge
 
 [ "9 ] 
 
 ledge of the Company , that it had not their ap-i 
 probation ; that they received the firft intelligence 
 of it with the utmoft poflible lurprize, indignation, 
 and alarm. 
 
 So far from being previoufly apprized of the 
 tranfadlion from its origin, that it ,was two years 
 before the Court of Directors obtained any official 
 intelligence of it. '* The dealings of the fervants 
 ** with the Nabob were concealed from the firft, 
 " until they were found out,'* (fays Mr. Sayer, the 
 Company's council) *' by the report of the country.** 
 The Prefidency, however, at laft thought proper to 
 fend an official account. On this the Directors tell 
 them, " to your great reproach it has been con- 
 ** cealed from us. We cannot but fufped this debt 
 *' to have had its weight in your -propofed aggran- 
 " dizement of Mahomed Ali [the Nabob of Arcot] ; 
 ** but whether it has or has not, certain it is, you 
 " are guilty of an high breach of duty in con- 
 * cealing it from us." 
 
 Thefe expreffions, concerning the ground of 
 the tranfadion, its effeft, and its clandeftine na- 
 ture, are in the letters, bearing date March 17, 
 1769. After receiving a more full account on 
 the- 23d March 1770, they ftate, that *' Meffis, 
 " John Pybus, John Call, and James Bour- 
 '* chier, as truftees for themfelves and others of 
 " the Nabob's private creditors, had proved a 
 " deed of affignment upon the Nabob and his 
 t' fon of FIFTEEN diftrids of the Nabob's coun- 
 *' try, the revenues of which yielded, in time of 
 *' peace, eight lacks of pagodas \_, 320,000, fter- 
 " ling] annually ; and likewife an affignment of 
 " the yearly tribute paid the Nabob from the 
 -" Rajah of Tanjore, amounting to four lacks of 
 " rupees [;/^ 40,000]." The territorial revenue, at 
 that time polTefTed by thefe gentlemen, without the 
 knowledge or confent of their matters, amounted 
 C 2 to
 
 [ JO ] 
 
 to three hundred and fixty thoufand pound (ler- 
 ling annually. They were making rapid ftrides 
 to the entire pofleflion of the country, when the 
 Dired'ors, whom the right honourable gentleman 
 ftates as having authorifed thefc proceedings, were 
 kept in fuch profound ignorance of this royal 
 acquifition of territorial revenue by their fervants, 
 that in the fame letter they fay, " this aflign- 
 *' ment was obtained by three of the members of 
 ** your Boards in January 1767, yet we do not find 
 *' the leajl trace of it upon your Confultations, until 
 " Auguft 1768, nor do any of your letters to us 
 " afford any information relative to fuch tranfac- 
 ' tions, till the ift of November 1768. By your 
 ** laft letters of the 8th of May 1769, you bring 
 ** the whole proceedings to light in one view." 
 
 As to the previous knowledge of the Com- 
 pany, and its fan6lion to the debts, you fee that 
 this aflertion of that knowledge is utterly un- 
 founded. But did the Diredtors approve of it, 
 and ratify the tranfadlion when it was known? 
 The very reverfe. On the fame 3d of March, the 
 Direcflors declare, " upon an impartial examination 
 ** of the whole condudl of our late Governor and 
 ** Council of Fort George (Madras) and on the 
 ** fulleft confideration, that the faid Governor and 
 *' Council have, in notorious violation of the trufi re- 
 " pofed in them, manifeftly preferred the inttreji of 
 *' private individuals to that of the Company, in per- 
 " mitting the affignment of the revenues of certain 
 " valuable diftridls, to a very large amount, from the 
 " Nabob to individuals'* and then highly aggra- 
 vating their crimes, they add ** we order and diredl 
 " that you do examine, in the moft impartial man- 
 ** ner, all the above-mentioned tranfadions , and 
 ** that you punifh by fufpenfion, degradation, dif- 
 " miflion, or otherwife, as to you fhail feem meet, 
 ** all and every fuch fervant or fervants of the Com- 
 
 *' pany.
 
 [ I ] 
 
 ** pany, who may by you be found guilty of any 
 *' of the above offences.'* " We had (fay the Di- 
 ** redlors) the mortification to find that the fervants 
 ** of the Company, who had been raifed, fupported^ 
 *' and owed their prefent opulence to the advantages 
 *' gained in fuch fcrvice, have in this inftance moft 
 " unfaithfully betrayed their truft, abandoned the 
 *' Company's intercft, and profiituted it;^ influence 
 '* to accomplilh the purpcfes of individuals, whilji 
 " the interejl of the Company is almofi wholly neglediedy 
 ** and payment to us rendered extremely preca- 
 *' rious." Here then is the rock of approbation 
 of the Court of Direftors, on which the right ho- 
 nourable gentleman fays this debt was founded. Any 
 Member, Mr. Speaker, who fhould come into the 
 Houfe, on my reading this fentence of condemnation 
 of the Court of Diredors againft their unfaithful 
 fervants, might well imagine that he had heard an 
 harfh, fevere, unqualified inveflive againft the 
 prelent minifterial Board of Control. So exaftly 
 do the proceedings of the patrons of this abufe 
 tally with thofe of the aftors in it, that the expref- 
 fions ufed in the condemnation of the one, may 
 ferve for the reprobation of the other, without the 
 change of a word. 
 
 To read you all the exprefTions of wrath and in- 
 dignation fulminated in this difpatch againft the 
 meritorious creditors of the right honourable gen- 
 tleman, who according to him have been fo fully 
 approved by the Company, would be to read the 
 whole. 
 
 The right honourable gentleman, with an addrefs 
 peculiar to himfelf, every now and then Aides in 
 the Prefidency of Madras, as fynonymous to the 
 Company. That the Prefidency did approve the 
 debt, is certain. But the right honourable gentle- 
 man, as prudent in fupprefiing, as fkilful in bring- 
 ing forward his matter, has not chofen to tell you 
 
 C 3 that
 
 [ 22 ] 
 
 that the Prefidency were the very perfons guilty 
 of contradling this loan; creditors themfelves, and 
 agents, and truftees for all the other creditors. 
 For this the Court of Directors accufe them of 
 breach of truft ; and for this the right honourable 
 gentleman confiders them as perfeftly good autho- 
 rity for thofe claims. It is pleafant to hear a 
 gentleman of the law quote the approbation of 
 creditors as an authority for their own debt. 
 
 How they came to contra6l the debt to them- 
 felves, how they came to aft as agents for thofe 
 whom they ought to have controlled, is for your 
 enquiry. The policy of this debt was announced 
 to the Court of Diredors, by the very perfons con- 
 cerned in creating it. " Till very lately," (fay 
 the Prefidency) " the Nabob placed his depcn- 
 " dence on the Company. Now he has been 
 *' taught by ill-advifers, that an intereft out of 
 " doors may {land him in good flead. He has 
 " been made to believe that his private creditors 
 *' have power and intereft to over-rule the Court 
 " of Bire^ors* .*' The Nabob was not mifin- 
 formed. The private creditors inftantly qualified 
 a vaft number of votes; and having made them- 
 felves mafters of the Court of Proprietors, as well 
 as extending a powerful cabal in othsr places as 
 important, they lb completely overturned the au- 
 thority of the Court of Direftors at hon^e and 
 abroad, that this poor baffled government was foon 
 obliged to lower its tone. It was glad to be- ad- 
 mitted into a partnerfhip with its own fervants. 
 
 For the threats of the creditors, and total fubverfion of 
 the authority of the Company in favour of the Nabob's 
 power, and the encreafe thereby of his evil difpofitions, and 
 the great derangenient of all public concerns, fee Selefl 
 Committee Fort St. George's letters, 21ft November 1769, 
 and January 31ft, 1770; September 11, 1772. And Gover- 
 nor Bourchier's letters to the Nabob of Arcot, 21ft November 
 1769, and December 9th, 1769. 
 
 The
 
 [ 23 ] 
 
 t 
 
 The Court of Direftors eftablifhing the debt which 
 they had reprobated as a breach of truft, and which 
 was planned for the fubverfion of their authority, 
 fettled its payments on a par with thofc of the pub- 
 lic ; and even fo, were not able to obtain peace or 
 even equality in their demands. All the confe- 
 quences lay in a regular and irrefiflible train. By 
 employing their influence for the recovery of this 
 debt, their orders, iflfued in the fame breath, againlt 
 creating new debts, only animated the ftrong defires 
 of their fervants to this prohibited prolific fport, 
 and it foon produced a fwarm of fons and daugh- 
 ters, not in the leaft degenerated from the virtue 
 of their parents. 
 
 From that moment, the authority of the Court 
 of Directors expired in the Carnatic, and every 
 where elfe. " Every man," fays the Prefidency, 
 *' who oppofes the government and its meafures, 
 *' finds an immediate countenance from the Na- 
 ** bob ; even our difcarded officers, however un- 
 *' worthy, are received into the Nabob's fervice *." 
 It was indeed a matter of no wonderful fagacity to 
 determine whether the Court of Diredors, with their 
 miferable falaries to their fervants, of four or five 
 hundred pound a year, or the diftributor of mil- 
 lions, was moft likely to be obeyed. It was an in- 
 vention beyond the imagination of all the fpecu- 
 latifts of our fpeculating age, to fee a govern- 
 ment quietly fettled in one and the fame town, 
 compofed of two diftindt members ; one to pay 
 fcantily for obedience, and the other to bribe high 
 for rebellion and revolt. 
 
 ** He [the Nabob] is In a great degree the caufe of our 
 *' prefent inability ; by diverting the revenues of the Carnatic 
 *' through private channels." " Even this Pelhcufti [the 
 ' Tanjore tribute] circumftanced as he and we are, be has 
 * affigned over to others, ivho now Jet them/elves in oppofition 
 ** to the Company.''* Confultations, Oftober 1 1, 1769, on the 
 l^th communicated to the Nabob. 
 
 C4 The
 
 [ 24 ] 
 
 The next thing which recommends this particu- 
 lar debt to the right honourable gentleman, is, it 
 feems, the moderate intereft of ten per cent. It 
 would be loft labour to obferve on this af- 
 fertion. The Nabob, in a long apologetic letter * 
 for the tranfaflion between him and the body of 
 the creditors, ftates the fa6t, as I fhall ftate it to 
 you. In the accumulation of this debt, the firft 
 intereft paid was from thirty, to thirty-fix per cent, i. 
 it was then brought down to twenty-five per cent. 
 at length it was reduced to twenty \ and there it 
 found its reft. During the whole procefs, as often 
 as any of thefe monftrous interefts fell into an ar- 
 rear (into which they were continually falling) the 
 arrear, formed into a new capitalf, was added to the 
 old, and the fame intereft of twenty per cent, 
 accrued upon both. The Company, having got 
 fome fcent of the enormous ufury which prevailed 
 at Madras, thought it neceflfary to interfere, and to 
 order all interefts to be lowered to ten per cent^ 
 This order, which contained no exception, though 
 it by no means pointed particularly to this clafs of 
 debts, came like a thunder-clap on the Nabob. 
 He confidered his political credit as ruined ; but to 
 find a remedy to this unexped;ed evil, he again ad- 
 ded to the old principal twenty per cent, intereft 
 accruing for the laft year. Thus a new fund was 
 formed *, and it was on that accumulation of va- 
 rious principals, and interefts heaped upon interefts, 
 
 Nabob's Letter to Governor Palk. Papers publiflied by 
 the Direftors in 1775 ' **^ papers printed by the fame au- 
 thority, 1 78 1. 
 
 f See Papers printed by order of a General Court in 1780, 
 p. 222, and p. 224, as alfo Nabob's letter to Governdr Dupre, 
 19th July 1771, '* I have taken up loans by which I have 
 * fufFered a lofs of upiuards of a crore of pagodas [four mil- 
 ** lion l^erling] by intereft on an heavy intereft^ Letter 15th 
 *' January, 1772, * Notwithftanding I ^ave taken much 
 *' trouble, and have made many payments to ray creditors, 
 yet the load of my debt, nuhich became fo greats by inter efi 
 ** and compound interejl^ is not cleared." 
 
 not
 
 t *5 ] . 
 
 not on the fum originally lent, as the i^ght ho- 
 nourable Gentleman would make you believe, that 
 ten per cent, was fettled on the whole. 
 
 When you confider the enormity of the intereft 
 at which thefe debts were contrafled, and the fe- 
 veral interefts added to the principal, I believe you 
 will not think me fo fccptical, if I Ihould doubt, 
 whether for this debt of ;^. 88o,oco, the Nabob ever 
 faw;^. 100,000 in real money. The right honourable 
 gentleman fufpe6Hng, with all his abfolute domi- 
 nion over faft, that he never will be able to defend 
 even this venerable patriarchal job, though fandlified 
 by its numerous iflue, and hoary with prefcriptive 
 years, has recourfe to recrimination, the laft refource 
 of guilt. He fays that this loan of 1767 was provided 
 for in Mr> Fox*s India bill; and judging of others by 
 his own nature and principles, he more than infi- 
 nuates, that this provifion was made, not from any 
 fenfe of merit in the claim, but from partiality to 
 General Smith, a proprietor, and an agent for that 
 debt. " If partiality could have had any weight 
 againft juftice and policy, with the then minifters 
 and their friends. General Smith had titles to it. 
 But the right honourable gentleman knows as well 
 as I do, that General Smith was very far from 
 looking on himfelf as partially treated in the ar- 
 rangements of that time , indeed what man dared 
 to hope for private partiality in that facred plan 
 for relief to nations ? 
 
 It is not necelTary that the right honourable 
 gentleman fhoulcj farcaftically call that time to our 
 recolle(51:ion. Well do I remember every circum- 
 flance of that memorable period. God forbid I 
 fhould forget it. O illuftrious difgrace ! O vido- 
 rious defeat ! May your memorial be frefli and new 
 to the lateft generations ! May the day of that ge- 
 nerous conflidl be damped in charadlers never to be 
 cancelled or worn out from the records of time ! 
 
 Let
 
 [ 26 ] - 
 
 Let no man hear of us, who Ihall not hear that 
 in a ftruggle againft the intrigues of courts, and 
 the perfidious levity of the multitude, we fell 
 in the caufe of honour, in the caufe of our 
 country, in the caufe of human nature itfelf! 
 But if Fortune fhould be as powerful over Fame, 
 as fhe has been prevalent over Virtue, at leaft our 
 confcience is beyond her jurifdifbion. My poor 
 fhare in the fupport of that great meafure, no man 
 Ihall ravilh from me. It fhall be fafely lodged in 
 the fanduary of my heart ; never, never to be torn 
 from thence, but with thofe holds that grapple it 
 to life. 
 
 I fay, I well remember that bill, and every one 
 of its honeft and its wife provifions. It is not true 
 that this debt was ever protedted or inforced, or 
 any revenue whatfoever fet apart for it. It was left 
 in that bill juft where it flood ; to be paid or not to 
 be paid out of the Nabob's private treafures, ac- 
 cording to his own difcretion. The Company had 
 adlually given it their fandion ; though always re- 
 lying for its validity on the fole fecurity of the 
 faith of him * who without their knowlege or 
 confent entered into the original obligation. It 
 had no other fandion ; it ought to have had no 
 other. So far was Mr. Fox's bill from provid- 
 ing funds for it, as this miniftry have wickedly 
 done for this, and for ten times worfe tranfac- 
 tions, out of the public eftate, that an exprefs 
 claufe immediately preceded, pofitively forbidding 
 any Britifli fubjed from receiving affignmcnts 
 upon any part of the territorial revenue, on any 
 pretence whatfoever f- 
 
 You recoiled, Mr. Speaker, that the Chan- 
 cellor of the Exchequer ftrongly profefled to 
 retain every part of Mr, Fox's bill, which was 
 
 The Nabob of Arcot. f Appendix N 3. 
 
 intended
 
 [ 27 ] 
 
 Intended to prevent abufe ; but in kis India bill, 
 which (let me dojuftice) is as able and fkilful a 
 performance for its own purpofes, as ever iflued 
 from the wit of man, premeditating this ini- 
 quity hoc ipfum ut Jlrueret Trojamque aperiret 
 /ichivis, expunged this eflential claufe, broke 
 down the fence which was raifed to cover the pub- 
 lic property againft the rapacity of his partizans, 
 and thus levelling every obftru<5lion, he made a 
 firm, broad, highway for fin and death, for ufury 
 and opprefTion, to renew their ravages throughout 
 the devoted revenues of the Carnatic. 
 
 The tenor, the policy, and the confequences of 
 this debt of 1767, are, in the eyes of Miniftry, fo 
 excellent, that its merits are irrefiftible-, and it takes 
 the lead to give credit and countenance to all the 
 reft. Along with this chofen body of heavy-armed 
 infantry, and to fupporc it, in the line, the right 
 honourable gentleman has ftationed his corps of 
 - black cavalry. If there be any advantage between 
 this debt and that of 1769, according to him the 
 cavalry debt has it. It is not a fubjedt of defence; 
 it is a theme of panegyric. Liften to the right ho- 
 nourable gentleman, and you will find it was con- 
 traded to fave the country ; to prevent mutiny in 
 armies , to introduce oeconomy in revenues ; and 
 for all thefe honourable purpofes, it originated at 
 the exprefs dcfire, and by the reprefentative autho- 
 rity of the Company irfelf. 
 
 Firft, let me fay a word to the authority. This 
 debt was contraded not by the authority of the 
 Company, not by its reprefentatives (as the right 
 honourable Gentleman has the unparalleled con- 
 fidence to affert) but in the ever-memorable period 
 of i777j by the ufurped power of thofe who re- 
 bellioufly, in conjunftion with the Nabob of Ar- 
 cot, had overturned the lawful government of 
 Madras. For that rebellion, this Houfe unani- 
 
 moufly
 
 [ 28 ] 
 
 moufly dire^led a public profecutioni The delin- 
 quents, after they had fubverted Government, in 
 order to make to themfelves a party to fupport 
 them in their power, are univerfally known to 
 have dealt jobs about to the right and to the left, 
 and to any who were willing to receive them. 
 This ufurpation, which the right honourable 
 Gentleman well knows, was brought about by 
 and for the great mafs of thefe pretended debts, 
 5s the authority which is fet up by him to repre- 
 fent the Company -, to reprefent that Company 
 which from the firft moment of their hearing of this 
 corrupt and fraudulent tranfaftion, to this hour, 
 have uniformly difowned and difavowed it. 
 
 So much for the authority. As to the fa6ls, partly 
 true, and partly colourable, as they ftand record- 
 ed, they are in fubftance thefe. The Nabob of 
 ,Arcot, as foon as he had thrown off the fuperio- 
 rlty of this country by means of thefe creditors, 
 kept up a great army which he never paid. Of 
 courfe, his foldiers were generally in a ftate of muti- 
 ny *., The ufurping council fay that they laboured 
 hard with their mafter the Nabob, to perfuade him 
 to reduce thefe mutinous and ufelefs troops. He 
 confented ; but as ufual, pleaded inability to pay 
 them their arrears. Here was a difficulty. The Na- 
 bob had no money ; the Company had no money ; 
 every public fupply was empty. But there was one 
 refource which no feafon has ever yet dried up in 
 that climate. The foucars were at hand ; that is, 
 private Englifli money-jobbers offered their affift- 
 ance. Mtffieurs Taylor, Majendie and Call, pro- 
 pofed to advance the fmall fum of . 160,000 to 
 pay off the Nabob's black cavalry, provided the 
 Company's authority was given for their loan. 
 This was the great point of policy always aimed 
 
 See Mr. Dundas's ift, zd, and 3d ReporU. 
 
 at
 
 t =9 ] 
 
 at, and purfiied through a hundred devices, by the 
 fervants at Madras. The Prefidency, who them- 
 felves had no authority for the fundions they prc- 
 fumed to exercife, very readily gave the fandlion 
 of the Company, to thofe fervants who knew that 
 the Company, whofe fandion was demanded, had 
 pofitively prohibited all fuch tranfadions. 
 
 However, fo far as the reality of the dealing goes, 
 all is hitherto fair and plaufible j and here the right 
 honourable Gentleman concludes, with commend- 
 able prudence, his account of the bufinefs. But 
 here it is I fhall beg leave to commence my fup- 
 plement : for the gentleman's difcreet modefty has 
 led him to cut the thread of the ftory fomewhat 
 abruptly. One of the moft eflential parties is 
 quite forgotten. "Why fhould the epifode of the 
 poor Nabob be omitted ? When that prince chufes 
 it, no body can tell his ftory better. Excufe me, 
 if I apply again to my book, and give it you from 
 the firft hand ; from the Nabob himfelf. 
 
 " Mr. Stratton became acquainted with this, 
 " and got Mr. Taylor and others to lend me four 
 *' lacks of pagodas towards difcharging the arrears 
 * of pay of my troops. Upon this, I wrote a 
 *' letter of thanks to Mr. Stratton j and upon the 
 '* faith of this money being paid immediately, I 
 *' ordered many of my troops to be difcharged by^ 
 *' a certain day, and leflened the number of my 
 *' fervants. Mr. Taylor, &c. fome time after 
 *' acquainted me, that they had no ready money, 
 *' but they would grant teeps payable in four 
 ** months. This aftonifhed me -, for I did hot 
 ** know what might happen, when the fepoys were 
 *' difmifiedfrom my fervice. I begged of Mr. Tay- 
 *' lor and the others to pay this fum to the officers 
 ' of my regiments at the time they mentioned ; 
 ** and defired the officers, at the fame time, to 
 ** pacify and perfuade the men belonging to them, 
 
 V* that
 
 [ 30 ] 
 
 ** that their pay would be given to them at the 
 ** end of four months \ and that till thofe arrears 
 " were difcharged, their pay fhould be continued 
 ** to them. Two years are nearly expired fincc 
 *' that time, but Mr. Taylor has not yet entirely 
 " dilcharged the arrears of thofe troops, and I am 
 " obliged to continue their pay from that time 
 *' till this. I hoped to have been able, by this 
 " expedient, to have lefTened the number of my 
 " troops, and difcharge the arrears due to them, 
 * confidering the trifle of intereft to Mr. Taylor, 
 ** and the others, as no great matter -, but inftead 
 *' of this, I am oppreffed with the burthen of pay 
 *' due to thofe troops \ and the intereft^ zvhich is 
 *' going on to Mr. Taylor from the day the teeps 
 *' were granted to him." What I have read to you 
 is an extradt of a Letter from the Nabob of the 
 Carnatic to Governor Rumbold, dated the 22d, and 
 received the 24th of March 1779 * 
 
 Suppofe his higlinefs not to be well broken in 
 to things of this kind, it muft indeed furprife fb 
 known and eftablifhed a bond-vender, as the Nabob 
 of Arcof, one who keeps himfelf the largeft bond 
 warehoufe in the world, to find that he was now to 
 receive in kind -, not to take money for his obliga- 
 tions, but to give his bond in exchange for the bond 
 of Mefiieurs Taylor, Majendie and Call, and to pay 
 befides, a good fmart intereft, legally 1 2 per cent. 
 [in reality perhaps twenty, or twenty-four per cent."] 
 for this exchange of paper. But his troops were 
 not to be fo paid, or fb diibanded. They wanted 
 bread, and could not live by cutting and fhuffling 
 of bonds. The Nabob ftill kept the troops in fer- 
 vice, and was obliged to continue, as you have 
 feen, the whole expence, to exonerate himfelf from 
 which he became indebted to the foucars. 
 
 Had it ftood here, the tranfaclion would have 
 See further Confultations, 3d February 1778. 
 
 been
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 been of the moft audacious ftrain of fraud and 
 ufury, perhaps ever before difcovered, whatever 
 might have been pradlifed and concealed. But the 
 fame authority (I mean the Nabob's) brings before 
 you fomething if pofTible more ftriking. He ftates, 
 that for this their paper, he immediately handed 
 over to thefe gentlemen, fomething very different 
 from paper j that is, the receipt of a territorial re- 
 venue, of which it feems they continued as long 
 in poflefTion as the Nabob himfelf continued in 
 pofleflion of any thing. Their payments there- 
 fore not being to commence before the end of four 
 months, and not being compleated in two years, it 
 muft be prefumed (unlefs they prove the contrary) 
 that their payments to the Nabob were made out of 
 the revenues they had received from his aflignment. 
 Thus they condefcend to accumulate a debt of 
 ;^. 1 60,000, with an intereft of 12 per cent, in com- 
 penfation for a lingering payment to the Nabob, of 
 ^.160,000 of his own money. 
 
 Still wehave not the whole: about two years after 
 the aflignment of thofe territorial revenues to thefe 
 gentlemen, the Nabob receives a remonltrance 
 from his chief manager, in a principal province, 
 of which this is the tenor " The entire revenue of 
 ** thofe diftrids is by your highnefs' order fet apart 
 " to difcharge the tuncaws [aflignments] granted 
 " to the Europeans. The gomaftahs [agents] of 
 " Mr. Taylor, to Mr. De Fries, are there in order 
 " to collect thefe tuncaws , and as they receive 
 *' all the revenue that is collecfled, your high- 
 *', nefs's troops have feven or eight months pay due^ 
 *' which they cannot receive, and are thereby re- 
 *' duced to the greateft dijlrefs. In fuch times, 
 *' it is highly neceflary to provide for the fufte- 
 * nance of the troops that may be ready to exert 
 '* themfelves in the fervice of your highnefs.'* 
 
 Here, Sir, you fee how thefe caufes anjd effefls 
 
 9 ad
 
 ad upon one another. One body of troops mutinies 
 for want of pay ; a debt is contrafted to pay them ; 
 and they ftill remain unpaid. A territory deftined 
 to pay other troops, is afligned for this debt , and 
 thefe other troops fall into the fame ftate of indi- 
 gence and mutiny with the firft. Bond is paid by 
 bond ; arrear is turned into new arrear ; ufury 
 engenders new ufury ; mutiny fufpended in one 
 quarter, ftarts up in another; until all the re- 
 venues, and all the eftablifhments are entangled into 
 one inextricable knot of confufion, from which they 
 are only difengaged by being entirely deftroyed. 
 In that ftate of confufion, in a very few months 
 after the date of the memorial I have juft read to 
 you, things were found, when the Nabob's troops, 
 famifhed to feed Englifh foucars, inftead of defend- 
 ing the country, joined the invaders, and deferted 
 in entire bodies to Hyder Ali *. 
 
 The manner in which this tranfaftion was carried 
 on, (hews that good examples are not eafily forgot, 
 efpeciaily by thofe who are bred in a great fchool. 
 One of thofe fplendid examples, give me leave to 
 mention at a fomewhat more early period, be- 
 caufe one fraud furnifhes light to the difcovery of 
 another, and fo on, until the whole fccret of myfte- 
 rious iniquity burfts upon you in a blaze of de- 
 teftion. The paper 1 fhafl read you, is not on re- 
 cord. If you pleafe, you may take it on my 
 wdrd. It is a letter written from one of un- 
 doubted information in Madras, to Sir John Cla- 
 vering, defcribing thepraftice that prevailed there, 
 whilft the Company's allies were under fale, during 
 the time of Governor Winch's adminiftration. 
 
 " One mode" (fays Clavering's corref- 
 
 pondent) *' of amaffing money at the Nabob's 
 
 Mr. Dundas's ift Report, p. 26, 29, and Appendix N" 
 2, 10, 18, for the mutinous ftate and defertion of the Nabob's 
 troops for want of pay. See alfo Report 4> of the fame 
 Committee. 
 
 e: " coft
 
 [ 33 ] 
 
 " coft is curious. He is generally in arrears 16 
 *' the Company. Here the Governor, being 
 *' calh-keeper, is generally an good terms with 
 *' the banker, who manages matters thus : The 
 " Governor preffes the Nabob for the balance due 
 " from him; the Nabob flies to his banker for 
 * relief; the banker engages to pay the money, 
 ** and grants his notes accordingly, which he puts 
 *' in the calh-book as ready money ; the Nabob 
 " pays him an intereft for it at two and three per 
 " cent, per menfem, till the tunkaws he grants on 
 " the particular diftrifts for it are paid. Mattel's 
 *' in the mean time are fo managed, that there is 
 ** no call for this money for the Company's fer- 
 ** vice, till the tuncaws become due. By this 
 *' means not a cafh is advanced by the banker, 
 " though he receives a heavy intereft from the 
 ** Nabob, which is divided as lawful fpoil.'* 
 
 Here, Mr. Speaker, you have the whole art and 
 myftery, the true free-mafonfecretof the profeflion 
 of foucaring ; by which a few innocent, inexpe- 
 rienced young Englifhmen, fuch as Mr. Paul Ben- 
 field, for initance, without property upon which 
 any one would lend to tliemfelves a (ingle {billing, 
 are enabled at once to take provinces in mortgage, 
 to make princes their debtors, and to become cre- 
 ditors for millions. 
 
 But it feems the right honourable Gentleman's 
 favourite foucar cavalry, have proved the payment 
 before the Mayor's court at Madras ! Have they 
 fo ? Why then defraud our anxiety and their cha- 
 raders of that proof ? Is it not enough that the 
 charges which I have laid before you, have ftood 
 on record againft thefe poor injured gentlemen for 
 eight years ? Is it not enough that they are in print 
 by the orders of the Eaft India Company for five 
 years } After thefe gentlemen have borne all the 
 odium of this publication, and all the indignation 
 
 D of
 
 t 34 ] 
 
 of the Direfkors, with fuch unexampled equammit^* 
 now that they are at length flimulated into feed- 
 ing, are you to deny them their juft relief? But 
 will the right honourable Gentleman be pleafed to 
 tell us, how they came not to give this fatisfadtion to 
 the Court of Direftors, their lawful mailers, during 
 all the eight years of this litigated claim ? Were 
 they not bound, by every tie that can bind man, to 
 give them this fatisfadion ? This day, for the firft 
 time, we hear of the proofs. But when were thefe 
 proofs offered ? In what caufe ? Who were the 
 parties ? Who infpefled ? Who contefted this be- 
 lated account ? Let us fee fomething to oppofe 
 to the body of record which appears againft 
 them. The Mayor's court! the Mayor's court! 
 Pleafant ! Does not the honourable Gentleman 
 know, that the firft corps of creditors (the cre- 
 ditors of 1767) ftated it as a fort of hardfhip to 
 them, that they could not have juftice at Madras, 
 from the impoffibility of their fupporting their 
 claims in the Mayor's court. Why ? becaufe, fay 
 they, the members of that court were themfclves 
 creditors, and therefore could not fit as judges *. 
 Are we ripe to fay that no creditor under fimilar 
 circumflances was member of the Court, when the 
 payment which is the ground of this cavalry debt 
 was put in proof f ? Nay, are we not in a mannCp 
 
 * Memorial from the Creditors to the Governor and 
 Council, 22d January, 1770. 
 
 f In the year 1778, Mr. James Call, one of the proprie- 
 tors of this fpecific debt, was aftually Mayor. Aopendix 
 to 2d Report of Mr. Dundas's Committee, N 65. The only 
 proof which appeared on the enquiry inltituted in the gene- 
 ral court of 1781, was an affidavit of x.\\t lenders themjelvest 
 depofing (what no body ever denied) that they had engaged 
 and agreed to pay not that they had paid the fum of 
 jf. 160,000. This was two years after the tranfadion ; and 
 the affidavit is made before George Prodor, Mayor, an attor- 
 ney, for certain of the old creditors. Proceedings of the 
 Prefideot and Council of Fort Saint George, zzd February 
 
 . compelled
 
 [ 35 3 
 
 compelled to conclude that the Court was fo con* 
 ftituted, when we know there is fcarcely a man in 
 Madras, who has not ibme participation in thefc 
 tranfaftions ? It is a (hame to hear fuch proofs men- 
 tioned, inftead of the honeft vigorous fcrutiny which 
 the circumftances of fuch an affair fo indifpenfably 
 calls for. 
 
 But his Majefty's minifters, indulgent enough to 
 other fcrutinies, have not been fatisfied with au- 
 thorizing the payment of this demand without 
 fuch enquiry as the Aft has prefcribed ; but they 
 have added the arrear of twelve per cent, intereft, 
 from the year 1777 to the year 1784, to make 
 a new capital, raifing thereby 160 to /C- 294,000. 
 Then they charge a new twelve per cent, on the 
 whole from that period, for a tranfadion, in whiciv 
 it will be a miracle if a fingle penny will be ever 
 found really advanced from the private ftock of 
 the pretended creditors. 
 
 In this manner, and at fuch an intereft, the Mi- 
 nifters have thought proper to difpofe of ;^. 294,000 
 of the public revenues, for what is called the ca- 
 valry loan. After difpatching this, the right ho- 
 nourable gentleman leads to battle his laft grand 
 divifiun, the confolidated debt of 1777. But 
 having exhaufted all his panegyric on the two 
 firft, he has nothing at all to lay in favour of 
 the laft. On the contrary, he admits that it was 
 contrafted in defiance of the Company's orders, 
 without even the pretended fandion of any pre- 
 tended reprefentatives. Nobody, indeed, has yet 
 been found hardy enough to ftand forth avowedly 
 in its defence. But it is little to the credit of the 
 age, that what has not plaufibility enough to find 
 an advocate, has influence enough to obtain a pro- 
 teftor. Could any man expedt to find that pro- 
 tcdlor any where ? But what muft every man 
 think, when he finds that protedor in the Chair- 
 D 2 man
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
 man of the Committee of Secrecy *, who had pub- 
 li(hed to the Houfe, and to the world, the fadts 
 that condemn thefe debts the orders that forbid 
 the incurring of them the dreadful confequences 
 which attended them. Even in his official letter, 
 when he tramples on his parliamentary Report, yet 
 his general language is the fame. Read the 
 preface to this part of the minifterial arrange- 
 ment, and you would imagine that this debt 
 was to be cruftied, with all the weight of in- 
 dignation which could fall from a vigilant guar- 
 dian of the public treafury, upon thofe who at- 
 tempted to rob it. What mufl be felt by every 
 man who has feeling, when, after fuch a thunder- 
 ing preamble of condemnation, this debt is or- 
 dered to be paid without any fort of enquiry into 
 its authenticity ? without a fingle ftep taken to 
 fettle even the amount of the demand ? without 
 an attempt fo much as to afcertain the real perfons 
 claiming a fum, which rifcs in the accounts from 
 one million three hundred thoufand pound fterling 
 to two million four hundred thoufand pound prin- 
 cipal money f ? without an attempt made to afcer- 
 tain the proprietors, of whom no lift has ever 
 yet been laid before the Court of Diredbors ; of 
 proprietors who are known to be in a collufive 
 ihuffle, by which they never appear to be the fame 
 in any two lifts, handed about for their own parti- 
 cular purpofes ? 
 
 My honourable Friend who made you the mo- 
 tion, has fufficiently expofed the nature of this 
 debt. He has ftated to you that its own agents in 
 the year 1781, in the arrangement they propofed to 
 make at Calcutta, were fatisfied to have twenty-five 
 per cent, at once ftruck off from the capital of a 
 
 Right honourable Henry Dundas. 
 t Appendix to the 4th Report of Mr. Dundas's Commit- 
 tee, N" 15. 
 
 great
 
 [ 37 1 
 
 great part of this debt ; and prayed to have a pro* 
 vifion made for this reduced principal, without any 
 interefi- at all. This was an arrangement of their 
 ewrti an arrangement made by thofe who beft 
 knew the true conftitution of their own debt i 
 who knew how little favour it merited *, and 
 how little hopes they had to find any perfons in 
 authority abandoned enough to fupport it as it 
 flood. 
 
 But what corrupt men, in the fond imaginations 
 of^ a fan2;uine avarice, had not the confidence tO 
 propofe, they have found a Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer in England hardy enough to undertake 
 for them. He has cheered their drooping fpirits. 
 He has thanked the peculators for not defpairing 
 of their commonwealth. He has told them they 
 were too modeft. He has replaced the twenty-five 
 per cent, which, in order to lighten themfelves, they 
 had abandoned in their confcious terror. Inftead 
 of cutting off the intereft, as they had themfelves 
 confented to do, with the fourth of the capital, he 
 has added the whole growth of four years ufury of 
 twelve per ceni> to the firft over-grown principal ; 
 and has again grafted on this meliorated ftock a . 
 perpetual annuity of fix per cent* to take place 
 from the year 1781. Let no man hereafter talk 
 
 * No fenfe of the common danger, in cafe of a war, can 
 prevail on him [the Nabob of ArcotJ to furniih the Company 
 with what is abiblutely neceffary to aflerablean army, though 
 it is beyond a doubt, that money to a large amount is now 
 hoarded up in his coffers at Chepauk ; and tunkaws are 
 granted to individuals upon fome of his naoft ijaluable coun- 
 tries, for payment of part of thofe debts which he has con- 
 traded, and ivhich certainly 'wi/l not bear infpeSin, as neither 
 the debtor or creditors ha've ever had the confidence to fubmii the 
 accounts to our examination, though they exprefled a wifh to 
 confolidate the debts under the aufpices of this government, 
 agreeably to a plan they had formed." Madras Confultations, 
 20th July 1778. Mr. Dundas's Appendix to 2d Report, 
 143. See alio laft Appendix to ditto Report, N" 376 B. 
 
 D 3 of 
 
 301300
 
 [ 38 ] 
 
 of the decaying energies of nature. All the a6ls 
 and monuments in the records of peculation j the 
 confolidated corruption of ages -, the patterns of 
 exemplary plunder in the heroic times of Roman 
 iniquity, never equalled the gigantic corruption of 
 this fingle a6t. Never did Nero, in all the infolent 
 prodigality of defpotifm, deal out to his praetorian 
 guards a donation fit to be named with the largefs 
 Ihowered down by the bounty of our Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer on the faithful band of his Indian 
 Sepoys. 
 
 The right honourable gentleman * lets you freely 
 and voluntarily into the whole tranfadion. So per- 
 fectly has his conduct confounded his underftand- 
 ing, that he fairly tells you, that through the 
 courfe of the whole bufinefs he has never con- 
 ferred with any but the agents of the pretended 
 creditors. After this, do you want more to efta- 
 blilh a fecret undcrftanding with the parties ? to 
 fix, beyond a doubt, their collufion and parti- 
 cipation in a common fraud ? 
 
 If this were not enough, he has furnifhed you 
 with other prefumptions that are not to be Ihaken. 
 It is one of the known indications of guilt to dag- 
 ger and prevaricate in a ftory ; and to vary in the 
 motives that are affigned to conduct. Try thefe 
 Minifters by thts rule. In their official difpatch, 
 they tell the Prefidency of Madras, that they have 
 eftabliflied the debt for two reafons ; firft, becaufe 
 the Nabob (the party indebted) does not dilputc 
 it; fecondly, becaufe it is .mifchievous to keep it 
 longer afloat -, and that the payment of the European 
 creditors will promote circulation in the country. 
 Thefe two motives (for the plained reafons in the 
 world) the right honourable gentleman has this day 
 thought fit totally to abandon. In the fird place, 
 he rejcds the authority of the Nabob of Arcot. 
 
 Mr. Dandas. 
 
 It
 
 [ 39 ] 
 
 It would indeed be pleafant to fee him adhere to 
 this exploded teftimony. He next, upon grounds 
 equally folid, abandons the benefits of that circu- 
 lation, which was to be produced by drawing out 
 all the juices of the body. Laying afide, or for- 
 getting thefe pretences of his difpatch, he has juft: 
 now alTumed a principle totally different, but to 
 the full as extraordinary. He proceeds upon a 
 fuppofition, that many of the claims may be fic- 
 titious. He then finds, that in a cafe where many 
 valid and many fraudulent claims arc blended 
 together, the bed courfe for their difcrimination is 
 indifcriminately to eftablilh them all. He trufts 
 (I fuppofe) as there may not be a fund fufficient 
 for every dcfcription of creditors, that the beft 
 warranted claimants will exert themfelves in bring- 
 ing to light thofe debts which will not bear an en- 
 quiry. What he will not do himlelf, he is perfuad- 
 ed will be done by others ; and for this purpofe 
 he leaves to any perfon a general power of excepting 
 to the debt. This total change of language, and 
 prevarication in principle, is enough, if it ftood 
 alone, to fix the prefumption of unfair dealing. 
 His difpatch affigns motives of policy, concord, 
 trade, and circulation. His fpeech proclaims dif- 
 cord and litigations; and propofes, as the ultimate 
 end, detedion. 
 
