lulry into the T3 ip;hts of t'r -" ' Company o VjriK v 'qr - ce UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES A N ENQUIRY INTO THE RIGHTS or THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY Of making WAR and PEACE -, and of poflefling their TERRITORIAL ACQUISITIONS without the Participation or Infpe&ion of the BRITISH GOVERNMENT. In a Letter to the PRCFXIETORS of EAST-INDIA STOCK. Written in the Year 1769. And now firft published.. L O N D O N: Printed for WALTER SHROPSHIRE in New Bond-ftreet, and SAMUEL BLADON in Pater-nofter Row. M.DCC.LXXII. PREFACE. TT is long fince the nations, which have the misfortune to live near the Eafl> India Company's fettlements, have ftretch- < cd out their induftrious and helplefs hands to our gracious Sovereign, imploring his protection from the oppreflions they were finking under ; and it muft give great pleafure to every one who knows how much the interefts of Great Britain are connected with thofe of humanity, to learn, from his Majefty's fpeech, at the opening of this feffion, that he had turned his eye to an object fo worthy of the royal attention. And, furely, if there is any fituation in this life more deplorable than D another, it is that of living under the do- ^ minion of men, who, wholly intent upon gain, have contrived to eflablifh the moit complete fyftera ever known of fraud and violence^ , iv PREFACE. violence, by uniting, in the fame perfons> the feveral fun&ions of Merchant, Sol- dier,, Financier and Judge; depriving, by that union, all thofe functions of their mutual checks, by which alone they can be made ufeful to fociety. It is to he hoped that the time is not far off, when thofe functions, fo impro- perly combined, will be again feparated : when his Majefty will refume, from thofe Merchants, the fword, which, by our happy Conflitution > cannot be placed, with energy or fafety, in any hand but his own : and when thofe great territorial revenues in Bengal, which have, of late, been fo extravagantly accumulated in the coffers of private men, for trifling or de- ftrucftive purpofes, will be employed in reducing the national debt, as well as in protecting our trade and acquisitions in thofe diftant parts of the world. We might then hope to fee an impartial ad- ministration of juflice in India, without its being fubject to the controul of thofe wha PREFACE. V who are mod likely to be the greateft delinquents. We might then hope to fee an end to thofe cruel monopolies, carried on by the Servants of the Company, in the neceflaries of life, and to which the wretched natives are obliged to fubmit, with the bayonet at their throats : and we might then hope to fee thofe Servants once more attentive to the commercial interefts of their employers; without attempting to equal, in riches and fplendor, the firft nobility of the kingdom. But, what is ftill of greater importance to the freeConftitution of this country, we might then hope to fee fome (top put to the rapid progrefs of corruption at home ; which has been, for fome years paft, fo much promoted by the immenfo fums lavifhed by thofe Servants of the Company, upon their return from India, in order to procure themfelves admittance into the Houfe of Commons; where none of them 4 from the nature of their education, can be fuppofed to have any thing f i PREFACE. to fay ; -and where fomc of them fcem to come, as if they were proud of the privilege they had acquired, of mocking the infufficiency of our laws, and of infulting that honourable Aflembly, by their prefence. In objection to this falutary change, it has been often urged, " That in a free ** country like ours, the individuals have * their legal rights, as well as the ftate -, ** and that it is always matter of juft alarm, " when the fupreme legislative power lays ." its heavy hand upon thofe rights, even ** where there is reafon to believe that 4< they have been abuied." In this I entirely agree. But when they proceed to tell us, " That the Baft-India Company * have a legal right of making War and " Peace, and of poffeffing their territorial " acquifitions, without the participation " or infpedion of the Britifh Government," I find myfelf obliged to give my diflent. The grounds, of that diflent are to be found in the following Letter, written above PREFACE. vii above two years ago, when Sir Jontf LINDSAY was appointed to command his Majefty's mips in the Baft-Indies ; and though the occafion which produces it now, is fomewhat different from that -which at firfl gave birth to it ; yet I have fuffered it to appear before the public in its original fhape j and the ra- ther, becaufe in that mape it recalls the memory of a tranfacliion, by which the true fpirit of the Qentlemen who have the management of the Company's affairs in Leadenhall-flreet, had a fair opportunity of difplaying itfelf. London, Feb. 18, 1772. A LETTER A LETTER TO THE PROPRIETORS OF EAST INDIA STOCK, CONCERNING The Company's Rights of making War and Peace, &c. GENTLEMEN, I Was at your general meeting on Tuei*- day laft, and find, by a letter fent that day by LORD WEYMOUTH, that the difpute which has for fome time fubfifted between the Miniftry and your Directors is now fully explained, and reduced to this iingle queftion, Whether the officer appointed to command his Majeftys Jhips in the Eaft Indies Jh alt be consulted, and have a voice, in all matters relative to peace and war in tbofe farts? To which I find the leading men B in 2 ON THE RIGHTS OF THE in the Dire&ion are very defirous you fhould give a negative, faying, that the Kings Officer jhall be called in and confulted by tbeSupervifors, whenever they Jkall ftand in need of his advice or ajfiftance, but that be foouldbave no vote in the deliberation. Thefe are opinions very effehtially diffe- rent from one another; and which of the two will be mod conducive to the honour and intereft of the Company will fall upon you to determine at your next General Court, which is to be called for that purpofe. * In the mean time, I could not help obfcrving the different tones with which thofe different pretenfions were urged on the fide of the Miniftry and on the fide of the- Directors. : for while his Majefty, through his Secretary of ftate, defired, in a moft gracious and condefcending manner, that * It was then determined that the King's officer (hould not be admitted to any fliare with the fcrvants of the company, in their deliberations concerning peace or war. EAST-INDIA COMPANY. 3 that the Directors would allow him fame Jhare of power in the management of peace or war, the Directors, as if they had meant to exhibit to our view the Saturnalia of die ancient Romans, told us in an elevated ftrain, that they had already, by their mjlruSlions, given as much power to the Kings officer as they thought convenient, and were not willing to give any more. Struck with the oddity of this fcene, I was once on my legs to aik from whence they derived thofe royal prerogatives of making peace and war, which they had, in fo unlimitted a manner, delegated to MelTrs VANSITTART, SCRAFTON, and FORDE, and of which they were fo unwilling to communicate a part to their Sovereign j i)ut was faved that trouble by one of the twenty four, who told us, that be would, to the utmojl of his power, fupport / thefe rights of the Company, which were derived from acJs of parliament, and royal Charters founded upon atts of parliament. Having got fo far into this enquiry, I refolved 4 ON THE RIGHTS OF TH I refolved to get to the bottom of it; and accordingly, upon my return home, gathered together all the Acts of parlia- ment, and all the royal Charters, that had been made refpecting this Company, and will now communicate to you, my fellow Proprietors, what has occurred to me on the perufal of them; that fuch of you, as have not taken the fame pains, may be enabled to judge, whether the pretenfions to Sovereignty are beft founded at the eafl or at the weft end of the town. The firfl royal Charter given to this Company, and the firft that was ever founded on an Act of parliament, is that of the tenth year of King WILLIAM III. in which all that is faid, with refpect to the powers of making peace or war, is eomprifed in the following words: " Such *' governors or officers fiall and may^ according '* to- the directions of the faid company, raife y " train and mujler fuch military forces asjkatl *' and may fa neceflary for the defence of the "faid EAST-INDIA COMPANY. $ ^ faid forts, places and plantations rejfieftive- t( fy." Here is no power granted beyond what every man feems to derive from the Great Charter of God; to wit, that of de- fending himfelf in the beft manner he can, when that human power to which he owes allegiance, and from which he has a right to expect protection, is at too great a diftance to afford it to him. Here is not the