 But he may fliift his reafons, and wind, and 
 turn as he will, confufion waits him at all his 
 doubles. Who will undertake this detedlion ? 
 "Will the Nabob ? But the right honourable gen- 
 tleman has himfelf this moment told us, that no 
 prince of the country can by any motive be pre- 
 vailed upon to difcover any fraud that is prac- 
 tifed upon him by the Company's fervants. He 
 fays what, (with the exception of the complaint 
 againft the cavalry loan) all the world knows to 
 
 D 4 be-
 
 [ 40 ] 
 
 be true; and without that Prince's concurrence, 
 what evidence can be had of the fraud of any the 
 fmaiieft of thefe demands ? The IVIinifters ne- 
 ver authorized any perfon to enter into his ex- 
 chequer, and to fearch his records. Why then 
 this (hameful and infulting mockery of a pretended 
 conteft ? Already contefts for a preference have 
 arifen among thefe rival bond creditors. Has not 
 the Company itfelf ftruggled for a preference for 
 years, without any attempt at detedion of the na- 
 ture of thofe debts with which they contended ? 
 Well is the Nabob of Arcot attended to in the only 
 fpecific complaint he has ever made. He com- 
 plained of unfair dealing in the cavalry loan. It is 
 fixed upon him with intereft on intereft ; and this 
 loan is excepted from all power of litigation. 
 
 This day, and not before, the right honoura- 
 ble gentleman thinks that the general eftablifhment 
 of all claims is the fureft way of laying open the 
 fraud jof fome of them. In India, this is a reach 
 of deep policy. But what would be thought of 
 this mode of a6ling on a demand upon the Trea- 
 fury in England ? Inftead of all this cunning, is 
 there not one plain way open, that is, to put the 
 burthen of the proof on thofe who make the de- 
 mand ? Ought not Miniftry to have faid to the 
 creditors, '' The perfon who admits your debt 
 " {lands excepted to as evidence ; he (lands charged 
 *' as a collufive party, to hand over the public re- 
 " venues to you for finifter purpofes ? You fay, 
 " you have a demand of fome millions on the In- 
 ** dian treafury ; prove that you have a6led by 
 * lawful authority ; prove at lead that your money 
 '* has been l>end fide advanced -, entitle yourfelf to 
 *' my protedion, by the fairnefs and fulnefs of the 
 *' communications you make.'* Did an honeft 
 creditor ever refufc that reafonablc and honeft 
 tcft? 
 
 There
 
 [ 41 ] 
 
 There is little doubt, that fevcral individuals 
 have been feduced by the purveyors to the Nabob 
 of Arcot to put their money (perhaps the whole of 
 honcft and laborious earnings) into their hands, 
 and that at fuch high intereft, as, being condemn- 
 ed at law, leaves them at the mercy of the great 
 managers whom they trufted. Thefe feduced 
 creditors are probably perfons of no power or inte- 
 reft, either in England or India, and may be juft 
 objedls of compaflion. By taking, in this arrange- 
 ment no meafures for difcrimination and difcb- 
 very ; the fraudulent and the fair are in the firft 
 inftance confounded in one mafs. The fubfe- 
 quent fcledtion and diftribution is left to the Na- 
 bob, With him the agents and inftruments of his 
 corruption, whom he fees to be omnipotent in 
 England, and who may ferve him in future, as they 
 have done in times pad, will have precedence, if 
 not an exclufive preference. Thefe leading inte- 
 refts domineer, and have always domineered, over 
 the whole. By this arrangement the perfons feduced 
 are made dependent on their feducers ; honefty 
 (comparative honefty at leaft) muft become of the 
 party of fraud, and mufl: quit its proper charader, 
 and its juft claims, to entitle itfelf to the alms of 
 bribery and peculation. 
 
 But be thefe Englifti creditors what they may, 
 the creditors, moft certainly not fraudulent, are 
 the natives, who are numerous and wretched 
 indeed : by exhaufting the whole revenues of 
 the Carnatic, nothing is left for them. They 
 lent bond fide \ in all probability they were even 
 forced to lend, or to give goods and fervicc 
 for the Nabob's obligations. They had no 
 trufts to carry to his market. They had no faith 
 of alliances to fell. They had no nations to be- 
 tray to robbery and ruin. They had no lawful go- 
 vernment feditioufly to overturn j nor had they a 
 
 Governor,
 
 [ 42 ] 
 
 Governor, to whom it is owing that you exift in 
 Indi^, to deliver over to captivity, and to death, 
 in a (hameful prifon*. 
 
 Thefe were the merits of the principal part of the 
 debt of 1777, and the univerfally conceived caufes 
 .of its growth ; and thus the unhappy natives are 
 deprived of every hope of payment for their real 
 debts, to make provifion for the arrears ot unfatis- 
 fied bribery and treafon. You fee in this inftance, 
 that the prefumption of guilt is not only no ex- 
 ception to the demands on the public treafury ; but 
 with thefe minifters it is a neceflary condition to 
 their fupport. But that you may not think this pre- 
 ference folely owing to their known contempt of the 
 natives, who ought with every generous mind to 
 claim their firft charities ; you will find the fame 
 rule religioufly obferved with Europeans too. At- 
 tend, Sir, to this decifive cafe. Since the begin- 
 ning of the war, befides arrears of every kind, a 
 bond debt has been contradled at Madras, uncertain 
 in its amount, but reprefented from four hundred 
 thoufand pound to a million fterling. It ftands 
 only at the low intereft of eight per cent. Of the 
 legal authority on which this debt was contraded, 
 of its purpofes for the very being of the (late, of 
 its publicity and fairnefs, no doubt has been en- 
 tertained for a moment. For this debt, no fort of 
 provifion whatever has been made. It is rejeded 
 as an outcaft, whilft the whole undiflipated atten- 
 tion of the Minifter has been employed for the 
 difcharge of claims entitled to his favour by the 
 merits we have feen. 
 
 I have endeavoured to find out, if poflible, the 
 amount of the whole of thofe demands, in order 
 to fee how much, fuppofing the country in a con- 
 dition to furnifh the fund, may remain to fatisfy 
 
 Lord Pigot. 
 
 the
 
 [ 43 ] 
 
 the public debt and the necefTary eflablilhments. 
 But I have been foiled in my attempt. About 
 one-fourth, that is about . 220,000 of the loan 
 of 1767, remains unpaid. How much intereft is 
 in arrear, I could never difcover ; feven or eight 
 years at lead, which would make the whole of 
 that debt about , 396,000. This ftock, which 
 the Minifters in their inftrudions to the Governor 
 of Madras ftate as the leaft exceptionable, they 
 have thought proper to diftinguifh by a marked 
 feverity, leaving it the only one, on which the 
 intereft is not added to the principal, to beget a 
 new intereft. 
 
 The cavalry loan, by the operation of the fame 
 authority, is made up to ;^. 2 94,000, and this 
 . 294,000, made up of principal and intereft, is 
 crowned with a new intereft of twelve ^^r f(?/. 
 
 What the grand loan, the bribery loan of 1777, 
 may be, is amongft the deepeft myfteries of ftate. 
 It is probably the firft debt ever afTuming the 
 title of confolidation, that did not exprefs what the 
 amount of the fum confolidated was. h is little lefs 
 than a contradidlion in terms. In the debt of the 
 year 1767, the fum was ftated in the ad: of confoli- 
 dation, and made to amount to . 880,000 capi- 
 tal. When this confolidation of 1777 was firft an- 
 nounced at the Durbar, it was reprefented authenti- 
 cally at ;^. 2,400,000. In that, or rather in an 
 higher ftate. Sir Thomas Rumbold found and con- 
 demned It *. It afterwards fell into fuch a terror, 
 as to fweat away a million of its- weight at once ; 
 
 and 
 
 * In Sir Thomas Rumbold's letter to the Court of Direc- 
 tors, March 15th, 1778, he repreients it as higher, in the fol- 
 lowing manner : '* How ftxall I paint to you my aftonifli- 
 ** ment on my arrival here, when I was informed, that inde- 
 ** pendent of this four lacks of pagodas [the cavalry loan] ; 
 " independent of the Nabob's debt to his old creditors, and 
 '* the money due to the Company j he had contrafted a debt 
 
 to
 
 [ 44 ] 
 
 and it funk to . 1,400,000 *. However, it never 
 was without a refourcc for recruiting it to its old 
 plumpnefs. There was a fort of floating debt of 
 about 4 or . 500,000 more, ready to be added* 
 as occafion fhould require. 
 
 In fhort, when you prefled this fenfitive plant, it 
 always contra<5led its dimenfions. "When the rude 
 hand of enquiry was withdrawn, it expanded in 
 all the luxuriant vigour of its original vegetation. 
 In the treaty of 178 1, the whole of the Nabob's 
 debt to private Europeans is by Mr, Sullivan, 
 agent to the Nabob and the creditors, ftated at 
 ;^. 2,800,000, which (if the cavalry loan, and the 
 remains of the debt of 1767, be fubtradted) leaves 
 it nearly at the amount originally declared at the 
 Durbar, in 1777. But then there is a private 
 inftrudion to Mr. Sullivan, which it feems will re- 
 duce it again to the lower ftandard of ;^. 1,400,000. 
 Failing in all my attempts, by a dired account, to 
 
 ** to the enormous amount of fixty-three lacks of pagodas 
 *' [, 2,520,000]. I mention this circumftance to you ivitb 
 *' horror ; for the creditors being in general fervants of the 
 " Company, renders my tafk, on the part of the Company, 
 *' difficult and invidious." ' I have freed the fanftion of this 
 * government from fo corrupt a tranfaftion. It is, in my 
 *' mind, the moil venal of all proceedings, to give the Com- 
 * pany's protedion to debts that cannot bear the light ; and 
 *' though i^ appears exceedingly alarming, that a country, 
 " on which you are to depend for refources, fhould be (o 
 * involved, as to be nearly three years revenue in debt ; in 
 " a country too, where one year's revenue can never be 
 ** czWtA /ecure, by men who know any thing of the politics 
 * of this part of India." "I think it proper to mention to 
 ** you, that although the Nabob reports his private debt to 
 *' amount to upiuards of ftxty lacks., yet I underftand that it 
 ** is not quite fo much." Afterwards Sir Thomas Rumbold 
 lecommended this debt to the favourable attention of the 
 Company, but without any fufficient reafon for his change 
 of difpofition. However he went no further. 
 
 Nabob's propofals, November 25th, 17785 and memorial 
 of the creditors, March ift, 1779. 
 
 2 afcertain
 
 C 45 ] 
 
 afcertain the extent of the capital claimed (where in 
 all probability no capital was ever advanced) I en- 
 deavoured, if poflible, to difcover it by the intereft: 
 which was to be paid. For that purpofe, I looked 
 to the feveral agreements for afllgning the territories 
 of the Carnatic to fecure the principal and intereft 
 of this debt. In one of them * I found in a fore of 
 Poftfcript, by way of an additional remark, (not in 
 the body of the obligation) the debt reprefented at 
 . 1,400,000. But when I computed the fums to 
 be paid for intereft by inftalments in another paper, 
 I found they produced the intereft of two millions, 
 at twelve per cent, and the afllgnment fuppofed, that 
 if thefe inftalments might exceed, they might alfo 
 fall (hort of the real provifion /or that intereft f. 
 
 Another inftalment bond was afterwards granted. 
 In that bond the intereft exaftly tallies with a ca- 
 pital of > 1,400,000 %, But purfuing this capital 
 through the correfpondence, I loft fight of it again, 
 and it was aflerted that this inftalment bond was con- 
 fiderably ftiort of the intereft that ought to be com- 
 puted to the time mentioned . Here are, therefore, 
 two ftatements of equal authority, differing at leaft 
 a million from each other j and as neither perfons 
 claiming, nor any fpecial fum as belonging to each 
 particular claimant, is afcertained in the inftrumcnts 
 of confolidation, or in the inftalment bonds, a large 
 f^ope was left to throw in any fums for any perfons, 
 as their merits in advancing the intereft of that loan 
 might require; a power was alfo left for reduc- 
 tion, in cafe a harder hand, or more fcanty funds, 
 might be found to require it. Stronger grounds 
 for a prefumption of fraud nevec appeared in any 
 
 Nabob's propofals to his new confolidated creditors, No- 
 vember 25th, 1778. 
 
 + Paper figned by the Nabob, 6th January 1780. 
 
 J Kiftbundi to July 31, 1780. 
 
 Governor's letter to the Nabob, 25th July 1779- 
 
 ' tranfadion.'
 
 [ 46 ] 
 
 tranfaflion. But the minifters, faithful to the 
 plan of the interefted perfons, whom alone they 
 thought fit to confer with on this occafion, have 
 ordered the payment of the whole mafs of thefe 
 unknown unliquidated fums, without an attempt to 
 afcertain them. On this conduct. Sir, I leave you 
 to make your own reflexions. 
 
 It is impofiible (at lead I have found it im- 
 poflible) to fix on the real amount of the pretended 
 debts with which your minifters have thought 
 proper to load the Carnatic. They are objcurc ; 
 they Ihun enquiry ; they are enormous. That is 
 all you know of them. 
 
 That you may judge what chance any ho- 
 nourable and ufcful end of government has for a 
 provifion that comes in for the leavings of thefe 
 gluttonous demands, I muft take it on myfelf to 
 bring before you the real condition of that abufed, 
 infulted, racked, and ruined country ; though in 
 truth my mind revolts from it , though you will 
 hear it with horror-, and I confefs, 1 tremble when 
 I think on thefe awful and confounding difpenfa- 
 tions of Providence. I ftiall firft trouble you with 
 a fev/ words as to the caufe. 
 
 The great fortunes made in India in the begin- 
 nings of conqueft, naturally excited an emulation 
 in all the parts, and through the whole fuccefiion 
 of the Company's fervice. But in the Company 
 it gave rife to other fentiments. They did not 
 find the new channels of acquifition flow with equal 
 riches to them. On the contrary, the high flood- 
 tide of private emolument was generally in the 
 lowcft ebb of their affairs. They began alfo to fear, 
 that the fortune of war might take away what the 
 fortune of war had given. Wars were accordingly 
 difcouraged by repeated injunftions and menaces; 
 and that the fervants might not be bribed into them- 
 by the native princes, they were ftridly forbidden 
 
 to
 
 [ 47 3 
 
 to take any money whatfoever from their hands. 
 But vehement pafTionis ingenious in refources. The 
 Company's fervants were not only ftimulated, but 
 better inftruAed by the prohibition. They foon fell 
 upon a contrivance which anfwered their purpofes 
 far better than the methods which were forbid- 
 den i though in this alfo they violated an ancient, 
 but they thought, an abrogated order. They 
 reverfed their proceedings. Inftead of receiv- 
 ing prefents, they made loans. Inftead of carrying 
 on wars in their own name, they contrived an autho- 
 rity, at once irrcfiftible and irrefponfible, in whofe 
 name they might ravage at pleafure -, and being thus 
 freed from all reftraint, they indulged themlelves 
 in the moft extravagant fpeculations of plunder. 
 The cabal of creditors who have been the objeft 
 of the late bountiful grant from his Majefty's mi- 
 nifters, in order to poflefs themfclves, under the 
 name of creditors and aflignees, of every country 
 in India, as faft as it fhould be conquered, infpired 
 into the mind of the Nabob of Arcot (then a de- 
 pendant on the Company of the humbleft order) 
 a fcheme of the moft wild and defperate ambition 
 that I believe ever was admitted into the thoughts 
 of a man fo fituated *. Firft, they perfuaded him 
 to confider himfelf as a principal member in the 
 political fyftem of Europe. In the next place, they 
 held out to him, and he readily imbibed the idea of 
 the general empire of Indoftan. As a preliminary 
 to this undertaking, they prevailed on him to pro- 
 pofe a tripartite divifion of that vaft country. One 
 
 Report of the Selel Committee, Madras Confultations, 
 January 7, 1771. See alfo papers publifhed by the order of 
 the Court of Directors in 1776; and Lord Macartney's cor- 
 refpondence with Mr. Haftings and the Nabob of Arcot. See 
 alfo Mr. Dundas's Appendix, N 376 B. Nabob's propofi- 
 tions thro' Mr. SuUvan and AfTam Khan, Art> 6* and indeed 
 the whole. 
 
 part
 
 [ 48 ] 
 
 part to the Company, another to the Marattas; and 
 the third to himfelf. To himfelf he referved all the 
 fouthern part of the great peninfula, comprehend- 
 ed under the general name of the Decan. 
 
 On this fcheme of their fervants, the Company 
 was to appear in the Carnatic in no other light 
 than as a contraflor for the provifion of armies, and 
 the hire of mercenaries for his ufe, and under his 
 direftion. This difpofition was to be fecured by 
 the Nabob's putting himfelf under the guarantee 
 of France ; and by the means of that rival nation, 
 preventing the Englifh for ever from afluming an 
 equality, much lefs a fuperiority in the Carnatic. 
 In purfuance of this treafonable project (treafon- 
 able on the part of the Englifh) they extinguifhed 
 the Company as a fovereign power in that part of 
 India ; they withdrew the Company's garrifons 
 out of all the forts and ftrong holds of the Car- 
 natic i they declined to receive the ambafladors 
 from foreign courts, and remitted them to the 
 Nabob of Arcot ; they fell upon, and totally de- 
 ftroyed the oldeft ally of the company, the king of 
 Tanjore, and plundered the country to the amount 
 of near five millions fterling , one after another, 
 in the Nabob's name, but with Englifh force, they 
 brought into a miferable fervitude all the princes, 
 and great independent nobility of a vaft country *. 
 In proportion to thefe treaibns and violences, which 
 
 *' The principal objeft of the expedition is to get money 
 " from Tanjore to pay the Nabob's debt : if a furlpus, to 
 *' be applied in difcharge of the Nabob's debts to his pri- 
 ** vate creditors." Confultations, March 20, I771 and 
 for further lights, Confultations, 12th June, 1771. *' We are 
 * alarmed, left this debt to indi'viduah fhould have been the 
 ** real motive for the aggrandizement of Mahomed Ali [the 
 ' Nabob of Arcot] and that 'we are plunged into a ivar to 
 ** put him into pofleffion cf the Myfore revenues for the 
 ** dijchargt of the dtbt.^* Letter from the Dircdlors, March 
 17, 1769. 
 
 ruined
 
 t 49 ] 
 
 ruihed the people, the fund of the Nabob's debt 
 grew and flouriflied. 
 
 Among the vidtims to this magnificent plan of 
 univerfal plunder, worthy of the heroic avarice of 
 the projedtors, you have all heard (and he has 
 made himfelf to be well remembered) of an In- 
 dian chief called Hyder Ali Khan. This man 
 poflcfled the weftern, as the Company under the 
 name of the Nabob of Arcot does the eaftern di* 
 vifion of the Carnatic. It was among the leading 
 meafures in the defign of this cabal (according to 
 their own emphatic language) to extirpate this 
 Hyder Ali * . They declared the Nabob of Arcot 
 to be his fovereign, and himfelf to be a rebel, 
 and publicly invefted their inftrument with the fo- 
 vereignty of the kfngdom of Myfore. But their 
 vidim was not of the paflive kind. They were 
 foon obliged to conclude a treaty of peace and 
 clofe alliance with this rebel, at the gates of Ma- 
 dras. Both before and fince that treaty, every 
 principle of policy pointed out this power as a na- 
 tural alliance y and on his part, it was courted by 
 every fort of amicable office. But the cabinet coun- 
 cil of Englifli creditors would not fuffer their Nabob 
 of Arcot to fign the treaty, nor even to give to a 
 prince, at leaft his equal, the ordinary titles of re- 
 fpeft and courtefy f* From that time forward, a 
 continued plot was5 carried on within the divan, 
 black and white, of the Nabob of Arcot, for the 
 deftruftion of Hyder Ali. As to the outward 
 members of the double, or ratlier treble govern- 
 ment of Madras, which had figned the treaty, 
 they were always prevented by fome over-ruling 
 
 * Letter from the Nabob, May ift, 1768 ; and ditto, 24th 
 April 1770, iftOiSoberj ditto, 16th September 1772, i6th 
 March 1773. 
 
 t Letter from the Prefidency at Madras to the Court of 
 Dircftors, 27th June 1769. 
 
 E influence
 
 [ 50 ] 
 
 influence (which they do not defcribe, but which 
 cannot be mifunderftood) from performing what 
 juftice and intereft combined fo evidently to en- 
 force *. 
 
 When at length Hyder Ali found that he had 
 to do with men who either would fign no conven- 
 tion, or whom no treaty, and no fignature could 
 bind, and who were the determined enemies of hu- 
 man intercourfe itfelf, he decreed to make the coun- 
 try poffefled by thefe incorrigible and predeftinatcd 
 criminals a memorable example to mankind. He 
 refolved, in the gloomy receffes of a mind capa- 
 cious of fuch things, to leave the whole Carnatic 
 an everlafting monument of vengeance; and to put 
 perpetual defolation as a barrier between him and 
 thole againft whom the faith which holds the moral 
 elements of the world together was no proteftion. 
 He became at length fo confident of his force, fo 
 collefted in his might, that he made no fecret 
 whatfoever of his dreadful refolution. Having 
 terminated his difputes with every enemy, and 
 every rival, who buried their mutual animofities 
 in their common deteftation againft the creditors 
 of the Nabob of Arcot, he drew from every 
 quarter, whatever a favage ferocity could add to 
 his new rudim.ents in the arts of deftrudion ; and 
 compounding all the materials of fury, havoc, 
 and defolation, into one black cloud, he hung for a 
 while on the declivities of the mountains. Whilft 
 the authors of all thefe evils were idly and ftupidly 
 gazing on this menacing meteor, which blackened 
 all their horizon, it fuddenly burft, and poured 
 down the whole of its contents upon the plains of 
 the Carnatic. Then enfued a fcene of woe, the 
 like of which no eye had feen, no heart conceived, 
 and which no tongue can adequately tell. All the 
 
 Mr. Dundas's Committee, Report I. Appendix No. 29. 
 
 horrors
 
 [ 5 ] 
 
 horrors of war before known or heard of, were 
 mercy to that new havoc. A ftorm of univerfal 
 fire blaftcd every field, confumed every houfe, de- 
 ftroyed every temple. The miferable inhabitants 
 flying from their flaming villages, in part were 
 fiaughtered ; others, without regard to fex, to age, 
 to the refpeft of rank, or facrednefs of fundlion ; 
 fathers torn from children, hufbands from wives, 
 enveloped in a whirlwind of cavalry, and amidft 
 the goading fpears of drivers, and the trampling of 
 purfuing horfes, were fwept into captivity, in an 
 unknown and hoftile land. Thofe who were able 
 to evade this tempeft, fled to the walled cities. 
 But efcaping from fire, fword, and exile, they fell 
 into the jaws of famine. 
 
 The alms of the fettlement, in this dreadful ex- 
 igency, were certainly liberal ; and all was done 
 by charity that private charity could do : but 
 it was a people in beggary ; it was a nation 
 which fl:retched out its hands for food. For 
 months together thefe creatures of fufi^erance, 
 whofe very excefs and luxury in their mofl: plen- 
 teous days, had fallen fliort of the allowance of 
 our auftereft fafl:s, filent, patient, refigned, with- 
 out fedition or diflurbance, almoft without com- 
 plaint, periihed by an hundred a day in the ftreets 
 of Madras v every day feventy at leaft laid their 
 bodies in the fl:reets, or on the glacis of Tanjore, 
 and expired of famine in the granary of India. I 
 was going to awake your juftice towards this un- 
 happy part of our fellow citizens, by bringing be- 
 fore you fome of the circumflances of this plague 
 of hunger. Of all the calamities which befet and 
 waylay the life of man, this comes the neareft to 
 our heart, and is that wherein the proudeft of us 
 all feels himfelf to be nothing more than he is : but 
 I find myfelf unable to manage it with decorum ; 
 thefe details are of a fpecies of horror fo naufeous 
 
 2 and
 
 t 5* ] 
 
 and diCguding; they are fo degrading to the 
 fufferers and to the hearers ; they are fo humiliating 
 to human nature itfelf, that, on better thoughts, I 
 find it more advifeable to throw a pall over this 
 hideous objedl, and to leave it to your general coa- 
 ceptions. 
 
 * For eighteen months, without intermifiion, this 
 deftrudion raged from the gates of Madras to the 
 gates of Tanjore *, and fo compleatly did thefc 
 mafters in their art, Hyder Ali, and his more fe- 
 rocious fon, abfolve themfelves of their impious 
 vow, that when the Britifli armies traverfed, as they 
 did the Carnatic for hundreds of miles in all direc- 
 tions, through the whole line of their march they 
 did not fee one man, not one woman, not one 
 child, not one four-footed bead of any defcription 
 whatever. One dead uniform filence reigned over 
 the whole region. With the inconfiderable excep- 
 tions of the narrow vicinage of fome few forts, I 
 wifli to be underftood as fpeaking literally. 1 
 mean to produce to you more than three witnefles, 
 above all exception, who will fupport this aflcrtion 
 in its full extent. That hurricane of war pafTed 
 through every part of the central provinces of the 
 Carnatic. Six or (even diftridts to the north and 
 to the fouth (and thefe not wholly untouched) 
 cfcaped the general ravage. 
 
 The Carnatic is a country not much inferior 
 in extent to England. Figure to yourfelf, Mr. 
 Speaker, the land in whqfe reprefentative chair 
 you fit i figure to yourfelf the form and fafliion of 
 your fweet and cheerful country from Thames to 
 Trent, north and fouth, and from the Irilh to the 
 German fea eaft and weft, emptied and embowelled 
 (May God avert the omen of our crimes!) by Co 
 accomplilhed a defolation. Extend your imagina- 
 
 Appendix N 4, Report of tbe Committee of affigned 
 Revenue. 
 
 tion
 
 [ 5J ] 
 
 tion a little further, and then fuppofe your minif- 
 ters taking a fiirvey of this fcene of wafte and de- 
 folation , what would be your thoughts if you 
 fhould be informed, that they were computing how- 
 much had been the amount of the excifes, how 
 much the cuftoms, how much the land and malt 
 tax, in order that they fhould charge (take it in 
 the moft favourable light) for pu!jlic fervice, 
 upon the relicks of the fatiated vengeance of re- 
 lentlefs enemies, the whole of what England had 
 yielded in the moft exuberant feafons of peace 
 and abundance ? What would you call it ? To 
 call it tyranny, fublimed into madnefs, would 
 be too faint an image ; yet this very madnefs 
 is the principle upon which the minifters at 
 your right hand have proceeded in their eftimate 
 of the revenues of the Carnatic, when they were 
 providing, not fupply for the eftablifhments of its 
 protedion, but rewards for the authors of its ruin. 
 
 Every day you are fatigued and difgufted 
 with this cant, *' the Carnatic is a country that 
 ** will foon recover, and become inftantly as 
 *' profperous as ever." They think they are talk- 
 ing to innocents, who will believe that by fow- 
 ing of dragons teeth, men may come up ready 
 grown and ready armed. They who will give 
 themfelves the trouble of confidering (for it re- 
 quires no great reach of thought, no very profound 
 knowledge) the manner in which mankind are in- 
 creafed, and countries cultivated, will regard all 
 this raving as it ought to be regarded. In order 
 that the people, after a long period of vexation 
 and plunder, may be in a condition to maintain 
 government, government muft begin by maintain- 
 ing them. Here the road to ceconomy lies not 
 through receipt, but through expence } and in that 
 country nature has given no fhort cut to your ob- 
 jed. Men muft propagate, like other animals, by 
 
 E 3 the
 
 [ 54 ] 
 
 the mouth. Never did oppreflion light the nup- 
 tial torch ; never did extortion and ufury fpread out 
 the genial bed. Does any of you think that Eng- 
 land, fo wafted, would, under fuch a nurfing at- 
 tendance, fo rapidly and cheaply recover ? But he 
 is meanly acquainted with either England or India, 
 who does not know that England would a thou- 
 fand times fooner refume population, fertility, and 
 what ought to be the ultimate fecretion from both, 
 revenue, than fuch a country as the Carnatic. 
 
 The Carnatic is not by the bounty of nature a 
 fertile foil. The general lize of its cattle is proof 
 enough that it is much otherwife. It is fome days 
 fince I moved, that a curious and interefting map, 
 kept in the India Houfe, (hould be laid before you *. 
 The India Houfe is not yet in readinefs to fend 
 it ; I have therefore brought down my own copy, 
 and there it lies for the ufe of any gentleman who 
 may think fuch a matter worthy of his attention. 
 It is indeed a noble map, and of noble things; but 
 it is decifive againft the golden dreams and fan- 
 guine fpeculations of avarice run mad. In addition 
 to what you know muft be the cafe in every part 
 of the world (the neceflity of a previous provifion 
 of habitation, feed, ftock, capital) that map will 
 fhew you, that the ufe of the influences of 
 Heaven itfelf, are in that country a work of art. 
 The Carnatic is refrefhed by few or no living 
 brooks or running ftreams, and it has rain only 
 at a feafon ; but its produft of rice exadls the ufe 
 of water fubjed to perpetual command. This is 
 the national bank of the Carnatic, on which it 
 muft have a perpetual credit, or it perifhes irre- 
 trievably. For that reafon, in the happier times 
 of India, a number almoft incredible of refervoirs 
 have been made in chofen places throughout the 
 whole country ; they are formed, for the greater 
 Mr. Barnard's Map of Uie Jaghirc. ^ 
 
 part.
 
 ' [ 55 ] 
 
 part, of mounds of earth and (tones, with fluices of 
 folid mafonry , the whole conftrudted with admi- 
 rable fkill and labour, and maintained at a mighty 
 charge. In the territory contained in that map 
 alone, I have been at the trouble of reckoning the 
 refervoirs, and they amount to upwards of eleven 
 hundred, from the extent of two or three acres to 
 five miles in circuit. From thefe refervoirs cur- 
 rents are occafionally drawn over the fields, and 
 thefe watercourfes again call for a confiderable ex- 
 pence to keep them properly fcoured and duly le- 
 velled. Taking the diftri^t in that map as a mea- 
 furc, there cannot be in the Carnatic and Tanjore 
 fewer than ten thoufand of thefe refervoirs of the 
 larger and middling dimenfions, to fay nothing 
 of thofe for domeftic fervices, and the ufe of reli- 
 gious purification. Thefe are not the enterprizes 
 of your power, nor in a ftyle of magnificence fuited 
 to the tafte of your minifter. Thefe are the monu- 
 ments of real kings, who were the fathers of their 
 people; teftators to a pofterity which they embraced 
 as their own. Thefe are the grand fepulchres built 
 by ambition ; but by the ambition of an unfatiable 
 benevolence, which, not contented with reigning 
 in the difpenfation of happinefs during the con- 
 trafted term of human life, had (trained, with all the 
 Teachings, and grafpings of a vivacious mind, to ex- 
 tend the dominion of their bounty beyond the limits 
 of nature, and to perpetuate themfelves through 
 generations of generations, the guardians, the pro- 
 tedtors, the nourifhers of mankind. 
 
 Long before the late invafion, the perfons who 
 are obje<fts of the grant of public money now be- 
 fore you, had fo diverted the fupply of the pious 
 funds of culture and population, that everywhere 
 the refervoirs were fallen into a milerable decay *. 
 But after thofe domeftic enemies had provoked 
 See Report IV. Mr. Dundas's Committer, p. 46. 
 
 E 4 the
 
 [ 56 1 
 
 the entry of a cruel foreign foe into the coun- 
 try, he did not leave it until his revenge had 
 compleated the deftrudion begun by their avarice. 
 Few, very few indeed, of thefe magazines of water 
 that are not cither totally deftroyed, or cut through 
 with fuch gaps, as to require a ferious attention 
 and much colt to re-eftablilh them, as the means 
 of prefent fubfiftence to the people, and of future 
 revenue to the ftate. 
 
 What, Sir, would a virtuous and enlightened 
 miniftry do on the view of the ruins of fuch works 
 before them ? on the view of fuch a chafm of de- 
 folation as that which yawned in the midft of ihofe 
 countries to the north and fouth, which ftill bore 
 fome veftiges of cultivation ? They would have re- 
 duced all their mofl. neceflary eftablilhments ; they 
 would have fufpended the jufteft payments ; they 
 would have employed every {hilling derived from 
 the producing to reanimate the powers of the un- 
 produdlive parts. While they were performing 
 this fundamental duty, whilft they were celebrat- 
 ing thefe myfteries of jufticc and humanity, they 
 would have told the corps of fiflitious creditors, 
 whofe crimes were their claims, that they muft 
 keep an awful diftance j that they muft filence 
 their inaufpicious tongues i that they muft hold off 
 their profane unhallowed paws from this holy 
 work , they would have proclaimed with a voice 
 that Ihould make itfelf heard, that on every coun- 
 try the firft creditor is the plow ; that this orir 
 ginal, indefeafible claim fuperfedes every other de- 
 mand. 
 
 This is what a wife and virtuous miniftry would 
 have done and faid. This, therefore, is what our 
 minifter could never think of faying or doing. 
 A miniftry of another kind would have firft imr 
 proved the country, and have thus laid a folid 
 jF foundation
 
 [ 57 ] 
 
 foundation for future opulence and future force. 
 But on this grand point of the reftoration of the 
 country, there is not one fyllable to be found in 
 the correfpondence of our minifters, from the firft 
 to the laft : they felt nothing for a land defolat- 
 ed by fire, fword, and famine ; their fympathies 
 took another diredion ; they were touched witK 
 pity for bribery, io long tormented with a fruit- 
 lefs itching of its palms ; their bowels yearned 
 for ufury, that had long miffed the harveft of its 
 returning months * ; they felt for peculation whicli 
 had been for fo many years raking in the duft of 
 an empty treafury , they were melted into compaf- 
 fion for rapine and oppreffion, licking their dry, 
 parched, unbloody jaws. Thefe were the obje6t$ 
 of their folicitude. Thefe were the neceffities for 
 which they were ftudious to provide. 
 
 To ftate the country and its revenues in their 
 real condition, and to provide for thofe fiditiou* 
 claims, confiftently with the fupport of an army 
 and a civil eftablilliiment, would have been impofli- 
 ble , therefore the minifters are filent on that head, 
 and reft themfelves on the authority of lord Ma- 
 cartney, who in a letter to the Court of Diredors, 
 written in the year 1781, fpeculating on what 
 might be the relult of a wife management of the 
 countries affigned by the Nabob of Arcot, rates 
 the revenues as in time of peace, at twelve hundred 
 thoufand pound a year, as he does thofe of the 
 king of Tanjore (which had not been affigned) at 
 four hundred and fifty. On this lord Macartney 
 grounds his calculations, and on this they choofe 
 to ground theirs. It was on this calculation that 
 the miniftry, in diredt oppofition to the remon- 
 ftrances of the Court of Direftors, have compelled 
 fhat miferable, enflaved body, to put their hands 
 
 * Intereft is rate4 in India by the month. 
 
 -^k to
 
 [ 58 ] 
 
 to an order for appropriating the enormous fum of 
 /. 480,000 annually, as a fund for paying to their 
 rebellious fervants a debt contrafted in defiance of 
 their cleared and moft pofitive injunctions. 
 
 The authority and information of Lord Macart- 
 ney is held high on this occafion, though it is to- 
 tally rejeded in every other particular of this bufi- 
 nefs. I believe I have the honour of being almoft 
 as old an acquaintance as any Lord Macartney has. 
 A conftant and unbroken friendfliip has fubfifted 
 between us from a very early period ; and, I truft, 
 he thinks, that as I refpeft his charafler, and in 
 general admire his condudt, I am one of thofe 
 who feel no common intereft in his reputation. 
 Yet I do not hefitate wholly to difallow the cal- 
 culation of 178 1, without any apprehenfion, that I 
 Ihall appear to diftruft his veracity or his judgment. 
 This peace eftimate of revenue was not ground- 
 ed on the ftate of the Carnatic as it then, or as it 
 had recently ftood. It was a ftatement of former 
 and better times. There is no doubt, that a pe- 
 riod did exift, when the large portion of the Car- 
 natic held by the Nabob of Arcot might be fairly 
 reputed to produce a revenue to that, or to a great- 
 er amount. But the whole had lb melted away by 
 the flow and filent hoftility of oppreffion and mif- 
 managemcnt, that the revenues, finking with the 
 profperity of the country, had fallen to about 
 . 800,000 a year, even before an enemy's horfe 
 had imprinted his hoof on the foil of the Carnatic. 
 From that view, and independently of the decifive 
 cffeds of the war which enfued. Sir Eyre Coote 
 conceived that years muft pafs before the country 
 could be reftored to its former profperity and pro- 
 dudlion. It was that ftate of revenue, (namely, 
 the aftual ftate before the war) which the Diredlors 
 have oppofed to Lord Macartney's fpeculation. 
 They refufe to take the revenues for more than 
 
 , 800,000.
 
 t 59 ] 
 
 , 800,000.^ In this they are juftified by Lord 
 Macartney himfelf, who, in a Tubfeqnent letter, in- 
 forms the Court, that his fketch is a matter of fpe- 
 culation *, it fuppofes the country reftored to its 
 antient profperity, and the revenue to be in a 
 courfe of effcftive and honeft colledion. If there- 
 fore the minifters have gone wrong, they were not 
 deceived by Lord Macartney : they were deceived 
 by no man. The eftimate of the Diredors is 
 nearly the very eftimate furnilhed by the right 
 honourable gentleman himfelf, and publifhed to the 
 world in one of the printed Reports of his own 
 Committee*; but as foon as he obtained his power, 
 he chofe to abandon his account. No part of his 
 official condudt can be defended on the ground of 
 his parliamentary information. 
 
 In this clafhing of accounts and eftimates, 
 ought not the miniftry, if they wifhed to preferve 
 even appearances, to have waited for information 
 of the adtual refult of thefe fpeculations, before 
 they laid a charge, and fuch a charge, not condi- 
 tionally and eventually, but pofitively and authori- 
 tatively, upon a country which they all knew, and 
 which one of them had regiftered on the records of 
 this Houle, to be wafted beyond all example, by 
 every oppreffion of an abufive government, and 
 every ravage of a defolating war. But that you may 
 difcern in what manner they ufe the correfpondencc 
 of office, and that thereby you may enter into the true 
 fpiritof the minifterial Board of Control, I defire you, 
 Mr. Speaker, to remark, that through their whole 
 controverfy with the Court of Diredors, they 
 do not fo much as hint at their ever having feen 
 any other paper from lord Macartney, or any other 
 
 * Mr. Dundas's Committee, Rep. I. p. 9; and ditto. Rep, 
 IV. 69. where the revenue of 1777 ft^^^d only at 22 lacks 
 30 lacks Hated as the revenue, ** /uppofing tlie Carnatic 
 * to beproperly uianaged.** 
 
 . : 5 eftimate
 
 [ 6o ] 
 
 cfti mate of revenue, than this of 1781. To this 
 they hold. Here they take poft ; here they en- 
 trench themfeives. 
 
 When I firft read this curious controverfy be- 
 tween the minifterial Board and the Court of Di- 
 rectors, common candour obliged me to attribute 
 their tenacious adherence to the eftimate of 1781, 
 to a total ignorance of what had appeared upon 
 the records. But the right honourable gentleman 
 has chofen to come forward with an uncalled-for de- 
 claration ; he boaftingly tells you, that he has feen, 
 read, digefted, compared every thing -, and that if he 
 has tinned, he has finned with his eyes broad open. 
 Since then the minifters will obllinately (hut the 
 gates of mercy on themfelves, let them add to their 
 crimes what aggravations they pleafe. They have 
 then (fince it muft be fo) wilfully and corrupt- 
 ly fuppreffed the information which they ought to 
 have produced -, and for the fupport of peculation, 
 have made themfelves guilty of fpoliation and fup- 
 prcflion of evidence*. The paper I hold in my 
 hand, which totally overturns (for the prefent 
 at lead) the eftimate of 1781, they have no 
 more taken notice of in their controverfy with 
 the Court of Diredors than if it had no exift- 
 cnce. It is the Report made by a Committee 
 appointed at Madras, to manage the whole of the 
 fix countries afligned to the Company by the Nabob 
 of Arcot. This Committee was wifely inftituted by 
 Lord Macartney, to remove from himfelf the fuf- 
 picion of all improper management in fo invidious 
 a truft ; and it feems to have been well chofen. 
 This Committee has made a comparative eftimate 
 of the only fix diftridls which were in a condition 
 to be let to farm. In one fen of columns they ftate 
 the grofs and net produce of the diftridls as lee 
 
 See Appendix N" 4, Statement in the B,eport of th 
 Committee of aiSgaed Rev^enue. 
 
 'by
 
 [ 61 ] 
 
 by the Nabob. To that (latement they oppofe the 
 terms on which the fame diftrids were rented for 
 five years, under their authority. Under the Nabob* 
 the grofs farm was fo high as . 570,000 fterling. 
 What was the clear produce ? Why, no more than 
 about ,C- 250,000 i and this was the whole profit to 
 the Nabob's treafury, under his own management, 
 of all the diftrids which were in a condition to be 
 let to farm on the 27th of May 1782. Lord 
 Macartney's leafes ftipulated a grofs produce of no 
 more than about . 530,000 : But then the eftimated 
 net amount was nearly double the Nabob's. It how- 
 ever did not then exceed . 480,000 ; and lord Ma- 
 cartney's commiflloners take credit for an annual 
 revenue amounting to this clear fum. Here is no 
 fpeculation *, here is no inaccurate account clandef- 
 tinely obtained from thofe who might wifli, and 
 were enabled to deceive. It is the authorized re- 
 corded ftate of a real recent tranfadlion. Here is 
 not twelve hundred thoufand pound, not eight hun- 
 dred. The whole revenue of the Carnatic yielded 
 no more in May 1782 than four hundred and eighty 
 thoufand pounds; nearly the very precife fum which 
 your minifter, who is fo careful of the public 
 fecurity, has carried from all defcriptions of efla- 
 blifliment to form a fund for the private emolu- 
 ment of his creatures. 
 
 In this eftimate, we fee, as I have juft obferved^ 
 the Nabob's farms rated fo high as . 570,000. 
 Hitherto all is well ; but follow on to the effeftive 
 net revenue : there the illufion vanifhes ; and 
 you will not find nearly fo much as half the pro- 
 duce. It is with reafon therefore lord Macartney 
 invariably throughout the whole correfpondence, 
 qualifies all his views and expeditions of re- 
 venue, and all his plans for its application, with 
 this indifpenfablc condition, that the management 
 is not in the hands of the Nabob of Arcot. Should 
 
 that
 
 C e* ] 
 
 that fatal meafnre take place, he has over and over 
 again told you, that he has no profpeft of realizing 
 any thing whatfoever for any public purpofe. With 
 thefe weighty declarations, confirmed by fuch a ftate 
 of indifputable fadl before them *, what has been 
 done by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his 
 accomplices ? Shall I be believed ? They have de- 
 livered over thefe very territories, on the keeping 
 of which in the hands of the Committee, the de- 
 fence of our dominions, and what was more dear to 
 them, poflibly, their own job depended ; they have 
 delivered back again without condition, without 
 arrangement, without ftipulation of any fort for 
 the natives of any rank, the whole of thofe vaft 
 countries, to many of which he had no juft claim, 
 into the ruinous mifmanagement of the Nabob of 
 Arcot. To crown all, according to their mifcrable 
 practice whenever they do any thing tranfcendent- 
 ly abfurd, they preface this their abdication of their 
 truft, by a folemn declaration that they were not 
 obliged to it by any principle of policy, or any de- 
 mand of juftice whatfoever, 
 
 I have ftated to you the eftimated produce of the 
 territories of the Carnatic, in a condition to be farm- 
 ed in 1782, according to the different managements 
 into which they might fall ; and this eftimate the 
 minifters have thought proper to fupprefs. Since 
 that, two other accounts have been received. The 
 firft informs us, that there has been a recovery of 
 what is called arrear, as well as of an improvement 
 of the revenue of one of the fix provinces which were 
 let in 1782 *. It was brought about by making a new 
 war. After fome fharp anions, by the refolution 
 and fkill of Colonel Fullarton, feveral of the petty 
 princes of the moft foutherly of the unwafted pro- 
 vinces were compelled to pay very heavy rents and 
 
 The Provioce of Tinnevelly. 
 
 tributes.
 
 [ 63 ] 
 
 tributes, who for a long time before had not paid 
 any acknowledgment. After this redu6lion, by 
 the care of Mr. Irwin, one of the Committee, that 
 province was divided into twelve farms. This ope- 
 ration raifed the income of that particular province; 
 the others remain as they were firft farmed. So that 
 inftead of producing only their original rent of 
 . 480,000, they netted in about two years and a 
 quarter ^. 1,320,000 fterling, which would be about 
 , 660,000 a year, if the recovered arrear was not 
 included. What deduction is to be made on account 
 of that arrear I cannot determine, but certainly 
 what would reduce the annual income confiderably 
 below the rate I have allowed. 
 
 The fecond account received, is the letting of 
 the wafted provinces of the Carnatic. This I un- 
 derftand is at a growing rent, which may or may 
 not realife what it promifesj but if it fhould an- 
 fwer, it will raife the whole, at fome future time, 
 to ,' 15200,000. 
 
 You muft here remark, Mr. Speaker, that this 
 revenue is the produce of all the Nabob's do- 
 minions. During the affignment, the Nabob paid 
 nothing, becaufe the Company had all. Suppofing 
 the whole of the lately afligned territory to yield up 
 to the moft fanguine expe(5tations of the right ho- 
 nourable gentleman ; and fuppofe ,. 1,200,000 
 to be annually realized (of which we adually know 
 of no more than the realizing of fix hundred thou- 
 fand) out of this you muft dedudt the fubfidy and 
 rent which the Nabob paid before the affignment, 
 namely, . 340,000 a year. This reduces back the 
 revenue applicable to the new diftribution made 
 by his Majefty's Minifters, to about ,. 800,000; 
 Of that fum five-eighths are by them furrendered to 
 the debts. The remaining three are the only fund 
 left for all the purpofes fo magnificently difplayed 
 in the letter of the Board of Controls that is for 
 
 a new-
 
 [ 64 ] 
 
 a new-caft peace eftablifhment; a new fund for ord* 
 nance and fortifications ; and a large allowance 
 for what they call " the fplendour of the Durbar.'* 
 
 You have heard the account of thefe territories 
 as they ftood in 1782. You have feen the a^ualxz- 
 ceipt fincc the affignmcnt in 1781, of which I 
 reckon about two years and a quarter produftive. 
 I have ftated to you the expedtation from the 
 wafted part. For realizing all this, you may value 
 yourfelves on the vigour and diligence of a Gover* 
 nor and Committee that have done fo much. If 
 thefe hopes from the Committee are rational re- 
 member that the Committee is no more. Your 
 Minifters, who have formed their fund for thefe 
 debts on the prefumed effed of the Committee's ma- 
 nagement, have put a complete end to that Com- 
 mittee. Their ads are refcinded ; their leafes arc 
 broken; their renters are difperfed. Your Minif- 
 ters knew when they figned the death-warrant of the 
 Carnatic, that the Nabob would not only turn all 
 thefe unfortunate farmers of revenue out of employ- 
 ment, but that he has denounced his fevereft ven- 
 geance againft them, for afting under Britifh au- 
 thority. With a knowledge of this difpofition, a Bri- 
 tifii Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Treafurer of 
 the Navy, incited by no public advantage, impelled 
 by no public neceffity, in a flrain of the mod wan- 
 ton perfidy which has ever ftained the annals of 
 mankind, have delivered over to plunder, imprifon- 
 ment, exile, and death itfelf, according to the mercy 
 of fuch execrable tyrants as Amir al Omra and Paul 
 Benfield, the unhappy and deluded fouls, who, un- 
 taught by uniform example, were ftill weak enough 
 to put their truft in Englifli faith *. They have 
 gone farther; they have thought proper to mock 
 
 Appendix N' 5 } and for the peculiar hardlhip of one of 
 tlie cafes, N* 
 
 and
 
 [ 5 ] . 
 
 and outrage their mifery by ordering them protec- 
 tion and compenfation. From what power is this 
 proteftion to be derived? and from what fund is 
 this compenfation to arife ? The revenues are 
 delivered over to their oppreflTor; the territorial 
 jurifdidlion, from whence that revenue is to arile, 
 and under which they live, is furrendered to the 
 fame iron hands : and that they (hall be deprived 
 of all refuge, and all hope, the Minifterhas made 
 a folemn, voluntary declaration, that he never will 
 interfere with the Nabob's internal government*. 
 
 The lad thing corifidered by the Board of Con- 
 trol among the debts of the Carnatic, was that 
 arifing to the Eaft India Company, which after the 
 provifion for the cavalry, and the confolidation of 
 1777, was to divide the refidue of the fund of 
 . 480,000 a year with the lenders of 1767. This 
 debt the worthy Chairman, who fits oppofite to me, 
 contends to be three millions fterling. Lord Ma- 
 cartney's account of 1 78 1, dates it to be at that pe- 
 riod .1,200,000. The firft account of the Court 
 of Diredlors makes it {,. 900,000. This, like the 
 private debt, being without any folid exiftence, 
 is incapable of any diftin<5t limits. Whatever 
 its amount or its validity may be, one thing is 
 clears it is of the nature and quality of a public 
 debt. In that light nothing is provided for it, 
 but an eventual furplus to be divided with one 
 clafs of the private demands, after fatisfying the 
 two firft clafTcs. Never was a more fhameful 
 poftponing a public demand, which by the reafon 
 of the thing, and the uniform- pradice of all na- 
 tions, fuperfedes every private claim. 
 
 Thofe who gave this preference to private 
 claims, confider the Company's as a lawful de- 
 
 See Extraft of their Letter in the Appendix, N"* 6 A. 
 
 F mand;
 
 . [ 66 ] 
 
 mand , ell'e, why did they pretend to provide for 
 it? On their own principles they are condemned. 
 
 But I, Sir, who profefs to fpeak to your undcr- 
 ftanding and to your confcience, and to brufli 
 away from this bufinefs all falfe colours, all falfe 
 appellations, as well as falfe fadls, do pofitively 
 deny that the Carnatic owes a fhilling to the Com- 
 pany ; whatever the Company may be indebted to 
 that undone country. It owes nothing to the 
 Company, for this plain and fimple reafon The 
 territory charged with the debt is their own. To 
 fay that their revenues fall fhort, and owe them 
 money, is to fay they are in debt to themfelves, 
 which is only talking nonfenfe. The faft is, that by 
 the invafion of an enemy, and the ruin of the 
 country, the Company, either in its own name or 
 in the names of the Nabob of Arcot and Rajah of 
 Tanjore, has loft for feveral years what it might 
 have looked to receive from its own eftate. If men 
 were allowed to credit themfelves, upon fuch prin- 
 ciples any one might foon grow rich by this mode 
 of accounting. A flood comes down upon a man's 
 eftate in the Bedford Level of a thoufand pounds 
 a year, and drowns his rents for ten years. The 
 Ciiancellor would put that man into the hands of 
 a truftee, who would gravely make up his books, 
 and for this lofs credit himfelf in his account 
 for a debt due to him of C 10,000. It is, how- 
 ever, on this principle the Company makes up its 
 demands on the Carnatic. In peace thty go the 
 full length, and indeed more than the full 
 length, of what the people can bear for current 
 eftablifliments j then they are abfurd enough to 
 confolidate all the calamities of war into debts ; 
 to metamorphofe the devaftations of the country 
 into demands upon its future produdlion. What is 
 this but to avow a refolution utterly to deftroy their 
 own country, and to force the people to pay for 
 
 their
 
 [ 67 ] 
 
 their fuffcrings, to a government which has proved 
 unable to prote(^l either the fliare of the hufband- 
 man or iheir own ? In every leafe of a farm, the 
 invafion of an enemy, inftead of forming a de- 
 mand for arrear, is a releafe of rent ; nor for that 
 releafe is it at all nccefiary to (how, that the inva- 
 fion has left nothing to the occupier of the foil i 
 though in the prefent cafe it would be too eafy 
 to prove that melancholy fadl*. I therefore ap- 
 plauded my right honourable friend, who, when 
 he canvafTed the Company's accounts, as a prelimi- 
 nary to a bill that ought not to ftand on falfchood 
 of any kind, fixed his difcerning eye, and his de- 
 ciding hand, on thefe debts of the Company, from 
 the Nabob of A.rcot and Rajah of Tanjore, and at 
 one ftroke expunged them all, as utterly irrecove- 
 rable ; he might have added as utterly unfounded. 
 
 On thefe grounds I do not blame the arrange- 
 ment this day in queftion, as a preference given to 
 the debt of individuals over the Company's debt. In 
 my eye it is no more than the preference of a fiction 
 over a chimera j but I blame the preference given to 
 thofe fictitious private debts, over the (landing de- 
 fence and the Handing government. It is there the 
 public is robbed. It is robbed in its army; it is 
 robbed in its civil admjniftration ; it is robbed in its 
 credit ; it is robbed in its invellment which forms 
 the commercial connection between that country 
 and Europe. There is the robbery. 
 
 But my principal objection lies a good deal deeper. 
 That debt to the Company is the pretext under 
 which all the other debts lurk and cover themfelves. 
 That debt forms the foul putrid mucus, in which are 
 engendered the whole brood of creeping afcafides, 
 
 ** It is certain that the incurfion of a ftiu of Hyder's 
 ** horfe into the Jaghire, in 1767, coft the Coaipany upwards 
 ** of Pagodas 27,000, in alloiuancet for damagtf." Conful- 
 Utions, February 11th, 1771. 
 
 F 2 all
 
 [ 68 ] 
 
 all the endlefs involutions, the eternal knot, added to 
 a knot of thofe inexpugnable tape-worms which de- 
 vour the nutriment, and eat up the bowels of India*. 
 It is neceffary. Sir, you (hould recoiled two things : 
 Firft, that the Nabob's debt to the Company carries 
 no intereft. In the next place you will obferve, that 
 whenever the Company has occafion to borrow, (he 
 has always commanded whatever fhe thought fit at 
 eight per cent. Carrying in your mind thefe two 
 fafts, attend to the procefs with regard to the public 
 and the private debt, and with what little appear- 
 ance of decency they play into each other's hands 
 a game of utter perdition to the unhappy natives 
 of India. The Nabob falls into an arrear to the 
 Company. The Prefidency prefles for payment. 
 The Nabob's anfvver is, I have no money. Good. 
 But there are foucars who will fupply you on the 
 mortgage of your territories. Then fteps forward 
 fome Paul Benfield, and from his grateful com- 
 panion to the Nabob, and his filial regard to the 
 Company, he unlocks the treafures of his virtuous 
 induftry ; and for a confideration of twenty-four or 
 thirty-fix per cent, on a mortgage of the territorial 
 revenue, becomes fecurity to the Company for the 
 Nabob's arrear. 
 
 All this intermediate ufury thus becomes fanc- 
 tified by the ultimate view to the Company's pay- 
 ment. In this cafe, would not a plain man afk 
 this plain queftion of the Company, If you know 
 that the Nabob muft annually mortgage his ter- 
 ritories to your fervants, to pay his annual arrear 
 to you, why is not the affignment or mortgage 
 made dircftly to the Company itfelf ? By this 
 fimple obvious operation, the Company would 
 
 Proceedings at Madras, nth Febrnary 1760, and 
 throughoHt the correfpondence on this AibjeA; pamcularly 
 Confultations Odober 4th, 1 769, and the Creditors Me- 
 morial, aoth January 1770. 
 
 be
 
 [ 69 ] 
 
 be relieved and the debt paid, without the charge 
 of a fhilling intereft to that prince. But if that 
 courfc (hould be thought too indulgent, why do 
 they not take that affignment with fuch intereft 
 to themfelves .as they pay to others, that is eight 
 fer cent^ ? Or if it were thought more advifeable 
 (why it fliould I know not) that he muft borrow, 
 why do not the Company lend their own credit to 
 the Nabob for their own payment ? That credit 
 would not be weakened by the collateral fecurity 
 of his territorial mortgage. The money might ftill 
 be had at eight per cent. Inftead of any of thefe 
 honeft and obvious methods, the Company has for 
 years kept up a (hew of difintereftednefs and mo- 
 deration, by fuffering a debt to accumulate to them 
 from the country powers without any intereft at all; 
 and at the fame time have feen before their eyes, 
 on a pretext of borrowing to pay that debt, the 
 revenues of the country charged with an ufury 
 of twenty, twenty-four, thirty-fix, and even eight- 
 and-forty^^r cent, with compound intereft *, for the 
 benefit of their fervants. All this time they know 
 that by having a debt fubfifting without any in- 
 tereft, which is to be paid by contradting a debt 
 on the higheft intereft, they manifeftly render it 
 neceffary to the Nabob of Arcot to give the pri- 
 vate demand a preference to the public ; and by 
 binding him and their fervants together in a com- 
 mon caufe, they enable him to form a party to the 
 utter ruin of their own authority, and their own 
 affairs. Thus their falfe moderation, and their 
 affe6ted purity, by the natural operation of every 
 thing falfe, and every thing affedled, becomes pan- 
 der and bawd to- the unbridled debauchery and li- 
 centious lewdnefs of ufury and extortion. 
 
 In confequence of this double game, all t^e ter- 
 
 * Appendix, E. 
 
 F 3 ritorial
 
 [ 70 1 
 
 ritorial revenues have, at one time or other, been 
 covered by thofe locufts, the Englifh foucars. 
 Not one fingle foot of the Carnauc has cfcaped 
 them i a territory as large as England. During 
 thefe operations what a fcene has that country pre- 
 fented*! The ufiirious European affignee iuperfedes 
 the Nabob's native farmer of the revc-nue ; the 
 farmer flies to the Nabob's prefence to claim his 
 bargain , whilft his fervants murmur for wages, and 
 his foldiers mutiny for pay. The mortgage to the 
 European aflignee is then refumed, and the native 
 farmer replaced i replaced, again to be removed 
 on the new clamour of the European affignee "f. 
 Every man of rank and landed fortune bemg long 
 fince extinguiflied, the remaining miferable laft 
 cultivator, who grows to the foil, after having his 
 back fcored by the farmer, has it again flayed 
 by the whip of the aflignee, and is thus by a rave- 
 nous, becaule a fliort-lived fucceflion of claimants, 
 lafhed from oppreflTor to oppreflTor, whilft a fingle 
 drop of blood is left as the means of extorting 
 a fingle grain of corn. Do not think I paint. Far, 
 
 For fome part of thefe ufurioos tranfadlions, fee Conful- 
 tatioD 28th January 1781 ; and for the Nabob's excufing 
 his cppreffions on account of thefe debts, Confuhation 25th 
 November 1770. '* Still I undertook, firft, the payment of 
 *' the racr.ey belonging to the Company, who are my kind 
 *' friends, and by borrowing, and mortgaging my jeixels, &c. 
 *' by taking from every cne of my Jervants in proportion to 
 * their circumftanccs, hy frejh jrverities alfo on my country, 
 net -uuithji anting its difireJJ'ed fiale, as you know." ! he 
 Board's remark is as follows ; after controverting fome of 
 the fals, they lay, " that his countries are opprefled is 
 " moll certain, but not from real neceffity; bis debts indeed 
 *' hwve afforded him a conflant pretence for ufing feverities and 
 " cruel oppreffions." 
 
 f See Confuhation zSth January 1781, where it is aflerted, 
 and not denied, that the Nabob's farmers of revenue, feidom 
 continue for three months together. From this the Hate of 
 the country may be eafily judged of. 
 
 very
 
 [ 71 ] 
 
 very far from it -, I do not reach the fafl, nor 
 approach to it. Men of refpedtable condition, 
 men equal to your fubftantial Englilh yeomen, are 
 daily tied up and fcourged to anfwer the multiplied 
 demands of various contending and conrradi(5lory 
 titles, all iffuing from one and the fame fource. 
 Tyrannous exadtion brings on fervile concealment ; 
 and that again calls forth tyrannous coercion. 
 They move in a circle, mutually producing and 
 produced; till at length nothing of humanity is 
 left in the government, no trace of integrity, 
 fpirit, or manlinels in the people, who drag out a 
 precarious and degraded exiftence under this fyftem 
 of outrage upon human nature. Such is the effed: 
 of the eftablifhmcnt of a debt to the Company, as 
 it has hitherto been managed, and as it ever will 
 remain, until ideas arc adopted totally different 
 from thofe which prevail at this time. 
 
 Your worthy minifters, fupporting what they are 
 obliged to condemn, have thought fit to renew the 
 Company's old order againft contrading private 
 debts in future. They begin by rewarding the vio- 
 lation of the antient law ; and then they gravely re- 
 enadl provifions, of which they have given bounties 
 for the breach. This inconliftency has been well 
 expofed *. But what will you fay to their having 
 gone the length of giving pofitive directions for 
 contracting the debt which they pofitiveiy for- 
 bid ? 
 
 I will explain myfelf. They order the Nabob, 
 out of the revenues of the Carnatic, to allot four 
 hundred and eighty thoufand pounds a year, as a 
 fund for the debts before us. For the put dual 
 payment of this annuity, they order him to give 
 foucar fecurity f. When a foucafy that is a money 
 
 In Mr. Fox's Speech. 
 
 f The amended Letter, Appendix N" 6 B. 
 
 F 4 dealer,
 
 [ 7* ] 
 
 dealer, becomes fecurity for any native prince, the 
 courfe is, for the native prince to counterfecure the 
 money dealer, by making over to him in mortgage- 
 a portion of his territory, equal to the fum annually 
 to be paid, with an intereft of at lead twepty-four 
 fer cent. The point fit for the Houfe to know is, 
 who are thefe foucars, to whom this fecurity on the 
 revenues in favour of the Nabob's creditors is to be 
 given ? The majority of the Houfe, unaccuftomed 
 to thefe tranfaftions, will hear with aftonifliment 
 that thefe foucars are no other than the creditors 
 themfelves. The Minifter, not content with au- 
 thorizing thefe tranfaftions in a manner and to an 
 extent unhoped for by the rapacious expedlations 
 of ufury itfelf, loads the broken back of the Indian 
 revenues, in favour of his worthy friends the fou- 
 cars, with an additional twenty-four per cent, for 
 being fecurity to themfelves for their own claims ; 
 for condefcending to take the country in mortgage, 
 to pay to themfelves the fruits of their own ex- 
 tortions. 
 
 The intereft to be paid for this fecurity, accord- 
 ing to the moft moderate ftrain of foucar de- 
 mand, comes to one hundred and eighteen thoufand 
 pounds a year, which added to the ;^.48o,ooo on 
 which it is to accrue, will make the whole charge 
 on account of thefe debts on the Carnatic revenues 
 amount to . 598,000 a year, as much as even a 
 long peace will enable thofe revenues to produce. 
 Can any one refleft for a moment on all thofe claims 
 of debt, which the Minifter exhaufts himfelf in con- 
 trivances to augment with new ufuries, without 
 lifting up his hands and eyes in aftonifliment of the 
 impudence, both of the claim and the adjudication ? 
 Services qi fome kind or other thefe fervants of the 
 Company muft have dene, fo great and eminent, 
 that the Chancellor of the Exchequer cannot think 
 that 2II they have brought home is half enough. 
 
 He
 
 t 73 ] 
 
 He halloos after' them, ** Gentlemen, you have 
 *' forgot a large packet behind you, in your hurry ; 
 '* you have not lufRciently recovered yourfdves ; 
 " you ought to have, and you (hall have, intercft 
 * upon interefl, upon a prohibited debt that is 
 *' made up of interefl: upon interell. Even this is 
 " too little. I have thought of another charac- 
 *' ter for you, by which you may add fomething 
 ** to your gains ; you ftiall be fecurity to yourfclves ; 
 *' and hence will rife a new ufury, which (hall efface 
 " the memory of all the ufuries fuggefl:ed to you 
 * by your own dull inventions." 
 
 I have done with the arrangement relative to the 
 Carnatic. After this it is to little purpofe to ob- 
 ferve on what the Minifl:ers have done to Tanjore. 
 Your Miniftcrs have not obferved even form and 
 ceremony in their outrageous and irifulting robbery 
 of that country, whofe only crime has been, its early 
 and conftant adherence to the power of this, and 
 the fuffering of an uniform pillage in confequence 
 of it. The debt of the Company from the Rajah 
 of Tanjore, is juft of the fame ftuff with that of 
 the Nabob of Arcot. 
 
 The fubfidy from Tanjore, on the arrear of 
 which this pretended debt (if any there be) has , 
 accrued to the Company, is not, like that paid by 
 the Nabob of Arcot, a compenfation for vaft 
 countries obtained, augmented, and preferved for 
 him -, not the price of pillaged treafuries, ran- 
 facked houfes, and plundered territories. It i a 
 large grant, from a fmall kingdom not obtained 
 by our arms ; robbed, not protected by our pow- 
 er ; a grant for which no equivalent was ever 
 given, or pretended to be given. The right 
 honourable Gentleman, however, bears witnefs 
 in his Reports to the pun6tuality of the pay- 
 ments of this grant of bounty, or, if you pleafe, 
 of fear. It amounts to one hundred and fixty thou- 
 
 fand
 
 [ 74 ] 
 
 fand pound fterling net annual fubfidy. He bears 
 vritnefs to a further grant of a town and port, with 
 an annexed diftridl of thirty thoufand pound a 
 year, furrendered to the Company fincc the firft 
 donation. He has not borne witnefs, but the faft 
 is, (he will not deny it) that in the midft of war, 
 and during the ruin and defolation of a confider- 
 able part of his territories, this prince made many 
 very large payments. Notvvithftanding thefe me- 
 rits and fervices, the firft regulation of miniftry is 
 to force from him a territory of an extent which 
 they have not yet thought proper to afcertain, for 
 a military peace eftabliftiment, the particulars of 
 which they have not yet been pleafed to fettle. 
 
 The next part of their arrangement is with re- 
 gard to war. As confeffedly this prince had no 
 Ihare in ftirring up any of the former wars, fo all 
 future wars are completely out of his power ; for 
 he has no troops whatever, and is under a ftipu- 
 lation not fo much as to correfpond with any fo- 
 reign ftate, except through the Company. Yet, 
 in cafe the Company's fervants (hould be again 
 involved in war, or (hould think proper a^ain to 
 provoke any enemy, as in times part they have 
 wantonly provoked all India, he is to be fubjefked 
 to a new penalty. To what penalty ? Why, to 
 no lefs than the confifcation of all his revenues. 
 But this is to end with the war, and they are to 
 be faithfully returned ? Oh! no; nothing like it. 
 The country is to remain under confifcation until all 
 the debt which the Company fhall think fit to incur 
 in fuch war (hall be difcharged ; that is to fay, for 
 ever. His fole comfort is to find his old enemy, 
 the Nabob of Arcot, placed in the very fame con- 
 dition. 
 
 The revenues of that miferable country were, 
 before the invafion of Hydcr, reduced to a grofs 
 annual receipt of three hundred and fixty thou- 
 fand
 
 [ 75 ] 
 
 fand pound *. From this receipt the fubfidy I have 
 juft ftated is taken. _ This again, by payments in 
 advance, by extorting depofits of additional fums 
 to a vaft amount for the benefit of their foucars, 
 and by an endlefs variety of other extortions, pub- 
 lic and private, is loaded with a debt, the amount 
 of which I never could afcertain, but which is 
 krge undoubtedly, generating an ufury the moft 
 completely ruinous that probably was ever heard 
 of ; that is, forty -eight fer cent, payable monthly , with 
 compound intereji f. 
 
 Such is the ftate to which the Company's fervants 
 have reduced that country. Now come the re- 
 formers, reftorers, and comforters of India. What 
 have they done ? In addition to all thefe tyrannous 
 exaftions with all thefe ruinous debts in their train, 
 looking to one fide of an agreement whilft they 
 wilfully fhut their eyes to the other, they withdraw 
 from Tanjore all the benefits of the treaty of 1762, 
 and they fubjedt that nation to a perpetual tribute 
 of forty thoufand a year to the Nabob of Arcot i 
 a tribute never due, or pretended to be due to bintt 
 even when he appeared to be fomething ; a tribute, 
 as things now (land, not to a real potentate, but to 
 a fliadow, a dream, an incubus of oppreffion. Af- 
 ter the Company has accepted in fubfidy, in grant 
 of territory, in remifiion of rent, as a compenfation 
 for their own protection, at lead two hundred 
 thoufand pound a year, without difcounting a (hil- 
 ling for that receipt, the Minifters condemn this 
 harafled nation to be tributary to a perfon who is 
 himfelf, by their own arrangement, deprived of the 
 right of war or peace *, deprived of the power of the 
 fword , forbid to keep up a fingle regiment of 
 foldiers ; and is therefore wholly difabled from all 
 
 Mr. Petrie's evidence before the Seleft Committee, App. 
 f Appendix, N" 
 
 8 protedion
 
 [ 76 1 
 
 protedion of the country which is the object: of 
 the pretended tribute. Tribute hangs on the 
 fword. It is an incident infeparable from real fo- 
 vcrcign power. In the prefent cafe to fuppofe its 
 exiftcnce, is as abfurd as it is cruel and oppreflive. 
 And here, Mr. Speaker, you have a clear exem- 
 plification of the ufe of thofe falfe names, and 
 falfe colours, which the Gentlemen who have lately 
 taken pofleflion of India choofe to lay on for the 
 purpofe of difguifing their plan of opprefllon. The 
 Nabob of Arcot, and Rajah of Tanjore, have, in 
 truth and fubftance, no more than a merely civil 
 authority, held in the mod entire dependence on the 
 Company. The Nabob, without military, with- 
 out federal capacity, is extinguilhed as a poten- 
 tate; but then he is carefully kept alive as an in- 
 dependent and fovereign power, for the purpofe of 
 rapine and extortion ; for the purpofe of perpetuat- 
 ing the old intrigues, animofities, ufuries, and cor- 
 ruptions. 
 
 It was not enough that this mockery of tribute, 
 was to be continued without the correfpondent 
 protedion, or any of the (lipulated equivalents, 
 but ten years of arrear, to the amount of ;^. 400,000 
 fterling, is added to all the debts to the Company, 
 and to individuals, in order to create a new debt, to 
 be paid (if at all pofTible to be paid in whole or 
 in part) only by new ufuries ; and all this for the 
 Nabob of Arcot, or rather for Mr. Benfield, and 
 the corps of the Nabob's creditors, and their fou- 
 cars. Thus thefe miferable Indian princes are con- 
 tinued in their feats, for no other purpofe than to 
 render them in the firft inftance objedbs of every 
 fpecies of extortion , and in the fecond, to force 
 them to become, for the fake of a momentary 
 fhadow of reduced authority, a fort of fubordinate 
 tyrants, the ruin and calamity, not the fathers and 
 cherifhers, of their people. 
 
 But
 
 [ 77 1 
 
 But take this tribute only as a mere charge 
 (without title, caufe, or equivalent) on this people ; 
 what one ftcp has been taken to furnifh grounds for 
 a juft calculation and eftimate of the proportion of 
 the burthen and the ability ? None ; not an at- 
 tempt at it. They do not adapt the burthen to 
 the ftrength ; but they eftiniate the ftrength of 
 the bearers by the burthen they impofe. Then 
 what care is taken to leave a fund fufficient to the 
 future reproduftion of the revenues that are to 
 bear all thefe loads ? Every one, but tolerably 
 converfant in Indian affairs, muft know that the 
 exiftence of this little kingdom depends on its 
 control over the river Cavery. The benefits of 
 Heaven to any community, ought never to be con- 
 neded with political arrangements, or made tor 
 depend on the perfonal condud Of princes ; in 
 which the miftake, or error, or negle6t, or diftrefs, 
 or paffion of a moment on either fide, may bring 
 famine on millions, and ruin an innocent nation 
 perhaps for ages. The means of the fubfiftence of 
 mankind Ihould be as immutable as the laws of 
 Nature, let power arid dominion take what courfe 
 they may. Obferve what has been done with 
 regard to this important concern. The ufe of 
 this river is indeed at length given to the Rajah, 
 and a power provided for its enjoyment at his 
 own charge ; but the means of furnifhing that 
 charge (and a mighty one it is) are wholly cut 
 off. This ufe of the water, which ought to have 
 no rriore connexion than clouds and rains, and 
 funfliine, with the politics of the Rajah, the Na- 
 bob, or the Company* is exprefsly contrived as 
 a means of enforcing demands and arrears of tri- 
 bute. This horrid and unnatural inftrument of 
 extortion had been a diftinguifliing feature in the 
 enormities of the Carnatic politics that loudly 
 called for reformation. But the food of a whole 
 5 people
 
 [ 78 ] 
 
 people is by the reformers of India conditioned on 
 payments from its prince, at a moment that he is 
 overpowered with a fwarm of their demands, with- 
 out regard to the ability of either prince or people. 
 In fine, by opening an avenue to the irruption of 
 the Nabob of Arcot*s creditors and foucars, whom 
 every man who did not fall in love with oppreffion 
 and corruption on an experience of the ca- 
 lamities they produced, would have raifed wail 
 before wall, and mound before mound, to keep 
 from a poflibility of entrance, a more deftruclive 
 enemy than Hyder AH is introduced into that 
 kingdom. By this part of their arrangement, in 
 which they eftabiifh a debt to the Nabob of Arcot, 
 in effect and fubftance, they deliver over Tanjore, 
 bound hand and foot, to Paul Benfield, the old be- 
 trayer, infulter, oppreflbr, and fcourge of a coun- 
 try, which has for years been an objeft of an un- 
 remitted, but unhappily an unequal ftruggle, be- 
 tween the bounties of Providence to renovate, and 
 the wickednefs of mankind to deftroy. 
 
 The right honourable gentleman * talks of his 
 fairnefs in determining the territorial difpute 
 between the Nabob of Arcot and the prince of 
 that country, when he fuperfeded the determi- 
 nation of the Dire(flors, in whom the law had 
 vefted the decifion of that controverfy. He is in this 
 jufl: as feeble as he is in every other part. But it is 
 not necefifary to fay a word in refutation of any 
 part of his argument. The mode of the proceeding 
 fufficiently fpeaks the fpirit of it. It is enough to 
 fix his charadter as a judge, that he never heard the 
 Directors in defence of their adjudication^ nor either 
 of the parties in fupport of their refpe^ive claims. 
 It is fufficient for m^, that he takes from the Ra- 
 jah of Tanjore, by this pretended adjudication, or 
 
 * Mr. Daodas. 
 
 rather
 
 [ 79 ] 
 
 rather from his unhappy fubjedls, . 40,000 a year 
 of his and their rev.enue, and leaves upon his and 
 their (boulders all the charges that can be made 
 on the part of the Nabob, on the part of his 
 creditors, and on the part of the Company, 
 without fo much as hearing him as to right or 
 to ability. But what principally induces me to 
 leave the affair of the territorial difpute between 
 the Nabob and the Rajah to another day, is this, 
 that both the parties being (tripped of their all, it 
 little fignifies under which of their names the un- 
 happy undone, people are delivered over to the 
 mercilefs foucars, the allies of that right honourable 
 gentleman, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
 In them ends the account of this long difpute of 
 the Nabob of Arcot, and the Rajah of Tanjore. 
 
 The right honourable gentleman is of opinion, 
 that his judgment in this cafe can be cenfured by 
 none but thofe who feem to afl as if they were 
 paid agents to one of the parties. What does 
 he think of his Court of Direflors ? If they are 
 paid by either of the parties, by which of them 
 does he think they are paid ? He knows that their 
 decifion has been direftly contrary to his. Shall I 
 believe that it does not enter into his heart to con- 
 ceive, that any pcrfon can fteadily and aflively 
 intercft himfelf in the protettion of the injured and 
 oppreffcd, without being well paid for his fervice ? 
 I have taken notice of this fort of difcourfe fome 
 days ago, fo far as it may be fuppofed to relate to 
 me. I then contented myfelf, as 1 (hall now do, 
 with giving it a cold, though a very dired: con- 
 tradidion. Thus much I do from refpeft to 
 truth. If I did more, it might be fuppofed, by 
 my anxiety to clear myfelf, that I had imbibed 
 the ideas, which, for obvious reafons, the 
 right honourable gentleman wi(hes to have re- 
 ceived
 
 [ 8o ] 
 
 ceived concerning all attempts to plead the caufe 
 of the natives of India, as if it were a difrepiitablc 
 employment. If he had not forgot, in his prefent 
 occupation, every principle which ought to have 
 guided him, and I hope did guide him, in his late 
 profcfTion, he would have known, that he who 
 takes a fee for pleading the caufe of diftrefs againft 
 power, and manfully performs the duty he has 
 afllimed, receives an honourable recom pence for a 
 virtuous fervice. But if the right honourable gen- 
 tleman will have no regard to fadt in his infinua- 
 tions, or to reafon in his opinions, I wifh him at 
 leaft to confider, that if taking an earneft part with 
 regard to the oppreffions exercifed in India, and 
 with regard to this mod oppreflive cafe of Tanjore 
 in particular, can ground a prefumption of inte- 
 refted motives, he is himfelf the moft mercenary 
 man I know. His conducSt indeed is fuch that he 
 is on all occafions the Handing teftimony againft 
 himfelf. He it was that firft called to that cafe 
 the attention of the Houfe : The Reports of his 
 own Committee are ample and afFe<5ting upon that 
 fubjeft * J and as many of us as have efcaped his 
 maflacre, muft remember the very pathetic pidlure 
 he made of the fuffcrings of the Tanjore country, 
 on the day when he moved the unwieldy code 
 of his Indian refolutions. Has he not ftated 
 over and over again in his Reports, the ill 
 treatment of the Rajah of Tanjore, (a branch 
 of the royal houfe of the Marattas, every injury 
 to whom the Marattas felt as offered to them- 
 felves) as a main caufe of the alienation of that 
 people from the Britifh power? And does he now 
 think, that to betray his principles, to conrradicEl 
 his declarations, and to become himfelf an adive in- 
 
 See Report IV. Committee of Secrecy, p. 73, and 74; 
 and Appendix in fundry places. 
 
 ftrument
 
 [ 8l J 
 
 ftrii merit in thofe oppreffions which he had fo tragi- 
 cally lamented, is the way to clear himfelf of having 
 been aftuated by a pecuniary intcreft, at the time 
 when he chofe to appear full of tendernefs to that 
 ruined nation ? 
 
 The right honourable gentleman is fond of pa- 
 rading on the motives of others, and on his own. 
 As to himfelf, he defpifes the imputations of thofe 
 who fuppofe that any thing corrupt could influence 
 him in this his unexampled liberality of the public 
 treafure. I do not know that I am obliged to 
 fpeak to the motives of miniftry, in the arrange- 
 ments they have made of the pretended debts o 
 Arcot and Tanjore. If I prove fraud and collu- 
 fion with regard to public money on thofe right 
 honourable gentlemen, I am not obliged to affign 
 their motives ; becaufe no good motives can 
 be pleaded in favour of their conduct. Upon, 
 that cafe I ftand ; we are at iflue ; and I defire to 
 go to trial. This, I am fure, is not loofe railing, 
 or mean infinuation, according to their low and 
 degenerate falhion, when they make attacks on 
 the meafures of their adverfaries. It is a regular 
 and juridical courfe ; and, unlefs I choofe it, nothing 
 can compel me to go further. 
 