leafl hint of this Sovereign power being deprived of the right of interpofing its advice and affiftance, whenever it mall think fuch advice or affiftance necefTary ; on the contrary, as if the prefent ridicu- culous difpute had been forefeen, the following words are added: " T^he fovereign V *' right, power and dominion over all the f aid, " forts, places and plantations, to us, our " heirs andfaecejjbrs, being always referred" In none of the fubfequent Charters is there any thing worth obferving, with regard to peace and war, 'till we come to the Charter of the thirteenth of King PEQRGE I. and to that of the 26th of his 6 ON THE RIGHTS OF THE late Majefty, commonly called the Charter ofjttftice, where a variety of acls of hoftility are permitted to the Company, but ftill ilriclly confined in their caufe, as in the charter of King WILLIAM, to what is tkfenjfoe and what isjuft only. The words are * f T# ajemble, exercife in arms, martial, " array, and put in warlike fojlure, the ** inhabitants of the jaid towns and places, i either by fea or land, for their efpecial *' defence and Jafety* and to lead and condutt " them, and to encounter \ repulfe, expel and " re j*ft> by force of arms, &s well by fea, as " by land, and alfo to kill, Jlay ajid deflroy, "by all fitting ways, enterprises and means. c< ivhaffoe'uer, all and every fuch perfon or f perfons as foall or may, . at any time, ( > ( hereafter, in a hojlile manner, attempt " or enterprise the dejlruftion, invajion,* ' detriment or annoyance of any of our fubjetfs " within the f aid towns and factories and "limits, or any of their fery ants, or perfons *' dealing with them-, and in time of war ^ " or open hoftility^ tq lift and exercife martial ^ difcipline EAST-INDIA COMPANY.. 7 " difcipline and the law martlal s infucb vafes "as occafon foatt neceffhrily require andmtty v " legally be done, and to take and furprize, (t by all 'ways and means e whatfoe r ver , all and <( every fucb perfon or perfons, iDitb their <( ftnps, armour ; ammunition, and otber goods, " as fl all in hojllk manner, invade or " attempt the defeating or definition of tht " faid towns and places, or the hurt of any of " our fubj efts inb obit Ing there, or any of their "fervanff, or perfons etnfloyed by them, and > * ' upon JUST CAUSE, to invade and deflroy " enemies of the fame. 1 Here feems to be granted as great a latitude of pillage and deftrudtion as any honeft man could wifh -, and yet, in left than five years, thofe gentlemen who had the management of the Company's affairs did not think it fufficient. This gave rife to the Charter of the 31 ft of his late Majefty, commonly called the Charter of plunder ; of which, as it is the main pillar of the extravagant preteniicns of the majority of our prcfent fet of Directors, I mall 8 ON THE RIGHTS OF THE I fhall enter into a more particular difcuffion, and fhall relate to you it's hiftory, as well as its contents. When, upon the defeat and murder' of SURAJAH DOULA in 1757, much plunder was taken, fome territory acquired, and a clear profpedt opened to the Company, of, to fpeak more properly, to the Servants of the Company, of much more booty and much more territory, they began to be alarmed at their own good fortune; apprehending, and not without reafon, that the Britifh government would claim a fhare in thofe acquifitions. So, to fecure to themfelves whatever they might acquire, before the true value of it was known and attended to, the Directors thought it fit to apply by petition to his late Majefty. The particular purpofes of this petition were ; firft, to obtain an unlimited power of making war and peace with every Prince or people, not Chriftian, in the Eaft Indies. To effe<3 this, they thought nothing EAST INDIA COMPANY". 