 But fince thefe unhappy gentlemen have dared to 
 hold a lofty tone about their motives, and afFefb to 
 defpife fufpicion, inftead of being careful not to give 
 caufe for it, I fhall beg leave to lay before you fome 
 general obfervations on what I conceive was their 
 duty in fo delicate a bufmefs. 
 
 If I were worthy to fuggeft any line of pru-' 
 dence to that right honourable gentleman, I 
 would tell him, that the way to avoid fufpicion in 
 the fettlement of pecuniary tranfadions, in which 
 great frauds have been very ftrongly prefumed, is, 
 to attend to thefe few plain principles : Fyft, To 
 
 G hear
 
 E 82 3 
 
 hear all parties equally, and not the managers for 
 the fufpecled claimants only. Not to proceed 
 in the dark ; but to ad with as much publicity as 
 poflible. Not to precipitate decifion. To be 
 religious in following the rules prefcribed in 
 the commiflion under which we aft. And, laftly 
 and above all, not to be fond of flraining con- 
 ftruftions, to force a jurifdidion, and to draw 
 to ourfelves the management of a truft in its 
 nature invidious and obnoxious to fufpicion, where 
 the plaincft letter of the law does not compel it. If 
 thefe few plain rules are obferved, no corruption 
 ought to be fufpefted ; if any of them are violated, 
 fufpicion will attach in proportion. If all of them 
 are violated, a corrupt motive of fome kind or 
 other will not only be fufpefted, but muft be vio- 
 lently prefumed. 
 
 The perfons in vvhofe favour all thefe rules have 
 been violated, and the conduft of minifters towards 
 them, will naturally call for your confideration, and 
 will ferve to lead you through a feries and combi- 
 nation of fadts and characters, if I do not miftake, 
 into the very inmoll recefles of this myfterious bu- 
 finefs. You will then be in pofleffion of all the 
 materials on which the principles of found jurif- 
 prudence will found, or will rejeft the prefump- 
 tion of corrupt motives ; or if fuch motives arc 
 indicated, will point out to you of what particular 
 nature the corruption is. 
 
 Our wonderful minifter, as you all know, form- 
 ed a new plan, a plan inft^ne recens alio indicium ore^ 
 a plan for fupporting the freedom of our confti- 
 tution by court intrigues, and for removing its 
 corruptions by Indian delinquency. To carry that 
 bold paradoxical defign into execution, fufEcient 
 funds and apt inftruments became neceflary. You 
 are perfedlly fenfible that a Parliamentary Reform 
 occupies his thoughts day and night, as an ef- 
 
 fentiai
 
 E 83 ] 
 
 fential member in this extraordinary projefb. In 
 his anxious refearches upon this fubjeft, natural 
 inftind:, as well as found policy, would direft his 
 eyes, and fettle his choice on Paul Benfield. Paul 
 Eenfield is the grand parliamentary reformer, the 
 reformer to whom the whole choir of reformers 
 bow, and to whom even the right honourable 
 gentleman himfclf muft yield the palm : For what 
 region in the empire, what city, what borough, what 
 county, what tribunal, in this kingdom, is not full 
 of his labours? Others have been only fpeculators i 
 he is the grand pra6tical reformer , and whilft 
 the Chancellor of the Exchequer pledges in vain 
 the man and the minifter, to increafe the provincial 
 members, Mr. Benfield has aufpicioufly and prac- 
 tically begun it. Leaving far behind him even 
 Lord Camelford's generous defign of bellowing 
 Old Sarum on the Bank of England, Mr. Ben- 
 field has thrown in the borough of Cricklade 
 to reinforce the county reprefentation. Not con- 
 tent with this, in order to ftation a fteady phalanx 
 for all future reforms, this public-fpirited ufurer, 
 amfdfl: his charitable toils for the relief of India, 
 did not forget the poor rotten conftitution of his 
 native country. For her, he did not difdain 
 to ftoop to the trade of a wholefale upholfterer 
 for this houfe, to furnifh it, not with the faded ta- 
 peftry figures of antiquated merit, fuch as decorate, 
 and may reproach fome other houfes, but with 
 real, folid, living patterns of true modern virtue. 
 Paul Benfield made (reckoning himfelf) no fewer 
 than eight members in the laft parliament. What 
 copious ftreams of pure blood muft he not have 
 transfufed into the veins of the prefent I 
 
 But what is even more ftriking than the real fer- 
 vices of this new-imported patriot, is his modeftyj 
 As foon as he had conferred this benefit on the 
 conftitution, he withdrew himfelf from our ap- 
 
 G 2 plaufe*
 
 r 84 ] 
 
 plaufe. He conceived that the duties of a member 
 of parliament (which with the eleft faithful, the 
 true believers, the IJlam of parliamentary reform, 
 are of little or no merit, perhaps not much 
 better than fpecious fins) might be as well attended 
 to in India as in England, and the means of refor- 
 mation to Parliament itfelf, be far better provided. 
 Mr. Benfield was therefore no fooner elefted than 
 he fet off for^ Madras, and defrauded the long- 
 ing eyes of parliament. We have never enjoyed 
 in this Houfe the luxury of beholding that minion 
 of the human race, and contemplating that vifage, 
 which has fo long reflefted the happinefs of na- 
 tions. 
 
 It was therefore not poflible for the minifter to 
 confult perfonally with this great man. What then 
 was he to do ? Through a fagacity that never failed 
 him in thefe purfuits, he found out in Mr. Benfield's 
 reprefentative, his exadt refemblance. A fpecific 
 attradion by which he gravitates towards all fuch 
 charadlers, foon brought our minifter into a clofe 
 connexion v/ith Mr. Benfield's agent and attorney ; 
 that is, with the grand contradtor (whom I name 
 to honour) Mr. Richard Atkinfon ; a name that 
 will be well remembered as long as the Records of 
 this Houfe, as long as the Records of the Britifh 
 Treafury, as long as the monumental debt of 
 England, fhall endure. 
 
 This gentleman. Sir, afts as attorney for Mr. 
 Paul Benfield. Every one who hears me, is well 
 acquainted with the facred friendfhip, and the 
 fteady mutual attachment that fubfifts between 
 him and the prefent minifter. As many members 
 as chofe to attend in the firft fefiion of this par- 
 liament, can beft tell their own feelings at the 
 fcenes which were then aded. How much that 
 honourable gentleman was confulted in the origi- 
 nal frame and fabric of the bill, commonly called 
 
 Mr.
 
 [ 65 1 
 
 Mr. Pitt's India Bill, is matter only of conjeftnre ; 
 though by no means difficult to divine. But the 
 public was an indignant witncfs of the oftcntation 
 with which that meafure was made his own, and 
 the authority with which he brought up claufe after 
 claufe, to fluff and fatten the ranknefs of that cor- 
 rupt ad. As fafl as the claufes were brought up 
 to the table, they were accepted. No hefitation ; 
 no difcufTion. They were received by the new 
 jminifler, not with approbation, but with implicit 
 fubmifTion. The reformation may be eftimated, 
 by feeing who was the reformer. Paul Benfield's 
 afTociate and agent was held up to the world as 
 legiflacor of Indoftan. But it was neceiTary to 
 authenticate the coalition between the men of in- 
 trigue in India and the minilter of intrigue in Eng- 
 land, by a fludied difplay of the power of this 
 their connecting link. Every truft, every honour, 
 every diflindlion, was to be heaped upon him. 
 He was at once made a director of the India Com- 
 pany i made an alderman of London ; and to be 
 madci if miniflry could prevail (and I am forry 
 to fay how near, how very near they were pre- 
 vailing) reprefentative of the capital of this king- 
 dom. But to fecure his fervices againfl all rifque, 
 he was brought in for a minifterial borough. On 
 his part, he was not wanting in zeal for the common 
 caufe. His advertifements (hew his motives, and 
 the merits upon which he flood. For your minif- 
 ter,this worn-out veteran fubmitted to enter into thft 
 dufly field of the London contefl ; and you all re-- 
 member, that in the fame virtuous caufe, he fub- 
 mitted to keep a fort of public office or counting- 
 houfe, where the whole bufmefs of the lafl general 
 eledlion was managed, It was openly, managed by 
 the diredl agent and attorney of Ben^eld. It was 
 managed upon Indian principles, and for an Indian 
 intcrcft. This was the golden cup of abominations ; 
 G s this
 
 [ 6.i 
 
 this the chalice of the fornications of rapine, ufury, 
 and oppreffion, which was held out by the gorgeous 
 eaftern harlot ; which fo many of the people, fo 
 many of the nobles of this land, had drained 
 to the very dregs. Do you think that no reckoning 
 was to follow this lewd debauch ? that no pay- 
 ment was to be demanded for this riot of public 
 drunkennefs and national proftitution ? Here ! you 
 have it here before you. The principal of the 
 grand election manager muft be indemnified ; ac- 
 cordingly the claims of Benfield and his crew muft 
 be put above all enquiry. 
 
 For fevcral years, Benfield appeared as the chief 
 proprietor, as well as the chief agent, direftor, 
 and controller, of this fyftem of debt. The wor- 
 thy chairman of the Company has ftated the claims 
 of this fingle gentleman on the Nabob of Arcot, as 
 amounting to five hundred thoufand pound*. Pof- 
 fibly at the time of the chairman's ftate, they might 
 have been as high. Eight hundred thoufand had 
 been mentioned fometime before t and according 
 to the praftice of Ihifting the names of creditors 
 in thefe tranfaftions, and reducing or railing the 
 debt itfelf at pleafure, I think it not impoffible, 
 that at one period, the name of Benfield might 
 have flood before thofe frightful figures. But my 
 beft information goes to fix his fhare no higher 
 than four hundred thoufand pounds. By the fcheme 
 of the prefent rniniftry for adding to the principal 
 twelve percent, from the year 1777 to the year 
 i78i,four hundred thoufand pounds, that fmalleft 
 of the fums ever mentioned for Mr. Benfield, will 
 form a capital of . 592,000, at fix per cent. Thus, 
 befides the arrears of three years, amounting to 
 . 106,500 (which, as fafl as received, may be legally 
 lent out at 12 per cent.) Benfield has received by 
 
 Mr. Smith's Proteft. 
 
 f Madras correrpondence on this fubjcfl* 
 
 the
 
 t 87 ] 
 
 the minifterial grant before you, in annuity of 
 '35i5'^o a year, charged on the public revenues. 
 
 Our mirror of Minifters of finance, did not think 
 this enough for the fervices of fuch a friend as 
 Benfield. He found that Lord Macartney, in 
 order to frighten the Court of Diredors from 
 the projefV, of obliging the Nabob to give fou- 
 car fecurity for his debt, afiured them, that if 
 they fhould take that ftepj Benfield* would in- 
 fallibly be the foucar -, and would thereby become 
 the entire mafter of the Carnatic. What Lord 
 Macartney thought fufiicient to deter the very 
 agents and partakers with Benfield in his iniquities, 
 was the inducement to the two right honourable 
 gentlemen to order this very foucar fecurity to be 
 given, and to recal Benfield to the city of Madras, 
 from the fort of decent exile, into which he had 
 been relegated by Lord Macartney. You mufl: 
 therefore confider Benfield as foucar fecurity for 
 . 480,000 a year, which at twenty-four per cent. 
 (fuppofing him contented with that profit) will, 
 with the intercft: of his old debt, produce an an- 
 nual income of * 149,520 a year. 
 
 Here is a fpecimen of the new and pure arifto- 
 cracy created by the right honourable gentleman f, 
 as the fupporc of the crown and conftitution, 
 againft the old, corrupt, refra(5lory, natural interefts 
 of this kingdom ; and this is the grand counterpoife 
 againft all odious coalitions of thefe interefts. A 
 fingle Benfield outweighs them all; a criminal, who 
 long fince ought to have fattened tiie region kites 
 with hisoff^al, is, by his majefty's minifters, en- 
 throned in the government of a great kingdom, 
 and enfeoffed with an eftate, which in the compa- 
 rifon effaces the fplendor of all the nobility of 
 Europe. To bring a little more diftindly into 
 
 Appendix, N 1; A. 
 
 t Right honourable William Pitt. 
 
 G 4 view
 
 [ 8 ] 
 
 view the true fecret of this dark tranfadion, I beg 
 you particularly to advert to the circumftances 
 which I am going to place before you. 
 
 The general corps of creditors, as well as Mr. 
 Benfield himfelf, not looking well into futurity, 
 nor prefaging the minifter of this day, thought it 
 not expedient for their common intereft, that fuch 
 a name as his fhould Hand at the head of their lift. 
 It was therefore agreed amongft them, that Mr. 
 Benfield ftiould difappcar by making over his debt 
 to Meflrs. Taylor, Majendie, and Call, and fhould 
 in return be fecured by their bond. 
 
 The debt thus exonerated of fo great a weight 
 of its odium, and otherwife reduced from its 
 alarming bulk, the agents thought they might ven- 
 ture to print a lift of the creditors. This was 
 done for the firft time in the year 1783, during the 
 duke of Portland's adminiftration. In this lift 
 ^he name of Benfield was not to be fecn. To this 
 flrong negative teftimony was added the further 
 tcftimony of the Nabob of Arcot. That Prince* 
 (or rather Mr. Benfield for him) writes to the Court 
 of Diredlors a letter f full of complaints and accu- 
 fations againft Lord Macartney, conveyed in fuch 
 terms as were natural for one of Mr. Benfield*s ha- 
 bits and education to employ. Amongft the reft, 
 he is made to complain of his Lordfliip's endea- 
 vouring to prevent an intercourfe of politenefs and 
 ientiment between him and Mr. Benfield ; and to 
 aggravate the affront, he exprefsly declares Mr. 
 Benfield's vifits to be only on account of refpcft 
 
 * Appendix N* 8. 
 
 f Dated 13th Oftober. For further illuftration of the ftyle 
 in which thefe letters are written, and the principles on which 
 they proceed, fee letters from the Nabob to the Court of Di- 
 xeftors, dated Auguft i6th, and September 7th, 1783, deli- 
 vered by Mr. James Macpherfon, Minifter to the Nalwb, Ja- 
 nuary i<^th, 1784. 
 
 *n4
 
 and of gratitude, as no pecuniary tranfadtions fub- 
 fifted between them. 
 
 Such, for a confiderable fpace of time, was the 
 outward form of the loan of 1777, in which Mr. 
 Benfield had no fort of concern. At length intelli- 
 gence arrived at Madras, that this debt, which had 
 always been renounced by the Court of Direflors, 
 was rather like to become the fubjeft of fomething 
 more like'a criminal enquiry, than of any patronage 
 or fanftion from Parliament. Every fhip brought 
 accounts, one ftrongcr than the other, of the preva- 
 lence of the determined enemies of the Indian fyf- 
 tem. The public revenues became an objed defpe- 
 rate to the hopes of Mr. Benfield ; he therefore re- 
 folved to fall upon his afibciates, and, in viola- 
 tion of that faith which fubfiUs among thofe who 
 have abandoned all other, commences a fuit in the 
 Mayor's Court againft Taylor, Majendie, and Call, 
 for the bond given to him, when he agreed to dif- 
 appear for his own benefit as well as that of the 
 common concern. The alfignees of his debt, who 
 little expefted the fpringing of this mine, even 
 from fuch an engineer as Mr. Benfield, after recover- 
 ing their firft alarm, thought it beft to take ground 
 on the real ftate of the tranfadion. They divulged 
 the whole myftery, and were prepared to plead, 
 that they had never received from Mr. Benfield any 
 other confideration for the bond, than a transfer, 
 in truft for himfelf, of his demand on the Na- 
 bob of Arcot. An univerfal indignation arofe 
 againft the perfidy of Mr. Benfield's proceeding: 
 The event of the fuit was looked upon as fo cer- 
 tain, that Benfield was compelled to retreat as 
 precipitately as he had advanced boldly ; he gave 
 up his bond, and was reinftated fn his original de- 
 mand, to wait the fortune of other claimants. At 
 that time, and at Madras, this hope was dull in- 
 deed i but at home another fcene was preparing. 
 
 It
 
 t 90^ 
 
 It was long before any public account of this 
 difcovery at Madras had arrived in England, that 
 the prelent minifter, and his Board of Control, 
 thought fit to determine on the debt of 1777. 
 The recorded proceedings at this time knew no- 
 thing of any debt to Benfield. There was his 
 own teftimony ; there was the teftimony of the 
 lift ; there was the teftimony of the Nabob of 
 Arcot againft it. Yet fuch was the minffter's feel- 
 ing of the true fecret of this tranfaftion, that they 
 thought proper, in the teeth of all thefe teftimo- 
 nies, to give him licence to return to Madras. Here 
 the minifters were under fome embarraflrnent. 
 Confounded between their refolution of reward- 
 ing the good fervices of Benfield's friends and 
 aflbciates in England, and the ftiame of fending 
 that notorious incendiary to the court of the Nabob 
 of Arcot, to renew his intrigues againft the Britifh 
 government, at the time they authorize his return 
 they forbid him, under the fevereft penalties, from 
 any converfation with the Nabob or his Minifters ; 
 that is, they forbid his communication with the 
 very perfon on account of his dealings with whom 
 they permit his return to that city. To overtop this 
 contradiftion, there is not a word reftraining him 
 from the freeft intercourfe with the Nabob's fecond 
 fon,the real author of all that is done in the Nabob's 
 name ; who, in conjunction with this very Ben- 
 field, has acquired an abfolute dominion over 
 that unhappy man, is able to perfuade him to 
 put his fignature to whatever paper they pleafe, 
 and often without any communication of the con- 
 tents. This management was detailed to them at 
 full length by Lord Macartney, and they cannot 
 pretend ignorance of it *. 
 
 I believe, after this expofure of fads, no man 
 
 Appendix, F, 
 
 10 caa
 
 t 91 ] 
 
 can entertain a doubt \of the collufion of miniften 
 with the corrupt intereft of the delinquents in In- 
 dia. Whenever thofe in authority provide for 
 the intereft of any perfon, on the real but con- 
 cealed Hate of his affairs, without regard to his 
 avowed, public, and oftenfible pretences, it muft be 
 prefumed that they arc in confederacy with him, 
 becaule they aft for him on the fame fraudulent 
 principles "on which he a<5ts for himfclf. It is 
 plain, that the Minifters were fully apprifed of 
 Benfield's real fituation, which he had ufed means 
 to conceal whilft concealment anfwered his pur- 
 pofes. They were, or the perfon on whom they 
 relied was, of the cabinet council of Benfield, in 
 the very depth of all his myfteries. An honeft 
 magiftrate compels men to abide by one ftory. 
 An equitable judge would not hear of the claim 
 of a man who had himielf thought proper to re- 
 nounce it. With fuch a judge his IhufBing and pre- 
 varication would have damned his claims; fuch a 
 judge never would have known, but in order to an- 
 imadvert upon proceedings of that charader. 
 
 I have thus laid before you, Mr. Speaker, I 
 think with fufficient clearnels, the connexion of 
 the minifters v.'ith Mr. Atkinfon at the general 
 cledion i I have laid open to you the connedioa 
 of Atkinfon with Benfield ; I have fhewn Benfield*s 
 employment of his wealth, in creating a parlia- 
 mentary intereft, to procure a minifterial protedipn; 
 I have fet before your eyes his large concern in the 
 debt, his pradtices to hide that concern from the 
 public eye, and the liberal protedion which he 
 has received from the minifter. If this chain of 
 circumftances do not lead you necefTarily to con- 
 clude that the minifter has paid to the avarice of 
 Benfield the fervices done by Benfield's conne<?cions 
 to his ambition, I do not know any thing Ihort 
 of the confeffion of the party that can perfuade 
 
 you
 
 [ 92 1 
 
 you of his guilt. Clandeftine and coUufive practice 
 can only be traced by combination and comparifon 
 of circumftances. To rejed: fuch combination 
 and comparifon is to reje6t the only means of 
 deteding fraud ; it is indeed to give it a patent and 
 free licence to cheat with impunity. 
 
 I confine myfelf to the connection of minifters, 
 mediately or immediately, with only two perfons 
 concerned in this debt. How many others, who 
 fupport their power and greatnefs within and with- 
 out doors, are concerned originally, or by transfers 
 of thefe debts, mud be left to general opinion. I 
 refer to the Reports of the Sele(^ Committee for 
 the proceedings of fome of the agents in thefe 
 affairs, and their attempts, at leaft, to furnifh mi- 
 nifters with the means of buying general courts, 
 and even whole parliaments, in the grofs *. 
 
 I know that the minifters will think it little lefs 
 than acquittal, that they are not charged with hav- 
 ing taken to themfelves fome part of the money of 
 which they have made fo liberal a donation to their 
 partizans, though the charge may be indifputably 
 fixed upon the corruption of their politics. For my 
 part, I follow their crimes to that point to which 
 legal prefumptions and natural indications lead me, 
 without confidering what fpecies of evil motive 
 tends moft to aggravate or to extenuate the guilt of 
 their conduct. But if I am to fpeak my private 
 fentiments, I think that in a thoufand cafes for one 
 it would be far lefs mifchievous to the public, and 
 full as little diftionourable to themfelves, to be 
 polluted with dired: bribery,, than thus to become 
 a ftanding auxiliary to the opprcffion, ufury, and 
 peculation of multitudes, in order to obtain a cor- 
 rupt fupport to their power. It is by bribing, not 
 fo often by being bribed, that wicked politicians 
 
 Second Report of Seleft (General Smith's) Committee. 
 
 bring
 
 t 93 ] 
 
 bring ruin on mankind. Avarice is a rival to the 
 purfuits of many. It finds a multitude of checks, 
 and many oppofers, in every walk of life. But the 
 objefts of ambition are for the few ; and every 
 pcrfon who aims at indirefb profit, and therefore 
 wants other proteftion than innocence and law, 
 inftead of its rival, becomes its inftrument. There 
 is a natural allegiance and fealty due to this 
 domineering paramount evil, from all the vaffal 
 vices, which acknowledge its fuperiority, and rea- 
 dily militate under its banners ; and it is under 
 that difciplinc alone that avarice is able to fpread 
 to any confiderable extent, or to render itfelf a 
 general public mifchief. It is therefore no apology 
 for minifters, that they have not been bought by the 
 Eaft India delinquents, but that they have only 
 formed an alliance with them for fcreening each 
 other from juftice, according to the exigence of 
 their feveral neceflities. That they have done fo is 
 evident -, and the jundtion of the power of office 
 in England, with the abufe of authority in the Eaft, 
 has not only prevented even the appearance of re- 
 drefs to the grievances of India, but I wilh it may 
 not be found to have dulled, if not extinguifhed, 
 the honour, the candour, the generofity, the good- 
 nature, which ufed formerly to charadterife the 
 people of England. I confefs, I wifh that fome 
 more feeling than I have yet obferved for the fuf- 
 ferings of our- fellow-creatures and fellow-fubjeds 
 in that opprefled part of the world, had manifefted 
 itfelf in any one quarter of the kingdom, or in 
 any one large defcription of men. 
 
 That thefe opprefiions exift, is a faft no more de- 
 nied, than it is refentcd as it ought to be. Much 
 evil has been done in India under the Britifti 
 authority. What has been done to redrefs it ? 
 We are no longer fur prized at any thing. We are 
 above the unlearned and vulgar paffion of ad- 
 miration.
 
 t 94 ] 
 
 miration. But it will aftonifh poflerity, when they 
 read our opinions in our adions, that after years 
 of enquiry we have found out that the fole 
 grievance of India confifted in this. That the fer- 
 vants of the Con^pany there had not profited 
 enough of their opportunities, nor drained it fuffi- 
 ciently of its treasures ; when they fhall hear that 
 the very firft and only important a6t of a com- 
 miffion fpecially nanjed by ad of parliament, is 
 to charge upon an undone country, in favour of a 
 handful of men in the humbleft ranks of the pub- 
 lic fervice, the enormous fum of perhaps four mil- 
 lions of fterling money. 
 
 It is difficult for the moft wife and upright go- 
 vernment to corred the abufesof remote delegated 
 power, produflive of unmeafured wealth, and pro- 
 tefted by the boldnefs and ftrength of the fame ill- 
 got riches. Thefe abufes, full of their own Vv^ild 
 native vigour, will grow and flourifli under mere 
 negle6t. But where the fupreme authority, not 
 content with winking at the rapacity of its inferior 
 inftruments, is fo fhamelefs and corrupt as openly 
 to give bounties and premiums for difobedience to 
 its laws ; when it will not trufl to the adlivity of 
 avarice in the purfuit of its own gains ; when it fe- 
 cures public robbery by all the careful jealoufy and 
 attention with which it ought to protect property 
 from fuch violence ; the commonwealth then is be- 
 come totally perverted from its purpofes ; neither 
 God nor man will long endure it ; nor will it long 
 endure itfelf. In that cafe, there is an unnatural 
 infedion, a peftilential taint fermenting in the con- 
 ftitution of ibciety, which fever and convulfions of 
 feme kind or other mud throw off j or in which the 
 vital powers, worfted in an unequal ftruggle, are 
 pufhed back upon themfelves, and by a reverfal of 
 their whole functions, fefter to gangrene, to death ; 
 and inftead of what was but juft now the delight 
 
 and
 
 t 95 1 
 
 and boaft of the creation, there will be caft out In 
 the face of the fun, a bloated, putrid, noifomc 
 carcafs, full of ftench and poifon, an offence, a 
 horror, a leflbn to the world. 
 
 In my opinion, we ought not to wait for the 
 fruitlefs inftrudion of calamity to enquire into the 
 abufes which bring upon us ruin in the worftof its 
 forms, in the lofs of our fame and virtue. But the 
 right honourable gentleman * fays, in anfwer to all 
 the powerful arguments of my honourable friend 
 ** that this enquiry is of a delicate nature, and that 
 *' the ftate will fuffer detriment by the expofure of 
 ** this tranfadion." But it is expofed ; it is per- 
 feftly known in every member, in every particle, 
 and in every way, except that which may lead to a 
 remedy. He knows that the papers of correfpon- 
 dence are printed, and that they are in every hand. 
 
 He and delicacy are a rare and a fingular coa- 
 lition. He thinks that to divulge our Indian po- 
 litics, may be highly dangerous. He ! the mover! 
 the chairman ! the reporter of the Committee of 
 Secrecy ! He that brought forth in the utmoft de- 
 tail, in feveral vaft printed folios, the moft recon- 
 dite parts of the politics, the military, the revenues 
 of the Britifh empire in India. With fix great 
 chopping baftards -f-, each as lufty as an infant Her- 
 cules, this delicate creature bluflies at the fight 
 of his new bridegroom, alTumes a virgin delicacy ; 
 or, to ufe a more fit, as well as a more poetic 
 com.parifon, the perfon fo fqueamifh, fo timid, fo 
 trembling left the winds of heaven fhould vifit too 
 roughly, is expanded to broad funfhine, expofed 
 like the fow of imperial augury, lying in the mud 
 with all the prodigies of her fertility about her, as 
 evidence of her delicate amours - Triginta f<?- 
 
 Mr. Dundas, 
 
 t Six Reports of the Committee of Secrecy; 
 
 pitum
 
 [ 9 ] 
 
 piium fostui enixa jacebat^ alba Jolo recubans albi 
 circum ubera nati, 
 
 Whilft difcovery of the mifgovernment of others 
 led to his own power, it was wife to enquire : it 
 was fafe to publilh ; there was then no delicacy -, 
 there was then no danger. But when his objedt is 
 obtained, and in his imitation he has outdone the 
 crimes that he had reprobated in volumes of Re- 
 ports, and in fheets of bills of pains and penalties ; 
 then concealment becomes prudence ; and it con- 
 cerns the fafety of the ftate, that we (hould not 
 know, in a mode of parliamentary cognizance, 
 what all the world knows but too well, that is, 
 in what manner he choofes to difpofeof the public 
 revenues to the creatures of his politics. 
 
 The debate has been long, and as much io on my 
 part, at lead, as on the part of thofe who have 
 fpoken before me. But long as it is, the more mate- 
 rial half of the fubjedl has hardly been touched on ; 
 that is, the corrupt and deftruftive fyftem to which 
 this debt has been rendered fubfervient, and which 
 feems to be purfued with at leaft as much vigour 
 and regularity as ever. If I confidered your eafe 
 or my own, rather than the weight and importance 
 of this queftion, I ought to make fome apology 
 to you, perhaps fome apology to myfelf, for hav- 
 ing detained your attention fo long. I know on 
 what ground I tread. This fubjeft, at one time 
 taken up with fo much fervour and zeal, is no 
 longer a favourite in this Houfe. The Houfe it- 
 felf has undergone a great and fignal revolution. 
 To fome the fubjed is ftrange and uncouth ; to 
 feveral harfh and diftafteful ; to the reliques of the 
 laft parliament it is a matter of fear and apprehen- 
 fion. It is natural for thofe who have feen their 
 friends link in the tornado which raged during 
 the late Ihift of the monfoon, and have hardly 
 efcaped on the planks of the general wreck, it 
 % is
 
 [ 97 ] * 
 
 fs but too natural for them, as foon as they make 
 the recks and qiiickfands of their former difaf- 
 ters, to put about their new-built barks, and, as 
 much as poflible, to keep aloof from this perilous 
 lee fhore. 
 
 But let us do what we pleafe to put India from 
 our thoughts, we can do nothing to feparate it 
 from our public intereft and our national reputa- 
 tion. Our attempts to banifh this importunate 
 duty, will only make it return upon us again and 
 again, and every time in a ihape more unpleafant 
 than the former. A government has been fabri- 
 cated for that great province ; the right honour- 
 able Gentleman fays, that therefore you ought not 
 to examine into its condud. Heavens 1 what an argu 
 ment is this ! We are not to examine into the con- 
 du<Sl of the Diredion, becaufe it is an old govern- 
 ment : we are not to examine into this Board of 
 Control, becaufe it is a new one. Then we are only 
 to examine into the condu6l of thofe who have no 
 condudl to account for. Unfortunately the bafis 
 of this new government has been laid on old 
 condemned delinquents, and its fuperfl:ru<5lure is 
 raifed out of profecutors turned into proted:ors. The 
 event has been fuch as might be expe<5ted. But if it 
 had been otherwife conftituted', had it been confti- 
 tutedeven as I wilhed, and as the mover of this quef- 
 tion had planned, the better part of the propofed 
 cftablifhment was in the publicity of its proceed- 
 ings , in its perpetual refponfibility to parliament. 
 Without this check, what is our government at 
 home, even awed, as every ^^uropean government 
 is, by an audience formed of the other States of 
 Europe, by the applaufe or condemnation of the 
 idifcerning and critical company before which ic 
 afts ? But if the fcene on the other fide of the 
 globe, which tempts, invites, almoft compels 
 to tyrannny and rgpine, be not infpeded with 
 
 H the
 
 [ 98 ] 
 
 the eye of a fevere and unremitting vigilance, 
 fhame and deftrudtion muft enfue. For one, the 
 worft event of this day, though it may dejedt, 
 lliall not break or fubdue me. The call upon uf 
 is authoritative. Let who will fhrink back, I (hall 
 be found at my poft. Baffled, difcountenanced, 
 fubdued, difcredited, as the caufe of jullice and 
 humanity is, it will be only the dearer to me. 
 Whoever therefore (hall at any time bring before 
 you any thing towards the relief of our diftrefied 
 fellow-citizens in India, and towards a fubverfion of 
 the prefent moft corrupt and oppreflive fyftem for 
 its government, in me (hall find, a weak I arii 
 afraid, but a Heady, earned, and faithful alHftant. 
 
 FINIS
 
 [ I 1 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 N I. 
 
 CLAUSES OF MR. PITt's BILL, 
 
 Referred to from p. 6, 
 
 Appointing Commiflioners to enquire into the fees, 
 gratuities, perquifites, and emoluments, which 
 are, or have been lately, received in the feveral 
 public offices therein mentioned , to examine 
 into any abufes which may exift in the fame, 
 
 AN D be it further enafted, that it fhall and 
 may be lawful to and for the faid commif* 
 fioners, or any two of them, and they are hereby 
 impowered, authorized, and required, fo examine 
 Upon Qath (which oath they, or any two of them, 
 are hereby authorized to adminifter) the feveral 
 pcrfons, of all defcriptions, belonging to any of 
 the offices or departments before mentioned, and 
 all other ferfons whom the faid commiffioners, or 
 any two of them, (hall think fit to examine, touch- 
 ing the httftnefs of each office or department, and 
 the fees^ gratuities^ -perquifites^ and emoluments taken 
 (herein^ and touching all other matters and things 
 H % neceffary
 
 t 2 1 
 
 ncceflary for the execution of the powers veiled \t\ 
 the faid commiffioners by this aft ; all which per- 
 fons are hereby required and dire6Ved pundually 
 to attetid the laid commiffioners, at fuch time and 
 place as they^ or any two of theniy Jhall appoint, 
 and alfp to obferve and escecute fuch orders and 
 dire5iions as the faid commiffioners, or any two of 
 them, fhall make or give for the purpofes before 
 mentioned. 
 
 And be it enabled by the authority afor,efaid, 
 that the faid commiffioners, or any two of them, 
 fhall be, and are hereby impowered to examine 
 into i^ny corrupt and fraudulent practices, or other 
 mifconduft, eommiitted by any perfon or perfons 
 concerned in the management of any of the offices 
 or departments hereinbefore mentioned : and, for 
 the better execution of this prefent aft, the faid 
 commiffioners, or any two cf them^ are hereby au- 
 tborized to meet and fit^ from time to time^ in fuch 
 place or places as they fhall find mofi convenient^ 
 with or without adjournment, and to fend their precept 
 cr precepts, tinder their hands and feals^ for any perjon 
 or perfons whatfoever, and for fuch books, papers, 
 writings, or records, as they fhall judge neceffary for 
 their information, relating to any of the offices or de-- 
 partments hereinbefore mentioned , and all bailiffs, 
 conflahles, fheriffs, and other his Majefiy's officers, are 
 hereby required to obey and execute fuch orders and pre- 
 cepts aforefaid, as fhall be fent to them or any of them 
 ly the faid commiffioners^ or any two of them, touching 
 the premifes. 
 
 vw 
 
 A P P E N-
 
 i 3 4 
 
 yuom : Referred to from p. ii. 
 
 NABOB OF ARCOT*S DEBTSi 
 
 MR. GEORGE S M I T H being adced; 
 Whether the debts of the Nabob of Arcot 
 have increafed fince he knew Madras ? he faid. 
 Yes, they have. He diftinguilhes his debts into two 
 forts i thbfe contradted before the ye^r i y66, and 
 thofe contracted from that year to the year in 
 which he left Madras. Being afked. What he 
 thinks is the original amount of the old debts ? he 
 faid. Between twenty-three and twenty-four lacks 
 of pagodas, as well as he can recolleft.* Being 
 aflced, What was the amount of that debt when 
 he left Madras ? he faid, Between 4 and 5 lacks o 
 pagodas, as he underftood. Being aflced. What 
 was the amount of the new debt when he left 
 Madras? he faid. In November 1777 that debt 
 amounted, according to the Nabob's own ac- 
 count, and publifhed at Chipauk, his place of 
 rcfidence, to fixty lacks of pagodas, independent 
 of the old debt, on which debt of 60 lacks o( 
 pagodas, the Nabob did agree to pay an intereft of 
 twelve per cent per annum.-^Being aflced. Whe- 
 ther this debt was approved of by the Court of 
 Directors ? he faid. He does not know it was.- 
 Being aflced. Whether the old debt was recognized 
 by the Court of Diredors ? he faid. Yes, it has 
 been ; and the Court of Diredlors have fent out 
 repeated orders to the Prefident and Council of 
 Madras, to enforce its recovery and payment.* 
 Being aflced. If the intereft upon thejiew debt is; 
 punctually paid ? he faid. It was not during his 
 refidence at Madras, from 1777 to 1779, in which 
 period he thinks no more than five percent, interefl: 
 was paid, in different dividends of two and one per 
 cent* Being afked. What is the ufual courfe 
 - H 3 ' taken
 
 [ 4 ] 
 
 taken by the Nabob, concerning the arrears of in* 
 tereft ? he faid, Not having ever lent him monies 
 himfelf, he cannot fully anfwer as to the mode of 
 fettling the intereft with him. 
 
 Being afked. Whether he has reafon to believe 
 the 60 lacks of pagodas was all principal money 
 really and truly advanced to the Nabob of Arcot, 
 or a fictitious capital, made up of obligations given 
 by him, where no money or goods were received, or 
 which was increafed by the uniting into it a greater 
 intereft than the i2 per cent, expreffed to be due 
 on the capital ? he faid, He has no reafon to be- 
 lieve that the fum of 60 lacks of pagodas was lent 
 in money or goods to the Nabob, bccaufe that fum 
 he chinks is of more value than all the money, 
 goods, and chattels in the fettlement ; but he does 
 not know in what mode or manner this debt of 
 the Nabob's was incurred or accumulated. Being 
 afked, Whether it was not a general and well- 
 grounded opinion at Madras, that a great part 
 of this fum was accumulated by obligations, and 
 were for fer vices performed or to be performed for 
 the Nabob ? he laid. He has heard that a part of 
 this debt was given for the purpofes mentioned in 
 the above quertion, but he does not know that it 
 was fo. Being afked. Whether it was the general 
 opinion of the fettlement ? he faid, He cannot 
 fay that it was the general opinion, but it was the 
 opinion of a confiderable part of the fettlement.- 
 Being afked. Whether it was the declared opinion 
 of thofe that were concerned in the debt, or thofc 
 that were not ? he faid. It was the opinion of both 
 parties, at leaft fuch of them as he converfed 
 with. Being afked, Whether he has reafon to be- 
 lieve that the interefl really paid by the Nabob, 
 upon obligations given, or money lent, did not fre- 
 quently exceed 12 per cent. .'' He faid. Prior to the 
 hrft of Auguft 1774, he had had reafon to believe, 
 
 that
 
 t 5 } 
 
 that a Kighe^ Intereft than 12 per cent, was paid by 
 the Nabob on monies lent to him ; but from and 
 after that period, when the laft aft of parliament 
 took place in India, he does not know that more 
 than 12 percent, had been paid by the Nabob, or 
 received from him.- Being afked. Whether it is 
 Hot his opinion, that the Nabob has paid more 
 than 12 per cent, for money due fince the ift o 
 Auguft 1774? he faid, He has heard that he has, 
 but he docs not know it. ^Being afked. Whether 
 he has been told fo by any confiderable and weighty 
 authority^ that was like to know ? he faid. He 
 has been (b informed by perfons who he believes 
 had a very good opportunity of knowing it. 
 Being afked, Whether he was ever told fo by the 
 Nabob of Arcot himfelf ? he faid. He does not 
 recoiled that the Nabob of Arcot directly told 
 him fo, but from what he faid, he did infer that he 
 paid a higher intercfl than 12 per cent. 
 
 Mr. Smith being afked, Whether, in the courfe 
 of trade, he ever fold any thing to the Nabob of 
 Arcot .? he faid. In the year 1775 he did fell to the 
 Nabob of Arcot pearls to the amount of 32,500 
 pagodas, for which the Nabob gave him an order 
 or tankah on the country of Tanjore, payable in 
 fix months, without interefl. Being afked, Whe- 
 ther, at the time he afked the Nabob his price for 
 the pearls, the Nabob beat down that price, as 
 dealers commonly do ? he faid. No ; fo far from it, 
 he offered him more than he afked by 1,000 pago- 
 das, and which he rejedlcd. Being afked, Whether, 
 in fettling a tranfaftion of difcount with the Nabob's 
 aeent, he was not offered a greater difcount than 
 ^ri2 per cent. ; he faid. In difcounting a foucar*s 
 bill for 1,80,000 pagodas, the Nabob*s agent did 
 offer him a difcount of ;^. 24 per cent, per annum, 
 faying, that it was the ufual rate of difcount paid 
 by the Nabob , but which he would not accept of, 
 
 H 4 thinking
 
 [61 
 
 tliinking himfelf confined by the ad of parHament 
 limiting the intereft of monies to L.ii per cent, 
 and accordingly he difcounted the bill 2ii . 12 per 
 cent, per annum only. Being 'af]<ed, Whether he 
 does not think thofe offers were made him, becaufc 
 the Nabob thought he was a perfon of Ibme con- 
 sequence in the lettlement ? he faid, Being only a 
 private merchant, he apprehends that the offer was 
 made to him more from its being a general prac- 
 tice, than from any opinion of his importance. 
 
 APPENDIX, N* 3. I 
 
 Referred to from p. 26. 
 
 K BILL for the better government of the tern* 
 torial pofTefTions and dependencies in India, 
 
 [One of Mr. Fox's India Bills.] 
 
 AND be it further enafbed by the authority 
 aforefaid, that the Nabob of Arcot, the Rajah 
 of Tanjore, or any other proteftcd native prince in 
 India, (hall not aflign, mortgage, or pledge any 
 territory or land whatfoever, or the produce or re- 
 venue thereof, to any Britifli fubjedt whatfoever; 
 neither fliall it be lawful to or for any Britifh fub- 
 jeft whatfoever, to take or receive any fuch affign- 
 ment, mortgage, or pledge; and the fame are 
 hereby declared to be null and void ; and all pay- 
 ments or deliveries of produce or revenue, under 
 any fuch aflignment, fhall and may be recovered 
 back by fuch native prince paying or delivering 
 the fame, from the perfon or perfons receiving the 
 iamc, or his or their reprefentatives. 
 
 A P P E N.
 
 APPENDIX, N'' 4: 
 Referred to from p. 52 and p. 60: 
 
 (C O P Y.) 27th May 1781: ; 
 
 LETTER from the Committee of AfTigned Re- 
 venue, to the Prefident and Seledl GommitteCy 
 dated 27th May 1782 -, with Comparative Statc^ 
 men t, and Minute thereon, ^ 
 
 To the Right honourable Lord Macartney, K. B. 
 Prefident, and Governor, &c. Select Committee 
 of Fort St. George. 
 
 My Lord, and Gentlemen,' 
 
 ALTHOUGH we have, in obedience to your 
 commands of the 5th January, regularly laid 
 before you our proceedings at large, and have occa- 
 fionally addrefled you upon fuch points as required 
 your refolutions or orders for our guidance, wc 
 Hill think it neceflary to coUeft and digeft, in a 
 fummary report, thofe tranfaftions in the manage- 
 ment of the affigned revenue, which have princi- 
 pally engaged our attention, and which, upon the 
 proceeding, are too much intermixed with ordi- 
 nary occurrences to be readily traced and under- 
 flood. 
 
 Such a report may be formed with the greater 
 propriety at this time, when your Lordfhip, &c. 
 have been pleafed to conclude your arrangements 
 for the rent of feveral of the Nabob's diftridts. 
 Our aim in it is briefly to explain the ftate of the 
 Carnatic at the period of the Nabob's aflignment j 
 the particular caufes which exifted, to the prejudice 
 of that alTignment, after it was made; and the 
 
 meafurcs
 
 meafures which your Lordftiip, &c. have, upon 
 our recommendation, adopted for removing thofc 
 caufes, and introducing a more regular and benefi- 
 cial fyftem of management in the country. 
 
 Hyder Ally having entered the Carnatic with 
 his whole force, about the middle of July 1780^ 
 and employed fire and fword in its deftruftion for 
 near eighteen months before the Nabob's affign- 
 ment took place, it will not be difficult to conceive 
 the ftate of the country at that period. In thofe 
 provinces which were fully expofed to the ravages 
 of horfe, fcarce a veftlge remained either of popu- 
 lation or agriculture : fuch of the miferable inha- 
 bitants as efcaped the fury of the fword were either 
 carried into the Myfore country, or left to ftruggle 
 tinder the horrors of famine. The Arcot and 
 Trichinopoly diftri6bs began early to feel the ef- 
 fefts of this defolating war. Tinnevelly, Madura, 
 smd Ramnadaporum, though little infefted with 
 Hyder's troops, became a prey to the incurfions 
 of the Polygars, who ftript them of the greateft 
 part of their revenues ; Ongole, Nellore, and Pal- 
 naud, the only remaining diftrids, had fuffered but 
 in a fmall degree. 
 
 The misfortunes of war, however, were not the 
 cinly evils which the Carnatic experienced. The 
 Nabob's Aumildars, and other fervants, appear to 
 have taken advantage of the general contufion to 
 enrich themfclves. A very imall part of the re- 
 venue was accounted for-, and fo high were the 
 ordinary expences of every diftrift, that double the 
 apparent produce of the whole country would not 
 have fatisfied them. 
 
 In this ftate, which we believe is no way exagge- 
 rated, the Company took charge of the affigncd 
 countries. Their profpeft of relief from the heavy 
 burthens of the war, was indeed but little advanced 
 by the Nabob's coflceflion j and the revenues of 
 ' 6 the
 
 the Carnatic fecmed in danger of being irrecovera- 
 bly loft, unlefs a fpeedy and entire change of 
 fyftcm could be adopted. 
 
 On our minutes of the 2ift January, we treated 
 the fubjeft of the affignment at fome length, and 
 pointed out the mifchiefs which, in addition to the 
 effeds of the war, had arifen from what we con- 
 ceived to be wrong and oppreflive management.-^ 
 We ufed the freedom to fuggeft an entire alteratiort 
 in the mode of realizing the revenues. We pro- 
 pofed a confiderable and immediate redu<5lion of 
 cxpences, and a total change of the principal 
 Aumildars who had been employed under the 
 Nabob. 
 
 Our ideas had the good fortune to receive yout 
 approbation ; but the removal of the Nabob's fer- 
 vants being thought improper at that particular 
 period of the collections, we employed our at- 
 tention chiefly in preferving what revenue was left 
 the country, and acquiring fuch materials as might 
 lead to a more pcrfei3;, knowledge qf its former and 
 prefent ftate. . 3' ; oi ; -^r 
 
 Thefe purfuits, as we apprehended, met with 
 great obftru6tions from the conduft of the Nabob's 
 fervants. The orders they received were evaded 
 under various pretexts ; no attention was paid to 
 the ftrong and repeated applications made to them 
 for the accounts of their management ; and their 
 attachment to the Company's in tcreft appeared, in 
 every inftance, fo feeble, that we faw no profpeft 
 whatever of fuccefs, but in the appointment of. 
 renters under the Company's fole authority. 
 
 Upon this principle we judged it expedient to 
 recommend, that fuch of the Nabob's diftridls as 
 were in a ftate to be farmed out, might be imme- 
 diately let by a public advertifement, iffued in the 
 Company's name, and circulated through every 
 province of the Carnatic -, and with the view of en- 
 couraging
 
 fco'iiraging bidders, we propofed, that the Countfier : 
 might be advertifed for the whole period of the 
 Nabob's affignment, and the fecurity of the Com- 
 pany's protet^lion pfomifed^ in the fullcft manner^ 
 CO fuch perfons as might become renters. n;Ii 
 
 This plan had the defired effeft ; and the at-'^ 
 tempts which were fecretly made to counterad: ic^ 
 afforded an unequivocal proof of its ncceffitysj 
 But the advantages refulting from it were mor<i' 
 pleafingly evinced, by the number of propofals. 
 that were delivered, and by the terms which were: 
 in general offered for the diftrids intended to bt) 
 farmed out. v n::^ i : ri c.i -r ?,- - ,./v 
 
 Having fo far attained the purpofes of the af-'l 
 fignment, our attention was next turned to the 
 heavy e^pences entailed upon the different pro-, 
 vinces ; and here, we confefs, our aftonifhment/ 
 was raifed to the highcfl pitch. In the Trichino- 
 poly country, the (landing difburfements appeared, 
 by the Nabob's own accounts, to be one lack of 
 rupees more than the receipts. In other diftridls,. 
 the charges were not in fo high a proportion, but; 
 Hill rated on a moft extravagant fcale- and wc 
 faw, by every account that was brought before' 
 us, the abfolute neceffity of retrenching confidera- 
 bly in all the articles of expence. : . 
 
 Our own reafon, aided by fuch enquiries as wd? 
 were able to make, fuggefled the alterations wc 
 have recommended to your Lordfhip, &c. under 
 this head, You will obferve, that we have not 
 afted fparingly ; but we chofe rather, in cafes of 
 doubt, to incur the hazard of retrenching toa 
 much, than too little j becaufe it would be eafier, 
 after any flated allowance for expences, to add 
 what might be necelTary, than to diminifh. We 
 hope, however, there will be no material rncreafe 
 io the articles as they now ftand. 
 
 One
 
 t 1 
 
 * One confiderable charge upon the Nabob'f 
 ^country was for extraordinary fibbendies, fepoys, 
 and horfemen, who appeared to us to be a very 
 unneceflary incunibrance on the revenue. Your 
 Lordfhip, &c. have determined to receive fuch of 
 thefe people as will enlift into the Company's ler- 
 vice, and difcharge the reft. This meafure will 
 not only relieve the country of a heavy burthen, 
 but tend greatly to fix in the Company that kind 
 of authority, which is requifite for the due collec- 
 tion of the revenues. 
 
 In confequence of your determination refpefling 
 the Nabob's fepoys, &c, every charge under that 
 head has been ftruck. oqt of our account of ex- 
 pences. If the whole nuniber of thefe people be 
 enlifted by the Company, there will probably be 
 no more than fufficient to complete their ordinary 
 military eftablifliment. But fhould the prefent re- 
 dudlion of the Nabob's artillery render it expe- 
 dient, after the war, to make any addition to the 
 Company's eftablifhment, for the purpofes of the 
 afllgned countries ; the expence of fuch addition, 
 whatever it be, muft be deduded from the prefent 
 account of favings. 
 
 In confidering the charges of the feveral dif- 
 tri6ls, in order to eftablifh better regulations, wc 
 were careful to difcriminate thofe incurred for 
 troops kept, or fuppofed to be kept up for the de- 
 fence of the country, from thofe of the fibbendy, 
 fervants, &c. for the cultivation of the lands, and 
 the coUedtion of the revenues, as well as to pay at- 
 tention to fuch of the eftabliihed cuftoms of the 
 country, ancient privileges of the inhabitants, and 
 public charities, as were neceflarily allowed, and 
 appeared proper to be continued ; but which, un- 
 fder the Nabob's government, were not only rated 
 piuch higher, but had been blended under one 
 
 confufed
 
 [ 12 3 
 
 confufed and almoft unintelligible title of. Ex* 
 peaces of the diftrids.; fo joined, perhaps, to afford 
 pleas and means of fecreting and appropriating 
 great part of the revenues to other purpofes thai) 
 fairly appeared ; and certainly betraying the ut* 
 moft negle<5t and mifmanagement, as giving lati- 
 tude for every fpecies of fraud and oppreffion. 
 Such a fyftem has, in the few latter years of the 
 Nabob's neceffities, brought all his countries into 
 that fuuation, from which nothing but the moft 
 rigid oeconomy, ftrift obfervance of the condufl of 
 managers, and the moft conciliating attention to 
 the rights of the inhabitants, can polTibly recover 
 them. 
 
 It now only remains for us to lay before your 
 Lordftiip, &c. the inclofed ftatement of the fumj 
 at which the diftrids lately advertifed have been 
 let, compared with the accounts of their produce 
 delivered by the Nabob, and entered on our pro. 
 ceedings of the 21ft January. Likewife a com- 
 parative view of their former and prefent ex- 
 pences. 
 
 The Nabob*s accounts of the produce of thefe 
 diftrifts ftate, as we have fome reafon to think, the 
 fums which former renters engaged to pay to him 
 (and which were feldom, if ever, made good) and 
 not the fums adtually produced by the diftridls ; 
 yet we have the fatisfadion to obferve, that the 
 prefent aggregate rents, upon an average, are equal 
 to thofe accounts. Your Lordftiip, &c, cannot 
 indeed exped, that, in the midft of the danger, in- 
 vafion, and diftrefs, which afiail the Carnatic on 
 every fide, the renters now appointed will be able 
 at prefent to fulfil the terms of their leafes; but 
 we truft, from the meafures we have taken, that 
 very little, if any, of the a<5bual colle<5tions will be 
 loft, even during the war; and that, on the return 
 of peace and tranquillity, the renters will have it in 
 
 their
 
 t 3 3 ' 
 
 their power fully to perform their refpedivc agpce- 
 ments. 
 
 We much regret that the fituation of the Arcot 
 province will not admit of the fame fettlement 
 which has been made for the other diftridls; but 
 the enemy being in poflcffion of the capital, toge- 
 ther with feveral other ftrong holds, and having 
 entirely defolated the country, there is little room 
 to hope for more from it tlian a bare fubfiftencc 
 to the few garrifons we have left there. 
 
 We fhall not fail to give our attention towards 
 obtaining every information rcfpefting this pro. 
 vince, that the prcfent times will permit; and to 
 take the firft opportunity to propofe fuch arrange- 
 ments for the management as we may think eli- 
 gible. 
 
 We have the honour to be 
 Fort St. George, Your moft obedient 
 
 aythMay 17S2. humble fervants, 
 
 'Cha' Oakeky, 
 Eyles Irwin, 
 (Signed) { Hall Plumer, 
 
 David Haliburton, 
 Geo. Moubray. 
 
 A true Copy. 
 
 J, Hudlepn, Sec'. 
 
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 AP
 
 I 15 ] 
 
 APPENDIX, N 5; 
 Referred to from p. 64. 
 
 CASE of certain Perfons renting the afllgned 
 Lands under the Authority of the Eaft India 
 Company. 
 
 Extradt of a Letter from the Prefident and Council 
 of Fort St. George, 25th May 1783. 
 
 " /^NE of them [the renters] Ram Chundef 
 V^ Raus, was indeed one of thofe unfortunate 
 Rajahs, whofe country, by being near to the territories 
 of the 'Nabob, forfeited its title to independence ; and 
 became the prey of ambition and cupidity. This 
 man, though not able to refift the Company's 
 arms, employed in fitch a deed at the Nabob'' s injiiga" 
 gation, had induftry and ability. He acquired, i^ 
 a feries of fervices, even the confidence of the Na- 
 bob ; who fuffered him to rent a part of the country 
 of which he had deprived him of the property. This 
 man had afforded no motive for his rejsftion by 
 the Nabob, but that of being ready to engage 
 with the Company ; a motive molt powerful in- 
 deed, but not to be avowed." 
 
 [This is the perfon whom theEnglifh inflruments 
 of the Nabob of Arcot have had the audacity to 
 charge with a corrupt tranfadion with Lord Ma- 
 cartney; and, in fupport of that charge, to pro-, 
 duce a forged letter from his Lordfhip's fteward. 
 The charge and letter, the reader may fee in this 
 Appendix, under the proper head. It is afTcrtcd, 
 by the unfortunate prince, above mentioned, that 
 the Company firft fettled on the Coalt of Coro- 
 
 I mandel
 
 ifiandel under the protedion of one of his an- 
 ceftors. If this be true (and it is far from unlike- 
 ly) the world -muft judge of the return the de- 
 fcendant has met with. The cafe of another of 
 the vidims, given up by the Miniftry, though not 
 altogether fo ftriking as the former, is worthy of 
 attention. It is that of the renter of the province 
 of Nellore.] 
 
 " IT is, with a wantonnefs of fallliood, and in- 
 difference to deteftion, alTerted to you, in proof of 
 the validity of the Nabob's objedions, that this 
 man*s failures had already forced us to remove 
 him -, though in fa6l he has continued invariably 
 in office ; though om great eji fupplies have been re- 
 ceived from him ; and that, in the difappointment 
 of your remittances [the remittances from Bengal] 
 and of other refources, the fpecie fent us from 
 T^ellore alone has fometimes enabled us to carry on 
 the public bufinefs ; and that the prefent expedition 
 againji the French muft, without this affillance from 
 the affignment, have been laid afide, or delayed 
 until it might have become too late.'* 
 
 [This man is by the Miniftry given over to the 
 mercy of perfons capable of making charges on 
 him, " with a wantonnefs of falfhood^ and indifference 
 to detetionP What is likely to happen to him and 
 the reft of the victims, may appear by the follow- 
 ing.] 
 
 LETTER to the Governor General and Council, 
 March 13th 1782. 
 
 TFIE fpeedy termination to which the people 
 were taught to look, of the Company's interference 
 in the revenues, and the vengeance denounced 
 againft thofe who, contnary to the mandate of the 
 Durbar, fhould be conncdcd with them, as report-; 
 
 cd
 
 t 17 1 
 
 td by Mr. Sulivan, may, as much as the former 
 exactions and oppreffions of the Nabob in the re- 
 venue, as reported by the commander in chiefs 
 Jiave deterred fome of the fitted men from offering 
 to be concerned in it. 
 
 " The timid difpofition of the Hindoo natives 
 of this country was not likely to be infenfible to 
 the fpecimen of that vengeance given by his excel- 
 Jency the Amur, who, upon the mere rumour that 
 aBramin, of the name of AppageeRow, had given 
 propofals to the Company for the renterfhip of 
 Vcllore, had the temerity to fend for him, and to 
 put him in confinement. 
 
 " A man thus feized by the Nabob's feapoys 
 within the walls of Madras, gave a general alarm ; 
 and government found it neceflary to promife the 
 prote6tion of the Company, in order to calm the 
 apprehenfions of the people." 
 
 APPENDIX, N* 6. 
 Referred to from p. 65. 
 
 EXTRACT of a Letter from the Council and 
 Seleft Committee at Fort St. George, to the Go- 
 vernor General and Council, dated 25th May 
 1783. 
 
 IN the profecution of our duty, we befeech you 
 to confider as an adt of ftrid and neceffary 
 juftice, previous to reiteration of your orders for 
 the furrender of the afiignment, how far it would 
 be likely to affe6t third perfons, who do not ap- 
 pear to have committed any breach of their en*r 
 gagemcnts. You command us to compel ouf 
 aumils to deliver over their refpedive charges as 
 Ihall be appointed by the Nab9b, Or to retain 
 
 I 2 their
 
 t 8 ] 
 
 their truft under his fole authority, if he fhatl 
 chufe to confirm ihem. Thefe aumils are really 
 renters, they were appointed in the room of the 
 Nabob's aumils, and contrary to his wiflies ; they 
 have already been rejedted by him, and are there- 
 fore not likely to be confirmed by him. They ap- 
 plied to this government, in confequence of public 
 advertifements in our name, as poffefling in this 
 inftance the joint authority of the Nabob and 
 the Company, and have entered into mutual and 
 ftri<Et covenants with us, and we with them, re- 
 lative to the certain diftrifts not aflually in the 
 pofleflion of the enemy i by which covenants, as 
 they are bound to the pundlual payment of their 
 rents, and due management of the country, fo we, 
 and our conftitnents, and the public faith, are in 
 like manner bound to maintain them in the en- 
 joyment of their leafes, during the continuance of 
 the term j that term was for five years, agreeably 
 to the words of the aflignment, which declare 
 that the time of renting (hall be for three or five 
 years, as the governor (hall fettle with the renters. 
 Their leafes cannot be legally torn from them. 
 Nothing but their previous breach of a part could 
 juftify our breach of the whole j fuch a ftretch 
 and abufe of power would indeed not only favour 
 of the a(rumption of fovereignty, but of arbitrary 
 and opprelTive defpotifm. In the prefent conteft, 
 whether the Nabob be guilty, or we be guilty, the 
 renters are not guilty. Which ever of the con- 
 tending parties has broken the condition of the 
 alTignment, the renters have not broken the con- 
 ditiori of their leafes. Thefe men, in conducting 
 the bufinefs of the a(rignment, have aded in op- 
 pofition to the defigns of the Nabob, in dcfpite of 
 the menaces denounced againft all who (hould 
 dare to oppofe the mandates of the Durbar juftice. 
 Gratitude and humanity require that provifion 
 
 Ihoutd
 
 f .9 3 
 
 (hould be made by you, before you fet the Nabob's 
 minifters loofe on the country, for the proteftion 
 of the vi<5tims devoted to their vengeance. 
 
 Mr. Benfield, to fecure the permanency of his 
 power, and the perfc6tion of his fchcmes, thought 
 it neceffary to render the Nabob an abfolutc 
 ftranger to the (late of his affairs. He afTured his 
 highnefe, that full juftice was not done to the 
 ftrength of his fcntiments, and the keennefs of his 
 attacks, in the tranflations that were made by the 
 Company's fervants from the original Perfian of 
 his letters. He therefore propofed to him, that 
 they fhould for the future be tranfmitted in Eng- 
 Jifh. Of the Englifh language or writing his 
 highnefs, or the ameer, cannot read one word, tbo* 
 the latter can converfe in it with fufficient fluency. 
 The Perfian language, as the language of the Ma- 
 hommedan conquerors, and of the court of Delhi, 
 as an appendage or fignal of authority, was at all 
 times particularly affe<5ted by the Nabob : it is 
 the language of all afts of ftate, and all public 
 tranfadlions, among the muifulman chiefs of In- 
 doftan. The Nabob thought to have gained no 
 inconfiderable point, in procuring the correfpon- 
 dence from our prcdeceflbrs to the Rajah of Tan- 
 jore to be changed from the Marattah language, 
 vhich that Hindoo prince underftands, to the 
 Perfian, which he difclaims undcrftanding. To 
 force the Rajah to the Nabob's language, was gra- 
 tifying the latter with a new fpecies of fubfer- 
 viency. He had formerly contended with confider- 
 able anxiety, and it was thought no inconfiderable 
 coft, for particular forms of addrefs to be ufed 
 towards him in that language. But all of a fudden, 
 in favour of Mr. Benfield, he quits his former 
 affedions, his habits, his knowledge, his curiofity, 
 the increafing miftruft of age, to throw himfelf upon 
 tlie generous candour, the faithful interpretation, the ' 
 I 3 grateful
 
 ( 20 ] 
 
 grateful return and eloquent organ of Mr. Benficld I 
 Afr. Benfield relates , and reads what he pleafes to 
 his excellency the Ameer -uhOmr ah his excellency com- 
 municates ivith the Nabob his father^ in the language 
 the latter underflands* through two channels fa pure^ 
 the truth mujl arrive at tl:>e Nabob in perfect refine^ 
 went i through this double trufi^ his highnefs receives 
 whatever imprejfion it may be convenient to make on 
 him : he abandons his fignature to 'uchatever paper 
 they tell him contains^ in the Englijh tanguage^ the fen- 
 timents with which they had infpired him. He thus 
 is Jhrrcundcd on every Jids. He is totally at their mercy ^ 
 to believe, what is not true^ and to fubjcribe to what he 
 does not mean. There is no fyftem fo new^ fo foreign 
 to his intentions^ that they may not purjue in his name^ 
 without fojfibility of deteilion : for they are cautious of 
 who approach him, and have thought prudent to decline^ 
 for him, the vifits of the governor^ even upon the ufual 
 folemn and acceptable occafion of delivering to his 
 highnefs the Company's letters. Such is the com- 
 plete afcendency gained by Mr. Benfield. It may be 
 partly explained by the fads obferved already fomc 
 years ago by Mr. Benfield himfelf, in regard to the 
 Nabob, of the infirmities natural to his advanced 
 age, joined to the decays of his conftitution. To 
 this afcendency, in proportion as it grew, muft 
 chiefly be afcribed, if not the origin, at leaft the 
 continuance and increafe, of the Nabob's diiunion 
 with this prefidency ; a difunion which creates 
 the importance, and fubferves the refentments of 
 Mr. Benfield ; and an afcendency, which, if you effetl 
 tj^e furrender of the affignment, will entirely leave the 
 exercife cf power, and accumulation of fortune, at his 
 boundlefs difcretion ; to him, and to the Ameer -ul- 
 Omrah^ and to Syed Afjam Cawn, the ajftgnment would 
 infant be furrendered. HE WILL (IF ANY) BE 
 THE SOUCAR SECURITY ; and fecurity in this 
 esmt^y is count erf ecured by poffej/ion. Tou would not 
 hiii^^ chuft
 
 [ 21 1 
 
 ihufe to take the ajjignment from the Company ^ to give 
 it to individuals. Of the impropriety of its- returning 
 to the Nabob, Mr. Benfield would now again argue 
 from his former obfervations, that under his high- 
 nefs's management, his country declined, his people 
 emigrated, his revenues decreafed, and his coun-~ 
 try was rapidly approaching to a ftate of political 
 infolvency. Of Syed AlTam Cawn, we judge only 
 from the obl'ervations this letter already contains. 
 But of the other two perfons [Ameer-uI-Omrah 
 and Mr. Benfield]vve undertake to declare, not as 
 parties in a caufe, or even as voluntary witnefles, but 
 as executive officers, reporting to you in the dif- 
 chargeof our duty, and under the imprcfllon of tlie 
 facred obligation which binds us to truth, as well 
 as to juftice, that, from every obfervation of their 
 principles and difpofitions, and every information 
 of their charad:er and condudly they have profe- 
 cuted projeds to the injury and danger of the 
 Company and individuals , that it would be im- 
 proper to trufi, and dangerous to employ them, in any 
 public or iinportant fituation ; 'that the tranquillity of 
 the Carnatic requires a refiraint to the power of the 
 Ameer -, and that the Company, whofe fervice and 
 proteSiion Mr. Benfield has repeatedly and recently for- 
 feited, would be more fecure againft danger and confu- 
 fion, if he were removed from their fever al preftdtn-^ 
 cies *. 
 
 [* After the above folemn declaration from fo weighty an autlioilty, 
 the principal objert of that awful and delibei ate warning, inftead of 
 *' being removed from the feveral Prefidencies," is licenfed to return 
 to one of the principal of thofe Prefidencies, and the grand theatre pf 
 the operations on account of which the Prtfidcncy recommends his 
 total removal. The reafon given is tor ihe arcoinmo^iation of that 
 very debt which has been the chief inlhument of his dangerons 
 pra6tices, and the main caufe of all the confufions in the CoicpanyJs 
 goveinment.] 
 
 I 4 APPENDIX,
 
 I 22 3 
 
 APPENDIX, Np 7. 
 Referred to from p. 69, and p. 75^ 
 
 EXTRACTS from the Evidence of Mr. Petrle, 
 late Refident for the Company at Tanjore, given 
 to the Select Committee, relative to the Reve- 
 nues and State of the Country, &c. &c. 
 
 9th May 1782. 
 
 WILLIAM PETRIE, Efq; attending ac- 
 cording to order, was afked, In what ftation 
 he was in the Company's fervice ? he faid, He 
 went to India in the year 1765, a writer upon the 
 Madras eftablilhment ; he was employed, during 
 the former war with Hyder Ali, in the capacity of 
 paymafter and commifTary to part of the army, and 
 was afterwards paymafter and commifTary to the 
 army in the firft fiege of Tanjore, and the fubfe- 
 quent campaigns ; then fecretary to the fecret de- 
 partment from 1772 to 1775 , he came to England 
 m 1775, and returned again to Madras the begin- 
 ning of 1778 ; he was refident at the durbar of the 
 Rajah of Tanjore from that time to the month of 
 May; and from that time to January 1780 was 
 chief of Nagore and Carrecal, the firft of which 
 was received from the Rajah of Tanjore, and the 
 fecond was taken from the French. Being afked, 
 "Who fcnt him to Tanjore ? he faid. Sir Thomas 
 Rumbold, and the Secret Committee. Being then 
 alked, upon what errand ? he faid. He went firft 
 up with a letter from the Company to the Rajah of 
 Tanjore ; he was direded to give the Rajah the 
 ftrongeft affurances that he ftiould be kept in pofr 
 fcflion of his country, and every privilege to which 
 he had been reftorcd -, he was likewife directed to 
 negociate with the Rajah of Tanjore for tiic cef- 
 iion of the fea-ports arjd diftrid of Nagore, in 
 
 4 Jl^y
 
 [ 23 1 
 
 lieu of the town and diftridb of Dcvicotta^ whicfi 
 he had promifed to Lord Pigot : thefe were the 
 principal, and to the bed of his recolledion at 
 prefent the only objefts in view, when he was firft 
 lent up to Tanjore. In the courfe of his (lay at 
 Tanjore other matters of bufinefs occurred be- 
 tween the Company and the Rajah, which came 
 under his management as refident at that durbar. 
 -r-Being afked. Whether the Rajah did deliver up 
 to him the town and the annexed diftrifls of Na- 
 gore voluntarily, or whether he was forced to it ? 
 he faid. When he made the firft propofition to the 
 Rajah, agreeable to the diredlions he had received 
 from the Secret Committee at Madras, in the moft 
 free, open, and liberal manner, the Rajah told 
 him the fea-port of Nagore was entirely at the 
 fervice of his benefadlors the Company, and that 
 he was happy in having that opportunity of tefti- 
 fying his gratitude to them ; thefe may be fuppofed 
 to be words of courfe, but from every experience 
 which he had of the Rajah's mind and condu(5V, 
 whilft he was at Tanjore, he has realon to believe 
 that his declarations of gratitude to the- Company 
 were perfectly fincere ; he Ipeaks of the town of 
 Nagore at prefent, and a certain diftrid, not of the 
 diftri6ts to the amount of which they afterwards 
 received. The Rajah afked him. To what amount 
 he expefted a jaghire to the Company : And the 
 witnefs further faid. That he acknowledged to the 
 Committee that he was not inftruded upon that 
 head; that he wrote for orders to Madras, and 
 was diredted to alk the Rajah for a jaghire to a 
 pertain amount -, that this gave rife to a long ne- 
 gociation, the Rajah reprel'enting to him his ina- 
 bility to make fuch a gift to the Company as the 
 Secret Committee at Madras feemed to expeft ; 
 while he (the witnefs) on the other hand, was di- 
 rected to make as good a bargain as he could for 
 
 the
 
 the Company. From the view that he then took 
 of the Rajah's finances, from the fituation of his 
 country, and from the load of debt which prefled 
 hard upon him, he believes he at different times, 
 in his correfpondence with the government, repre- 
 fented the neccfficy of their being moderate in their 
 demands, and it was at laft agreed to accept of the 
 town of Nagore, valued at a certain annual reve- 
 nue, and a jaghire annexed to the town, the whole 
 amounting 102,50,000 rupees. Being afked. Whe- 
 ther it did turn out (o valuable? he faid, He had 
 not a doubt but it would turn out more, as it was 
 let for more than that to farmers at Madras, if 
 they had managed the diftrifts properly, iui they 
 were firangers to the manners and cujioms of the 
 people ', when they came down they opprejfed the in- 
 habitants^ and threw the whole dijlri^i into confujion ; 
 the inhabitants^ many of them^ left the country^ and 
 deferted the cultivation of their lands, of courfe the 
 farmers were difappointed of their colle5iions, and they 
 have fmce failed^ and the Company have loft; a con- 
 fiderable part of what the farmers were to pay for the 
 jaghire. Being afked. Who thefe farmers were ? he 
 faid. One of them was the renter of the St. Thome 
 diftrict, near Madras, and the other, and the moft 
 refponfible, was a Madras dubalh. Being afl<ed. 
 Who he was dubafh to ? He faid, To Mr. Caff- 
 ma', or. 
 
 Being afked. Whether the leafe was made upon 
 higher terms than the diftri6l was rated to him 
 by the Rajah ? he faid. It was. Being then afked. 
 What reafon was affigned why the diltridt was not 
 kept under the former management by amildars, 
 or let to perfons. in the Tanjore country acquaint- 
 ed with the diftrid: ? he faid. No reafons were af- 
 /]G;ned : he was diredled from Madras to adver- 
 life them to be let to perfons of the country ; but 
 befoie he received any propofal, he received ac- 
 counts
 
 [ 15 i 
 
 tfounts that they were let at Madras in confequence 
 of public advertifements which had been made 
 there : he believes, indeed, there were very few 
 men in thofe diflricfls reiponfible enough to have 
 been entrufted with the management of thofe lands. 
 Being afked, Whether, at the time he was au- 
 thorized to negociate for Nagore in the place of 
 Devicotta, Devicotta was given up to the Rajah ? 
 he faid, No Being afked, Whether- the Rajah of 
 Tan jure did not frequently define that the diftnj^s 
 of Arne and Hanymantygoode fliould be reilored 
 to him, agreeable to treaty, and the Company's 
 orders to Lord Pigot ? he faid, Many a time ; and 
 he tranfmitted his reprefentations regularly to Ma- 
 dras. Being then afked. Whether thofe places 
 ^ere reftored to him ? he faid, Not while he was 
 in India. 
 
 Being afked, Whether he was not authorized 
 and required by the Prefidency at Madras to de- 
 mand a large fum of money over and above the 
 four lacks of pagodas that v/ere to be annually 
 paid by a grant of the Rajah, made in the time 
 of Lord Pigot ? he faid. He was ; to the amount, 
 he believes, of four lacks of pagodas, common- 
 ly known by the name of depofit- money. Being 
 afked. Whether the Rajah did not frequently plead 
 his inability to pay that money ? he laid. He did 
 every time he mentioned it, and complained loud- 
 ly of the demand. Being allied, Whether he 
 thinks thofe complaints were well founded ? he 
 fays. He thinks the Rajah of Tanjore was not only 
 not in a tlate of ability to pay the depofit-money, 
 but that the annual payment of four lacks of 
 pagodas was more than his revenues ^could af- 
 ford. Being afked, Vvhether he was not fre- 
 quently obliged to borrow money, in order to pay 
 the inltalments of the annual payments, and fuch 
 parts as he paid of the depofit ? he faid, Yes, 
 
 he
 
 X t6 1 
 
 he was. Being alked. Where he borrowed the 
 money ? he faid, He believes principally from 
 foucais or native bankers, and fome at Madras, 
 as he told him. Being a(ked, Whether he told 
 him that his credit was very good, and that he 
 borrowed upon moderate intereft ? he faid, That 
 he told him he found great difficulties in raifing 
 money, and was obliged to borrow at a moft ex- 
 orbitant intereft, even fome of it at 48 per cent, 
 and be believes not a great deal under it : he de- 
 fired him (>ihe witnefs) to /peak to one of the foucars 
 cr hankers at Tanjore, to acccmmedate him with a loan 
 of money ; that man fhewed him an account between 
 him and the Rajah^ from which it appeared that he 
 tharged 48 per cent, hefides compound interejl. Being 
 afked. Whether the fums due were large ? he faid. 
 Yes, they were confiderable ; though he does noc 
 recoiled the amount. Being afked. Whether the 
 banker lent the money ? he faid, He would nor, 
 \inlefs the witnefs could procure him payment o 
 his old arrears* 
 
 Being afked. What notice did the government 
 of Madras take of the King of Tanjore's repre- 
 fentations of the flate of his affairs, and his ina- 
 bility to pay ? he faid. He does not recoiled that, 
 in their correfpondence with him, there was any 
 rcafoning upon the fubjed ; and in his corre- 
 fpondence with Sir Thomas Rumbold, upon the 
 amount of the jaghire, he feemed very delirous of 
 adopting the demand of government to the Ra- 
 iah's circumflances ; but whilft he flaid at Tan- 
 jore, the Rajah was not exonerated from any part 
 of his burthens. Being afked. Whether they ever 
 defired the Rajah to make up a flatement of his 
 accounts, difburfements, debts, and payments, to 
 the Company, in order to afcertain whether the 
 country was able to pay the increafing demands 
 upon it.'* he faid. Through him he is certain they 
 
 never
 
 t i7 i 
 
 never did. Being then afked, If he ever heard 
 whether they did through any one elfe ? he faid. 
 He never did. 
 
 Being afked, Whether the Rajah is not bound 
 to furnifli the cultivators of land with feed for their 
 crops, according to the cuftom of the country ? he 
 faid, The king of Tanjore, as proprietor of the land^ 
 always makes advances of money for feed for the 
 cultivation of the land. Being then afked, If mo- 
 ney beyond his power of furnifhing fhould be ex- 
 torted from him, might it not prevent, in the firft 
 inflance, the means of cultivating the country ? he 
 faid. It certainly does, he knows it for a fa5i\ 
 and he knows that when he left the country there 
 were fever al difirils which were uncultivated from 
 that caufe. Being allied. Whether it is not ne- 
 celTary to be at a confiderable expence in order 
 to keep up the mounds and water-courfes ? He 
 faid, A very conftderchle one annually. Being 
 afked. What would be the confequence if money 
 Ihould fail for that ? he faid. In the firft inflance 
 the country would he partially, fuppUed with watery 
 fome dijlrils would he overflowed^ and others would 
 be parched. Being afked. Whether there is not 
 a confiderable dam, called the Anicut, on the 
 keeping up of which the profperity of the coun- 
 try greatly depends, and which requires a great 
 expence ? he faid, Yes, there is , the whole of 
 the Tanjore country is admirably well fupplied 
 with water, nor can he conceive any method could 
 be fallen upon more happily adapted to the culti- 
 vation and profperity of the country ; bur, as the 
 Anicut is the fource of that profperity, any injury 
 done to that muft efientially affedt all the other 
 works in the country ; it is a mofl flupendous 
 piece of mafonry, but from the very great floods 
 frequently requiring repairs, which if negleded 
 not only the expence of repairing muft be greatly 
 
 increafed.
 
 i 28 1 
 
 increafed, but a general injury done to the whol^ 
 country. Being afked. Whether that dam has; 
 been kept in as good prefervation fince the preva- 
 lence of the Englifh government as before ? he 
 faid. From his own knowledge he cannot teW, but 
 from every thing he has read or heard of the for- 
 mer profperity and opulence of the kings of Tanjore, 
 he fhould fuppofe not. Being afked. Whether he 
 does not know of feveral attempts that have been 
 made to prevent the repair, and even to damage 
 the work ? he faid. The Rajah himfelf frequently 
 complained of that to him, and he has likewife 
 heard it from others at Tanjore. Being afked. 
 Who it was that attempted thofe ads of violence ? 
 he faid. He was told it was the inhabitants of the 
 Nabob's country adjoining to the Anicut. Being 
 afked. Whether they were not fet on or infligated by 
 the Nabob ? he anfwered. The Rajah faid fo. And 
 being afked. What fleps the Prefident and Coun- 
 cil took to punilh the authors, and prevent thofe 
 violences ? he faid, To the beft of his recollec- 
 tion, the Governor told him he would make en- 
 quiries into it, but he does not know that any en- 
 quiries were made : That Sir Thomas Rumbold, 
 the Governor, informed him that he had laid his 
 reprefentations with refped to the Anicut before 
 the Nabob, who denied that his people had given 
 any interruption to the repairs of that work. 
 
 loth May. 
 