9 nothing could be more conducive than a precedent ; fo they began their petition by fetting forth, " That by federal charters, " or letters patent, granted by his Majeftys <( royal predeceffors to FORMER companies \j " trading to the Raft Indies, fucb FORMER "companies have bad power to fendfflips of " war to their fit t foments in the Eaft Indies, " to raife and keep a military force, and to " make peace or 'war with any Princes or "people, not Chriftian, in any place of their " trade" This power of making peace and war had never, as is here confefTed, been granted to this company -, fo, to find what is here alluded to, I was forced to fearch into the charters of former companies, and, at laft, found, in the charcer of King CHARLES II. to a Company, very differ- ^ ntly conftituted from the prefent, the following words: " To give power and " authority, by commiffion under their common "feal, or other wife, to make peace or war " with any Prince or people, not Chriftians, but, on the contrary, by their bringing forth this new charter, fo explained by thofe learned men, who had the framing of it, and fo underftood by the King when he gave it his Royal fanction, they have leflened the validity of King WILLIAM'S charter, by which all their future acquiiitions feem to have been fecured to them, as far as words can go, in the moft unlimited manner. For the charter of King WILLIAM fays, " *Tbat " the Company Jh all be a body politic and cor- " porate, capable in law to have, take, pur- " chafe , receive, hold', keep, poj/efs, enjoy and *' retain, to and for the life of them and their *' fucejjbrs, any manors, mejfuages, lands, " rents, so ON THE RIGHTS OF THE " rents, tenements, liberties, privileges, fran- " chifes, hereditaments and pojfeffions wbatfo- " ever, and of what kind, nature and qua- " lity foever ; find moreover to pur chafe and " acquire all goods and chattels whatfoever, " wherein they are not retrained by thefaid " aft -, and alfo to fell, grant, demife, alien "or difpofe of the fame manors, mefluages, " lands, rents, tenements, liberties, privileges:, " franchifes, hereditaments, pojjeffions, goods u and chattels, or any of them" Here the Company is authorized to take, acquire and retain, for their own ufe, all manner of lands, rents or goods ', and again, to alien and difpofe of, at their pleafure, all fuch lands, rents, and goods -, and this in fuch a profufiori of different terms, as if the whole words of the language, were to be guarantees for this unlimited Right of acquiring and alienating. It may be faid, indeed, and I believe juftly, that King WILLIAM and his learned council had it not in t^ieir Contemplation to permit, by any, Or all of thofe words, that the Kingdoms of Bengal, EAST-INDIA COMPANY. 21 Bahar, and OrirTa, fhould be claimed as private property, or difpofed of as fuch, by the Eaft-India Company ; or that the Grown fhould not claim a Right of being confulted in the difpofal of them or their revenues. But this refervation would have equally fubiifted in whatever words the charter had been conceived, and would equally fubfift under any new charter > the elementary principles in every government not only empowering, but requiring the fupreme power to wave every confideration of private Rights, whenever fuch private Rights become, in a great degree, detri- mental or dangerous to the public. How far an Adi: of parliament might limit His Majefty's known prerogative of making peace or war in any particular part of the globe, I will not take upon me to enquire. The enquiry is altogether foreign to the prefent fubjedt, . as no fuch Act of parliament can be here alledged. The Right of appointing a file Plenipo- tentiary 22 ON THE RIGHTS OF THE tentiary for treating with Indian, as Well as with other Princes, is certainly ftill veiled in His Majefty -, but the excrcifc of fuch a Right would not fully anfwer His Majefty 's gracious purpofe, which is to affift the Eaft-India Company, and to aflift them in fuch a way as their own knowledge in their own affairs mall point out to the judgment of his Servant, in council and in concurrence with theirs. Where there is a common inter-eft of fuch great importance, found reafon feems to demand, that the care and deliberation concerning it mould be in common like- wife : and it is to our reafon His Majefty is pleafed to appeal, not in the tone of an imperious mafter to his fervants, but in that of an indulgent parent to his children. You may perceive, my fellow Proprietors, that in this long letter I have faid very- little with regard to the expediency or utility of the propofed Hieafure. This is owing EAST-INDIA COMPANY. 