 Being afked. What he thinks the real clear receipt 
 of the revenues of Tanjore were worth when he left ^ 
 it ? he faid. He cannot lay what was the net amount, 
 as he does not know the expence of the Rajah's col- 
 Iciftion, but while he was at Tanjore he underflood 
 from the Rajah himfelf, and from his miniflers, that 
 the grofs coUedion did not exceed 9 lacks of pa- 
 godas
 
 [29 ]^ 
 
 godas (;^. 360,000). Being aflced. Whether he^ 
 thinks the country could pay the 8 lacks of pago- 
 das which had been demanded to be paid in the. 
 courfe of one year ? he faid, Clearly not. Being 
 afked. Whether there was not an attempt made to. ^ 
 remove the Rajah's minifter, upon fome delay in 
 payment of the depofit ? he laid, The Governor of 
 Madras wrote to that efFecfl:, which he reprefented 
 to the Rajah. Being afked, Who was mentioned , 
 to fucceed to the Minifter that then was, in cafe 
 he fhould be removed ? he faid, When Sir Heftor 
 Munro came afterwards to Tanjore, the old Dau- 
 biere was mentioned, and recommended to the . 
 Rajah as fucceflbr to his then Dewan. Being* 
 afked, Of what age was the Daubiere at that time ? 
 he faid, Of a very great age, upwards of fourfcore. 
 Being allied. Whether a perfon called Kanonga . 
 Saba Pilla was not likewife named ? he faid, Yes, 
 he was, he was recommended by Sir Thomas 
 Rumbold ; and one recommendation as well as I 
 can recollefljWent through me. Being afked, What 
 was the reafon of his being recommended ? he faid. 
 He undertook to pay off the Rajah's debts, and to 
 give fecurity for the regular payment of the Ra- 
 jah's inftalments to the Company. Seing aflced. 
 Whether he offered to give any fecurity for preferv- . 
 ing the country from oppreffion, and for fupport- 
 ing the dignity of the Rajah and his people? he 
 faid, He does not know that he did, or that it was ' 
 afked of him. Being aflced. Whether he was a per- 
 fon agreeable to the Rajah ? he faid, He was not. 
 Being afked. Whether he was not a perfon who had 
 fled out of the country to avoid the refentment of 
 the Rajah ? he faid, He was. Being afked. Whe- 
 ther he was not charged by theRdjah with mal-prac' 
 tices, and breach of trutt relative to hiseflrdts ? he 
 faid. He was ; but he told the Governor that he 
 would account for his ccnuucl, and explain every ^ 
 ' 5 thing*
 
 t 3 1 
 
 thing to tlie fatisfaftion of the Rajah. Being afked. 
 Whether the Rajah did not confider this man as in 
 the intereft: of his enemies, and particularly of the 
 Nabob of A root and Mr. Benfield ? he faid, He 
 docs not recolle<5t that he did mention that to him ; 
 he remembers to have heard him complain of a 
 tranfadion between Kanonga Saba Pilla and Mr. 
 Benfield -, but he told him he had been guilty of a 
 variety of mal-pralices in his adminiftration, that 
 he had opprefled the people, and defrauded him.'* 
 Being alkcd. In what branch of bufinefs the Rajah ; 
 had formerly employed him ? he faid. He was at^ 
 one time, he believes, renter of the whole country, 
 was fuppofed to have great influence with the Rajah, 
 and was in fat Dewan fome time. Being afked. 
 Whether the nomination of that man was not par- 
 ticularly odious to the Rajah ? he faid. He found 
 the Rajah's mind fo exceedingly averfe to that man, 
 that he believes he would almoft as foon have fub- 
 mitted to his being depofed, as to fubmit to the 
 nomination of that man to be his prime minifter, 
 
 13 May. 
 
 MR. PETRIE being afked, Whether he was in-' 
 formed by the Rajah, or by others, at Tanjore or 
 Madras, that Mr. Benfield, whilfc he managed the 
 revenues at Tanjore, during the ufurpation of the 
 Nabob, did not treat the inhabitants with great 
 rigour ? he faid. He did hear from the Rajah, that 
 Mr. Benfield did treat the inhabitants with rigour 
 during the time he had any thing to do with the 
 adminiftration of the revenues of Tanjore Being 
 afked. If he recoUefts in what particulars? he faid. 
 The Rajah particularly complained, that grain had 
 been delivered out to the inbabitants, for the pur- 
 pofes of cultivation, at a higher price than the 
 market price of grain in the country ; he cannot 
 10 fay
 
 [ 31 ] 
 
 fay the a(5tual difference of price, but it (Iruck 
 him at the time as fomething very confiderable. 
 Being afked. Whether that money was.all recovered 
 from the inhabitants ? he faid. The Rajah of Tan- 
 jore told him, that the money wasall recovered from 
 the inhabitants. Being afked. Whether he did 
 not hear that the Nabob exafted from the country 
 of Tanjore, whilft he was in poflefTion of it ? he 
 faid. From the accounts which he received at Tan- 
 jore, of the revenues for a number of years paft, 
 it appeared, that the Nabob colleded from the 
 country, while he was in pofTeflion, rather more 
 than 16 lacks of pagodas annually ; whereas, when 
 he was at Tanjore, it did not yield more than 9 
 lacks. Being afked. From whence that difference 
 arofe ? he faid, when Tanjore was conquered for 
 the Nabob, he has been told that many thoufand 
 of the native inhabitants lied from the country, 
 fome into the fouthern provinces, fome into the 
 country of Myfore, and others into the domi- 
 nions of the Marattas ; he underftood from the 
 fame authority, that while the Nabob was in pof- 
 feffion of the country, many inhabitants from the 
 Carnatic, allured by the fuperior fertility and opu- 
 lence of Tanjore, and encouraged by the Nabob, 
 took up their refidence there, which enabled the 
 Nabob to cultivate the whole country ; and, upon 
 the refloration of the Rajah, he has heard that 
 the Carnatic inhabitants were carried back to their 
 own country, which left a confiderable blank in 
 the population,' which was- not re-placed while he 
 was there, principally owing to an opinion which 
 prevailed through the country, that the Rajah's 
 government was not to be permanent, but that an- 
 other revolution was faft approaching. During 
 the Nabob's government the .price of grain was 
 confiderably higher (ovying to a very unulual fear- 
 city in the- Carnatic) than when he was in Tan- 
 
 K jore.
 
 [ 32 ] 
 
 jore. Being alked. Whether he was ever in the 
 Marawar country ? he faid. Yes ; he was commif- 
 fary to the arn:iy in that expedition. -^-Being afked. 
 Whether that country was much wafted by the war ? 
 4' he faid. Plunder was not permitted to the army, 
 ^ nor did the country fufFer from its operations, ex- 
 cept in caufmg many thoufands of the inhabitants 
 who had been employed in the cultivation of the 
 country to leave it. Being afked. Whether he 
 knows what is done with the palace and inhabitants 
 of Ramnaut? he faid. The town was taken by 
 ftorm, but not plundered by the troops ; it was 
 immediately delivered up to the Nabob's eldeft 
 fon. Being afked, Whether great riches were not 
 fuppofed to be in that palace and temple ? he faid. 
 It was univerfally believed fo. Being afked, What 
 account was given of them ? he faid. He cannot 
 tell ; every thing remained in the pofTefTion of the 
 Nabob. Being afked, What became of the chil- 
 dren and women of the family of the prince of 
 that country ? he faid. The Rajah was a minor ; 
 the government was in the hands oftheRanny, his 
 mother *, from general report he has heard they 
 were carried to Trichinopoly, and placed in con- 
 finement there. Being afked. Whether he per- 
 ceived any difference in the face of the Carnatic 
 when he firft knew it, and when he laft knew it ? 
 he faid. He thinks he did, particularly in its popu- 
 lation. Being afked. Whether it was better or 
 worl'e ? he faid. It was not fo populous. Being 
 afked. What is the condition of the Nabob's 
 eldeft fon ? he faid, He was in the Black Town 
 of Madras, when he left the country. dicing 
 alked. Whether he was entertained there in a man- 
 ner fuitable to his birth and expcftations ? he laid. 
 No ; he lived there without any of thofe exterior 
 marks of fplendor which princes of his rank in 
 India are particularly fond of. Being afked, Whe- 
 ther
 
 t 33 ] 
 
 thcr he has not heard that his appointments were 
 poor and mean ? he faid. He has heard that they 
 were not equal to his rank and expeftations. Being 
 afked. Whether he had any (hare in the govern- 
 ment ? he faid. He believes none -, for fome years 
 pad the Nabob has delegated moft of the powers 
 of government to his fecond fon Being afked. 
 Whether the Rajah did not complain to him of the 
 behaviour of Mr. Benficld to himfelf perfonally ; 
 and what were the particulars ? he faid, He did fo, 
 and related to him the following particulars : 
 About fifteen days after Lord Pigot's confinement, 
 Mr. Benfield came to Tanjore, and delivered the 
 Rajah two letters from the then Governor, Mr. 
 Stratton, one public, and the other private ; he 
 demanded an immediate account of the prefents 
 which had been made to Lord Pigot, payment of 
 the tunkahs, which he (Mr. Benfield) had received 
 from the Nabob upon the country -, and that the 
 Rajah fhould only write fuch letters to the Madras 
 government as Mr. Benfield Ihould approve, and 
 give to him : the Rajah anfwered, that he did not 
 acknowledge the validity of any demands made by 
 the Nabob upon the country ; that thofe tun- 
 kahs related to accounts which he (the Rajah) had 
 no concern with , that he never had given Lord Pigot 
 any prefents, but Lord Pigot had given him many ; 
 and that, as to his correlpondence with the Ma- 
 dras government, he would not trouble Mr. Ben- 
 field, becaufe he would write his letters himfelf 
 That the Rajah told the witnefs, that by reafon of 
 thisanfwerhe was much threatened, in confequencc 
 of which he defired Colonel Harper, who then 
 commanded at Tanjore, to be prefent at his next 
 interview with Mr. Benfield -, when Mr. Benfield 
 denied many parts of the preceding converfation, 
 and threw the blame upon his interpreter Comroo, 
 When Mr. Benfield found (as the Rajah informed 
 K 2 him)
 
 [ 34 ] 
 
 him) that he could not carry thefe points, which 
 had brought him to Tanjore, he prepared to fet off 
 for Madras ; that the Rajah fent him a letter which 
 he had drawn out, in anfwer to one which Mr. Ben- 
 field had brought him ; that Mr. Benfield difap- 
 provcd of the anfwer, and returned it by Comroo 
 to the Durbar, who did not deliver it into the 
 Rajah's hands, but threw it upon the ground, 
 and exprefied himfelf improperly to him. 
 
 Being afked. Whether it was at the King of 
 Tanjore's defire, that fuch perfons as Mr. Benfield 
 and Comroo had been brought into his prefence ? 
 he faid. The Rajah told him, that when Lord Pigot 
 came to Tanjore, to reftore him to his dominions, 
 Comroo, without being fent for, or defired to come 
 to the palace, had found means to get accefs to his 
 perfon ; he made an offer of introducing Mr. Ben- 
 field to the Rajah, which he declined. Being 
 afked, Whether the military officer commanding 
 there protedted the Rajah from the intrufion of fuch 
 people? he laid. The Rajah did not tell him that 
 he called upon the military officer to prevent thefc 
 intrufions ; but that he defired Colonel Harper 
 to be prefent as a witnefs to what might pafs be- 
 tween him and Mr. Benfield. Being afked, If it 
 is ufual for perfons of the conditions and occupa- 
 tions of Mr, Benfield and Comroo to intru'de them- 
 felves into the prefence of the Princes' of the 
 country, and to. treat them with fuch freedom ? 
 he faid, Certainly it is not j lefs there than in any 
 other country. rBeing afked, Whether the K'ng 
 of Tanjore has 'no Minillers to' whom application^ 
 might be made, to' tranfadt luch bufinels as Mr.* 
 Benfield and ComroO had to do in the country? 
 he faid. Undoubtedly ; his min^fter is the perfon 
 whofe province it is to tranfad:' that bufinefs. 
 Being afked, Before the invafron. of the Britifh 
 troops into Tanjore, v/hat would have been the 
 
 confcquence.
 
 C 35 J 
 
 confequence, if Mr. Ben field had intruded himfelf 
 into the Rajah's prelence, and behaved in that 
 manner ? he laid. He could not fay what would 
 have been the confequence j but the attempt would 
 have been madnefs, and could not have happened. 
 Being alked, Whether the Rajah had not particular 
 exceptions to Comroo, and thought he had betrayed 
 him in very efiential points ? he faid, Yes, he had. 
 Being afked, Whether the Rajah has not been ap- 
 prifed that the Company have made ftipulations, 
 that their Servants Ihould not interfere in the con- 
 cerns of his government ? he faid. He fignified it 
 to the Rajah, that it was the Company's pofitivc 
 orders, and that any of their Servants fo interfer- 
 ing would incur their highefl: difpleafure. 
 
 APPENDIX, N* 8. 
 Referred to from p. 75, &c. 
 
 Commiffioners amended claufes for the Fort St, 
 George difpatch, relative to the indeterminate 
 rights and pretenfions of the Nabob of Arcor, 
 and Rajah of Tanjore. 
 
 IN our letter of the 28th January laft, we 
 ftated the reafonablenefs of our expectation that 
 certain contributions towards the expences of the 
 war, (hould be made by the Rajah of Tanjore. 
 Since writing that letter, we have received one 
 from the Rajah, of the i5th of Odober lad, 
 which contains at length his reprefentacions of his 
 inability to make fuch further paymenc. We 
 think it unneceflary here to difculs whether thefe 
 reprefentations are or are not exaggerated, becaufe, 
 from the explanations we have given of our wifhcs 
 
 K 3 for
 
 E 36 ] 
 
 for a new arrangement in future, both with thtf 
 Nabob of Arcot, and the Rajah of Tanjore, and 
 the direftions we have given you to carry that 
 arrangement into execution, we think it impolitic 
 to ii^fift upon any demands upon the Rajah for 
 the expences of the late war, beyond the fum of 
 four lacks of pagodas annually ; fuch a demand 
 might tend to interrupt the harmony which fhould 
 prevail between the Company and the Rajah, and 
 impede the great obiefls of the general fyftem wc 
 have already fo fully explained to you. 
 
 But although it is not our opinion that any fur- 
 ther claim fhould be made on the Rajah, for his 
 Ihare of the extraordinary expences of the late 
 war, it is by no means our intention in any man- 
 ner to affed the jufl: claim which the Nabob has 
 on the Rajah for the arrears due to him on ac- 
 count of pefhcufh, for the regular payment of 
 which wc became guarantee by the treaty of 1762 ; 
 but we have already expreffed to you our hopes 
 that the Nabob may be induced to allow thefe ar- 
 rears and the growing payments, when due, to be 
 received by the Company, and carried in difcharge 
 of his debt to us. You are at the fame time to 
 ufe every means to convince him, that when this 
 debt (hall be difcharged, it is our intention, as we 
 are bound by the above treaty, to exert ourfelves 
 to the utmoft of our power to infure the conftant 
 and regular payment of it into his own hands. 
 
 We obfervc, by the plan fent to us by our go- 
 vernor of Fort St. George, on the 30th 06lober 
 178 1, that an arrangement is there propofed, for 
 the receipt of thofe arrears from the Rajah, in 
 three years. 
 
 We are unable to decide how far this propofal 
 may be confiftent with the prefent ftate of the 
 Rajah's refources ; but we diredt you to ufe all 
 proper means to bring thefe arrears to account as 
 
 fooa
 
 [ $7 ] 
 
 foon as pofllble, confiftently with a due attention 
 to this confideration. 
 
 Clauses H. 
 
 You will obfcrve, that by the 38th fedlion of 
 the late adt of parliament, it is enadted. That for 
 fettling upon a permanent foundation the prefent 
 indeterminate rights of the Nabob of Arcot and 
 the Rajah of Tanjore, with refped to each other, 
 we Ihould take into our immediate confideration 
 the faid indeterminate rights and pretenfions, and 
 take and purfue fuch meafures as in our judgment 
 and difcretion fhall be beft calculated to afcertain 
 and fettle the fame according to the principles, and 
 the terms and ftipulations contained in the treaty 
 of 1762, between the faid Nabob and the faid 
 Rajah. 
 
 On a retrofpeft of the proceedings tranfmitted 
 to us from your prefidency, on the fubjeft of the 
 difputes which have heretofore arifen between the 
 Nabob and the Rajah, we find the following points 
 remain unadjufted, viz. 
 
 ift. Whether the Jaghire of Arnee fhall be 
 enjoyed by the Nabob, or delivered up either to 
 the Rajah, or the defcendants, Trcmaul Row, the 
 late Jaghircdar. 
 
 2d. Whether the fort and diftrid of Hana-^ 
 mantagoody, which is admitted by both parties to 
 be within the Marawar, ought to be poflefled by 
 the Nabob, or to be delivered up by him to the 
 Rajah. 
 
 3d. To whom the government fhare of the 
 crop of the Tanjore country, of the year 1775-6, 
 properly belongs. 
 
 Laftly. Whether the Rajah has a right, by 
 wfagc and cuftom, or ought, from the neceffity of 
 
 K 4 the
 
 [ 38 1 
 
 tKe cafe, to be permitted to repair fuch part'*^" 
 the Annacut, or dam and banks of the Cavery, as 
 lie within the diftrid of Trichinopoly, and to take 
 earth and fand in the Trichinopoly territory, for 
 the repairs of the dam and banks within either or 
 both of thofe diftritts. 
 
 In order to obtain a complete knowledge of the 
 fofl's and circumftances relaiive to the feveral points 
 in difpute, and how far they are connedled with 
 the treaty of 1762, we have with great circum- 
 fpeftion examined into all the materials before us 
 on thefe fubjeds, and will proceed to ftate to you 
 the refult of our enquiries and deliberations. 
 
 The obje<5ts of the treaty of 1762 appear to 
 be reftrided to the arrears of tribute to be paid to 
 the-Nabob for his paft, claims, -and to-the quantum 
 ^of.the Rajah's future^ tribute or pelhcuflij the 
 ca^ncelling of a certain bond given by'^the Rajahfs 
 father to the father of the Nabob , the confir- 
 mation to the Rajah of the diftridts of Coveladdy 
 and Elangaud, and the reftoration of Tremaul 
 Row to his jaghire of Arnee, in condefcenfion ta 
 the Rajah's requeft, upon certain ftipulations, viz. 
 That the fort of Arnee and'DobyGijdy fhouJd, be 
 retained by the Nabob ; that Tremaul Row fhould' 
 not eret any fortrefs, walled pagodas, or other 
 llrong hold, nor any wall round his dwelling-, 
 houfe, exceeding eight feet high, or two feet thick; 
 and fhould in all things behave himfelf with due 
 obedience to the government -, and that he fhould 
 pay yearly, in the month of July, unto the Nabob 
 or his fucceffors, the fum of ten thoufand rupees, 
 the Rajah thereby becoming the fecurity for Tre- 
 maul Row, that he Ihould in all things demean 
 and behave himfelf accordingly, and pay yearly 
 the flipulated fum. 
 
 Upon a review of this treaty, the . only point 
 
 now
 
 t 39 ] 
 
 rtow in difpnte, which appears to us to be fo im- 
 mediately conne6ted with it as to bring it within 
 the ftridt line of our duty to afcertain and fettle, 
 according to the terms and ftipulations of the 
 treaty, is that refpefting Arnee. For although 
 the other points enumerated may in fome refpeds 
 have a relation to that treaty, yet as they are foreign 
 to the purpofes exprefled in it, and could not be 
 in the contemplation of the contrading parties at 
 the time of making it, thofe difputes cannot in 
 our comprehenfion fall within the line of defcrip- 
 tion of rights and pretenfions to be now afcertained 
 and fettled by us, according to any of the terms 
 and ftipulations of it. 
 
 In refpedl to the jaghire of Arnee, we do not find 
 that our records afford us any fatisfaftory infor- 
 mation by what title the Rajah claims it, or what 
 degree of relationfhip or- connexion has fubfifted 
 between the Rajah and thq Kelledar of Arnee, fave. 
 only that by the treaty of 1762 the former be- 
 came the furety for Tremaul Row's performance 
 of his engagements fpecified therein, as the con- 
 ditions for his reftoration to that jaghire; on the 
 "death of Tremaul Row we perceive that he was 
 fucceeded by his widow, and after her death, by 
 his grandfon Seneevaforow,. both of whom were 
 admitted to the. jaghire! by the. Nabob. 
 ' From your minutes of confultation of the 31ft: 
 Oflober 1770, and the Nabob's letter to the pre- 
 fident, of the 21ft March, , 177 1, and the two 
 letters from Rajah Beerbur, Atchener Punt (who, 
 we prefume, was then the Nabob's manager 
 at Arcot) of the i6th and 18th March, referred 
 to in the Nabob's letter, and tranfmitted therewith 
 to the prefident, we obferve that, previous to the 
 treaty of 1762, Mr. Pigot concurred in the expe- 
 diency of the Nabob's taking pofleflion of this 
 jaghire, on account of the troublefome and refrac- 
 :. .i tory
 
 [ 40 ] 
 
 tory behaviour of the Arnec Braminees, by their 
 affording proteftion to all difturbers ; who, by 
 reafon of the little diftance between Arnee and 
 Arcot, fled to the former, and were there proteded, 
 and not given up, though demanded. 
 
 That though the jaghire was reftored in 1762, 
 it was done under fuch conditions and reftridtions 
 as were thought beft calculated to preferve the 
 peace and good order of the place, and due obe- 
 dience to government. 
 
 That neverthelefs the Braminees (quarrelling 
 among themfelves) did afterwards, in exprefs vio- 
 lation of the treaty, enlift and affemble many 
 thoufand fepoys, and other troops ; that they 
 credled gaddies and other fmall forts, provided 
 themfelves with wall pieces, fmall guns, and other 
 warlike ftores, and raifed troubles and difturban- 
 ccs in the neighbourhood of the city of Arcot, 
 and the forts of Arnee, and Shaw Gaddy -, and 
 that finally they imprifoncd the hircarrahs of the 
 Nabob, fent with his letters and inftrudtions, in 
 purfuance of the advice of your board, to require 
 certain of the Braminees to repair to the Nabob of 
 Chepauk, and though peremptorily required to re- 
 pair thither, paid no regard to thofe, or to any other 
 orders from the Circar. 
 
 By the i^th article contained in the inftruflions 
 given by the Nabob to Mr. Dupre, as the bafis for 
 negotiating the treaty made with the Rajah in 1 771, 
 the Nabob required that the Arnee diftrid Ihould 
 be delivered up to the Circar, becaufe the Brami- 
 nees had broken the conditions which they were to 
 have obferved. In the anfwers given by the Rajah 
 to thefe propofitions, he fays, '* I am to give up 
 '* to the Circar the jaghire diftrid of Arnee-,** 
 and on the 7th of November 1771, the Rajah, by 
 letter to Seneewaforow, who appears by your con-i 
 fultations and country correfpondence to have been 
 
 the
 
 C 41 ] 
 
 the grandfon of Tremaul Row, and to have been 
 put in pofleffion of thejaghire at your recommen- 
 dation (on the death of his grandmother) writes, 
 acquainting him, that he had given the Arnec 
 country then in his (Seneewafarow's) pofleflion, to 
 the Nabob, to whofe aumildars Seneewafarow was 
 to deliver up the poffeflion of the country. And 
 in your letter to us of the 28th February 1772, 
 you certified the diftrid of Arnee to be one of the 
 countries acquired by this treaty, and to be of the 
 eftimated value of two lacks of rupees per 
 annum. 
 
 In our orders, dated the 12th April 1775, we 
 declared our determination to replace the Rajah 
 upon the throne of his anceftors, upon certain 
 terms and conditions, to be agreed upon for the 
 mutual benefit of himfelf and the Company, with- 
 out infringing the rights of the Nabob. We de- 
 clared, that our faith ftood pledged by the treaty 
 of 1762 to obtain payment of the Rajah's tribute 
 to the Nabob ; and that for the enfuring fuch pay- 
 ment, the fort of Tanjore fhould be garrifoned by 
 our troops. We directed that you fhould pay no 
 regard to the article of the treaty of 1771, which 
 refpected the alienation of part of the Rajah's do- 
 minions i and we declared, that if the Nabob had 
 not a juft title to thofe territories before the con- 
 clufion of the treaty, we denied that he obtained 
 any right thereby, except fuch temporary fove- 
 reignty, for fecuring the payment of his expences, 
 as is therein mentioned. 
 
 Thefe inftrud:ions appear to have been executed 
 in the month of April 1776-, and by your letter of 
 the 14th May following you certified to us, that 
 the Rajah had been put into the poffeflion of the 
 whole country his father held in 1762, when the 
 treaty was concluded with the Nabob ; but we do 
 not find that you came to any refolution either an- 
 tecedent
 
 [ 42 I 
 
 tecedcnt or fubfequent to this advice, either for 
 queftioning or impeaching the right of the Nabob 
 to the fovereignty of Arnee, or exprcflive of any 
 doubt of his title to it. Neverthelefs we find, 
 that although the Board pafled no fuch refolution, 
 yet your prefident, in his letter to the Nabob, of 
 the 30th July, and 24th Auguft, called upon his 
 highnefs to give up the pofleflion of Arnee to the 
 Rajah ; and the Rajah himfelf, in feveral letters 
 to us, particularly in thofe of 21ft October 1776, 
 and the 7th of June 1777, exprefled histxpedia- 
 tion of our orders for delivering up that fort and 
 diftridl to him; and fo recently as the 15th of 
 October 1785, he reminds us of his former ap- 
 plication, and dates, that the country of Arnee 
 being guaranteed to him by the Company, it of 
 courfe is his right; but that it has not been given 
 up to him, and he therefore earneftly entreats our 
 orders for putting him into the pofleflion of it. 
 We alfo obferve, by your letter of the 14th of 
 October 1779, that the Rajah had not then ac* 
 counted for the Nabob's pefhcufh fince his re- 
 ftoration, but had afllgned as a reafon for his 
 withdrawing it, that the Nabob had retained from 
 him the diftrid: of Arnee, with a certain other 
 diflrict (Hanamantagoody) which is made the 
 lubjecft of another part of our prefent difpatches. 
 
 We have thus dated to you the refult of our 
 enquiry into the grounds of the difpute relative to 
 Arnee ; and as the refearch has offered no evidence 
 in fupport of the Rajah's claimj nor even any lights 
 whereby we can difcover in what degree of rela- 
 tionfliip, by confanginuity, caft, or other circum- 
 ftances, the Rajah now ftands, or formerly flood, 
 with the Killidar of Arnee, or the nature of his 
 connexion with, or command over that diftrid, or 
 the authority he cxercifed or afllimed previous to 
 the treaty of 1771, vve ihould think ourfclves 
 
 highly
 
 t 43 1 
 
 highly reprehenfible in complying with the Rajah*3 
 requcft ; and the more fo, as it is exprefsly dated, 
 in the treaty of 1762, that this fort and diftrift 
 were then in the poffeflion of the Nabob, as well as 
 the perfon of the Jaghiredar, on account of his dif- 
 obcdience, and were reftored to him by the Nabob, 
 in condefcenfion to the Rajah's requeft, upon fuch 
 terms and ftipulaiions as could not, in our judg- 
 ment, have been impofed by the one, or fubmitted 
 to by the other, if the fovereignty of the one, or 
 the dependency of the other, had been at that time 
 a matter of doubt. 
 
 Although thefe materials have not furniflied us 
 with evidence in fupportof the Rajah's claim, they 
 are far from fatisfadlory, to evince the juftice of, or 
 the political neceflity for, the Nabob's continuing 
 to withhold the jaghire from the defcendants of 
 Tremaul Row ; his hereditary right to that jag- 
 hire feems to us to have been fully recognized by 
 the ftipulations of the treaty of 1762, and fo little 
 doubted, that on his death, his widow was admit- 
 ted by the Nabob to hold it, on account, as may be 
 prefumed, of the non-age of his grandfon and heir, 
 Seneewafarow, who appears to have been confirm- 
 ed in the jaghire, on her death, by the Nabob, as 
 the lineal heir and fuccefibr to his grandfather. 
 
 With rcfpcft to Seneewafarow, it does not ap- 
 pear, by any of the proceedings in our poffeflion, 
 that he was concerned in the niifcohdu6t of the 
 Braminees complained of by the Nabob in the 
 year 1770, which rendered it neceflary for his high- 
 nefs to take the jaghire into his own hands, or that 
 he was privy to, or could have prevented thofc 
 difturbances. 
 
 We therefore diredl, that if the heir of Tremaul 
 Row is not at prefenc in poffeffion of the jaghire, 
 and has not, by any violation of the treaty, or ad: of 
 difobedience, incurred a forfeiture thereof, he be 
 
 forthwith
 
 [ 4+ 3 
 
 forthwith reftored to the pofleflion of it, according 
 to the terms and ftipulations of the treaty of 1762. 
 But if any powerful motive of regard to the peace 
 and tranquillity of the Carnatic fhall in your judg- 
 ment render it expedient to fufpend the execution 
 of thefe orders, in that cafe you are with all con- 
 venient fpeed to tranfmit to us your proceedings 
 thereupon, with the full ftate of the fads, and of 
 the reafons which have adluated your condud. 
 
 We have before given it as our opinion that the 
 ftipulations of the treaty of 1762 do not apply to 
 the points remaining to be decided. But the late 
 a<5t of parliament having, from the nature of our 
 connexion with the two powers in the Carnatic, 
 pointed out the expediency, and even neceffity, of 
 fettling the feveral matters in difpute between them, 
 by a fpeedy and permanent arrangement, we now 
 proceed to give you our inftrudtions upon the fe- 
 veral other heads of difputes before enumerated. 
 
 With refpeft to the fort and diftridtof Hanaman- 
 tagoody weobferve that on thereftorationof the Ra- 
 jah in 1776, you informed us in your letter of the 
 14th of May " That the Rajah had been put into 
 " pofleffion of the whole of the country his father 
 *' held in 1762 when the treaty was concluded with 
 *' the Nabob ;** and on the 25th of June you came 
 to the refolution of putting the Rajah into pofef- 
 fion of Hanamantagoody, on the ground of its ap- 
 pearing on reference to the Nabob's inftrudlions to 
 Mr. Dupre in June, 1762, to his reply, and to the 
 Rajah's reprelentations of 25th March, 1771, 
 that Hanamantagoody was actually in the hands of 
 the late Rajah at the time of making the treaty of 
 1762. We have referred as well to thofe papers as 
 to all the other proceedings on this fubje6t, and 
 muft confefs they fall very fhort of demon ftrating 
 to us the truth of that fad. And we find, by the 
 Secret Confultations of Fort William of the 7th 
 
 of
 
 [ 45 ] 
 
 of Auguft, 1776, that the fame doubt was enter- 
 tained by our Governor General and Council. 
 
 But whether, in point of faft, the late Rajah was 
 or was not in pofleflion of Hanamantagoody in 
 1762, it is notorious that the Nabob had always 
 claimed the dominion of the countries of which this 
 fort and diftridt are a part. 
 
 We obferve, that the Nabob is now in the ac- 
 tual pofleflion of this fort and diflirid: ; and we arc 
 not warranted, by any document we have fcen, to 
 concur with the wiflies of the Rajah to difpoflcfa 
 him. 
 
 With regard to the government fliare of the 
 crop of 1775-6, we obferve by the Dobeer's memo- 
 randum, recited in your confultations of the 13th 
 of May, 1776, that it was the efl:abliflied cufl:om 
 of the Tanjore country, to gather in the harveft:, 
 and complete the coUedlions, within the month of 
 March ; but that, for the caules therein particu- 
 larly ft:ated, the harveft (and of courfe the col- 
 Icdion of the government fliare of the crop) 
 was delayed till the month of March was over. 
 We alio obferve, that the Rajah was not re- 
 ftored to his kingdom until the nth of April, 
 1776 ; and from hence we infer, that if the harveft 
 and colle6tion had been finiftied at the ufual time, 
 the Nabob (being then fovereign of the country) 
 would have received the full benefit of that year's 
 crop. 
 
 Although the harveft and collection were de- 
 layed beyond the ulual time, yet we find by the 
 proceedings of your government, and particularly 
 by Mr. Mackay's minute of the 29th of May, 
 1776, and alio by the Dobeer's account, that the 
 greateft part of the grain was cut down whilft 
 the Nabob remained in the government of the 
 country. 
 
 It is diflicult, from the contradidory allegations 
 
 oa
 
 C 46 ] 
 
 on the fubje(5t, to afcertain what ^^as the preCiCt 
 amount of the colledlions made after the Nabob 
 ceafed to have the pofielTion of the country. But 
 whatever it was, it appears from General Stuart's 
 letter of the 2d of April, 1777, that it had been 
 afTerted with good authority, that the far greater 
 part of the government fhare of the crop was plun* 
 dered by individuals, and never came to account in 
 the Rajah's creafury. 
 
 Under all the circumftances of this cafe, we 
 rnuft be of opinion, that the government fliare of 
 the crop of 1776 belonged to the Nabob, as the 
 then reigning fovereign of the kingdom of Tanjore, 
 he being, de fa^o, in the full and abfolute poffcf- 
 fion of the government thereof, and confequently 
 that the affignments made by him of the govern- 
 ment fhare of the crop were valid. 
 
 Neverthelefs, we would by no means be under- 
 ftood by this opinion to fuggefl, that any further 
 demands ought to be made upon the Rajah, in re- 
 fpc(5b of fuch parts of the government fhare of the 
 crop as were colledled by his people. 
 
 For, on the contrary, after fo great a length of 
 time as hath elapfed, we fhould think it highly un- 
 juft that the Rajah fhould be no\^ compelled, ei- 
 ther to pay the fuppofed balances, whatever they 
 may be, or be called upon to render a fpecific ac- 
 count of the colledion made by his people. 
 
 The Rajah has already, in his letter to Governor 
 Stratton, of the 21ft of April, 1777, given his af- 
 furance, that the produce of the preceding year, 
 accounted for to him, was little more than one 
 lack of pagodas; and as you have acquainted us, 
 by your letter of the 14th of Odober, 1779, that 
 the Rajah has adlually paid into our treafury one 
 lack of pagodas, by way of depofit, on account of 
 the Nabob's claims to the crop, till our fentiitients 
 fhould be known, we direft you to furceafe any 
 further demands from the Raiah on that account. 
 
 Wc
 
 t 47 ] 
 
 "We learn by the proceedings, and particularly^ 
 by the Nabob's letter to Lord Pigot, of the 6th 
 of July, 1776, that the Nabob, previous to the 
 reftoration of the Rajah, aftually made aflign- 
 mcnts, or granted tuncaws of the whole of his 
 (hare of the crop to his creditors and troops , and 
 that your government (entertaining the fame opi- 
 nion as we do upon the queftion of right to that 
 fliare) by letter to the Rajah of the 20th Auguft-, 
 
 1776, recommended to him " to reftore to Mr, 
 " Benfield (one of the principal affignees 01* 
 " tuncaw-holders of the Nabob) the grain of the: 
 " laft year, which was in pofleflion of his people, 
 *' and faid to be forcibly taken frorh them j and 
 ** further, to give Mr. Benfield all reafonable af- 
 *' fiftance in recovering fuch debts as Ihould ap- 
 *' pear to have been juftly due to him from the 
 *' inhabitants ; and acquainted the Rajah, that it 
 *' had been judged by a majority of the council^ 
 ** that it was the Company's intention to let the 
 " Nabob have the produce of the crop of 1776, 
 " but that you had no intention that the Rajah 
 " ftiould be accountable for more than the go- 
 " vernment fhare, whatever that might be ; and 
 *' that you did not mean to do rnore than recom* 
 *' mend to him to fee juilice done, leaving tha 
 " manner and time to himfelf.'* Subfequent re- 
 prefentations appear to have been made to the 
 Rajah by your government on the fame fubjedl, in 
 favour of the Nabob's mortgages. 
 
 In anfwer to thefe applications, the Rajah, in 
 his letter to Mr. Stratton, of the 12th January, 
 
 1777, acquainted you, " that he had given orders 
 ** refpecting the grain which Mr. Benfield had 
 ** heaped up in his country j and with regard to 
 " the money due to him by the farmers, that he 
 " had defired Mr. Benfield to bring accounts of 
 " it, that he might limit a time for the payment 
 
 I- " oi
 
 E 48 5 
 
 ** of It, proportionably to their ability, and that 
 *' the neceflary orders for (topping this money ouCf 
 *' of the inhabitants Ihare of the crop, had been, 
 ** fent to the ryots and aumildars ; that Mr. Ben-, 
 " field's gomaftah was then prefent there, and, 
 *' overfavv his affairs-, and that in every thing that 
 *" was j'jft he (the Rajah) willingly obeyed our 
 *' Governor and Council.'* 
 
 Our opinion being, that the Rajah ought to be 
 anfwerable for no more than the amount of what 
 he admits was colledlcd by his people for the go-? 
 vernment fhare of the crop ; and the proceeding* 
 before us not fufficiently explaining whether, irj 
 the fum which the Rajah, by his before-mentioned 
 letter of the 21ft April, 1777, admits to have col- 
 lefted, are included thofe parts of the government 
 Ihare of the crop which were taken by his people 
 from Mr. Benfield, or from any other of the aflig- 
 flees, or tuncaw-holders -, and uninformed as wc 
 alfo are, what compenfation the Rajah has or has 
 not made to Mr. Benfield, or any other of the 
 parties from whom the grain was taken by thcr 
 Rajah's people -, or whether, by n^ans of the Ra- 
 jah's refufal fo to do, or from any other circum-c 
 ilances, any of the perfons difpolTefled of their 
 grain, may have had recourfe to the Nabob for fa- 
 tisfadlion ; we are, for thefe reafons, jncompetens 
 to form a proper judgment what difpofition ought 
 in juftice to be made of the one lack of pagodas 
 depofited by the Rajah. But as our fentimenta 
 and intentions are fo fully exprefled upon the 
 whole fubjedl, we prefume you, who are upon the 
 fpot, can have no doubt or difficulty in making 
 fuch an application of the depofit as will be con- 
 fident with thofe principles of juftice whereon our 
 fentiments are founded. But fhould any fuch 
 difficulty fuggeft: itfelf, you will fufpend any ap- 
 plicadon of the depofit, until you have fully ex* 
 8 plained
 
 [ 49 3 
 
 plained the fame to us, and have received our fur- 
 ther orders. 
 
 With refpeft to the repairs of Annacut and 
 banks of the Cavery, we have upon various occa- 
 lions fully expreffed to you our fentiments, and in 
 particular, in our general letter of the 4th July 
 1777, we referred you to the inveftigation and 
 correfpondence on that fubjed: of the year 1764, 
 and to the report made by Mr. James Bourchier, 
 on his perfonal furvey of the waters, and to feveral 
 letters of the year 1765, and 1767 , we alfo, by our 
 faid general letter, acquainted you, that it appeared 
 to us perfedly rcafonable that the Rajah (hould be 
 permitted to repair thofe banks, and the Annacut, 
 in the fame manner as had been pradiifed in times 
 pail i and we directed you to eftablifli fuch regu- 
 lations, by reference to former ufage, for keeping 
 the faid banks in repair, as would be efFe<5lual, and 
 remove all caufe of complaint in future. 
 
 Notwithltanding fuch our inflrudions, the Rajah, 
 in his letter to us of the 15th 06lober 1783, com- 
 plains of the deftruftion of the Annacut ; and as 
 the cultivation of the Tanjore country appears, 
 by all the furveys and reports of our engineers 
 employed on that fervice, to depend altogether on 
 a fupply of water by the Cavery, which can only 
 be fccured by keeping the Annacut and banks in 
 repair, we think it neceffary to repeat to you our 
 orders of the 4th July 1777, on the fubjed of 
 thofe repairs. 
 
 And further, as it appears, by the furvey and re- 
 port of Mr. Pringle, that thole repairs are at- 
 tended with a much heavier expence -when done 
 with materials taken from the Tanjore diftri(5t, 
 than with thofe of Trichinopoly, and that the lalt- 
 iTJentioned materials arc far preferable to the other, 
 it is our order. That if any occurrences ihould 
 make it neceffary or expedient, you apply to the 
 
 JL 2 Nabob
 
 [ 50 ] 
 
 Nabob in our name, to defire that his highnef^ 
 .will permit proper fpots of ground to be fct out, 
 and bounded by proper marks on the Trichino- 
 poly fide, where the Rajah and his people may at 
 all times take fand and earth fufBcient for thefe re- 
 pairs i and that his highnefs will grant his leafe of 
 i'uch fpots of land for a certain term of years to 
 the Company, at a reafonable annual rent, to the 
 intent that through you the cultivation of the 
 Tanjore country may be fecured, without infring- 
 ing or impairing the rights of the Nabob. 
 
 If any attempts have been, or fhall be hereafter 
 made to divert the water from the Cavery into 
 the Coleroon, by contrading the current of the 
 tJpper or Lower Cavery, by planting long grafs, 
 as mentioned in Mr. Pri^gle's report, or by any 
 other means, we have no doubt his. highnefs, on a 
 proper reprefentation to him in oar name, will 
 prevent His people from taking any meafures 
 detrimental to the Tanjore country, in the profpc- 
 rity of which his highnefs, as well as the Conv 
 pany, is materially interefted. 
 
 Should you fucceed in reconciling the Nabob 
 to this meafure, v/e think it but juft, that the pro- 
 pofed leafe fliall remain no longer in force than 
 whilft the Rajah fhall be pundual in the paymen-c 
 of the annual pefhculh to the Nabob, as well as 
 the rent to be referved for the fpots of ground. 
 And' in order effeflually to remove all future oc- 
 cafions of jealoufy and complaint between the par- 
 ties, that the Rajah on the one hand may be fa- 
 tisfied that all neceflary works for the cultivatioj^ 
 of his country will be made and kept in repair ; 
 and that the Nabob on the other hand may be fa- 
 tisfied that no encroachment on his rights can be 
 made, nor any works detrimental to the fertility 
 of his country erefled ; we think it proper that 
 it fhould be recommended to the parties, as a part 
 
 of
 
 I 51 ] 
 
 of the adjuftment of this very important point, 
 that fkilful engineers, appointed by the Company, 
 be employed at the Rajah's expence to condudl all 
 the neceffary Works, with the ftri6left attention to 
 the refpedlive rights and interefts of both parties. 
 This will remove every probability of injury or 
 difpute ; but fhould either party unexpededly con- 
 ceive themfelves to be injured, immediate redrefs 
 might be obtained by application to the govern- 
 ment of Madras, under whofe appointment the 
 engineer will adl, without any difcuflion between 
 the parties, which might difturb that harmony 
 which it is fo much the wifh of the Company to 
 eftablifh and preferve, as effential to the profperity 
 and peace of the Carnatic. 
 
 Having now, in obedience to the diredions of 
 the aft of parliament, upon the fuUeft confidera- 
 tion of the indeterminate rights and pretenfions of 
 the Nabob and Rajah, pointed out fuch meafures 
 and arrangements as in our judgment and difcrc- 
 tion will be beft calculated to afcertain and fettle 
 the fame, we hope, that upon a candid confidera- 
 tion of the whole fyftem, although each of the 
 parties may feel difappointed in our decifion on 
 particular points, they will be convinced that we 
 have been guided inour inveftigation by principles 
 of ftrift juftice and impartiality, and that the moit 
 anxious attention has been paid to the fubilantial 
 interefts of both parties, and fuch a general and 
 comprehenfive plan of arrangements propofed, as 
 will moll eifeftually prevent all future diffatisfac* 
 tion. 
 
 Approved by the Board, 
 
 HENRY DUNDAS, 
 Whitehall, WALSINGHAM, 
 
 Oa. 27, 1784. W.W. GRENVILLE, 
 
 MULGRAVE. 
 
 L 3 A P P E N:
 
 [ 52 ] 
 
 APPENDIX, N' 9: 
 Referred to from p. 78, &c. ' 
 
 EXTRACT of a Letter from the Court of Direct 
 tors, to the Prcfident and Council of p'orr St. 
 George, as amended and approved by the 
 Board of Control. 
 
 'VJU^ E have taken into our confideration the fe- 
 veral advices and papers received from In- 
 dia, relative to the aflignment of the revenues of 
 the Carnatic, from the conclufion of the Bengal 
 treaty to the date of your letter in Oflober, 1783, 
 together with the reprefentations ot the Nabob of 
 the Carnatic upon that fubjed: ; and although we 
 might contend, that the agreement fhould fubfift 
 till we are fully reimburfed his highnefs's propor- 
 tion of the cxpences of the war, yet from a prin- 
 ciple of moderation and perfonal attachment to our 
 old ally, his highnefs the Nabob of the Carna- 
 tic, for whofe dignity and happinefs we are ever 
 felicitous, and to cement more llrongly, if poffible, 
 that mutual harmony and confidence which our 
 connedion makes fo effentially neceffary for 
 our reciprocal fafety and welfare, and for re- 
 moving from bis mind every idea of fecret dejign 
 on our part to leffen his authority over the internal go- 
 vernment of the Carnatic^ and the colledlion and ad- 
 miniftration of its revenues, we have refolved that 
 the aflignment fhall be furrendered ; and we do ac- 
 cordingly direct our prcfident, in whofe name the 
 
 alignment
 
 1 53 1 
 
 ifTignment was taken, without delay^ to furrcnScr 
 the fame to his highnefs. But while we have 
 adopted this refolution, we repole entire confidence 
 in his highnefs, that, acfbuared by the fame motives 
 of liberality, and feelings of old friendfliip and al- 
 liance, he will chearfully and inftantly accede to 
 fiich arrangements as are neceflary to be adopted 
 for our common fafety, and for preferving the re- 
 fpct, rights, and interefts we enjoy in the Carna- 
 tic. The following are the heads and principles 
 of fuch an arrangement as we are decifively of 
 opinion muft be adopted forthefe purpofes, viz. 
 
 That for making a provilion for difcharging the 
 Nabob's juil debts to the Company and indivi- 
 duals (ror the payment of which his highnefs hath 
 fo frequently exprcfled the greateft folicitude) the 
 Nabob jhall give foucar fecurity for the punSlual pay^ 
 ment^ by infialments^ into the Company's treafury, of 
 twelve lacks ot pagodas per annum (as voluntarily 
 propofcd by his highnefs) until thofe debts, witfi 
 intereit, (hall be difcharged ; and (hall alfo confent 
 that the equitable provifion lately made by the 
 Britiih legiflature for the liquidation of thofe debts, 
 'Cnd fuch refolutions and determinations as we Ihall 
 hereafter make, under the authority of that provi- 
 fion for the liquidation and adjuftment of the faid 
 debts, hondfU.e incurred, Ihaii be carded into full 
 force and etfed:. 
 
 Should any difficulty arife between hts highnefs 
 and our government of Fort St. Georcre^ in refpe<3: 
 to the refponfibility of the foucar fecurity, or the times 
 and terms ot the initalments, it is our pleafure that 
 you pay obedience to the orders and refolutions of 
 ur Governor General and Council of Bengal in 
 T^fpeft thereto, not doubting but the Nabob will 
 in fuch cafe confent to abide by the determination 
 f our faid fuprcme government. 
 
 L 4 Although,"
 
 [ 54 1 
 
 Although, from the great confidence we repoie 
 in the honour and integrity of the Nabob, and 
 from an earneft defire not to fubje6t him to an/ 
 cmbarrafTment on this occafion, we have not pro- 
 pofed any fpecific afllgnment of territory or reve- 
 nue for fecuring the payments aforefaid, we ne 
 verthelefs think it our duty, as well to the private 
 creditors, whofe interefts in this refped: have been 
 fo folemnly intrufled to us by the late act of parlia- 
 ment, as from regard to the debt due to the Com- 
 pany, to infift on a declaration that in the event of 
 the failure of the fecurity propofed, or in default 
 qf payment at the ftipulated periods, we referve to 
 ourfelves full right to demand of the Nabob fuch 
 additional fecurity^ by afilgnment on his country, as 
 Ihall be effedual for anfwering the purpoles of the 
 agreement. 
 
 After having conciliated the mind of the Na- 
 bob to this meafure, and adjufted the particulars, 
 you are to carry the fame into execution by a for- 
 mal deed between his highnefs and the Company, 
 according to the tenor of thefe inftru6lions. 
 
 As the adminiftration of the Britifh interefts and 
 ^onnedlions in India has in fome refpefts aflumed 
 a new (hape by the late ad of Parliament, and a 
 general peace in India has been happily accom- 
 plifhed, the prefent appears to us to be the proper 
 period, and which cannot without great impru- 
 vlence be omitted, to fettle and arrange, by a juft and 
 equitable treaty, a plan for the future defence and 
 protediqn of the Carnatic, both in time of peace 
 and \var, on afolid and lading foundation. 
 
 For the accompliihm^enc of this great and ne- 
 ceflary cbjed, we direct you, in the name of the 
 Company, to ufe your utmofl endeavours to im- 
 prcfs the expediency of, and the good effeds to be 
 derived from this rpeafure, fo itrongly upon the 
 
 mi '
 
 t 55 1 
 
 minds of the Nabob and the Rajah of Tanjore, as 
 to prevail upon them, jointly or feparately, to enter 
 into one or more treaty or treaties with the Com- 
 pany, grounded on this principle of equity. That all 
 the contradling parties (hall be bound to contribute 
 jointly to the fupport of the military force and 
 garrifons, as well in peace as in war. 
 
 That the military peace eftablifhment fhall be 
 forthwith fettled and adjufted by the Company, in 
 purfuance of the authority and diredions given to 
 them by the late adl of parliament. 
 
 As the payments of the troops and garrifons, oc- 
 cafional expences in the repairs and improvements 
 of fortifications, and other fervices incidental to a 
 military eftablilliment, muft of neceflity be punc- 
 tual and accurate, no latitude of perfonal affurance 
 or reciprocal confidence of either of the parties on 
 the other, be accepted or required ; but the Nabob 
 and Rajah muft of neceflity fpecify particular dif- 
 tri6ls and revenues for fecuring the due and regu- 
 lar payment of their contributions into the treafury 
 of the Company, with whom the charge of the de- 
 fence of the coaft, andofcourfe the power of the 
 fword, mufl be exclufively intrufled, with power 
 for the Company, in cafe of failure or default of 
 fuch payments, at the ftipulated times and feafons, 
 to enter upon and pofTefs fuch diflrids, and to let 
 the fame to renters, to be confirmed by the Nabob 
 and the Rajah refpedtively ; but trufting that in 
 the execution of this part of the arrangement no 
 undue obftruftion will be given by either of thofe 
 powers, we direct that this part of the treaty be 
 coupled with a mod pofitive affurance, on our 
 part, of our determination to fupport the dignity 
 and authority of the Nabob and Rajah, in the ex- 
 cluiive adminiflration of the civil government and 
 Revenues of their refpedtive countries ; and further, 
 
 thac
 
 t 56 y 
 
 that in cafe of any hoftility committed againft the 
 territories of either ot the contracting parties, on 
 the coaft of Coromandel, the whole revenues of 
 their rcfpe<5tive territories (hall be confidereu as 
 one common (lock, to be appropriated in the com- 
 mon caufe of their defence That the Company on 
 their part fhall engage to refrain, during the war^ 
 from the application of any part of their revenues 
 to any commercial purpofes whatfoever, but apply 
 the whole, fave only the ordinary charges of their 
 civil government, to the purpofes of the war That 
 the Nabob and the Rajah fhall in like manner en- 
 gage on their parts to refrain, during the war, from 
 the application of any part of their revenues, fave 
 only what fhall be adlually necefTary for the fup- 
 port of themfelves, and the civil government of 
 their refpedive countries, to any other purpofes 
 than that of defraying the expences of fuch mili- 
 tary operations as the Company may find it necef- 
 lary to carry on for the common fafety of their in- 
 terefts on the coaft of Coromandel. 
 
 And to obviate any difficulties or mifunder* 
 (landing which might arife from leaving indeter- 
 minate the fum neceffary to be appropriated for 
 the civil eflablifliment of each of the refpedive 
 powers, that the fum be now afcertained which is 
 indifpenfdbly neceffary to be applied to thofe pur- 
 pofes, and which is to be held lacred under every 
 emergency, and fet apart, previous to the applica- 
 tion of the reft of the revenues, as hereby ftipulat- 
 ed, for the purpofes of mutual or common defence 
 againft any enemy, for clearing the incumbrance 
 which may have become neceifarily incurred in 
 addition to the expenditure of thofe revenues 
 which mufl be alvjays deemed part cf the war ejiablijh- 
 tnsnt. This we think abfalutely neceffary, as no- 
 thing can tend fo much to the prelcrvation of peace, 
 And to prevent the renewal of hoililities, as the 
 
 early
 
 [ 57 1 
 
 early putting the finances of the feveral powers 
 upon a clear footing i and the fhewing to all other 
 powers, that the Company, the Nabob, and the 
 Rajah, are firmly united in one common caufc^ 
 and combined in one lyftem of permanent and vi- 
 gorous defence, for the prefervation of their re- 
 fpedive territories, and the general tranquillity. 
 
 That the whole aggregate revenue of the con- 
 tracing, fhall, during the war, be under the ap- 
 plication of the Company, and fliall continue as 
 long after the war as jhall be necejfary, to difcharge 
 the burthens contraBed by it \ but it muft be de- 
 clared that this provifi(ui fhall in no refpedl extend 
 to deprive either the Nabob or the Rajah of the 
 fubftantial authority nccefliry to the coUedlion of 
 the revenues of their rcfpedive countries. But it 
 is meant, that they Ihould faithfully perform the 
 conditions of this arrangement -, and if a divifion of 
 any part of the revenues, to any other than the fti- 
 pulated purpofes, Ihall take place, the Company 
 Ihall be entitled to take upon themfelves the col- 
 ledion of the revenue. 
 
 The Company are to engage, during the time 
 they (hall adminifter the revenues, to produce to 
 the other contradling parties regular accounts of 
 the application thereof, to the purpofes ftipulated 
 by the treaty, and faithfully apply them in fupporc 
 of the war. 
 
 And laftly, as the defence of the Carnatic is 
 thus to reft with the Company, the Nabob fhall be 
 fatisfied of the propriety of avoiding all unnecef- 
 fary expence, and will therefore agree not to main- 
 tain a greater number of troops than fhall be ne- 
 cefTary for the fupport of his dignity, and the fplen- 
 dour of the Durbar, which number fhall be Ipeci- 
 fied in the treaty; and if any military aid is rcqui- 
 fite for the fecurity and colledtion of his revenues, 
 oth^r than the fixed cftablilhmcnt employed to en- 
 force
 
 r 58 ] 
 
 force the ordinary colleflions, and preferve the po-^ 
 lice of the country, the Company muft be bound 
 to furniih him with fuch aid : the Rajah of Tan- 
 jore muft likewife become bound by fimilar en- 
 gagements, and be entitled to fimilar aid. i> 
 
 As, in virtue of the powers veiled in Lord Ma- 
 cartney by the agreement of December 1781, fun- 
 ^ry leafes, of various periods, have been granted 
 to renters, we direct that you apply to the Nabob, 
 in our name, for his confent, that they may bep^r- 
 mitted to hold their leafes to the end of the ftipu- 
 lated term * \ and we have great reliance on the li- 
 berality and fpirit of accommodation manifefled bv 
 the Nabob on fo many occafions, that he will be 
 difpofed to acquiefce in a propofition fo juji and 
 reafonable ; but if, contrary to our expedations, his 
 Highnefs fhould be imprefled with any particular 
 averfion to comply with this propofition, we do 
 not defire you to infift upon it as an eflential 
 part of the arrangement to take place between us ; 
 but in that event you muft take efpecial care to 
 give fuch indemnification to the renters for any 
 lofs they may fuftain, as you judge to be reafon*^, 
 able. . 
 
 It equally concerns the honour of our govern. 
 jment, that fuch natives as may have been put in 
 any degree of authority over the colledions, in 
 confequence of the deed of affignment, and who 
 have proved faithful to their truft, fhall not fuffer 
 inconvenience on account of their fidelity. 
 
 Having thus given our fentiments at large, as 
 well for the furrender of the affignment, as with 
 regard to thofe arrangements which we think ne- 
 cefTury to adopt in confequence thereof, we cannot 
 difmifs this fubjed without exprefTing our higheft 
 
 For the ground of this great reliance," fee the papers in this 
 Appendix, beginning p. i 5 ; as alfo the JMabob's Utters to tlie Court of 
 |)iredors, in this Appendix. 
 
 approb^i.
 
 [ 59 3 
 
 approbation of the ahility, moderation, and command 
 of temper, with which our Prefident at Madras has 
 cond Lifted himfelf in the management of a very 
 delicate and embarrafling fituation. His condud, 
 and that of the Selcft Committee of Fort St. 
 George, in the execution of the truft delegated to 
 Lord Macartney, by the Nabob Mahomed Ally, 
 has been vigorous and effeftual, for the purpofeof 
 realizing as great a revenue, at a crifis of neceflity, 
 as the nature of the cafe admitted -, and the impu- 
 tation of corruption, fuggefted in fome of the pro* 
 ceedings, appears to be totally groundlefs and un-. 
 warranted. 
 
 While we find fo much to applaud, it is witK 
 regret we are induced to advert to any thing which 
 may appear worthy of blame, as the ftep of iflliing 
 the Torana Chits in Lord Macartney's own name 
 can only be juftified upon the ground of abfolutc 
 neceflity *, and as his Lordlliip had every reafon to 
 believe that the demand, when made, would be 
 irkfome and difagreeable to the feelings of Maho- 
 med Ally, every precaution ought to have been 
 ufed, and more time allowed, for proving that ne- 
 ceflity, by previous afts of addrefs, civility, and 
 conciliation, applied for the purpofes of obtaining' 
 his authority to fuch a meafure. It appears to us, 
 that more of this might have been ufed ; and there- 
 fore we cannot confider the omifTion of it as blame- 
 
 * For the full proof of this neceflity. Lord Macartney's whole cor- 
 refpondence en the fubjeft may be referred to. Without the aft here 
 condemned, not one of the afts commended in the preceding paragraph 
 could be performed. By referring to the Nabob's letters In this Ap- 
 pendix it will be feen what fort of taflc a Governor has on his hands, 
 who is to ufe, according to the direftion of this letter, " afts of ad- 
 * drefs, civility, and conciliation, and to pay, upon all occafions, the 
 * higheft attention''' to perfons, who at the very time are faliely, and in 
 the grofleft terms, acciiiinghim of peculation, corruption, treafon, and 
 every fpecies of malverfation in office. The recommendation, under 
 menaces of luch behaviour, and under fuch circumftances, conveys a 
 leflbn the tendency of which cannot be mifunderftood. 
 
 lefs.
 
 t 6o ] 
 
 lefs, conTiftent with our wifhes of fan<^ifying no 
 a6t contrary to the fpirit of the agreement, or 
 derogatory to the authority of the Nabob of 
 the Carnatic, in the excrcife of any of his juft 
 rights, in the government of the people under 
 his authority. 
 
 We likewife obferve, the Nabob has connplained 
 that no official communication was made to him 
 of the peace, for near a month after the ceflation 
 of arms took place. This, and every other mark 
 of dirrefp>e<5t to the Nabob, will ever appear highly 
 repreheniible in our eyes ; and we dircdt that you 
 do, upon all occafions, pay the highelt attention to 
 him and his family. 
 
 Lord Macartney, in his minute of the 9th of 
 September laft, has been fully under our confidc- 
 ration : we jfhall ever applaud the prudence and 
 forefight of our fervants, which induces them to 
 coHed;, and communicate to us, every opinion, or 
 even ground of fufpicion, they may entertain, re- 
 lative to any of the powers in India, with whofc 
 conduft our intereft, and the fafety of our fettle- 
 ments, is effentially connected. At the fame time 
 we carneftly recommend, that thofe opinions and 
 fpeculations be communicated toijs with prudence, 
 difcretion, and all polfible fecrecy ; and the terms in 
 which they are conveyed be exprejfed in a manner as 
 little offenfive as pojjihle to the powers whom they may^ 
 (dijern, and into whcfe hands they may fall * 
 
 * The delicacy here recommended in ihe exprejions conctrmng con 
 diift, " with which the lafety ot our lettlements is efTentially con< 
 * neled," is a lefibn of the lame nature with the former. Dangeroi 
 defigns, if truly fuch, ought to be expreffed according to their nature 
 and qualities ; and as for the fecrecy recommended concerning the 
 defigiis here alluded to, nothing can be more abfurd, as they appear 
 Tery fully and directly in the papers publiflied by the authoiity of the 
 Court of Dire6lors in 1775, and may tie eafily difcerned from the pro- 
 pofitions for the Bengal treaty, pubiiflied in the Reports of the Com- 
 tnittee of Secrecy, and in the Reports of the Seleft Committee. The 
 kycping of fuch fecrets too long has been one caufc of the Carnatic 
 Kvar, 'and of the ruin of our affairs in India. 
 
 We
 
 I 6i J 
 
 We next proceed to give you our fentiments re- 
 fpcfting the private debts of the Nabob; and me 
 cannot but acknowledge, that the origin and jufticc, 
 both of the loan ot 1767, and the loan of 1777, 
 commonly called the cavalry loan, appear to us 
 clear and indifputable, agreeable to the true fenfe 
 and fpirit of the late ad of parliament. 
 
 In Ipeaking of the loan of 1767, we are to be 
 underftood as fpeaking of the debt as conftituted 
 by the original bonds of that year, bearing intereft 
 at . 10 per cent. ; and therefore, if any of the Na- 
 bob's creditors, under a pretence that their debts 
 made part of the confolidated debt of 1767, al- 
 though fecured by bonds of a fubfequent date, 
 carrying an intereft exceeding ;C. lo per cent, 
 (hall claim the benefit of the following orders, wc 
 direct that you pay no regard to fuch claims^ 
 without our further efpccial inftrudions for that 
 purpofe. 
 
 With refped to the confolidated debt of 1777, 
 it certainly ftands upon a lefs favourable footing. 
 So early as the 27th of March, 1769, it was or- 
 dered by our then Prefident and Council of Fort 
 St. George, that for the preventing all perfons 
 living under the Company's protedion from hav- 
 ing any dealings with any of the country powers, 
 or their niiniftcrs, without the knowledge or con- 
 fent of the Board, an advertiiement fhculd be pub- 
 jifhed, by fixing it up at the fca-gate, and fending 
 round a copy to the Company's fervants and inha*. 
 bitants, and to the different fubordinates, and our 
 garrifons, and giving it out in general orders , ftat- 
 ing therein, that the Prefident and Council did 
 confider the irrevcrfible order of the Court of Di- 
 rectors of the year 17 14 (whereby their people 
 were prohibited from having any dealings with the 
 country governments in money matters) to be in 
 full force and vigour j and thereby exprefsly for. 
 
 biddino
 
 f 62 3 . 
 
 bidding all fcrvants of the Company, and other 
 Europeans under their jurifdidion, to make loans, 
 or have any money tranfadions with any of the 
 princes or dates in India, without fpecial licence 
 and permiffion of the Prefident and Council for 
 the time being, except only in the particular cafes 
 there mentioned; and declaring, that any wilful 
 deviation therefrom Ihould be deemed a breach of 
 orders, and treated as fuch- And on the 4th of 
 March, 1778, it was refolved by our Prefident 
 and Council of Fort St. George, that the confoli- 
 dated debt of 1777 was not, on any refpedt what- 
 ever, conduced under the aufpices or protedion of 
 that government ; and on the circumftance of the 
 conlblidation of the faid debt being made known 
 to us, we did, on the 23d of December, 1778, 
 write to you in the following terms : " Your ac- 
 " count of the Nabob's private debts is very 
 " alarming ; but from whatever caufe or caufes 
 " thofe debts have been contracted or increafed, 
 " we hereby repeat our orders, that the fan6tion 
 *' of the Company be on no account given to any 
 " kind of fccurity for the payment or liquldatioa 
 *' of any part thereof (except by the exprefs au- 
 " thority of the Court of Diredors) on any ac 
 *' count or pretence whatever." 
 
 The loan of 1777 therefore has no fanflion op 
 authority from us ; and in confidering the fituation 
 and circumftances of this loan, we cannot omit to 
 obferve, that the creditors could not be ignorant 
 how greatly the affairs of the Nabob were at that 
 time deranged, and that his debt to the Company 
 was then very confiderable ; the payment of which 
 the parties took the mofl eftcdual means to poft- 
 pone, by procuring an alignment of fuch fpecific 
 revenues, for the difcharge of their own debts, as 
 alone could have enabled the Nabob to have dif- 
 chargcd that of the Company. 
 
 10 ' Under
 
 [ 63 ] 
 
 Under all thefe circumftanccs, we fliould be 
 vrarranted to refufe our aid or protedion in the 
 recovery of this loan ; but when we confider the 
 inexpediency of keeping the fubjed of the Nabob's 
 debts longer afloat than is abfolutely neceflary ; 
 when we confider how much the final conclufion 
 of this bufinefs will tend to promote tranquillity, 
 credit, and circulation of property in the Carnaticj 
 and when we confider that the debtor concurs 
 with the creditor in eftablifliing the juftice of thofc 
 debts confolidated in 1777 i"^^ grofs fums, for 
 which bonds were given, liable to be transferred 
 to perfons diff^erent from the original creditors, 
 and having no fliare or knowledge of the tranl- 
 aftions in which the debts originated, and of courle 
 how little ground there is to cxpedt any fub- 
 ftantial good to refult from an unlimited invefl:i- 
 gation into them, we have refolved fo far to recog- 
 nize the juftice of thofe debts, as to extend to 
 them that protedion which, upon more forcible 
 grounds, we have feen caufe to allow to the other 
 two clafles of debts. But, although we fo far 
 adopt the general prefumption in their favour, as 
 to admit them to a participation in the manner 
 hereafter di reded, we do not mean to debar you 
 from receiving any complaints againft thofe debts 
 of 1777, at the inrtance either ot the Nabob him- 
 felf, or of other creditors injured by their being fo 
 admitted, or by any other perfons having a proper 
 intereft, or ftating reafonable grounds of obje(flion ; 
 and if any complaints are off^ered, we order that the 
 grounds of all fuch be attentively examined by 
 you, and be tranfmitted to us, together with the 
 evidence adduced in fupport of them, for our final 
 decifion ; and as we have before directed, that the 
 fum of twelve lacks of pagodas, to be received an- 
 nually from the Nabob, fhould be paid into our 
 M treafury.
 
 [ H 1 
 
 treafury, it is our order that the fame be diflrr- 
 buted according to the following arrangement. 
 
 That the debt be made up in the following 
 manner, viz. 
 
 The debt confolidated in 1 767 to be made up 
 to the end of the year 1784, with the current inte- 
 reft at ten per cent. 
 
 The cavalry loan to be made up to the fame 
 period, with the current intereft at 12 per cent. 
 
 The debt confolidated in 1777 to be made up to 
 the fame period, with the current intereft at 12 per 
 tent, to November 178 1, and from thence with the 
 current intereft at 6 per cent. 
 
 The 12 lacks annually to be received, are then 
 to be applied, 
 
 1. To the growing intereft on the cavalry loan, 
 at 1 2 per cent. 
 
 2. To the growing intereft on the debt of 1777, 
 at 6 per cent. 
 
 The remainder to be equally divided , one half 
 to be applied to the extindion of the Company's 
 debt, the other half to be applied to the payment 
 of growing intereft, at .10 per cent, and towards the 
 difcharge of the principal of the debt of 1767. 
 
 This arrangement to continue till the principal 
 of the debt 1767 is difcharged. 
 
 The application of the 12 lacks is then to be 
 
 I. To the intereft of the debt 1777, as above. 
 The remainder to be then equally divided , one 
 half towards the difcharge of the current intereft 
 and principal of the cavalry loan, and the other 
 half towards the difcharge of the Company's debt. 
 
 When the cavalry loan (ball be thus difcharged^ 
 there ftiall then be paid, towards the difcharge of 
 the Company's debt, {tvtn lacks. 
 
 To the growing intereft and capital of the 1777 
 loan, 5 lacks* 
 
 :Whe^
 
 i 6s 1 
 
 "When the Company's debt (hall be difchargec!,' 
 the whole is then to be applied in difcharge of the 
 debt 1777. 
 
 If the Nabob fhall be prevailed upon to apply 
 the arrears and growing payments of the Tanjore 
 peilhcLidi in further difcharge of his debts, over 
 and above the 12 lacks of pagodas, we direct that 
 the whole of that payment, when made fhall be 
 applied towards the redudion of the Company's 
 debt. 
 
 We have laid down thefe general rules of dif- 
 tribution, as appearing to us founded' on juftice, 
 and the relative circumftances of the difFerenc 
 debts , and therefore we give our authority and 
 protedlion* to them only, on the fuppofition that 
 they who a(k our protedion acquiefce in the con- 
 dition upon which it is given -, and therefore we 
 exprefsly order, that if any creditor of the Nabob, 
 a fervant of the Company, or being under our 
 protedlion, fhall refufe to exprefs his acquiefcerice 
 in thefe arrangements, he fliall not only be excluded 
 from receiving any fhare of the fund under youf 
 diftribution, but (hall be prohibited from taking 
 any feparate meafures to recover his debt from the 
 Nabob, it being one great inducement to ouf 
 adopting this arrangement, that the Nabob fliall 
 be relieved from all further difquietude by the 
 importunities of his individual creditors, and he 
 left at liberty to purfue thofe meafures for the pro- 
 fperity of his country, which the embarrafsmencs q 
 his fituation have hitherto deprived him of the 
 means of exerting. And we further dired, that if 
 any creditor fhall be found refradory, or difpofed 
 to difturb the arrangement we have fuggefled, he 
 fhall be difmifTed the fcrvice, and fent home to 
 England. 
 
 The dircdions we have given only apply to 
 M 2 the
 
 t 66 ] 
 
 the three claffes of debts which have come under 
 our obfervation. It has been furmifed, that the 
 Nabob has of late contradled further debts ; if any 
 of thefe are due to Britilh fubjefts, we forbid any 
 countenance or protedion whatever to be given to 
 them, until the debt is fully inveftigated, the 
 nature of it reported home, and our fpecial in- 
 ftruflions upon it received. 
 
 "We cannot conclude this fubjeft, without ad- 
 verting in the ftrongeft terms to the prohibitions 
 which have from time to time iffued under the au- 
 thority of different Courts of Diredlors againft any 
 of our fervants, or of thofc under our prote6tion> 
 having any money tranfa<5tions with any of the 
 country powers, without the knowledge and pre- 
 vious confent of our rcfpeftive governments abroad; 
 we are happy to find that the Nabob, fcnfible of 
 the great embarraflments both to his own and the 
 Company's affairs, which the enormous amount of 
 their private claims have occafioned, is willing to 
 engage not to incur any new debts with individu- 
 als, and we think little difficulty will be found in 
 perfuading his highnefs into a pofnive ftipulation 
 for that purpofe ; and though the Icgiflature has 
 thus humanely interfered in behalf of fuch indi- 
 viduals as might otherwife have been reduced to 
 great diftrefs by the paft tran factions, we hereby, in 
 the moft pointed and pofitive terms, repeat our 
 prohibition upon this fubjedl ; and dired:, that no 
 pcrfon, being a fervant of the Company, or being 
 under our protedtion, fhall, on any pretence what- 
 ever, be concerned in any loan or other money 
 tranfaftion with any of the country powers, unlefs 
 with the knowledge and cxprefs permiffion of our 
 refped;ive governments. And if any of our fer- 
 vants, or others being under our protedlion, fhall 
 be difcovered in any refpedt counteradling thefc 
 orders, we ftridtly enjoin you to take the firfl op- 
 portunity
 
 [ 67 ] 
 
 portunity offending them home to England, to be 
 puniihed as guilty of difobedience of orders, and 
 no protcflion or afliftance of the Company fhall be 
 given for the recovery of any loans conncdted 
 with fuch tranfadions. Your particular attention 
 to this fubjeft is ftriflly enjoined -, and any con- 
 nivance on your parts, to a breach of your orders 
 upon it, will incur our higheft difpleafure. 
 
 In order to put an end to thofe intrigues, which 
 have been fo fuccefsfully carried on at the Nabob's 
 durbar, we repeat our prohibition in the ftrongeft 
 terms refpeding any intercourfe between Britilh 
 fubjedls and the Nabob and his family, as we are 
 convinced that fuch an intercourfe has been carried 
 on greatly to the detriment and expence of the 
 Nabob, and merely to the advantage of individuals. 
 We therefore diredt, that all perfons who (hall of- 
 fend againft the letter or fpirit of this neceffary 
 order, whether in the Company's fcrvice, or under 
 their protedion, be forthwith lent to England. 
 
 Approved by the Board. 
 
 HENRY DUNDAS, 
 Whitehall, WALSINGHAM, 
 
 15th Oa. 1784. W. W. GRENVILLE, 
 
 MULGRAVE. 
 
 EXTRACT from the Reprefentation of the Court 
 of Diredors of the Eaft India Company. 
 
 My Lords and Gentlemen, 
 IT is with extreme concern that we exprefs a dif- 
 ference of opinion with your right honourable 
 Board, in this early exercife of your controuling 
 power ; but in fo novel an inftitution, it can 
 fcarce be thought extraordinary, if the exad boun- 
 daries of our refpedive fundions and duties (hould 
 not at once, on either fide, be precifely and fami- 
 
 M 3 liariy
 
 C 68 ] 
 
 liarly underftood, and therefore confide in your 
 juftice and candour for believing that we have no 
 wifh to evade or fruftrate the falutary purpofes of 
 your inftitution, as we on our part are thoroughly 
 fatisfied that you have no wifh to encroach on the 
 legal powers of the Eaft India Company : we fhall 
 proceed to ftatc our objedlions to fuch of the 
 amendments as appear to us to be either infuffi- 
 cient, inexpedient, or unwarranted. 
 
 6th. Concerning the private Debts of the Nabob 
 of Arcot, and the Application of the Fund of 
 12 Lacks of Pagodas per Annum. 
 
 Under this head you are pleafed, in lieu of our 
 paragraphs, to fubftantiate at once the jullice of all 
 thofe demands which the adl requires us to invefti- 
 gate, fubjed: only to a right referved to the Nabob, 
 or any other party concerned, to queftion the juf- 
 tice of any debt falling within the laft of the 
 three clafTes ; we fubmit, that at leaft the opportu- 
 nity of queftioning, within the limited time, the 
 juftice of any of the debts, ought to have been 
 fully preferved ; and fuppofing the firft and fe- 
 cond clafles to ftand free from imputation (as we 
 incline to believe they do) no injury can refult to 
 individuals from fuch difcuffion : and we further 
 fubmit to your confideration, how far the exprefs 
 diredion of the a6t to examine the nature and ori- 
 gin -of the debts has been, by the amended para- 
 graphs, complied with , and whether at leall the 
 rate of intereft, according to which the debts arif- 
 ing from Ibucar affignment of the land revenues to 
 the fervants of the Company, adting in the capacity 
 of native bankers, have been accumulated, ought 
 not to be enquired into, as well as the reafonable- 
 Hefs of the dedudion of 23 per cent, which the 
 
 Bengal
 
 I 69 ] 
 
 Bengal government directed to be made from a 
 great part of the debts on certain conditions. But 
 to your appropriation of the fund, our duty re- 
 quires that we fhoiild ftate our ftrongefl: diflent. 
 Our right to be paid the arrears of thole expences, 
 by which, almolt to our own ruin, we have pre- 
 ferved the country, and all the property conneded 
 with it, from falling a prey to a foreign conqueror, 
 furely Hands paramount to all claims for former 
 debts upon the revenues of a country fo prefcrved, 
 even if the legifiature had not exprefsly limited the 
 affiftance to be given the private creditors to be 
 fuch as (hould be confiftent with our own rights. 
 The Nabob had, long before paffing the ad, by 
 treaty with our Bengal government, agreed to pay 
 us 7 lacks of pagodas, as part of the 12 lacks, in 
 liquidation of thole arrears, of which 7 lacks the 
 arrangement you have been pleafed to lay down 
 would take away from us more than the half, and 
 give it to private creditors, of whofe demands there 
 are only about a fixth part which do not Hand in 
 a predicament that you declare would not entitle 
 them to any aid or protection from us in the reco- 
 very thereof, were it not upon grounds of expe- 
 diency, as will more particularly appear by the an- 
 nexed efti mate. Until our debt fhall be dilcharged, 
 we can by no means confent to give up any part 
 of the 7 lacks to the private creditors , and we 
 humbly apprehend, that in this declaration we do 
 not exceed the limits of the authority and rights 
 veiled in us, 
 
 M 4 The.
 
 [ 70 ] 
 
 The Right honourable the Commiffioners for the- 
 Affairs of India. 
 
 The REPRESENTATION of the Court of 
 
 Diredtors of the Eaft India Company. 
 
 My Lords, and Gentlemen, 
 
 THE court having duly attended to your reafon- 
 ingsanddecifionSjOnthefubjedsof Arnee and Ha- 
 namantagoody, beg leave to obferve, with due de- 
 ference to your judgment, that the directions we 
 had given in thefe paragraphs, which did not ob- 
 tain your approbation, ftill appear to us to have 
 been confiftent with juftice, and agreeable to 
 the late ad of parliament, which pointed out to us, 
 as we apprehended, the treaty of ^762 as our 
 guide. 
 
 Signed by order of the faid court. 
 
 Tho* Morton, Sec^. 
 Eaft India Houfe, 
 the 3d November 1784. 
 
 EXTRACT of Letter from the Commiflioners 
 for the Affairs of India, to the Court of Di- 
 re6lors, dated 3d. November 1784, in Anfwer to 
 their Remonftrance. 
 
 ^ Sixth Article. 
 
 "WE think it proper, confidering the particular 
 nature of the fubjedt, to ftate to you "the follow- 
 ing remarks on that part of your reprefentation 
 which relates to the plan for the difcharge of the 
 Nabob's debts. ' 
 
 ift. You compute the revenue* which the Car- 
 natic may be expected to produce only at twenty 
 
 lucks
 
 [ 71 ] 
 
 lacks of pagodas. If we concurred with you in 
 this opinion, we (houtd certainly feel our hopes 
 of advantage to all the parties from this arrange- 
 ment confiderably diminiflied. But we truft, that 
 we are not too fanguine on this head, when we 
 place the grcateft reliance on the eftimate tranf- 
 mitted to you by your Prefident of Fort St. 
 George, having there the bed means of informa- 
 tion upon the fadl, and dating it with a parti- 
 cular view to the fubjed: matter of thefe para- 
 graphs. Some allowance, we are fenfible, muft 
 be made for the difference of colledlion in the 
 Nabob's hands, but we truft not fuch as to re- 
 duce the receipt nearly to what you fuppofe. 
 
 idly. In making up the amount of the private 
 debts, you take in compound intereft at the dif- 
 ferent rates fpecified in our paragraph. This it 
 was not our intention to allow -, and left any mif- 
 conception fhould arife on the fpot, we have add- 
 ed an exprefs diredtion, that the debts be made 
 up with fimple intereft only, from the time of 
 their refpedive confolidation. Claufe F f. 
 
 3dly. We have alfo the ftrongeft grounds to 
 believe, that the debts will be, in other refpefts, 
 confiderably lefs than they are now computed by 
 you ; and confequently, the Company's annual 
 proportion of the twelve lacks will be larger than 
 it appears on your eftimate. But even on your 
 own ftatement of it, if we add to the ;^. 150,000 
 or 3,75,000 pagodas (which you take as the an- 
 nual proportion to be received by the Company 
 for five years, to the end of 1789) the annual 
 amount of the Tanjore peflicufh for the fame 
 periodj and the arrears on the pefhcufti (propofed 
 by Lord Macartney to be received in three years); 
 the whole will make a fum not falling very Ihorc 
 of pagodas 35,60,000, the amount of pagodas 
 7,00,000 per annum for the fame period. And 
 
 if
 
 [ 72 ] 
 
 if we carry our calculations farther, it will ap- 
 pear that, both by the plan propofed by the Na- 
 bob, and adopted in your paragraphs, and by 
 that which we tranfmitted to you, the debt from 
 the Nabob, if taken at . 3,000,000, will be dif- 
 charged nearly at the fame period, viz. in the 
 courfe of the eleventh year. We cannot therefore 
 be of opinion that there is the fmalleft ground for 
 obje<5ling to this arrangement, as injurious to the 
 interefts of the Company, even if the meafure 
 were to be confidered on the mere ground of ex- 
 pediency, and with a view only to the wifdom of 
 re-eftablifhing credit and circulation in a com- 
 mercial fettlement, without any confideration of 
 thofe motives of attention to the feelings and ho- 
 nour of the Nabob, of humanity to individuals, 
 and of juftice to perfons in your fervice, and liv- 
 ing under your protedion, which have actuated 
 the legiflature, and which afford not only jufti- 
 fiable, but commendable grounds for your conduct. 
 Imprefled with this conviftion, we have not 
 made any alteration in the general outlines of the 
 arrangement which we had before tranfmitted to 
 you. Bur, as the amount of the Nabob's reve- 
 nue is matter of uncertain conjedure, and as it 
 does not appear juft to us, that any deficiency 
 Ihould fall wholly on any one clafs of thefe debts, 
 we have added a direction to your government of 
 Fort St George, that if, notwithftanding the pro- 
 ' vifions contained in our former paragraphs, any 
 deficiency Ihould arife, the payments of what fhall 
 be received fnali be made in the fame proportion 
 which would have obtained in the divifion of 
 the whole twelve lacks, had they been paid. 
 