23 owing to my having obferved, that the controverfy, at our laft meeting, did not turn upon that point, but barely upon the impropriety of fuffering any encroachment to be made upon the Company's eftablimed Rights. Were any encroachment intended upon the juft or legal Rights of the Com- pany, there is no one would be feen more forward in their defence than myfelf, both as a friend to the Company, and as a friend to the {late. The fecurity of private pro- perty, and of private rights of every kind, is the root of commerce, of population* of riches, and of ftrength in every ftate ; and the ftatefman, who takes any ftep by which thole private Rights are rendered precarious, difcovers himfelf to be but ill qualified for the place he fills. But here is no fuch invafion attempted -, but, on the contrary, an attempt of private perfons to invade the Rights of the public, by challenging to themfelves a prerogative which belongs only to the heads of king- doms and independent Republics. I havc^ therefpre. 24 OM THE "RIGHTS OF therefore, endeavoured to mew you what are in reality the Rights of the Eaft-India Company with regard to making peace and war, by quoting what is to be found in our feveral charters concerning them, and mail now recapitulate and fum up the whole, by obferving : That whatever pafTages are to be found in thofe charters concerning peace and war, are merely emanations of the royal Will and Pleafure -, no fuch being fpecified in the A& of Parliament, which only authorizes King WILLIAM and his fucceflbrs to grant to the Company, from time to time, by their letters patent, fuch powers and pri- vileges as to him or them mall feem fitting. That in none of thofe letters patent, or charters, is it faid, in exprefs terms, that the Company is abfolutely empowered to xy make war and peace ; and that what is mentioned in thofe charters concerning acls of hofHHty, is ftri&ly confined to fuch afts of hoftility as are for the defence of the Company's prpperty, retaliation of injuries, or COMPANY. 25 or other jujl cattfe, the judgment of which cannot, in common fenfe, reft with the Company ; but falls to His Majefty, the fupreme Arbiter, by the Britifh con- ftitution, of all matters of peace and war. That, although King WILLIAM and the fucceeding Kings of England, had not exprefly referved to themfelves their fove- reign Right and Authority over the Eaft- Indian fettlemcnts, and had granted to the Company the mod unlimited power of ,. making war and peace; yet could they * not, by any form of words, denude them- felves of that fovereign power, and could only be fappofed to have delegated it to the Company, as to their Attorney or Plenipotentiary, till fuch time as it mould be their royal pleafure to refume or limit it. That, as by the Charters of the 1 3th of King GEORGE the firft, and of the ayth of King GEORGE the fecond, the Company is authorized to invade and E 854768 1 6 ON THE RIGHTS OF THE dcftroy upon Jitft Caufe only, and arc parti- cularly amenable to His Majefty for any breach of their Charter in this refpccl, it is perfectly regular and necefiary that His Majefry mould have complete knowledge, from his own Officer, of the rife and pro- grefs of all wars carried on in the Eaft- Jndies, in order to know what wars arc carried on in compliance with the terms pf the Charter, and what not. And laflly, That when there is the greateft reafon to believe, that the Com- pany's Servants have made a greedy and dangerous ufc of thofe powers, we ought to admire His Majefty's goodnefs, who, inftead of depriving us of them altogether, endeavours to interpofe his fatherly care in preventing any farther abufe of them, Before I conclude this paper, give mci leave, my fellow Proprietors, to add one general Obfervation, which ftruck me on comparing together the feveral Charters qf the Bail- India Company, which is, that 44 FAST-INDIA COMPANY. tj in proportion as the real power of the Company incrcafcd, its legal power and authority have been diminifhed. How far it will be for the advantage of the Proprietors, that Government mould frill proceed in narrowing the bounds of the Company's authority, I will not now enquire : but thofe who think farther limitations difadvantageous, will, in my humble opinion, find that the moft effectual method to prerent them, will be by uiing the power they flill poflefs, with juflice and humanity towards thofe they call their fubjefts in India ; and with mo- defty and obedience to thofe whom they ought to coniider as their Rulers in Great Britain. I am, with great refpedt, Gentlemen, Your mofb obedient, and moft humble Servant, AN OLD PROPRIETQJU London, Auguft 18, 1760. 27 85 .*** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 171; University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. Univer ity Southen Librarj