 APPENDIX,
 
 t 73 1 
 
 APPENDIX, N* lo; 
 
 Referred to from p. 88. 
 
 [^ I A H E following Extracts are fubjoined, to 
 X fliew the matter and the fty le of reprefentation 
 employed by thofe who have obtained that afcen- 
 dency over the Nabob of Arcot, which is defcribed 
 in the above Letter, and is fo totally dcftru<5tive of 
 the authority and credit of the lawful Britifli go- 
 vernment at Madras. The charges made by thefc 
 perfons have been folemnly denied by Lord Macart- 
 ney ; and, to judge from the charadler of the par- 
 ties accufcd and accufing, they are probably void - 
 of all foundation. But as the Letters are in the 
 name and under the fignature of a perfon of great 
 rank and confequence among the natives j as they 
 contain matter of the moil ferious nature ; as they 
 charge the mod: enormous crimes, and corruptions 
 of the grofleft kind, on a Britifli Governor ; and 
 as they refer to the Nabob's minifter in Great: 
 Britain for proof and further elucidation of the 
 matters complained of, common decency, and com- 
 mon policy, demanded an enquiry into their truth 
 or falfliood. The writing is obvioufly the product 
 of fome Englifli pen. If, on enquiry, thcfe charges 
 fhould be made good (a thing very unlikely) the 
 party accufed would become a juli obje6t of ani- 
 inadverfion. If they fhould be found (as in all 
 probability they would be found) falfe and calum- 
 nious, and fupported by forge'ry^ then the cenfure 
 would fall on the accufer , at the fame time the 
 neceffity would be manifeil for proper meafures 
 towards the fecurity of government againft fuch 
 infamous accufations. It is as neceffary to prote6t 
 the honeft fame of virtuous governors, as it is to 
 punifli the corrupt and tyrannical. But neither the 
 Court of Directors nor the Board of Controul have 
 n^ade any enquiry into the truth or falfliood of 
 
 chefc
 
 I 74 1 
 
 thefe charges. They have covered over the accufers 
 and accufed with abundance of compliments. 
 They have infinuated fome oblique cenfures ; and 
 they have recommended perfect harmony between 
 the chargers of corruption and peculation, and the 
 perfons charged with thefe crimes. J 
 
 13th Oaober, 1782. EXTRACT of a TranQa- 
 tion of a Letter from the Nabob of Arcot to 
 the Chairman of the Court of Directors of the 
 Eaft India Company. 
 
 ** FATALLY for me, and for the public inte- 
 refl:, the Company's favour and my unbounded 
 confidence have been lavifhed on a man totally 
 unfit for the exalted ftation in which he has been 
 placed, and unworthy of the trufts that have been 
 repofed in him. When I fpeak of one who has fo 
 deeply ftabbed my honour, my wounds bleed 
 afrefli, and I muft be allowed that freedom of ex- 
 preflion which the galling reflexion of my injuries 
 and my misfortunes naturally draw from me. Shall 
 your fervants, unchecked, unreftrained, and unpu- 
 nifhed, gratify their private views and ambition, at 
 the expcnce of my honour, my peace, and my happi- 
 nefs, and to the ruin of my country, as well as of 
 all your affairs? No fooner had Lord Macartney 
 obtained the favourite objeft of his ambition, than 
 he betrayed the greateft infolence towards me, the 
 moft glaring negTe6t of the common civilities and 
 attentions paid me by all former Governors, in the 
 worft of times, and even by the moft inveterate of 
 my enemies. He infuhed my fervants, endeavoured 
 to defame my charafler by unjuftly cenfuring my 
 adminifiration, and extended his boundlefs ufur- 
 pation to the whole government of my dominions, 
 in all the branches of judicature and police ; and, 
 in violation of the cxprefs articles of the agrce- 
 
 . . ments.
 
 [ 75 ] 
 
 ments, proceeded to fend renters into the coun- 
 tries, unapproved of by me, men of bad charadcr, 
 and unequal to my management or refponfibility. 
 Though he is chargeable with the greateft ads of 
 cruelty, even to the (bedding the blood and cut- 
 ting off the nofes and ears of my fubjefts, by thole 
 cxercifing his authority in the countries, and that 
 even the duties of religion and public worfhip have 
 been interrupted or prevented , and though he car- 
 ries on all his bufinefs by the arbitrary exertion of 
 military force , yet does he not coUedl from the 
 countries one fourth of the revenue that (hould 
 be produced. The ftatemcnt he pretends to hold 
 forth of expefted revenue, is totally fallacious, and 
 can never be realized under the management of his 
 Lordfliip, in the appointment of renters, totally dif- 
 qualified, rapacious, and irrefponfible, who are ac- 
 tually embezzling and diflipating the public reve- 
 nues, that fhould affift in the fupport of the war. 
 Totally occupied by his private views, and go- 
 verned by his pafiions, he has neglected or facri- 
 ficed all the eflential objefts of public good, and 
 by want of co-operation with Sir Eyre Coote, and 
 refufal to furnifh the army with the neceffary fup- 
 plies, has rendered the .glorious and repeated vic- 
 tories of the gallant General ineffedtual to the ex- 
 pulfion of our cruel enemy. To cover his in- 
 fufRciency, and veil the difcredit attendant on 
 his failure in every meafure, he throws out the 
 mod illiberal expreffions, and inftitutes unjuft ac- 
 cufations againit me; and, in aggravation of all the 
 diftrefles impofed upon me, he has abetted the 
 meanell calumniators, to bring forward falfe 
 charges againft me, and my fon Ameer-ul-Omrah, 
 in order to create embarrallmcnt, and for the dif- 
 trefs of my mind. My papers and writings fent to 
 you, muft teflify to the whole world the malevo- 
 lence of his defigns, and the means that have been 
 ufed to forward them. He has violently feized 
 and opened all letters addreffed to me and my icr- 
 
 vaats.
 
 [ 76 ] 
 
 vants, on my public and private affairs. My irid^ 
 keel, that attended him, according to ancient cuf- 
 tom, has been ignominioufly difmifTed from his 
 prefence, and not fuffered to approach the go- 
 vernment-houfe. He has in the meaneft manner, 
 and as he thought in fecret, been tampering and 
 intriguing with my family and relations, for the 
 worft of purpofes. And if I exprefs the agonies 
 of my mind under thefe moll pointed injuries and 
 oppreflions, and complain of the violence and in- 
 juftice of Lord Macartney, I am infulted by his 
 affefted conftruftion, that my communications are 
 didlated by the infinuations of others. At the 
 fame time that his confcious apprehenfions for his 
 mifcondufb, have produced the moll abjedt appli- 
 cations to me, to fmother my feelings, and entrea- 
 ties to write in his Lordfhip*s favour to England, 
 and to fubmit all my affairs to his diredlion. 
 When his fubmiffions have failed to mould me to 
 his will, he has endeavoured to effc6l his purpofes 
 by menaces of his fecret influence with thofe in 
 power in England, which he pretends to affert, 
 fhall be effectual to confirm his ufurpation, and to 
 deprive me and my family, in fucceffion, of my 
 rights of fovereignty and government for ever. To 
 fuch a length have his paffions and violences car- 
 ried him, that all my family, my dependants, and 
 even my friends and vifitors, are perfecuted with 
 the ftrongeft marks of his difpleafure. Every 
 fhadow of authority in my perfon is taken from me, 
 and refpe(5l to my name difcouraged throughout the 
 whole country. When an officer of high rank in 
 his majelly's fcrvice was fome timefince introduced 
 to me by Lord Macartney, his Lordlhip took oc- 
 cafion to (hew a perfonal derifion and contempt of 
 me. Mr. Richard Sulivan, who has attended my 
 Durbar under the commiffion of the Governor Ge- 
 neral and Council of Bengal, has experienced his 
 refentment ; and Mr. Bentield, w//^ whom I have no 
 Mnefs, and who, as he has been accuftomed to do 
 
 for
 
 [ 77 J 
 
 for many years, has continued to pay me his vlfits 
 of refpeft, has felt the weight of his lord(hip*s dif- 
 pleafure, and has had every unmerited infinuation 
 thrown out againft him, to prejudice him, and deter 
 him from paying me his compliments as ufual. 
 
 " Thus, Gentlemen, have you delivered me 
 over to a ftrangerj to a man unacquainted with 
 government and bufinefs, and too opinionated to 
 learn ; to a man whofe ignorance and prejudices 
 operate to the negledt of every good meafure, or 
 the liberal co-operation with any that wifli well to 
 the public interefts j to a man who, to purfue his 
 own paflions, plans, and defigns, will certainly 
 ruin all mine, as well as the Company's affairs. 
 His mifmanagement and obftinacy have caufed 
 the lofs of many lacks of my revenues, diflipated 
 and embezzled, and every public confideration fa- 
 crificed to his vanity and private views. I beg to 
 offer an inftance in proof of my aflertions, and to 
 juftify the hope I have, that you will caufe to be 
 made good to me all the lofTes I have fuftained, by 
 the mal-adminiftration and bad pradices of your 
 fervants, according to all the account of receipts 
 of former years, and which I made known to Lord 
 Macartney, amongft other papers of information, 
 in the beginning of his management in the collec- 
 tions. The diftridt of Ongole produced annually, 
 upon a medium of many years, ninety thoufand 
 pagodas ; but Lord Macartney, upon receiving a 
 fum of money from Ramchundry^ * let it out to him, 
 in April laft, for the inadequate rent of 50,000 
 pagodas per annum, diminifhing, in this diftridt 
 alone, near half the accuftomed revenues. After 
 this manner hath he exercifed his powers over the 
 countries, to fuit his own purpofes and defigns ; 
 and this fecret modcihas he taken to reduce the 
 collcdion." . 
 
 * See TelUnga Letter at tlie end of this cprrefpondence*
 
 [ 78 1 
 
 ift November 1782. COPY of a Letter from the 
 Nabob of Arcot to the Court of Diredtors, &c. 
 Received 7th April 1783. 
 
 THE diftrefles which I have fet forth in my for- 
 mer letters, are now increafed to fuch an alarming 
 pitch, by the imprudent meafures of your Gover- 
 nor, and by the arbitrary and impolitic condu6l 
 purfued with the merchants and importers of grain, 
 that the very exiftence of the fort of Madras feems 
 at (lake, and that of the inhabitants of the fettle- 
 ment appears to have been totally overlooked -, 
 many thoufands have died, and continue hourly to 
 perifh of famine, though the capacity of one of 
 your youngeft fervants, with diligence and atten- 
 tion, by doing juftice, and giving reafonable en- 
 couragement to the merchants, and by drawing 
 the fupplies of grain which the northern countries 
 would have afforded, might have fecured us againft 
 all thofe dreadful calamities. I had with much 
 difficulty procured and purchafed a fmall quantity 
 of rice, for the ufe of myfelf, my family, and at- 
 tendants, and with a view of fending off the great- 
 eft part of the latter to the northern countries, 
 with a little fubfiftence in their hands. But what 
 muft your furprize be, when you learn, that even 
 this rice was feized by Lord Macartney with a mi- 
 litary force ! and thus am I unable to provide for 
 the few people I have about me, who are driven 
 to fuch extremity and mifery, that it gives me pain 
 to behold them. I have defired permiflion to get 
 a little rice from the northern countries for the 
 fubfiftence of my people, without its being liable 
 to feizure by your fepoys : this even has been re- 
 fufed me by Lord Macartney. What muft your 
 feelings be, on fuch wanton cruelty exercifed to- 
 I wards
 
 [ 79 1 
 
 wards me, when you confider that of thoufands of 
 villages belonging to me, a fingle one would have 
 fufficed for my fubfiftence ! 
 
 22d March, 1783. TRANSLATION of a Letter 
 from the Nabob of Arcot to t^e Chairman and 
 Diredtorsof the Eaft India Company. Received 
 from Mr. James M*Pherfon, ift January, 17S4. 
 
 " I AM willing to attribute this continued ufur- 
 pation to the fear of detedion in Lord Macartney : 
 he dreads the awful day when the fcene of his 
 enormities will be laid open, at my reftoration to 
 my country, and when the tongues of my oppref- 
 fed fubjedts will be unloofed, and proclaim aloud 
 the cruel tyrannies they have fuftained. Thefe 
 fentiments of his Lordmip's defigns are corrobo- 
 rated by his fending, on the 10th inftant, two 
 
 ^XJentlemen to me and my fon Ameer-ul-Omrah ; 
 
 " and thefe Gentlemen from Lord Macartney efpecial- 
 ly fet forth to me, and to my fon, that all depend- 
 ancc on the power of the fuperior government of 
 Bengal, to enforce the intentions of the Company to 
 reftore my country, was vain and groundlefs ; that 
 the Company confided in his Lordfhip's judgment 
 and difcretion, and upon his reprefentations, and 
 that if I, and my fon Ameer-ul-Omrah, would enter 
 into friendfhip with Lord Macartney, and fign a 
 paper, declaring all my charges and complaints 
 againft him to be falfe, that hisLordfhip might be 
 induced to write to England, that all his allega- 
 tions againfl: me and my Ion were not well founded ; 
 and, notwithftanding his declarations to with-hold 
 my country, yet, on thefe confiderations, it might; 
 be ftill reftored to me, 
 
 " What mull be your feelings for your ancient 
 
 and faithful friend, on his receiving fuch infults to 
 
 N his
 
 t So.. 1 
 
 his honour and underflanding from your principal 
 fervant, armed with your authority ? From tliefc 
 manoeuvres, amongft thoufands I have experienced, 
 the truth muft evidently appear to you, that I 
 have not been loaded with thofe injuries and op- 
 prefTions from motives of public fervice, but to 
 anfwer the private views and jnterefts of his Lord- 
 Ihip, and his fecret agents : fome papei'S to thispomt 
 are inclofed\ others, almoft without number, muft 
 be fubmitted to your juftice, when time and cir- 
 cumftances will enable me fully to inveftigate thofe 
 tranfafti-ons. This opportunity will not permit 
 the full reprefentation of my load of injuries and 
 diftrefles : I beg leave to refer you to my minifter, 
 Mr. Macpherfon, for the papers, according to the 
 inclofed lift, which accompanied my laft diipatches 
 by the Rodney, which I fear have failed ; and my 
 correfpondence with Lord Macartney, fubfequent 
 to that period, fuch as I have been able to prepare 
 for this opportunity, are incloled. 
 
 *' Notwithftanding all the violent ads and de- 
 clarations of Lord Macartney, yet a confcioufnefs 
 of his own mifcondud: was the fole incentive to 
 the menaces and overtures he has held out, in va- 
 rious Ihapes. He has been infultingly lavifti in 
 his expreifions of high refpedt for my perfon i has 
 had the infolence to fay, that all his meafures 
 flowed from his affeftionate regard alone j has 
 prefumed to fay, that all his enmity and oppref- 
 fion were levelled at my fon, Ameer-ul-Omrah, 
 to whom he before acknowledged every aid and 
 alTiftance : and, his Lordftiip being without any juft 
 caufe or foundation for complaint againft us, or 
 a veil to cover his own violences, he has now had 
 recourfe to the meannefs, and has dared to inti- 
 mate of my fon, in order to intimidate me, and 
 to ftrengthen his own wicked purpoles, to be in 
 Jcague with our enemies the French. You muft 
 
 doubtlefs
 
 [ I ] 
 
 doubtlefs be aflroniflied, no lefs *at the aflurance, 
 than at the abfurdity of fuch a wicked fuggef- 
 tion." 
 
 (In the Nabob's own hand.) 
 
 ** P. S. In my own hand-writing I acquainted 
 Mr. Haftings, as I now do my ancient friends the 
 Company, with the infult offered to my hDnour 
 and Linderftanding, in the extraordinary propofi- 
 tions fent to me by Lord Macartney, through two 
 Gentlemen, on the loth inftanr, fo artfully veiled 
 with menaces, hopes, and promifes. But how can 
 Lord Macartney add to his enormities, after his 
 wicked and calumniating infinuations, fo evidently 
 diredled againft me and my family, through my 
 faithful, my dutiful, and beloved fon. Ameer- ul- 
 Omrah, who, you well know, has been ever born 
 and bred amongft the EngliQi, whom I have ftu- 
 dioufly brought up in the warmeft fentiments of 
 affedion and attachment to them ; fentiments, that 
 in his maturity have been his higheft ambition 
 to improve, infomuch that he knows no happi- 
 nefs, but in the faithful fupport of our alliance 
 and connexion with the Englilh nation ?" 
 
 1 2th Auguft, and Poflfcript of the i6th Auguflr, 
 
 . ' 1783. TRANSLATION of a Letter to the 
 
 Chairman and Direftors of the Eaft India Com- 
 
 pany.-'^Received from Mr. James M'Pherfon, 
 
 14th January, 1784. ./,/-. 
 
 *' YOUR aftonilhment and indignation will be 
 equally raifed with mine, when you hear that your 
 Prefident has dared^ contrary to yo\ir intention, to 
 continue to ui'urp the privileges and hereditary 
 powers of the Nabob of the Carnatic, your old and 
 unfhaken friend, and the declared ally of the King 
 of Great Britain, 
 
 .Isf a "I will
 
 [ 8j ] 
 
 " I will not take up your time by enumera- 
 ting the particular afts of Lord Macartney's vio- 
 lence, cruelty, and injuftice-, they indeed occur too 
 frequently y and fall upon me^ and my devoted fubje^s 
 and country^ too thick, to be regularly related. 1 re- 
 fer you to my Minifter, Mr. James M'Pherfon, 
 for a more cireumjlantial account of the opprefp.ons and 
 enormities, by which he has brought both mine and the 
 Company's affairs to the brink of deftrudion. I 
 truft that fuch flagrant violations of all juftice, ho- 
 nour, and the faith of treaties, will receive the fe- 
 vereft marks of your difplealure, and that Lord 
 Macartney's condud, in making ufe of your name 
 and authority as a fandlion for the continuance of 
 his ufurpation, will be difclaimed with the utmoft 
 indignation, and followed by the fevereft punilh- 
 ment. I conceive that his Lordfhip's arbitrary . 
 retention of my country and government can only 
 originate in his infatiable cravings, in his implacable 
 malevolence againft me, and through fear of dci- 
 te<5tion, which mud follow the furrender of the 
 Carnatic into my hands, of thofe nefarious pro- 
 ceedings, which are now fupprefled by the arm of 
 violence and power. 
 
 I did not fail to reprefent to the fupreme go- 
 vernment of Bengal, the deplorable fituation to 
 which I was reduced, and the unmerited perfecu-r 
 tions I have unremittingly fuftained from Lord 
 Macartney; and I earneftly implored them to 
 ftretch forth a faving arm, and interpofe that con- 
 irouling power which was vefted in them, to check 
 rapacity and prefumption, and preferve the honour 
 and faith of the Company from violation. The 
 Governor General and Council not only felt the 
 cruelty and injuftice I had fuffered, but were 
 greatly alarmed for the fatal confequences that 
 might refult from the diftruft of the country powers 
 in the profefilons of the Englifh, when they faw the 
 
 . Nabob
 
 [ 83 3 .. 
 
 Nabob of theCarnatic, the friend of the Compariy, 
 and the ally of Great Britain, thus dripped of 
 his rights, his dominions, and his dignity, by the 
 inoft fraudulent means, and under the mafk of 
 friendlhip. The Bengal government had already 
 heard both the Mharattas and the Nizam urge as 
 an objedlion to an alliance with the Engliih, the 
 faithlefs behaviour of Lord Macartney to a prince 
 whole life had been devoted, and whofe treafures 
 had been exhaufted, in their fervice and fupport ; 
 and they did not hefitate to give pofitive orders to 
 Lord Macartney for the reftitution of my govern- 
 ment and authority, on fuch terms as were not 
 only ftridtly honourable, but equally advantageous 
 to my friends the Company -, for they juftly 
 thought that my honour and dignity, 2nd /over eign 
 rigbiSy were the firft objefls of my wifhes and am- 
 bition : But how can I paint my aftonifhment ac 
 Lord Macartney's prefumption, in continuing his 
 ufurpation, after their pofitive and reiterated man- 
 dates ! and as if, nettled by their interference, 
 which he difdained, in redoubling the fury of his 
 violence, and facrificing the public and myfclf, to 
 his malice and ungovernable paflions ! 
 
 " I am. Gentlemen, at a lofs to conceive where 
 his ufurpation will (top, and have an end ; has he 
 not folemnly declared that the aflignmcnt was only 
 made for the fupport of war ? and if neither your 
 inftruflions, nor the orders of his fuperiors at Ben- 
 gal, were to be confidered as effedual, has not the 
 treaty of peace virtually determined the period of 
 his tyrannical adminiftration ? but fo far from fur- 
 rendering the Carnatic into my hands, he has, fince 
 that event, affixed advertifements to the walls and 
 gates of the Black Town, for letting to the bell 
 . bidder the various diftrids, for the term of three 
 years-, and has continued the Committee of Reve- 
 nue,which you pofitivcly ordered to be,abolifiied, to 
 
 N 3 whom
 
 whom he has allowed enormous falaries, from ^ooo 
 to 4000 pagodas per annum, which each member 
 has received from the time of his appointment, 
 though bis JLordlhip well knows that moft of theni 
 are by your orders difqualified, by being my 
 principal creditors. 
 
 ** If thofc a<5ts of violence and outrage had been 
 produdive of public advantage, I conceive his 
 Lordfhip might have held them forward, in exte- 
 nuation of his condud-j but whilft he cloaks his 
 juftification under the veil of your fecret records, 
 it is impoflible to refute his aflertions, or to expofc 
 to you their fallacy -, and when he is no longer able 
 to fupport his condudt by argument, he refers to 
 thofe records, where, I underftand, he has exercifed 
 all his fophiftry and malicious infinuations, to' ren- 
 der me and my family obnoxious in the eyes of the 
 Company, and the Britifh nation ; and when the 
 glorious vidories of Sir Eyre Coote have been ren- 
 dered abortive by a conftant deficiency of fupplies; 
 and when, fincethe departure of that excellent Ge- 
 neral to Bengal, whofe lofs I muft ever regret, a 
 dreadful famine, at the clofe of laft year, occafioned 
 by his LordHiip's negledt to lay up a fufficient 
 ftock of grain at a proper feafon, arvd from his 
 prohibitory orders to private merchants ; and when 
 no exertion has been made, nor advantage gained 
 over the enemy , when Hyder's death and Tippoo's 
 return to his own dominions operated in no degree 
 for the benefit of our afi'airs j in fhort, when all 
 has been a continued feries of difappointment and 
 difgrace under Lord Macartney's management 
 (and in him alone has the management been velVed) 
 I want words to convey thofe ideas of his infuffi- 
 ciency, ignorance, and obftinacy, which I am con- 
 vinced you would entertain, had you been fpefta- 
 tors of his ruinous and dellruiftivecondu'dt. 
 
 But
 
 **'fiut againfl: me ahd my Ton, Ameer- u1-bmran,' 
 Jias his Lordfhip's vengeance chiefly b^en ejferted , 
 even the Company's own fubordinate Zemindars 
 have found better treatment, probably becaufe 
 they were more rich ; thofe of Nizanagoram have 
 been permitted, contrary to your pointed orders, 
 to hold their rich zemindaries at the old difpro- 
 portionate rate of little more than a fixth pare 
 of the real revenue ; and my zemindar of Tan- 
 jore, though he fhould have regarded himfelf 
 equally concerned with us in the event of the 
 war, and from whofe fertile country many valuable 
 harvefts have been gathered in, which have fold at 
 a vaft price, has, I uridefftand, only contributed 
 laft year, towards the public exigencies, the very in- 
 confiderable fum of one lack of pagodas, and a few 
 ^thoufand pagodas-worth of grain, |,^,. 
 ' " I am much concerned to acquaint you, that 
 ever fince the peace a dreadful famine has fwept 
 away many thoufands of the followers, and fepoys 
 families of the army, from Lord Macartney's ne- 
 gled to fer)d down grain to the camp, thpugh the 
 roads are crowded with veflels : but his Lordfhip 
 has been too intent upon his own difgraceful 
 fchemes, to attend to the wants of the army. The 
 negociation with Tippoo, which he has fet on foot 
 through the mediation of Monfieur BufTy, has em^ 
 ployed all his thoughts, and to the attainnient of 
 that objed he will facrifice the deareft interefts of 
 the Company to gratify his malevolence againlt 
 me, and for his own private advantages. The en- 
 deavour to treat with Tippoo, through the means 
 of the French, mufl ftrike you. Gentlemen, as 
 highly improper and impolitic jbiit it mull raife 
 your utmdft indignation to hear-, that by intercept- 
 ed letters from BufTy to Tippoo, as well as from 
 their refpedtive vakeels, and from various accounts 
 from Cudalorc, we have every reafon to conclude 
 ^ N 4 thai
 
 I 86 ] 
 
 that his Lordfliip's fecrctary, Mr. Staunton, when 
 at Cudalore, as his agent to fettle the ceflation of 
 arms with the French, was informed of all their 
 operations and projedts, and confequently that Lord 
 Macartney has fecretly connived at Monfteur Buf- 
 fy*s recommendation to Tippoo to return into the 
 CarnatiCy as the means of procuring the moji ad- 
 vantageous terms, and furnijhing Lord Macartney 
 with the plea of necejity for concluding a peace 
 after his own manner : and what further confirms 
 the truth of this faft is, that repeated reports, as 
 well as the alarms of the inhabitants to the weft- 
 ward, leave us no reafon to doubt that Tippoo is 
 approaching towards us. His Lordfhip has ifllied 
 public orders, that the garrifon ftore cf rice, for 
 which we are indebted to the exertions of the 
 Bengal government, fhould be immediately dif- 
 pofed of, and has ftri6lly forbid all private grain 
 to be fold J by which aft he effedually prohibits 
 all private importation of grain, and may eventu- 
 ally caufe as horrid a famine as that which we ex- 
 perienced at the clofc of laft year, from the fame 
 Ihort-fighted policy ^nd deftruftive prohibitions 
 of Lord Macartney. 
 
 But as he has the fabrication of the records in his 
 own hands, he trufts to thofe partial reprefenta- 
 tions of his charadler and conduft, becaufe the fig- 
 natures of thofe members of government whom he 
 feldom confults, are affixed, as a public fandtion ^ 
 but you may form a juft idea of their correftnefs 
 and propriety, when you are informed that his 
 Lordfhip, upon my noticing the heavy dijburfements 
 made for fecret fervice money^ ordered the fums to 
 he flruck off, and the accounts to be erafed from 
 the cajh-book of the Company ; and I think I can- 
 not give you a better proof of his management of 
 my country and revenues, than by calling your at- 
 tention to his condudl in the Ongole province, and 
 
 by
 
 [ 87 ] 
 
 by referring you to his Lordlhip's adminiftratioa 
 of your own jaghire, from whence he has brought 
 to the public account the fum of twelve hundred 
 pagodas for the laft year's revenue, yet blazons 
 forth his vaft merits and exertions, and expcfts 
 to receive the thanks of his Committee and 
 Council. I will beg leave to refer you to my 
 minifter, James Macpherfon, Efqi for a more par- 
 ticular account of my fufferings and miferies, to 
 whom I have tranfmitted copies of all papers that 
 paffed with his Lordlhip. 
 
 " I cannot conclude without calling your atten- 
 tion to the fituation of my different creditors^ whofe 
 claims are the claims of juftice, and whofe demands 
 I am bound by honour, and every moral obliga- 
 tion, to difcharge j it is not, therefore, without great 
 concern, I have heard infinuations tending to 
 queftion the legality of their right to the payment 
 of thofe juft debts ; they proceeded from advances 
 made by them openly and honourably for the fup- 
 port of my own and the public affairs. But I hope 
 the tongue of calumny will never drown the voice 
 of truth and juftice ; and while that is heard, the 
 wifdom of the Englifh nation cannot fail to accede 
 to an effedlual remedy for their diftreffes, by any 
 arrangement in which their claims may be duly 
 confidered, and equitably provided for; and for 
 this purpofe my minifter, Mr. Macpherfon^ will 
 readily fubfcribe, in my name, to any agreement you 
 may think proper to adopt, founded on the fame prin- 
 ciples with either of the engagements I entered 
 into with the fupreme government of Bengal, for 
 our mutual intereft and advantage. I always pray 
 for your happinefs and profperity.'* 
 
 6th
 
 [ 88 1 
 
 6th September, and Poftfcript of 7th Septembef, 
 1783. TRANSLATION of a Letter from the 
 Nabob of Arcot to the Chairman and Diredors 
 of the Eaft India Company. Received from 
 Mr. James M'Pherfon, 14th January 1784. 
 
 **I REFER you, Gentlemen, to my inclofed dtd 
 plicate, as well as to my minifter Mr. M'Pherfon, 
 for the particuhrs of my fufferings. There is no 
 word or a6lion of mine that is not perverted ; and 
 though it was. my intention to have fent my fon< 
 Ameer-ul-Omrah, who is well verfed in my affairs, 
 to Bengal, to imprefs thofe Gentlemen with a full 
 fenfe of my fituation, yet I find myfelf obliged to 
 lay it afide, from the infinuations of the calumniat- 
 ing tongue of Lord Macartney, that takes every 
 licence to traduce every adlion of my life, and 
 that of my fon. I am inforn-ied that Lord Ma- 
 cartney, at this late moment, intends to write a 
 letter i 1 am ignorant of the fubjed: ; but fully 
 perceive, that by delaying to fend it till the very 
 cveof thedifpatch, he means to deprive me of all 
 polTibility of communicating my reply, and for- 
 warding it for the information of my friends in 
 England. Confcious of the weak ground on which 
 he (lands, he is obliged to have recourfe to thefe 
 artifices to miflead the judgment, and fupport for 
 a time his unjuftifiable meafures by deceit and im- 
 pofition. I wilh only to meet and combat his 
 charges and allegations fairly and openly j and I 
 have repeatedly and urgently demanded to be 
 furnifhed with copies of thofe parts of his fabri- 
 cated records relative to myfelf; but as he well 
 knows I fhould refute his fophiftry, I cannot be 
 furprifed at his refufal, though I lament that it 
 prevents you, Gentlemen, from a clear inveftigation 
 of his conduct towards me. 
 
 1* Inclofed
 
 t% 1 
 
 ** Inclofed you have a tranflate of an arzee 
 from the Killidar of Vellore : / have thoufands of ^ 
 the fame kind\ but this juft now received will 
 fcrve to give you fome idea of the miferies brought 
 upon this my devoted country, and the wretched 
 inhabitants that remain in it, by the opprefllve 
 hand of Lord Macartney's management ; nor will 
 the embezzlements of collehions thus obtained, -when 
 brought before you in proof appear lefs extraor* 
 .dinary, which ^<?// certainly be done in due time,*\ 
 
 TRANSLATION of an Arzee, in the Perfian 
 Language, from Uzzeem ul Doen Cawn, the 
 Killidar of Vellore, to the Nabob, dated ift Sep- 
 tember 1783. Inclofed in the Nabob's Letter to 
 the Court of Diredtors, September 1783. 
 
 ** I HAVE repeatedly reprefented to your high- 
 nefs the violences and opprefTions exercifed by the 
 prefent Amildar [Colleftor of Revenue] of Lord 
 Macartney's appointment, over the few remaining 
 inhabitants of the diftrid of Vellore, Ambore, 
 Saulguda, &c, 
 
 " The outrages and violences now committed 
 are of that aftonifhihg nature as were never known 
 or heard of during the adminiilration of the Circar. 
 Hyder Naik, the crueleft of tyrants, ufed every 
 kind of oppreflion in the Circar countries ; but 
 even his meafures were not like thofe now purfued. 
 Such of the inhabitants as had efcaped the fword 
 and pillage of Hyder Naik, by taking refuge in 
 the woods, and within the walls of Vellore, &c. 
 on the arrival of Lord Macartney's Amildar to 
 Vellore, and in confequence of his cowle of protec- 
 tion and fupporr, they molt chearfuUy returned to 
 the villages, fee about the cultivation of the lands, 
 and with- great pains rebuilt their cottages. But 
 
 now
 
 [ 50 ] 
 
 now the Amildar has imprifoned the wives and chil- 
 dren of the inhabitants, feized the few jewels that 
 were on the bodies of the women, and then, before 
 the faces of their hulbands, flogged them, in order 
 to make them produce other jewels and effeds, 
 which he faid they had buried fomewhere under 
 ground, and to make the inhabitants bring hini 
 money, notwithftanding there was yet no cultiva- 
 tion in the country. Terrified with the flagella- 
 tions, fome of them produced their jewels and 
 wearing apparel of their women, to the amount of 
 ten or fifteen pagodas, which they had hidden ; 
 others, who declared they had none, the Amildar 
 flogged their women feverely, tied cords around 
 their breads, and tore the fucking children from 
 their teats, and expofed them to the fcorching heat 
 of the fun. Thofc children died, as did the wife of 
 Ramfoamy^ an inhabitant of Bringpoor. Even this 
 could not ftir up compafllon in the bread of the 
 Amildar. Some of the children, that were fome- 
 what large, he expofed to fale. In fhort, the 
 violences of the Amildar are fo aflionifliing, that 
 the people, on feeing the prefent fituation, re- 
 member the lofs of Hyder with regret. With 
 whomfoever the Amildar finds a fingle meafurc of 
 naiehinee or rice^ he takes it away from him, and 
 appropriates it to the expences of the Sibindy that 
 he keeps up. No revenues are coUeded from the 
 countries, but from the effefts of the poor wretch- 
 ed inhabitants. Thofe ryotts [yeomen] who intended 
 to return to their habitations, and hearing of thofe 
 violences, have fled for refuge, with their wives and 
 children, into Hyder's country. Every day is 
 ufliered in and clofed with thefe violences and 
 dillurbances. I have no power to do any thing; 
 and who will hear what I have to fay ? My 
 bufinefs is to inform your highnefs, who are my 
 mafter. The people bring their complaints to 
 9 me>
 
 [ 9' ] 
 
 cne, and I tell them I will write to your high- 
 nefs *. 
 
 TRANSLATION of a Tellinga Letter from 
 Veira Permaul, Head Dubalh to Lord Macart- 
 ney, in his own hand writing, to Rajah Ramchun- 
 dah, the Renter of Ongole ; dated 25th of the 
 Hindoo month Maufay, in the year Plavanamal, 
 correfponding to 5th March 1782. 
 
 "I PRESENT my rcfpc6ls to you, and am 
 very well here, wifhing to hear frequently of your 
 welfare. 
 
 Your Peafher Vancatroyloo has brought the 
 Vifleel Bakees, and delivered them to me, as alfo 
 *what you fent him for me to deliver to my majler^ 
 which I have done. My mafter atfirji refufed to take 
 it, becaufe he is unacquainted with your difpojition, or 
 what kind of a perfon you are. But after I made 
 
 { The above recited praflices, or praflices fimilar to them, have 
 prevailed in almoft every part of the miferable countries on the coaft 
 of Coromandel, for near twenty years paft. That they prevailed as 
 flrongly and generally as they could prevail, under the adminiftration 
 of the Nabob, there can be no queftion, notwithftanding the aflertioji 
 in the begining of the above petition nor will it ever be otherwife, 
 whilft affairs are conduced upon the principles which influence the 
 prefent fyftem. Whether the particulars here aflerted are true or 
 falfe, neither the Court of Direftors nor their miniffry have thought 
 proper to enquire. If they are true, in order to bring them to affeft 
 Lord Macartney, it ought to be proved that the complaint vyas made 
 to bim ; and thflt he had refufed redrefs. Inftead of this fair courfe, 
 the complaint is carried to the Court of Direflors. The following is 
 one of the documents tranfmitted by the Nabob, in proof of his 
 charge of corruption againft Lord Macartney. If genuine, it is con- 
 clufive, at leaft againft Lord Macartney's principal agent and 
 manager. If it be a forgery (as in all likelihood it is) it is conclufive 
 againft the Nabob and his evil counfellors } and fully demonftrates,if 
 any thing further were neceffary to demonftrate, the necefllty of the 
 claufe in Mr. Fox's bill prohibiting the refidenceof the native Princes 
 in the Company's principal fettlements ; which claufe was, for obvious 
 reafons, not admitted into y\.x> Pitt's. It (hews too the abfolute ne- 
 jceflity of a fevere and exemplary punifhment on certain of his Englifti 
 evil counfellors and creditors, by whom fuch practices are carried on.] 
 
 encomiums
 
 t 92 I 
 
 encomiums on your goodnefs and greatnefs of 
 mind, -and took my oath to the fame, and that // 
 would not become public^ but be held as precious as 
 our lives, my mafier accepted it. You may remain 
 fatisfied, that I will get the Ongole bufmefs fettled 
 in your name, I will caufe the jamaubundee to be 
 fettled agreeable to your defire. It was formerly 
 the Nabob*s intention to give this bufmefs to you, 
 as the Governor knows full well, but did not at 
 that time agree to it, which you muft be well ac- 
 quainted with. 
 
 Your Feafher Vancatroyloo is a very careful 
 good man he is well experienced in bufmefs** 
 he has bound me by an oath to keep all this bufmefs 
 fecret^ and that his own^ yours, and my lives are re- 
 fponftble for it, I write this letter to you with the 
 greateft reludlance, and I fignified the fame to 
 your Peaflier, and declared that I would not write 
 to you by any means 5 to this the Peafher urged, 
 that if I did not write to his mafier^ how could he know 
 to whom he {the Peafher) delivered the money, and what 
 mulV his mafter think of it ? therefore I write 
 you this letter, and fend it by my fervant Ranianah, 
 accompanied by the Pealher's fervant, and it will 
 come fafe to your hands : after perufal you will 
 fend it back to me immediately until I receive it 
 I don't like to eat my viftuals, or take any Qeep, 
 Your Peafher took his oath, and urged me to write 
 this for your fatisfadtion, and has engaged to me 
 that I fhall have this letter returned to me in the 
 fpace of twelve days. 
 
 The prefent Governor is not like the former Go* 
 vernors he is a very great man in Europe and 
 all the great men of Europe are much obliged to 
 him for his condefcenfion in accepting the govern- 
 ment of this place. It is his cuftom when he makes 
 friendlhip with any one to continue it always, anc| 
 
 if
 
 t 93 f * 
 
 if ke is at enmity with any one, he never will dejiji till 
 be has worked his deJlruiion \ he is now exceedingly 
 difpleafed with the Nabob, and ycu will under/land by 
 and by that the Nabob's bujinefs cannot be carried on^ 
 he (the Nabob) will have no power to do any thing 
 in his own affairs-, you have therefore no room to fear 
 him. You may remain with a contented mind 
 I defired the Governor to write you a letter for 
 your fatisfadion -, the Governor faid he would 
 do fo when the bufinefs was fettled, ' This letter 
 you muft perufe as foon as polBble, and fend \i 
 back with all fpeed by the bearer Ramadoo, ac- 
 companied by three or four of your people, to the 
 end that no accident may happen on the road. 
 Thefe people muft be ordered to march in the 
 jiight only, and to arrive here with the greatell 
 difpatch. You fent ten mangoes for my matter, 
 and two for me, which all 1 have delivered to my 
 mafter, thinking that ten was not fufficient to pre- 
 fent him with. I write this ibr your information, 
 and filute you with ten thoufand refpeds. 
 
 I Muttu Kiftnah, of Madras 
 Patnam, Dubalh, declare. 
 That I perfedly under- 
 ftand the Gentoo language; 
 and do moft folemnly af- 
 firm, that the foregoing is 
 a true tranflation of the 
 annexed paper writing from 
 the Gentoo language. 
 
 (Signed) Muttu Kiftnah, 
 
 V 
 
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